Bos

I've used Tryptech for 3 bikes to (Durban, PMB and Pretoria) roof racks from the south coast.

Longer distance and no mountains.. I'd stay the hell away from that combo I'm running a DHF/Aggressor and even that may be overkill. It feels like riding with the brakes on compared to my other wheelset which has 2.35 ICON/Ardent Race combo. If you're not going to be focusing on going down hills. Consider a fast rolling but wide rear tire like a Razor Rock/ Minion SS/ Spez slaughter, with perhaps the Aggressor front? I know the Ardent is also popular in the states (fast rolling rear with good cornering) and often sold for a bargain locally. Maxxis Forecasters also roll well and often come up on bikehub.

Remember there is a one way valve in the shockpump. I have never had issues with it. One can clearly feel the pressure ramp up before equilising, and then when the shock is pushed passed the sag point, one can feel it. Anyway. Splitting hairs here. Probably best practice to remove it.

Yes! It blew my mind. Unless like I said, the pump's reading is off.. I cycled the shock a bunch of times to balance the pressure. Didn't remove it though.. Is it not to damage the shock? perhaps to late :blink:Will get a second opinion

I helped my Brother in law set his up his Spark 900 (120mm) 2 weeks ago. it had the Fox DPS EVOL NUDE Performance shock. That thing went up to 280psi before he got about 27% sag at his 78kg weight. Im not sure how the NUDE internals effect it, the thing but I'd hate to know what a 90kg guy is supposed to do. Unless, my shockpump is way off..

I've been following the Charger damper threads and done a lot of reading from pretty clued up (Push, Suspension lab, Shockcraft etc) people and the common issues that the guys with the big magnifier glasses had with the RS forks since 2014 has been that they were over-damped for the average user. If you go listen to the Vital podcast on the Charger RC2.1 damper, and now the ZEB podcast, they mention that they are trying to make the fork less harsh, with a more usable range of adjustments. IOE, Less HSC, less friction, less, better lubricants etc..Which although admitting to some form of fault in the passed, at-least means they are moving in the right direction. I think they caught a bit of a wake up when they did data acquisition on competitors products. Having said that, If you listen to the Fox 36 brigade, they also have lots to moan about. and the most common is the creaking stanchion/crown interface, which Is a far bigger nightmare. Long and the short of it. I doubt I will ever own a ZEB, Mayhem might have better use for it but it sounds like a good fork, that covers things we have not even begun to perceive as problems (ebikes etc..) Mayhem, this is your fork pal.

Cant imaging anyone in this country needing one of those for anything else than bragging rights. When the guys winning the enduro races are not even using enduro bikes. Will be more handy at the endure class of the DH series. But wondering how long they keep the Lyric on. Although Its a very successful product and they'd be stupid to cull it.

There are parts of the other trails I love.. but as a whole.. Red P does it for me. If I had to break it up in sections: Iron Monkey's top 2 tiers.. the flowtrail part is so hot and then the next pretty nice with some proper gnar in the rocks, but not quite as bad as Plumber's middle. Armageddon 7&6..the first two we did at the EWC. Also keen to ride the DH trail..next time I have some time in there, some nice jumps and gaps to do. I now have a Annual Jonkers Permit so I guess im kind of local there. However, I rode Helderberg with Nox about a month ago, they did some serious grooming on some trails and rode so good! some gaps to he hit as well. Was a bit windy on the particular day, but I'll be back for sure.

Take me there.. Red Phoenix has to be my favorite trail right now. Its not the most Gnarly, steepest or has the best jumps.. but I just love the continuous flow of speed and especially the middle part where you just bomb straight down with a ravine next to you and a wall on your right. I could do laps of it all day. Would love a few more airtime options.. but its darn close to the perfect "trailbike trail"..

Wow. Cant help but drool over that Ohlins equipped Privateer. What's the seat angle on that thing anyway?

Hey, of course man, Im not bashing anyone, I was just saying. Probably stating the obvious. Trails are obviously not this bikes main focus, and I agree with you, but a capable rider can do amazing things with these things. I use to be an advocate for this, even doing the Plumber, drop included with my full height saddle although pretty darn scary! I think I'm just getting old

Nice bike, Nice paint options. It feels like a bit of a forgotten art with all the attention going to Geo, Kinematics, tech etc. Nice one Spez. I'd love one of those Magic mushroom inspired paint-jobs. via Pinkbike Funny I didn't see one in Jonkershoek this passed weekend Speaking of Stellies though, I know the big "S" is based in Stellies, so It makes sense to have this shoot/launch there. I rode Armageddon which is more on the xc side of things, right? Well I rode it (on my Enduro bike) with my brother inlaw on his RM Element, and I suddenly became aware how rough and technical even that trail was. Hard to Imagine anyone still wanting 100mm bikes. But then again, 90% of the country rides dirtroads I guess.. If you live and ride in these areas however, and taking into account how efficient bikes are these days, a 120mm Epic would be my choice.

https://youtu.be/SQ51ww-qQ6U Check this out.. Its hard to imagine.. but Big Wyn Masters Rips this little LTS circa 1997 so hard! I was waiting for those wheels to buckle around every turn. Probably because thats all I can remember from the 90's !

