Do it with your feet up...

August 22, 2006 4:52 AM

Observed Trials is arguably the most skilful and spectacular of all motorcycle sports, but party due to the outdoor, occasionally remote locations of most competitions, remains very much out of the public eye. Historically it has been dominated by European riders and although the US had a world champion in 1979, international success has eluded American riders in recent years.Recently, trials has become somewhat fragmented with indoor events becoming increasingly popular with non-afficionado spectators and extreme (NSFW soundtrack) freeriding taking off, particuarly in France although to purists real trials only take place "in the wild".
posted by NeonSurge (13 comments total)

Warning: Some direct video links and YouTube.
posted by NeonSurge at 4:52 AM on August 22, 2006

Need to fix some of those links (spectacular and indoor events link back to MeFi).
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:15 AM on August 22, 2006

Ack! Sorry bout that... spectacular and indoor.

Both YouTube links I'm afraid but trials needs to be seen rather than described!
posted by NeonSurge at 5:27 AM on August 22, 2006

On the other hand, you can't deny that MetaFilter is truly a spectacular indoor event.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:28 AM on August 22, 2006

I never get tired of watching crazy people on dirt bikes. I could do without the clip of the guy eating a boulder though. Looked rather painful.
posted by itchylick at 5:40 AM on August 22, 2006

i encountered some motorcycle trials guys in the wild on the slickrock trail in moab a few years ago. it seemed to me like they were having ridiculous amounts of fun.
posted by the painkiller at 6:59 AM on August 22, 2006

I have Junior Kickstart on orange vinyl.

That is all.
posted by asok at 7:41 AM on August 22, 2006

Indoor trials are seriously fun to watch. Back in the day (pre Fox-buyout) SpeedVision aired indoor trials all the time. Great, amazing stuff.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:50 AM on August 22, 2006

Ow, my productivity!

The biggest thing I've learned from watching Trials riders is the importance of slow-speed control. Rather than top speed on my bike, I've pursued the bottom speed and learned better handling and control because of it.
posted by Eideteker at 9:27 AM on August 22, 2006

Good intro to trials. (15 min google video)
posted by Eideteker at 10:10 AM on August 22, 2006

I call Trials physics porn - I love to watch the crazy rockhoppers. Great links - thanks!
posted by goo at 1:10 PM on August 22, 2006

Wow. I almost made a trials FPP yesterday but got distracted.

I picked up a trials bike (sherco 2.9) a few months ago after being
interested in the sport for years.

It's a heck of a lot of fun. I'm still at a very novice skill level, but enjoy all the riding I can get.

The top level riders are amazing, as some of those videos show. Mindboggling really.

It's also interesting in that it is one of few motorsports that are not essentially a race.
posted by alikins at 1:10 PM on August 22, 2006

Great post, thanks
posted by flummox at 6:33 PM on August 22, 2006