Clinton - theCOW

Been here the whole time, just the holidays off but on Standby 24x7. Off from Monday for a week. Hauled my lazy donkey out of bed early to squeeze in a ride pre-work, so not all bad. 18 April - 5 May book leave before the other holiday wekka's are back

I haven't broken the 100km on dirt yet, so nope, haven't done it yet. Think the 4 stages is for the guys that want to enter as a team, so each member rides a "stage" if i'm not mistaken.

Switching makes sence, don't want to have to carry/keep 2-3 different chains.

Nice ride Arb Q: Did you need the tensioner running a half link chain? Thought you could get the right chain length if you go half link? Pardon my roadie geared brain.

Saw this on the Spruit, nice ride dude

There's about 5-6 of us intending to ride it, i've yet to do over 100km offroad yet. Longest day i think is 220km on road so this is a serious challenge for myself and the lil mrs. I don't think there's any restrictions wrt slipstreaming etc, that'll be hell for the organisers to manage. No compulsory stops from my knowledge, but from what i remember reading on past events, 2 proper meal stops, so guessing Sat brekkie and dinner. Idea is to go out there, have fun and finish it, not aiming to be a hero

I too was skeptical. They placed ads on the hub now of specials, i got GP4000s from them. I got his mobile number, called, arranged and he dropped off. Seems i didn't count the cash correctly and he's called to tell me i overpaid and wants to trf cash back to me. Hope they do well, competition in a tight market is always good

Thanks for the review! @ sub 11kg's, it's not bad imo. I ride a sub 11 26" dual so to get 27.5 below that is going to cost many mandela's. Not sure if it was menioned before, what bike did you come from, 26/29, HT/Dual etc. Being a lil person, i think the 27.5 wheelsize is going to suit me best

Enjoy, looking forward to reading the ride/test review. I'm more keen on the 27.5 as a shortie, this is definitely a route i'd follow. Happy riding, hope she brings you many (S)miles

I'm waiting for 27.5 to become more mainstream, i think as a short person, it'll be better than a 29r. Glad somebody will get use out of your bike

What saddle you looking for, i have a white SDG (Think Circuit) with oval carbon rails (not I-Beam) i was looking to sell. Drop me a PM if you interested to see etc. Can meet in the West

Hubland is an amazing place, where honest individuals are sometimes hard to differentiate from the scammers. Can Hot Spot confirm that they sold the bike? If so who at Hot Spot? Think a Classified Ad may help, also a size is necessary.

@ 163 you're 3cm shorter than me. My length is in my torso, so longer stems on bikes is the future for me if i get my knee over pedal right. I'm currently on a medium frame (think a 17") but after fitting with Retul, i should be on a Small to get my knee over pedal axle "even more right".

1. What stem length are you using? 2. How is your saddle setback/knee over foot/axle position? if 2 is good & you can go shorter on 1, saves you replacing frame, steering may become more sensitive, 24mm is quite a bit unless you on a 100mm or longer stem if 2 is out, you'll need to go to a smaller frame, it'll also improve power, i had to replace seatposts to get it all right but i believe my power has improved for it

I've ridden a set of Candy's for a short period of time (2 months), never enjoyed them, too loose, seen a set that hit a rock, 4 entry points became 2 & they wear grooves into your shoes. Now try juggle to find the 2 working entries, need to be serviced regularly. I have Shimano XT on my SS, Look S-Track (Std ver) on my dual sus. I'll be moving to Look S-Track completely. They are tighter than the Shimano's but release like a bomb. I found with Shimano, springs are external and require a bit of maintenance else the release is less than desirable. My rating: 1. S-Track is still new(ish), i've hit a few rocks etc and they've held up very well, haven't experienced clay type mud but the clearance is good with "loose" mud, i do tap my shoe to clear some mud before trying to cleat during muddy conditions. There was a S-Track thread on the hub. 2. Shimano's are bullet proof, besides the lubing springs, i've hit rocks on many occasions and they've held up very well. I've also opened up the axle to pump in more grease but that was quick, easy and painless. If i had to, i'd go back to Shimano. 3. 4. 5. Eggbeater/Candy's

Like! This year was my 1st, definitely keen for next year

Saw these on CWC a while back, not sure if it has the "Nut" you're talking about, i haven't got any Thru Axle's but the 1 pic has a nut? http://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/alero-through-axle

What JC said sums it all up. I went from 3x10 to 2x10, much better in my opinion as the tendency to cross chain is less & i've yet to snap a chain on 2x10 setup, i had snapped on 3x10. You also reduce on the number of gears that overlap having a 3x10 setup. What is your reason for changing to 3x10? Do you not have enough gears top end or bottom end cos that can be rectified either with a crankset change (which you'd do moving to a 3x setup) or a different cassette.

Being a roadie where carbon rules, i've taken a bit to riding in the dirt (seems quite a lot these days). After pimping my lil ladies Dual, i was stuck with a whole lot of parts. I decided to build a spare bike for anybody to use, you know the mate that wants to try MTBing and doesn't have a bike scenario. So i eventually found a light carbon frame (cos i'm a weight weenie), then went riding with some crazy SS people. So the seed was planted, i hooked up a rigid fork from a hubber, popped all the parts together and KungFu Master was born

This grates me! We try keep bins/bags in the car, the kids get a mouthful from me when they even throw stuff in the car. They're getting it as youngens & hopefully will not be mors jorse. It happens everywhere, there's guys in my building that leave trash on the floor in the basement, educated people who earn in the R500k region, why not just take it to your desk and bin it, lazy ass fawkers!

Gordie, think Solomons works on a price based on when goods were received @ what exchange/cost. I got a 6 bolt to center lock adapter, price diff on the 2 was R20. Seen the same with seat posts i bought. I took the cheaper in each case I sold a friend a XT chain for R180, what i paid, you think i could find another 10sp @ that price?

Leather would be awesome!

So my question is what happened to the donor bike frame? It's a small? I might be keen to convert my 2030 SS (Giant XTC Carbon with Carbon Rigid fork) into a more retro SS ride, after it's received the Tractor polishing treatment Love your work dude! My lil Mrs will kill me tho if i have to build/buy another bike

This is what i call achievement & why i do what i do: Avg cyclist needed help in finishing 94.7 last year, we caught him on our 2nd lap and helped push him home along Summit, cos he's our mate & fellow COW, he had a 7hr odd day He's trained his @$$ off in 2013, lost 10-15kg's, did Baviaans this year as well He bled in a long legged black outfit with the rest of us this year and finished Sub 3 He did the 2nd lap and pushed Ice Cream bikes Cutting 4hrs off your time and having the ability to still do a 2nd lap, anybody avg i believe can really up their game PS.....i was at the back of the group pushing people, so i guess i was drafting

I really ride for the 2nd lap. The race and go home doesn't paint a true picture of what is happening out there. Go see the people suffering in the heat, enjoy the vibe of JHB, dance on a stage. The pink people are the Zach Foundation, the money they raise goes into Paediatric Cancer research. Guy on the IC bike was David, his wife rode it last year. There are perks of being a COW, yes we work hard to fund raise but we also had i think 3 of our own water points, UTI had a beer tent on route for us, we stopped in @ Steers (on the N14) for burgers Directions - no worries dude, someday you'll pay it forward and help another person out