(Deon)

Just remind me, what's the problem again? Go for it Mulebar guy. Best of luck with your endeavours - heck you need it, transformation is not easy.

Vid with a twist.. Coke is it! Queue silent movie.

So someone takes a super pricey bike to a flea market to have the tyre fixed. Not suspicious at all.. Shows you that with LBS's around the country being proactive in stolen bike cases, people are hesitant to use this channel for repairs and would rather go to some arb place where the threat of being found out is "less". Well done Nils.

Thanks for mentioning it to him, slowly but surely the word will spread. On the other hand (and why I think the message will spread), I get phone calls from running groups wanting to conform. Seems they completely understand the issue around allocation of trails.. that MTB has so few vs open access to 880km for foot.

See, you make my point so clear. I also have a heck a lot of money wrapped up in a 2013 26" bike. It was designed by Pat Morewood who is renowned in MTB, just like Santa Cruz who have been crafting bikes for years. I bought it at a time when Giant were between sizes and there were no other options available until now with the 27.5 Reigns. While some might say I was foolish to buy a 26" bike, I would turn to the manufactures and importers who at the time were still producing and selling this size, they were very happy to take my money. I priced a SC Nomad and the 26" frame was retailing for R24 000. What if I had the money, I might have bought this bike the importer was happy to provide. In less than a year, the tune now being sung is, "sorry but you are now a niche and will no longer be supported". You can however still by a Cross Mark in black, excellent tyres! I also point any importer reading this to the second hand market. The trade in 26" bikes is alive and well, the existing bikes didn't just disappear. To say this wheel size is a niche is factually incorrect.

True, but at the same time not true. Fox has produced 11 new 26" forks for 2015. Almost every tyre manufacturer has a model for every discipline. The problem in SA is the importer who thinks they know what the market needs. If anything, the 26" wheel size will be killed off in this country because of the importer. Bring on all the excuses; stock, niche, cost etc, the fact is when a car is discontinued, spares are still available for years, not months as in this case..

sukuma is cool, not riding it as often as I'd like but that's no fault other than my own. Let me know how much and when you ready to part with the bars, would be good to try my theory.

It'll work. I feel just ever so slightly cramped on the sukuma, don't want a longer stem or people will point, so ill move up in length from my corner cafe 711 bars to about a 740. That should stretch the arms a bit..

I recall having this conversation with you about a year ago. It all makes perfect sense! Damn, I need wider bars!

Did you see Victor's 2015 Vipa project adds up to 8.3kg so far?

Pity. Plascon Remove-all. It's used in the Table Mountain reserve for graffiti and is biodegradable. Works wonders, suggest it to the farmer.

Thanks for being considerate, talking seems to go further than yelling. We can only hope the dad will be more attentive in future.

Show me the smarties first..

This is what I'm talking about. It's like the rest of the world is accepting change while still supporting the old. Here in this country you just hang out to dry. "While the “old” 36 lowers could squeeze a meaty 27.5″ tire (although Fox strongly advises against it), the new forks are available in every popular wheel size. Not only can you pick this fork up in a 26″, 27.5″, or 29″ version, but they are also making models with a straight steer. That means that even if your bike is ancient by current industry standards, you’ll not only have newer suspension options, but you can mix and match angle set cups to help improve handling."

Fox have 11 different 26" forks for 2015. Why are 26" tyres not being supported?

I love the ardent.

Right you are. It's fine that the world has moved to different sized tyres, but look at the second hand market still trading in quality frames and components. Heck, a 2012 Fox VAN RC2 ain't cheap, what must I do, toss it in the bin?

I could understand the culling a few years down the line when the market for 26 tapers, but for it to be in the same year as industry adoption of the new wheel size seems a bit premature. Bike manuf. are only starting to produce 650b en masse now, yet we see a sudden demise in this tyre size. There is bound to be an outcry as riders with heavy investment in 26" kit find very little support in what is still today, the largest percentage of bike owners. This number will obviously change in the near future as less 26" bikes produced but for local manufacturers to abandon a segment seems suicidal. It's like not getting spares for a normal phone because smart phones are now more popular.

I could go through all tyre manufacturers and list a high performance 26” product still in production from each but the short list below shows & proves that support is across the board. Tyre manufacturers are still committed to producing tyres for all available wheel sizes for every discipline, but I can’t see them continuing if the local distributers do not support the existing local market. So I ask you, who will kill the 26” wheel? Manufacturer, Product: - Continental, Trail King Full range - Maxxis, High Roller II Full range - Kenda, Nevegal X Pro Full range - Onza, Ibex Full range - Schwalbe, Magic Mary Full range - WTB, Vigilante Full range 26” rims are still in production and available locally from an extensive list of shops. You will still find high performance parts or wheel-sets being sold at competing size prices but you will be hard-pressed to find high performance rubber to wrap it. Why is there a disconnect between who rides and who imports and can something be done about import choices before it’s too late?

I'll chat to Perkin. He has a few lying around.

usually not, not unless Dragon's sees the need, which historically has been lacking.

Too late Iwan!

..get them up against the wall! Now who posted that pink lefty??

You aiming for a 20k post count today?

I'm going to read that again.. (how many mega coffees have you had already?!)