MudLark

Quite. And my bike is on Race Kings. I'm now starting to wonder whether that is a mistake… Guess I am going to find out…

So, what's the expectation for road conditions this year? Last year there were some pretty badly corrugated sections. On MTBs, what tyres are guys planning on running? Some people say that running a XC 2.3 nice and soft is ideal but I'm not sure that's at all right.

I took a mates e-bike for a spin yesterday - a Specialized jobby. It's not for me (yet) but I get it. I can't help feeling a bit like its cheating but at the same time I can see that it depends upon how you approach it. You can work just as hard on an e-bike (calories per hour) but at the same time you can also cover more ground and have more fun. The traditional bike sure isn't going to disappear but I see a lot of people taking to e-bikes in the future.

What exactly do you mean when you refer to a "width rating"? Do you mean how wide the tyre actually is relative to its stated width? I imagine that there are probably a number of different methods by which the width of a tyre may be determined and depending upon which method you use, you may end up with a different answer (?).

Hm... not sure I'm on the same page...

Okay. Somewhere eise I posted on the prep required for new Contis. See if you can find the thread or ask me again via PM if necessary. Incidentally, I pulled my one pair of Contis off Sat evening to put new sealant in. True to form, it was a bit of a struggle to at first break the seal and get the first bit of tyre over the rim lip. Cleaned out the old sealant and renewed it, put them on the compressor with 3 bar pressure and "bang, bang, bang", all properly seated and rode Sunday with no issues. They're a bit harder to prep and get off than other brands but very good tyres IMHO.

Weird. Been running various Contis on two different bikes for some time now with no issues. In my experience they require proper prep per Contis instructions a quite a lot of pressure to seat properly - 2.5 to 3 bar - and when they're on they're much harder to get off than any other tires I have used so far (Michies and Maxxus amongst them). I've never had a minutes drama with them once they're properly on.

Hmmm... ? [emoji16] I know, that's why I got a road bike. That said, city slicks do help but yes, its still not a road bike. The real heroes of this race were people like the ou tannie plugging away on her 70s Raleigh. And the very, very fat guy on his mountain bike. And the disabled guy on his hand powered recumbent. I truly, truly admired these people and their spirit. My "everyday heroes".

It was a total jolly! I couldn't believe what fun it was. Goodness me, from the 20km to the 25km mark I averaged 48km/h (try that on an MTB - not me!). Then on the freeway, I discovered the joy of a paceline (something I had previously only read about). I admit though that I took one look at Tom and thought, "No, hell, I'll walk up that one!". But ja, I've now got a serious addiction problem...

Oh, I wouldn't quite agree with that. On Friday I bought my first road bike ever, on Saturday I took it for a short 10 - 20k spin and on Sunday I rode my first road race ever - the 98km (91?) one - and found it very enjoyable. [emoji4] And to be clear, Saturday was the first time in.my life I rode a road bike. Well, since I was a kid 40 years ago, anyway.

Huh? What's that all about then? What Duracell bunny are you referring to?

The only guy that really scares me on a bike is the dear old black mamba. I've seen them big and thick up Thabazimbi way and had one strike the glass passenger window on a Land Rover as we drove past. That's good night nurse stuff alright.

I bought a pair of the Farr finger-less gloves from Sprocket & Jack and tried them once on a longish ride and was very disappointed with them. They have no wrist cuff/fastening mechanism and I found that they ride up and cut me terribly between the fingers. Eventually I just took them off and rode without gloves. As a result, I'm just going to stick with my Fox non-padded full finger gloves.

I also don't like gloves but I do ride with gloves because if you fall and you try to break your fall with your hands (as is usually instinctive), the absence of gloves may mean seriously skinned hands and palms. My gloves have saved my hands a few times already.

Excellent! Am I the only who hates padded gloves? In my case they actually cause numbness whereas I have no problem with "normal" gloves.

Guys, Vaalie here who wants to come join in - but how the heck do we get back from Kei to Kwelera?

The SRAM 1 x 12 with 10-50 cassette gives you almost exactly the same range as a 2 x10 with a 24/38 chain ring and a 11-40 wide range cassette. Hard to ask for more.

Hey guys. Taken up mountain biking a few months ago in my old age (grand master as of next year) and really, really addicted to it now. Really enjoy enjoy a combination of fast hard pack with some technical bits - jumps and some fast twists and turns. My first really serious fall is still coming... Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Entered. Was really looking forward to it. Down with flu. [emoji17] Try again next year then. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk