Help! My wife wants a trials bike

[Cascão]

In a trials bike she will improve faster than in any enduro bike, she will be able to handle the bike without using all his force, she will be able to do bigger obstacles than in a enduro bike.

But trials ride need trials specific places where this kind of bike is fun. It's a matter of specific tool for each job.

Trying to ride long trails or keep up with faster bikes on trials bike isn't that fun. (Trying to ride trials loop with enduro bikes isn't fun neither) There a lot of misundestanding about this in US...

[Bron-Yr-Aur]

I'm gonna add one more vote against trying to make a trials bike work on trails. It just doesn't do that very well. It is done by some, but they just aren't made for it.

 

I'm the same height as your wife with 28" inseam. I have a KTM 200 XC for my woods riding and a Sherco 2.9 ST for trials riding. There is no way I'd try to use the Sherco for trails. IMO I just wouldn't have fun. They're not made for speed, for all the aforementioned reasons. The gearing is horrible, and standing for an afternoon riding will flat out tax her to the limit.

 

I agree with previous posts for the KX100. I rode one for 3 years and my boy is still riding it. I put a flywheel weight on it and it does really well in the woods. Heck, you shouldn't even need tor have the valving dome for here, since it's set up from the factory for MX racing kids under 120 lbs. For woods riders 130 lbs, it's perfect. I also installed a bigger rear sprocket for it to crawl a little better. And if your wife is athletic, I don't understand the problem with kicking it to start. It's extremely easy, even with a fresh top end.

 

I love the bigger bikes for their power, like my 200. But I get what you're saying about the size. It is definitely a handful. And even the Freeride and XTrainer, although smaller, still have very high seats for us extremely short riders. The weight of a full sized bike is a lot for most women. And to be honest, my KX100 was fun in ways that the big bikes aren't. But that's just me.

 

When I saw the title of your thread, I thought "awesome. A woman who wants to ride trials!" But I just think she'd hate it for the application that she's planning.

 

Just my opinion.

 

 

[Rubicon79]

Thanks for the feedback.

She does want to ride trials and has already looked up the women's trials class.  She easily jumps logs over skid plate height on her klx.  

The bike will still be used mainly on trails though.  We ride at least once a week and she wouldn't want to miss going.  All the trials competitions are quite a drive away.  Her being slow isnt a bid deal. It gives the rest of us a convenient excuse for a break.  

I tried to push her towards a kx100 or even an AJP but she wants a trials bike.  She's about a stubborn woman and her mind is made up.  There will be no changing it! 

[markbfe501]

Ya gotta like a woman who knows what she wants!

[GasItandCrash]

If she weighs less than 160 lbs, a 200 Gas Gas would be a great choice.   At Less than 160 lbs wet. And plenty of power for anything below expert trials sections.  GasGas 280's are more common and would be able to take her from a Novice Trials Rider all the way to the expert class.

Standing up all day while riding is the way to learn the proper technique for any Off-Road riding and most family rides have plenty of rest stops.   Unless your group is Blasting through the woods, keeping up will not be a problem.  Sure she probably won't be able to fly across that 200 yd section of whoop-de-doos on the rear wheel but would she do that on a KTM300??  In the technical single track stuff here in the Idaho Mountains, I'm damn near as fast on my 2001 GasGas 321 as I am on my KTM 300XCW (or I'm damn near as slow on my KTM 300XCW as I am on my GasGas :).  So a Trials bike probably won't slow her down. 

I would suggest talking to someone who has been riding trials over the last 20 years.  From what I understand, engine tuning and chassis configurations have changed over the years to optimize the bikes for the rules that applied at the time.  There may be years that you want to avoid because the bikes may be optimized for trick riding, and not suitable for the novice trials rider.

Unless you just have to have a new bike buy used for sure.  There is hardly a better value than a used trials bike.  I bought my 2001 GasGas 321 Txt about 10 years ago and could probably sell it today for what I paid for it.  If you buy a used trials bike in good condition, ride it for a season, you will probably be able to sell it for what you paid for it.

YMMV

Good Luck

[Rubicon79]

My local GasGas dealer had a manufacturer demo Contact 250 with e-start that they made me a deal on I couldn't pass up.  It should be here by the end of the week!  

I favored the Montesa but they had no eta on when they could have one and we just sold her klx.  She was worried about kicking a bike and I don't blame her.  Hell I ride a Sherco that doesnt even have a kickstart.  

I'll post a follow up after her first ride!

 

 

[GasItandCrash]

2 minutes ago, Rubicon79 said:

 Hell I ride a Sherco that doesnt even have a kickstart. 

2

First off, Congratulations

Next: Last summer I went riding with a group of folks in the mountains of Central Idaho.  About 5 or 6 miles of single track, the lead part of the group stopped to wait for the slower folks and to discuss which way to go.  After the standard goat rope, we all fired up and started to ride when we noticed that one of the riders wasn't moving.  They had one of those electric start bikes with no kick starter AND a Recluse clutch.   Big Deal?  Wouldn't have been except they had a dead battery..............    

I've heard that you can bump start a bike with a Recluse Clutch, but I've never seen it done.  Luckily there was a rider that had an electric start bike with the same battery and a kick starter.  They traded batteries for the ride and everyone lived happily ever after.

Long live Kickstarters!

[Workerbee33]

Congrats on the purchase, post pics when you receive the bike.

[Rubicon79]

Between Christmas and the weather we haven't had a chance to ride.  My 3 year old also got his first bike, a crf50, so hopefully Christmas day they both get a chance to break them in.  

 

Merry Christmas to Everyone!