Bos

Wow. How badly do I want to go ride some of Hyltons trails right now! I've built a bit in my lifetime, and I'd admit I've never been able to just build something first time, and it just worked. However, Where I live currently out in the Breede valley, there are hardly any proper red or black trails but mountains all around. I have permission to build I just need time and rain. Go Hylton. Please come build more trails in WC.

Hey Cap, been reading through the MTBR thread on it, and I think If possible, rather get a longer travel air-spring. The new Debonair MKIII seems to have a smaller negative spring, which might make it even harder to reach full travel although its not what they clam. https://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspension/rockshox-debonair-2021-a-1133399.html#post14673989

Yea, likewise. I'm getting exactly 142mm on my 150mm pike, on my bike thats designed for a 150mm fork.

And in the Blue corner... https://community.bikehub.co.za/features/_/gear/gear-news/rockshox-updates-debonair-air-spring-for-2021-r8110?source=sidebar As you probably gathered, this just pi$$ed me off big time..

One more question to Rockshox please. How does an oversight like this sneak into a top tier top dollar suspension design, gets rolled out to thousands of products before the fix is released as an upgrade 3 years later? Sorry to sound negative when there is something else but COV - 19 news for a change. But as you can gather, I have one of these products that needs the "Fix" They have revised the air-spring 3 times in 3 years. I have the MKII on my new Pike (the red sealhead/PIKE) which works fine but as I found out and was perplexed by, the 150mm version only has 140mm travel, and that was apparently OK at the time? Being a Product designer I know how this works. This thing wasn't tested and developed properly. It goes like this: R&D calls Marketing; "Heya guys we got another upgrade on the air-spring you will love it." Marketing; "What is it?" R&D; "Well its a new anodized red seal-head that gives a plusher initial stroke which one can feel right in the carpark and weekend warriors will love!" Marketing" great we are just finalizing the catalog for next year and need all the details ASAP." R&D; "Well we are still in the testing phase but so far it works a treat, the only downside is the larger air spring is taking 10mm to settle to equilibrium, therefore we need to redesign the seal head offsets or lengthen the air shaft so that the 10mm is taken into account before allowing it to have the right amount of travel, it will take 3 weeks.." Marketing; "We don't have time its good enough.."

Agree. The Flats and stem had me wondering if this bike has been updated for Lock-down (backyard riding)

I Posted my whole Story a week before lock-down, so some of you might have seen it.. (Stolen) no bike for the best part of summer then as soon as I got a new one, the boss of the world says "LOCKDOWN" I cant tell you how badly I want to take this baby down Red Phoenix ! The story goes... My bike was stolen in the early hours of the morning on black Friday 2019, never to be seen again. However, since it was stolen from my house "Santa"m came to the party and paid out an amount I could put a fairly descent bike together with If I shopped around cleverly. As it turns out, every part has a unique story in where they came from or how they came to be that both makes the build more special because of what I managed to put together for the price, and, the mission I went through getting them. Every part had a story Fork - RS Revelation (150mm debonair) now Pike from bikehubSA. Then when I traveled to the UK in Feb, I picked up a Charger 2 RCT3 damper on e-bay UK and brought It home with me. Frame - ICAN P9 /Evolve Alpha 150mm Ex China, Snuck this out there hours before Chinese Lockdown.RS Deluxe RT3 bought new from Ukraine EbaySRAM GX Eagle group set (Bikehub)ECC hubs (bought for a bargain from a local kid who tried servicing the hub himself, incorrectly installing a bearing and doomed the hubs bust, took me 30mins and they were good as new) on Rapide TR30 rims, built myself.Shimano deore brakes (Still need a 180mm rotor for the back) + Pedals bikehub Lyne Components:-Pulse Carbon 35Di bars bikehub-Pulse 55mm Stem Stoke-170 Contour dropper bought from a buddyMaxxis 29x2.5' Aggressor + 2.5' DHF exo+ Stoke Since it took me months to receive all the parts, I opted to build the bike myself. Took muuch longer than anticipated but in the end, apart from the BB, there were no issues. PS. Excuse the water bottle, I had to got a side entry and the pink one of my wife's bike was all that fitted for the first ride but that's now sorted. I now have 3 photos

