Ride Rate Review

Oh man, a chain breaker would be the cherry on the cake here, but they don't want to take all the business away from S. hahaha I am always hopeful there is someone out there with a breaker with him. Jokes aside, I think Specialized are currently leading in the innovation/intergration sectors but for how long? All these small companies are crawling up out of the wood works with very clever idea's.

Ever since Specialized dropped the SWAT bomb on the cycling industry I have been quite jealous of folks able to carry integrated tools inside their bikes. If I rode packless I used to be very limited with the things I carried. I mean a multi tool in the pocket just doesn't work for me because its damn uncomfortable, bouncing round in the rough, I used to just risk it and hope for the best, until today. There are some very awesome products being releases in the cycling world and it seems tool integration is becoming a big thing, like it should. This is the All In Multitool. Ordered from the fantastic okes at allinmultitool.co.za. You can bet there will be a video.... very soon

Thanks hey..... I wish it did. Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Thank you so much, I'm stoked you are enjoying the content. It's quite a big learning curb but I'm getting there. What's rad is meeting some of you on the trails. MTB is bringing ppl together and creating new friendships. That's one of my goals for the channel and it seems to be working.

Just back from a ride and my riding buddy was sporting something special. They seem practical and legit if you can't carry a bottle in the frame & not as bad looking as the moon bags of the past at all.

Enjoying an epic sunset from the hilltop.

Yeah all bikes should work out to being the same cost to service and maintain, but maintenance costs depend on how many miles you do, quality of parts etc. Don't expect the same maintenance costs on something like SRAM eagle.[emoji15] Items like the specialized brain, cane creek shox, lefties etc may cost more to service. Fox I think requires more servicing than rockshox which I think has longer intervals, MRP I believe has 200hr intervals, which is frikken main. Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Then we are on the same page. There are so many options open to u right now. Its all very exciting & scary at the same time, isn't it? Don't stress, no matter what u get, it should be good. Bad bikes are pretty rare, I haven't ridden one yet. Some are just better at doing some things than others, depending what the designers are wanting out of the bike. The perfect bike is just a myth.

Dates, coconut, nuts and seeds, blend, eat & ride. Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Trail bike for sure. The difference between race bikes and trail bikes now days wrt climbing is not as significant as you think, sure a steeper bike allows you to keep the front wheel down on steeper stuff, amongst some other small things, but just adopt a different climbing technique and your golden. You will feel safer, more comfortable and you will be less limited to riding the newer more technical stuff to with confidence. Did I mention because of the 29 inch wheels they roll well and can carry u for miles too??? For the tygerberg trail network 100 mm is fine but the fun is at 120mm -130mm, that's when u can open the bikes up and really feel alive. Hit the rock gardens easily, ride steeper stuff and hit those big drops and some jumps that you see the other okes smash. Stating that a bike is faster is totally one sided, it may be faster at something but at a sacrifice of another. I'm pretty much a soul rider and I really enjoy having fun on the trail, race bikes you are very much on your toes and always looking for smoother lines to take to accommodate less travel. It's also a harder ride where trail bikes have more squish so alot less hurt on your body. There are plenty of demo bikes around. Go out try a few trail bikes then try race bikes. If u not racing every weekend then leave the race bike for the okes in the top 20. Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Nah, they have/are jumping ship to board the #Scottoloveit bandwagon, seeing as they dominated the Epic.

Now that is an interesting ride.

Lol.... now there's an idea. Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

I can't wait till ppl start packing Bluetooth speakers in these out on the trails. Big fanny boom box Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

That my friend is the entrance of Bennett's Red Phoenix at Jonkershoek Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

I think icon would be better on the back. Xmark up front then, it looks like it may have better side knobs than the icon. Were going into winter and non of these are good at clearing mud, keep that in mind. I have run a monorail and xmark combo before and it was ok, for an xc setup. The roll was great. You could also go continental, x king front and race king rear. Both are good for xc. It's not amazing grip but it totally manageable, ran it for a while on a hardtail xc build no problems or washouts in the dry. I'd personally do the continental combo above. Offers better grip than the maxxis with minimal resistance penalty. Pure grip side walls are paper thin so watch out for sharp rocks and pinch flats on the rear. It will also clear mud slightly better.

