W@nted

I see Matt finished in 3rd place. DNF for Swenson in the 200km race.

In my opinion, the amount of SAFFERS that are actually interested in road racing at the highest level (nationally and internationally) is too few. Even on bikehub, there was no discussion, not even a thread on the 2026 SA road champs. Nothing. If the bikehub audience does not even care about the national champs, why should the media/sponsers and public care about cyclists trying to make it on pro level? We are mostly interested in the Argus. The biggest/most important road race on earth.

No, I have the normal 303 firecrest. Measures 53mm

Thunder Burts arrived on friday evening, so I installed them. Managed to fit them on the revolt with the flip chip still in the "short" position. Have around 4 mm clearance on each side of the tire to the frame. Probably not ideal for mud, so I will adjust the flip chip this week. Did two rides this weekend on mixed terrain. Bike felt slower, compared to the pathfinders. Definitely less "snappy" on acceleration. Stopped to deflate the tires mid ride, started on 23 psi ( Silca pressure calculator recommendation), but that was too hard. Once deflated, had more cushioning offroad. Deep gravel and grasspolle are more comfortable with the burts. Looking at the data afterwards, for the same power, speed is almost identical to the pathfinders on the tar sections, so the sluggish feel is not slower actually. Comfort and grip is definitely better than the pathfinders. I will keep on riding them and evaluating. Had no issues mounting them on my Zipp 303's.

I ordered from bikeinn in Germany. But I stay in the Netherlands, so I am not sure about ordering from them and sending to RSA.

I ordered the 2.1"

I just ordered a set of thunder burts for my revolt for an upcoming bikepacking trip. Currently running the pathfinder TLR's in 45mm.

Vey few people are privileged enough to have awesome MTB trails on their porch. With a gravel bike I can leave from my house, do a 150km loop, without worrying about the road condition. Even some singletrack is possible. Therefore many smiles per km. Same question to you regarding enduro bikes. I do not get the need to bomb down a side of a mountain risking life and limb on a rocky singletrack. Different strokes and all that.

Another opinion: Train harder and drop your buddies while riding your gravelbike on tar. This will bring the most satisfaction.

Agreed with above. Change the crankset and get a set of lekker carbon road wheels with road tires.

Pritzen is continuing alone. Stehli out of the epic due to illness.

Arianne also had lots to say about the Italians not willing to ride in the wind. That got some quick responses from italians on the youtube chat She then apologized. She is quite a loose cannon with the microphone.

I see honeycomb lost a lot of time today due to a sidewall cut. Wonder if it was a cut 32" tire... Surely the 32" wheels has a bigger risk factor compared to 29" tires, just in terms of spare availability along the route. If something happens, you cannot replace it easily?

I see their nutrition sponsor is 226 ers... Surely an opportunity missed for 32 GI...

I see that team honeycomb are racing the epic with the new Stoll mtb with 32 inch wheels. So it begins...

Looks like there are some shifting limitations with virtual gears on some of the platforms. ERG mode seems to work fine though.

Consider a wahoo kickr core trainer with the zwift cog and click system. That way you do not need to have any form of gears on the frame. It works great with zwift.

Snap! 😂

I read on facebook now that Mr Swenson is out of the epic due to an injury obtained during training a few weeks ago… Where does that leave Matt Beers now? Will they find him another team mate on such short notice?

After spending 2 years on my Revolt in european weather, disc brakes on a road bike is a no brainer for me. I converted my old rim brake road bike to a commuter. In the wet weather, the braking performance of my carbon wheels are absolutely horrible with rim brakes, and I managed to wear the brake surface down to minimum on the rim within a year. The Sram rival disk brakes on my revolt have needed no maintenance at all, apart from one new set of brake pads. It is great to know that sufficient braking power is available in all conditions.

I really wish that they would just remove the whole flip chip idea. Go UDH and get it done with.

Again, speaking from experience on creak hunting on my revolt. As a quick check, loosen and tighten the rear through axle. Check if this removes the noise. It helped me to narrow it down to the flip chip... I tried: round seatpost, replaced BB, carbon paste on the seatpost and clamp. Noise still present. In the end, I solved the creak by applying insulation tape on the contact surface between the frame and the flip chip. The creak is very sensitive to the torque applied to the through axle. Sitting vs standing, might just be the angle at which force is applied on the rear axle. Mine was also quiet when standing...

Are you sure the noise is from your seat post? Check and clean your frame flip chip and through axle. I searched high and low to eventually find that the flip chip was the culprit... Edit. Carbon paste is a non negotiable on the carbon frames. i applied carbon paste on all the moving parts and contact surfaces of the clamp assembly.

Yip 75 degrees C is the sweetspot for removing the chain from the wax pot. If the wax is too hot, most of the molten wax just drips from the chain when removing it from the pot. If the wax is too cold when you remove the chain, you sit with too much excess wax on the chain. Like mentioned, an instant thermometer removes the guessing, but you still need to manually play/adjust the temperature. A more expensive pot with proper temp control takes away the additional faff.

I pulled the trigger on the Silca wax pot during the black friday sale. Makes the process much easier with the accurate temp control. Especially when only removing the chain from the wax once cooled to 75 degrees C. Much easier than the double boiler method which typically takes the temp to around 97 degrees C.