Hey Mr Smooth, when this whole Lock-down is over, can we organize a ride down the Iron Monkey and Red Phoenix ? Maybe even Invite your retired from MTB younger but older brother ? I feel for you. Your garden was this neat, and your bikes this clean before lockdown, WTF are you going to do for 3 weeks!!?? Nice bike

Not sure this has been covered on here but I signed up to Re-Brickable a while ago. Its a brilliant concept and can give many sets a new lease on life. You can buy plans for your old sets to make new builds. The platform of uploading your sets so you would know If you qualify to build other sets however, is a ball-ache. Lets just say I haven't had a few hours to try figure it out. https://rebrickable.com/home/ Give it a go though.

Also longtime Shimano advocate but at the time of buying drivetrain for my new bike There were no complete shimano 12sp in the classifieds yet, while I picked up a complete used GX Eagle for R4500. I use the index finger downshifting action of Shimano a lot and was anticipating that I would wish I just got good old 11speex XTR that's available for a song in classifieds lately. However, my experience has been quite the opposite. I've had great shifting and it's so quiet!! I love it.

Brave man.

Cheers Josh

I Have a couple of SAPO's managers on email.. dont ask.. I spammed them once for the rear shock that sat in customs for 3 weeks. the shock was at my local SAPO within the next 2 days. Perhaps I was lucky? Its a roll of the dice at the moment and Im very glad I got everything in good time.

Those EXO sidewalls are not the same as the EXO on the gravity tyres by a long shot. I burped ardent Race's on the rear, time and time again.

Sacrilege! Gram counting on the fork, but running kg tires. I'm running one myself, but on a trailbike.

Vat Cash on delivery. Took about 3 weeks.

They deliver to your door! At least mine was, and It was sent via EMS.

Gotta love these guys testing XC bikes with DHF tyres

I could have sworn some of the SID's I saw was looking pretty solid. This thing makes the fox 32 Stepcast look anorexic. Yet on the other end of things FOX is about to release the 38 Enduro fork and RS is still on their 35mm Lyric. One question might be that by the upper end of the scale, its stiff enough and that we dont need even stiffer Enduro forks which might beat you up even more? https://off.road.cc/content/news/2021-fox-38-long-travel-enduro-fork-specs-details

Some "NORMAL" bike news not relating to any virus or cancellation for a change.. https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Forks,33/RockShox/SID-Ultimate,29505#product-reviews/3799 We Ride the All-New RockShox SID Ultimate The all-new and very blue 2021 RockShox SID is a featherweight fighter that goes round for round with the welterweights. Rating: VITAL REVIEW For the first time ever, the RockShox SID goes to a 35mm stanchion with the introduction of the 120mm SID Ultimate and SID Select. The jump to a 35mm stanchion is a seemingly natural progression for the fork, considering the capability of even the fastest XC and light trail bikes these days. Vital took receipt of a RockShox SID Ultimate and have logged a few miles as well as dug into the guts of this new cross country fork to see what makes it tick and who may benefit most from this new technology. 2021 RockShox SID Ultimate Highlights Ultra-slim and trim, entirely new chassis All-new Charger Race Day damper (94g) Updated DebonAir spring 35mm stanchions Travel: 120mm travel only Wheel Size: 29” only Offset: 44mm only Weight: 1,537g (3.4-pounds) Twist-lock remote option available Integrated bolt-on fender New SKF Seals Ultimate High Gloss Black and Signature SID Blue colors MSRP: $899-$969 USD Available March 2020

So With no DHI and EWS action for the immediate future we have to start turning our attention to local racing! Im keen to check out the Helderbarg and Kontermanskloof EWC route in a bit. I need to get some miles in the legs but I'd be IN for a shuttle day at any of those venues.. since I've never raced there.

No surprises here! Postponed to when exactly?

I Ordered my frame during Jan and it got here 24th of Feb. I was so happy to see that box! At that stage there were only a number of cases outside of China, but the factory in china didn't go back to work after Chinese New year. There she is.

Im busy listening to this Podcast of Canfield bross founder... very cool insights https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/Chris-Canfield-of-Suspension-Formulas-The-Inside-Line-Podcast,2841

How bout some love for that chainstay? Must be a noisy affair!