|   Do you guys think height has advantages/disadvantages?? | OrBust
Dec 14, 2001 8:55 PM | | Ive always been curious about this.....height versus trials ability. Heres my thinking: Most americans and canadians are fairly tall, and most americans/canadians are better at 'big' move style trials....or more urban oriented moves. When I look at japanese and spanish riders(typically shorter)...the riding is much smaller and precise. Does anybody have any opinions on this?? Im about 6'4", and I have a really hard time doing real small move stuff...its alot easier just to jump a whole section or do the big gap....I honestly feel like my height hinders my ability once in a while. When I watch a guy like lenowsky ride...he's always going for the big stuff...the big ups and big gaps....when I watch some of the japanese guys ride(who obviusly have better competition skills then amercians), its much more precise and calculated. But on the same hand, I cant see a really short person getting the leverage they need....so then I think it would be better to be tall so you have more leverage and extension. From watching world round comps...its seems to me that most of the guys are fairly short, and I think guys like ot and cesar are pretty short from watching videos...but I could be COMPLETELY off base. Any opinions? |
| i think so | ~ScaryFast~
Dec 15, 2001 6:00 AM | | I'm somewhat short (just a smidgen under 5'8") and I think it's a disadvantage. Trials bikes basically come in a one size fits all fashion, so I would ride the same Zebdi or whatever as a guy who's 6'4". Who's gonna be able to flick that around better? My herculean strength aside :), the bike would just feel smaller to a bigger person.
Small people better at precision? I don't know if I can really vouch for that. Maybe it's just the nature of the riding in Japan or Spain; here, biketrials is probably more popular as big urban stuff, where over there it is more deeply rooted in more traditional forms.
Of course I could be completely off base too. |
| re: Do you guys think height has advantages/disadvantages?? | Regder
Dec 15, 2001 7:35 AM | | I'd disagree, ultimately size has little to no determination on actual skill. Riders such as Nelson Reis who is something like 5'4", 130lbs can go just as big if not bigger than giants such as Lenosky. The world scene is filled with a variety of rider sizes, we've got Bruno Arnold who's an absolute goliath (have you ever seen him standing next to his bike, yikes) and easily one of the best stock riders in the world. Ot Pi who's around 6', multiple time world champion. Hell, Lenosky who is over 6' happens to be one of the best comp riders in north america. There are also shorter riders that are equally skilled.
In the end size has very little to do with ability. Just a little observation, the majority of the shorter riders ride stock where the taller ones ride stock. |
| re: Do you guys think height has advantages/disadvantages?? | Fabulous
Dec 15, 2001 12:50 PM | | I'm 6'5", and while I can't do many back wheel moves, I can get up 4' loading docks (to bashring) without much trouble. I agree with Regder that skills can overcome any advantages/disadvantages that come with any particular height, but it seems like tall people would be able to throw their weight around the bike a little better, and have more of it to throw around, too. There's always the issue of the rider weight:bike weight proportion. But small riders would have the lower center of gravity that might lend them some stability for the small stuff. I know that the big stuff comes a lot easier for me, but that might be an issue of nurture not nature. Just my .02
Nick |
| Well... | Tetsuo
Dec 15, 2001 9:42 PM | | Now just imagine if you were a true mythical giant of Tolkien-esque proportions. With one stride you can strato the entire section! Of course the bike would be the size of a finger bike.
Just an incoherent late night thought
Tetsuo |
| re: Do you guys think height has advantages/disadvantages?? | AndyT
Dec 17, 2001 5:10 PM | | I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with it. Perhaps in the beginning the taller guys do get the edge on the little ones in terms of ups- just think about it in extremes, a 2 foot up to a 6' guy is nothing compared to a 2 foot up when a little kid is coming at it. You may think that jeff lenosky and ryan leech are the end all be all riders but that is probably because thats all you see- if you see anyone else they surely aren't as publicized here in the US. People around the world can go as high if not higher than these two- they take it much more seriously also. Have you seen Bruno sidehop? Oh my god. In terms of little precise moves anyone can learn them- it just is a matter of what you practice on. During this past summer all I had to ride on was curbs and small rocks in a supermarket parking lot. I did lots of gaps and linking rocks to curbs with both wheels landing on it (turning in the air)- fairly precise stuff. When the summer was over and my 2 friends came to college they couldn't do any of the precise stuff I was doing. Also it took me a while to get used to doing big ups like htey had been doing all summer because I never practiced them. I think the japanese and euro riders concentrate more on precise moves than on big moves because they are harder and more usefull in competitions. This is one of the many reasons why we get absolutely crushed at competitions. At the worlds I watched the French team making fun of Jeremy VanSchoonhoven and it wasn't very nice- but they could...They are just so much better than us it isn't funny. Ok I'm turning into babbling mode so must not type anymore :) |
| What are they better at? | OrBust
Dec 17, 2001 6:08 PM | | Ive seen leech and all the publicized guys ride...but I have never been to world round comp before. What exactly can all those foreign guys do better then us. When I watch leech ride, I think that he can do pretty much everything thats imaginable on a trials course....but I know he would get his ass wooped pretty good, why is that? Are they just more consistent? In better shape?? Could you fill me in.... |
| precise stuff, duh (more) | ~ScaryFast~
Dec 18, 2001 5:25 AM | | Hahaa, just poking fun there.
Take a look at the video a little bit down the page about the 'crazy Japanese rider'. It's a little clip of a section of competition. You'll see that it is far from the sort of riding you see in the bike videos with Ryan Leech.
No bunnyhops to manuals to gaps or whatever. Just precise hopping and bike placement and stuff like that. Ryan Leech just has to up and place his rear tire on the back of a bench or whatever, but when you're riding a natural section with tons of little rocks, the situation is much different.
Do you ride natural terrain much? Try it...it's so much harder and you'll appreciate what these guys are doing. Just upping onto boulders rather than concrete blocks of the same height is harder simply because of the irregular shapes and surfaces and stuff. |
| What are they better at? | wheely30km
Dec 18, 2001 5:55 AM | | I rode in the France Trials Championship a few years ago, with Bruno Arnold, Thierry Girard and some other.
The level in France is one of the best, and they often compete one against each other. They train for competitions, not only the height or distance. They train on difficult, slippery, irregular surfaces, to be prepared for the competition.
One sure fact is that taller is better. I saw Bruno Arnold going onto a table (not sideways) without any run-up, just by leaning over it.
The skills and precision is only a matter of training. For the height, you need to be tall and explosive |
| I'm tall | Optikal
Dec 18, 2001 12:36 PM | | and that makes me a better ride than all of you! HA!
Just kidding :)
But seriously, I think height does make an advantage. I'm not a very good trials rider (yet) but I used to be a really good freerider. Part of the reason that I could do big drops on a hardtail is the extra 'suspension' that my long limbs allow. I was able to go faster on rough terain because my longer legs and arms would allow me to suck up larger bumps.
I think in trials that the extra height is usefull for moves where you compress and then explode upwards. A person with 6" longer arms is going to have a definate advantage when it comes to sidehops or fishes.
I think the reason that Leech and Lenosky ride the way they do is not because of their height, but because of the society they live in. In North American society, bigger is better. The general public finds watching a trials rider drop 7 feet onto a handrail far more interesting than watching a rider carfully balance and make precise moves. Leech (as far as I know) no longer competes...he just does demos. The training he does will be totally different from a comp rider. |
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