I got this pair of Leatt Airflex Pro the other day and I have been wearing them non stop for the past couple of rides. Now let's get crashing.

This bike was sitting in my garage, freshly washed, lubed & ready to go back to PYGA after a good test period, but it looked at me with those trail riding eyes. My willpower is unfortunately very weak & I couldn't resist the urge. I had to take the PYGA Stage MAX out for 1 more epic ride. Tomorrow will be a sad day. But I will remember you fondly and I have a great video edit dropping to remind me of the great times we had together. We will meet again.

Last day on this Pyga Stage MAX before it goes back. It's a scorcher of a day out but I couldn't think of a better place to spend that last day than shredding some trails in Paarl. Fast and flowy to the MAX.

There are many factors to consider. what do you LIKE to ride(fire road or trail), what is your skill level (can u handle a bike properly or not), what position do you want to be in when you ride (relaxed mx bike or super bike), are you riding 70km+ mainly on district road, do you want to have fun or race? those are just some of the questions that could steer you to the right choice. The Camber is specialized biggest seller at the moment in cape town for a reason. Their sales team is steering customers in the right direction keeping their safety and enjoyment in mind. It's a very capable bike that can ride most trails and is more confidence inspiriring so it's not as aggressive, more forgiving (allowing riders to hone in skills and become more confident & better riders) generally xc/marathon bikes are RACE bikes So it's like a sports car, you shouldn't give someone a sports car until he can drive properly, they could injure themselves badly possibly kill themselves, I'll give the epic prologue as an example, once the general population hit the singletrack and especially something with more tech it was tickets for them, falls, otb's, etc, many of whom lost out on even riding the first stage. This is an extreme sport and YOUR safety should be in mind. In Cape Town we are lucky to have a variety of different trail and the way things are moving trails will become more technical(hence new style xc bike changing geometry). with a race bike if you are not a capable rider you may limit yourself to certain trails and miss out on easily stepping outside your comfort zone to ride new and exciting trails so you could try future proof your purchase. I will always steer someone more towards a trail style bike for the Cape's trails than a xc bike, unless you are SERIOUS about RACING marathon, xco AND have intermediate to advanced level of riding skill or you possibly like to ride flatish stuff with lots of climbing and majority jeep track and put in serious milage (70km +), you could get a gravel bike for that. Your Safety should come first. Alway keep an open mind and give it some thought. Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Marathon bikes usually are the same as xc bikes but have space for extra bottle storage. Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Apologies. I should have phrased that better. Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

If you like jeep track xc bike. If you like single track trail bike. Trail bike is more forgiving and allows you to make more mistakes without throwing you over the bars. You are more relaxed and comfortable on a trail bike because your weight is further back. Head angle is slacker giving u better stability in rough. Xc bike head angle is steep so very twitchy in the rough. Your Weight is moved forward over the front so descents seem steeper than they really are, hence so many nervous riders out on the trails when on xc bikes. Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

I have not installed the Luftkappe yet but from what I have heard from a source who has been on one for a few weeks is that it gives the pike a more Lyrik like feel on the small chatter, so more sensitive to small bump. I have a Lyrik but I am hoping to get one for my Pike on another bike soon.I will definitely shoot an installation video as well as a review if I do end up getting one.

There has to be a trail in the Tygerberg network where visitors and newcomers can start getting accustomed to off road & single track conditions. If you want a little fun there then i suggest smashing a few loops of Meerendal on a road bike. I am on the trails a lot and see all sorts of things, falls, k.o's, hell i even scraped a dude off a berm and helped him contact a loved one as he was pretty post toastied. What i do see the most is 85% of people are so nervous on their bike that it looks like they are about to being strung and given 1000 lashes, on the slightest descents, I rack that up poor bike choices. If they had a more comfortable bike that was more relaxed, things may have been different.