Trials-Online.com : Your source for trials mountain biking info

[ Trials Explained - Competitions ]

Trials competitions usually involve the rider negotiating his/her way through 4-6 "sections", usually making 2 or 3 loops. To the left you can see that we have set up a very standard Sport (or Intermediate) level section. This course is typical of the kind of the riding to be found, though there are essentially unlimited opportunities for the section builders. Almost any type of object can be incorporated,including natural elements such as rocks, logs, hillsides, streams, mud, etc and man-made objects like old cars, wire spools, pallet stacks, ramps, trailers, tables, stairs and more. Some competitions use time limits, where the rider has about 3 minutes to get all the way through.

Rider Classifications

There are three basic classes of rider in most US trials events, Beginner, Sport, and Expert/Pro. Beginner, obviously, is for riders who are just starting out in trials and don't have a large amount of experience with the techniques or competition. In this class, most obstacles are relatively small (usually 1 foot or less in vertical differences between surfaces) and the basic skills of hopping, rolling, and wheel placement are needed. Sport or Intermediate is usually a pretty big step up from beginner, and the moves required and the obstacles grow in difficulty. You'll find smaller amounts of room to move and prepare, larger vertical surfaces to get up, more steeply angled surfaces and bigger drops. At the sport level you'll need almost all of the major skills and techniques, and balance, bike control and hopping are definitely required. Expert and Pro is basically an extension of Sport, with even bigger ups and drops, very tricky positions and having to pull off big moves from awkward positions. Expect to see 3 or 4 foot ups, lots of rearwheel moves and big drops. Obviously, at this level the utmost balance and bike control area needed to avoid killing yourself.

Rules

The basic rule of trials is very simple, get through the section without touching your foot (which is called a Dab) to the ground. However, there are a few additional clarifications:

You can get a maximum of 5 dabs in a section. For the first 3 dabs, they are each counted as a point, but the 4th dab is "free", meaning that if you have 4 dabs in a section your point total is still 3. Getting the 5th dab gives you a total of 5 for that section. You get 1 point for your foot touching the ground, inside or outside the boundaries, even if it is just the heel or toe over the edge of the pedal. You can also get 1 to 5 points for your bar touching anything (leaning is usually a 5, it's up to the section scorer). 3 points are given for sliding your foot on the ground while in a dab. 5 points are given for putting your hand on anything, having both feet on the ground, crossing over the section boundaries, breaking the ribbon, crossing a foot over to the other side of the bike, or taking too long in a section.

As you can probably figure out, the person with the least number of dabs is the winner.