**Competition Rules**:
– Bike trials involve riding pre-marked sections to accumulate the fewest points.
– UCI and BIU enforce official competition rules, with a maximum of 5 points per section.
– Points are gained for actions like putting a foot down or exceeding time limits.
– UCI penalizes touching objects, crossing boundaries, and walking through sections.
– BIU rules allow bike parts to rest on objects without penalties.
**Bike Design**:
– Trials frames lack seats for lighter weight and better rider movement.
– Frames prioritize low height, high BB spindle positioning, and reinforced disc brake mounts.
– Materials used for trials frames include aluminum, steel, titanium, magnesium, and carbon fiber.
– Trials brakes emphasize stopping torque over smooth halts, with options like hydraulic rim brakes and disc brakes.
– Rim grinding is common to enhance rim brake performance, offering better wheel control and customization options.
**Competition Categories**:
– UCI hosts the Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships annually, offering mod and stock categories.
– BIU rules are specific to bicycle trials competitions.
– Interscolar competitions follow BIU rules and are limited to club or school members.
– Participants in Interscolar events aim to teach lower-level students how to compete.
**Trials Bike Components**:
– Trials bike wheels feature wide rims for lower tire pressure, heavy plastic rim strips, and thicker tires to resist punctures.
– Trials hubs have cutouts for weight savings, snail cams for chain tension, and modern 135mm hubs with high torque capacity.
– Gear ratios in trials bikes typically have one gear, varying based on wheel size and rear cog size selection.
**Bike Models and Course Design**:
– Different bike models like 20′ Mod Bikes, 26′ Stock Bikes, and 24′ Street Trials Bikes cater to specific riding styles.
– Course design for trials riding includes UCI regulations specifying course requirements, obstacle jump heights, and section completion order.
– Street Trials, a non-competitive variant, focuses on urban features, precise bike control, and balancing skills inspired by riders like Ryan Leech.
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Mountain bike trials, also known as observed trials, is a discipline of mountain biking in which the rider attempts to pass through an obstacle course without setting foot to ground. Derived from motorcycle trials, it originated in Catalonia, Spain as trialsín (from trial sin motor, "motorcycle trials without an engine") and is said to have been invented by Pere Pi, the father of Ot Pi, a world champion motorcycle trials rider. Pi's father had wanted his son to learn motorcycle trials by practicing on an ordinary bicycle.
Trials riding is an extreme test of bicycle handling skills, over many of obstacles, both natural and man-made. It now has a strong – though small – following worldwide, though it is still primarily a European sport. Skills taken from trials riding can be used practically on any bicycle for balance, for example controlled braking and track standing, or balancing on the bike without putting a foot down. Competition trial bikes are characterized by powerful brakes, wide handlebars, lightweight parts, single-speed low gearing, low tire pressures with a thick rear tire, distinctive frame geometry, and usually no seat.