Pretty WOW deal.. https://www.norco.com/bikes/2020/mountain/trail/fluid-fs-aluminum/fluid-fs-1/ Especially If you dont want the same bike as every second other dude. Norco has been winning rewards with their geo, and this bike should be just as capable, It has a proper build spec, although the DH tyres and Flow wheels may be a bit overkill. you can sell those or maybe ask the dealer to swap them, Unless you want to go 2.6 DHF hard on your 120mm.

Very true. In my opinion the Trail catagory still sits in the 120mm range, and having gone from a 90mm to a 110mm to a 130 to a 150mm bike the last 3 years, Id say the options listed by @DJP are spot on. I am not a specialized fan but wow some of those deals were mad. The Stumpy fatty full carbon with a Pike in Mens and Woman for R30 000 was a givaway. Its probably slightly overkill(guessing not knowing more about DJP's riding) but I'd get that and just swap to a regular 29er wheelset, It will still be lighter than most. https://www.specialized.com/za/en/stumpjumper-fsr-expert-carbon-6fattie/p/118362?color=209257-118362 https://www.specialized.com/za/en/rhyme-fsr-expert-carbon-6fattie/p/107259?color=195929-107259 If thats not available the Merida 120 gets great reviews but at 40K youre still geting ali frame but decent spec. Plenty of guys stock Scott and I agree the Scott sparks will be great for you. Try get hold of an older year model so you get a proper frame and suspension. Fox 34's or similar with the dropper posts and 120mm travel. That alone will blow your mind If you're not use to it. Try Jonty Neetling at the hanger, King Cycles in Worcester or Bike Addict for scott.

Hi Guys, quick question with regard to Family permits purchased online. I thought it time to take the plunge and get a family permit since my boy will be joining me more often for rides in there and we were supposed to have a family outing there Sunday. So I went through the whole shabang as per any other online purchase, via the MTO website. It went onto my ABSA secure where I entered the OTP and I got confirmation that the transaction was successful. The next screen prompts one to download the MyMTO App. I did that but there is no sign of my permit purchase.. Go back to the website, I eventually found record of it in "My profile/account//purchase history/permits" where it seems to be active.. Anyone use the website to pay for a day permit recently?

Haha, maybe..maybe.. Maybeee I just ride so smoothly I have been riding it pretty firm to be honest. Trying to keep it high in the travel. I took the C2 damper out a while ago to do the "MTBR-light rebound tune" and put the Moco back in, I couldn't bottom that out either So perhaps its something to do with the Pies.

Hans I went from the C1 RCT3, to the C2 RCT3, and must admit, the biggest performance gain might have come from the new airspring (I had the DPA though). The C2 damper has a softer compression tune, which is more comfortable at "supportive" spring pressures, If that makes sense. Which is nice for me, but im a lightweight and you might not want/need that. Apparently C2.1's tune is even softer and you might have to get it custom tuned firmer anyway, since the original C1's shimstack would have been perfect for you. The Debonair II or III does make sense though and you will enjoy that. So, my answer would be, get the latest debonair spring, and get your damper custom tuned for a win-win. The Newer boost fork is nice and wide looking though, Looks a bit more "stout" incase you were just itching for something new.

Running no tokens at the moment. I managed to use full travel a couple of times, but that was only when hitting a certain G-out on my home trails so fast I almost blacked out from the Gforces I rode Helderberg 2 weeks ago and only got about 120mm even after bonking some of the jumps. I dropped 3-5 psi before hitting Jonkershoek this weekend, and although the fork felt more comfortable on the smaller stuff, and not really harsh on the big stuff, Its just not using that last 25mm which is not a train smash, but I'd like to believe if it does what the new MK3 Airspring says, it should be pretty good. I'll be sure to comment once I've tested it. I can always throw a token back in, but one cant take more out right now.

I Believe Tom has..? I ordered one but have not managed to collect it. Will let you know when I do. I rode Jonkers this weekend that passed and Still only used 120 of my 150 mm travel. Lets hope the new spring unlocks the last bit.

There she is. Cant say its pretty

A full sus brother. Main triangle is your largest part which is about 700x650mm easy! besides, you can have some crude pre-prods routed at a CNC router service out of marine ply to check everything is perfect. But thats just me Or go home build.. like Isak Leivsson is rocking a hand-built DH bike at Wind Rock last weekend.

Go the Pole way... CNC the thing out of two blocks of alu & screw it together.

In that case, you'll have to consider how much compromise the versatility brings. However in this case there might not be much?

With the current trend of SA riding, "Racing" becoming more technical and Enduro riding becoming a more popular choice, this bike pretty much covers the one bike quiver..