Aggies

How about my one friend on a Ventana USA at 145kg with a massive crack and still riding it while waiting for a replacement. Extreme difference between a crack and a "total" failure like you might get with a plastic ooops carbon bike. Also do some research and you will find that each and every single bike model on the market had a crack at some stage.

Get yourself a pair of Maxxis Crossmark LUST, you will not be sorry!! Relatively cheap, excellent allrounder, last extremely long.

Confirmed SS2 @ 21h00

At 90kg I am running my tires at 2bar. When I went tubeless on my Giant Anthem 29er with Giant rims, I bought Bontrager tires and if you search the hub, you will find that these exploded of the rim at 1.4bar!! I also did not trust it and immediately exchanged the tires. I am now running for the last couple of months with Conti Mountain King 2,4 front and Race King 2,2 rear with no issues. My advice - either the Contis or get the Maxxis Crossmark 29er LUST.

Never saw any recommendation. If you read up on it, all suspensions is design to work optimally if it has the 10% sag under dead weight only. I am 90kg and was running it too high as you could clearly see that the suspension only used about 60% of the full travel. I am now running it at 90psi front and 190psi rear and it still seams like it can go lower as now it only use 70%. I also found no problem with going softer.

Pappa Bear, you need to read articles very carefully and not just jump to conclusions. That article was posted in September 2010! Why the hell post it now on the hub 7 months later? It was the US consumer agency that did not trust the weld and that is why it was only recalled in the US. It is thus not applicable anywehre else in the world. Yes I bough one and that even after I saw that recall. Lifetime warranty on the frame. I know a person that had a Giant (bought in 2002) that cracked and they replaced his frame with the latest Anthem (2011) frame within 3 days. What more do you want from a supplier/agent?

I am 90kg and running my Conti Mountain King 2,4 Front and Race King 2,2 at 1,8Bar with no issues in 6 months. It still seems like I can drop it more. What are you running at your weight just to get a general idea?

I got mine 7 October 2010. Believe that it must have been the 1st XL to arrive in SA. Had a Merida 96 before it. I am absolutely loving the bike. I found it better in every single department than the 96. Even the single track is no problem. Handling is superb - I have however changed the stem from 110mm to 90mm and the bar from flat to riser as from an Anthem X2 (2010) - this made the diff. How about a sudden improvement of 45minutes over a 70km race? (Same race, same route, same conditions, different bike)- one week apart. Only other changes made: Conti Mountain King 2.4 in front and Race King 2.2 (running tubeless) - brilliant with no issues yet. Crank Brother Candy 3 pedals - never SPD again! Also found the saddle terrible - but after 6 months, no more problems with it. As I only mostly get to ride the bike on weekends - I will never get a 26" again. I get to ride much more technical stuff where I had to get off my 26" simply due to a lack of technical training/skill. Making every ride more enjoyable. Bottom line is that the bike feels safer! Standoff - what bottle cage is on your bike?

I have the Anthem X1 29er with the same wheels. I won't classify them as heavy. I think that they are quite light. The problem might be that they are not tubeless, although I converted mine with Stans tape. They might also not be the strongest, but I have no problems. Considering that I have an XL (big ship) and FS, the total weight is 11,3kg.

Then your friend must stay of carbon. Some people is just harder on frames than others. I know a 58kg Laaitie that has cracked more GT Zaskars as an example. Does it make it a bad bike - NO!

It is a 29er and I am running 185 front and 160 rear, but I would say 160 is ample.

Extremely happy with my Avid Elixer CR.

If it is as good as the Anthem 29er, it is going to rock the market. Top end components and would be half the price of competitors bikes.

YAWN

Epic Sport Cycle shop in Centurion. I submitted a post a while ago about the excellent service that you get from them and the responses indicated that I am not the only one feeling like it.

Agree Spoke to various people that witnessed chaos at intersections today. Apparently Taxi's just ignored the Metro Cops and Marshalls. Some cars then followed suite. Take the race to where there is no Taxi and thus no baboons. You can also not expect the Metro to control the Taxi's, not if they "own" the business.

Have anyone of you see flyers being distributed or any billboards indicating that the roads will be closed? NOTHING!! Only cyclist and some sporting public was aware of the event. Totally Shcoking! If you want to take the tour to the people - CLOSE THE ROAD. This all is indicative of planning - what would you have expected after what happened at the SA road champs? It portrays an extreme bad image of SA. How is it possible that we can stage world cups? Urgently get in some people in the know to assist with the rest of the tour.

Had the Giant now for 5 months and has not been sorry for one moment. I had a look again at the GF Hi Fi Pro yesterday at Cyclelab in Fourways and if they offered it at R5k less than the Giant, I will still go with the Giant. One major item that puts me off the GF - it looks like plastic. You can get the Giant for R26k.

Swart Graaf

I have the same bike and I will stick with the current brakes. The Elixer CR with 180 front and 160 rear is just brilliant. Had them bleeded at Epic Sport Shop and I have never used brakes that is so good. I am running 2.4 Mountain King Front and 2.2 Race King Rear and have no issues. For the Epic I would suggest the Maxxis Crossmark UST that must now be available. The Conti's does not have any protection.

Used a high pressure how often?

Your length won't pose a problem. You will be faster, even if it is just via confidence gained. Take motorbikes. Which one have bigger wheels? Small wheel - Road bike Large wheel - Offroad Why the hell do you want to do the opposite when it comes to cycles? Use a smaller wheel on a MTB than a Road bike? The father of the 29er, GF, put it in perspective. He wanted a 700c (29") wheel from the word go as they calculated it to be the best fit for purpose. The problem was that no one was capable at that stage to produce the size tires and they just "decided" on 26". Well technology caught up! Those on 26" bikes - you can stay with it, no need to always argue the point with 29" riders. In my view you are all either jealous or simply too clever.

Once again I need to agree with you. The facts is that I love MTB and try and do as much events/races as possible. The other fact is that I hardly get time to practise on the bike. Once a week if I am very lucky. With this much training, I found the 29er to be much more forgiving. Take less hammering and less effort. For me this equates to better times and even more enjoyment. If you don't train often enough, you don't gain all the required technical skills. The 29er allows me to ride items that I did not attempt with the 26" FS.

I have the Giant and VERY happy. I also had a look at the Trek, but you simply cannot compare the components. With the components in the Giant you would have expected it to be R6k more than the Trek. It is however R6k cheaper. I also did not like the colour scheme of the Trek. Did my research as I was concerned about the "thin" joint on the toptube against seat tube on the Giant. It was recalled in the US only. My research indicated that more people cracked the Trek GF frames than the Giant and you still have a lifetime warranty. The decision was easy. The one major diff is the sizing. Trek Large = 19", XL = 21" Giant Large = 20", XL = 22" What size do you need. PM me if interested and I will see what cash/internet price I can arrange for you with my contacts. What pi.... me off was that I could only get the Trek from Cyclelab and they kept promising for two months that it will arrive the next week. They took my number and to date have not even informed me that some arrived.

RIP Carla