Looks like it's got a ding in the down tube jokes aside, if you heard Silverback is SA-made, you were lied to. SA brand, yes. SA assembled, possibly. Frame, components, tyres, tubes and everything else = made elsewhere.
I think Lance's return will be great for the sport and really good for the doping debate. Provided, of course, that he doesn't get caught and he does well.
the only thing i've noticed about this fork is that it doesn't "load" nicely before a jump. It does soak up bumps though. My old fork was flexing horribly so i'm just glad to have something that is laterally stiff
Can't wait for internal hub gears to become the standard on MTBs. imagine no: dropped chains, chainsuck, mis-shifting, stuff caught in cassettes, bent derailler hangers, chain hitting stay when going over obstacles etc etc. The advantages of a single speed, but with gears
JB, surely it is the extra leverage offered by disks that saves the forearm muscles more than gritty cables? Similar to V brakes vs cantilevers. The former have more leverage than the latter.
Even experienced riders will be grabbing handfuls of brake on certain downhill. The Subaru Sabie downhill springs to mind. At the bottom of that downhill my hands were exhausted with V brakes. I haven't tried it on disks yet, but I'd imagine the fatigue wouldn't be as bad. The reason for this is fairly simple to understand. Disks have lower tolerances and hence higher leverage. Therefore less hand power needed to stop. There are other advantages which have been mentioned. My pet hate is the cables starting to develop friction in the housing and then the brake lever not springing back. Another is that when you ride through a river and get sand on your rims. The first few times you brake sounds horrible. Yes, a bit of a silly gripe, but it can't be good for your rims.
Hey Para, I just bought that Silverback's fork for my MTB. No problems so far: It's laterally stiff and the lockout works, which is all i wanted. Don't care how heavy it is. I think BB rode with one for quite a while and he said he had no problems either.
That is great value from Silverback. Even on CRC the cheapest disk brakes are really insane. Mechanicals start at about R750 and that's just for the callipers. I paid R1000 for dual-control hydraulic Deores (complete set: disks, callipers etc) but I see they're more expensive now that the rand has weakened a bit. Everything else is really expensive.
I've got the CR1 Pro, which I'm told is 100g heavier than the SL, but rides exactly the same. I'm 1,8m and ride the L (56). The frame weights less than a kilo and it's stiff. It's a great bike at a great price. I got it with Ultegra 10spd and ksiriums brand new for R18 800 about two or three years ago. No plans on changing it for the next few years either.
Mavic Crossride. I bought mine from CRC, but I see that Comobike has them for R1,8k with delivery. See: http://www.comobike.com/southafrica/ct/shop/pages/articoli.php?categoria_id=95
I say they are the best value for money. In my humble opinion, if you spend more on wheels than the Mavics, you are only paying for a reduction in weight. The bearings and strength are both of a high quality in the bottom of the range Mavics. I don't think a few hundred grams off your wheelset would make any significant difference to your race times or your riding pleasure.
