D Vader

Eish! Totally correct Ryan and Captein, sorry! Consternation of my lack in concentration!!

Newer trend is to increase headtube angle and shorten chainstay, Good or bad? I think it is a very good idea. So VIPA would be my choice. Fast up = good. I do think the Pyga is great, just depends on application and personal choice.

Mostly, stiffness.

I'm interested in the Chinese wide carbon rims on I think Light bikes? They have a 120kg weight limit , 23mm inner diameter and weigh about 380grams ( about the same as Crest), price seems to work out to about R2500 per rim including shipping. Anybody else keen to try these?

Loved the race! Funniest race briefing yet. The 60km was slightly longer than before( 61.5) and the route was awesome, plenty of rough , rocky descents. General vibe at this race is really great, very nice change from the usual overcrowded noisy s!!t. Highly, highly recommended, great weekend for a family outing.

Ikons may struggle on AM rims, I ride this combo. They are a bit loose. Did you hear the magic 2 pops when seating the tyre, if not then inflate more, careful.. Rimtape or valve may be leaking, which means you need to do it over.

A lot of pro riders ride wider than 700mm, so NO , pure racing also uses wider bars, these days. The trend has shifted to wider bars, esp with bigger wheels. Wider bars= open chest and more leverage esp on the climbs, where the wider angle gives you the ability to pull on the bars more strongly, ask the SS folk. I find the open chest sensation with wider bars the most positive aspect. Look where you are going to avoid trees and pole/gates. If you weigh 88kg, how broad are your shoulders? Narrow bars are for guys riding fixies in traffic It is somewhat subjective, but try a few friends bikes( you need to use it for a while) and I'm sure you will find your fit.

Wear a Neoprene toecap over the wet shoe, it will stay wet but you do not get the wind and it stays a lot warmer.

DO NOT wear baggies!! Everyone will know you are a novice and just scared of showing you actually may have a tottie.

2.35 Racing Ralph or Nobby Nick run nice and low ( depending on weight and other terrain) perhaps 1.1-1.2 front and 1.6-1.8 rear. Remember to lock the front shock before hitting the sand or just lock it anyway. ( to prevent nosedive)

Fantastic!! I have mentioned the need for this to a few people, and here it is. Pity about the timing, always difficult to satisfy everyone, I hope I make it back from Pioneer in time. Great idea, good luck with the event, I hope the 1st one is already a huge success.

As Rouxtjie said. Rotational mass from the periphery in , so: 1. Tyres 2. Rims 3. Spokes 4. Cassette 5.Brake disks 6. Hubs 7. Cranks and pedals ( position variable depending on cadence) 8. Chain 9. Fork ( but easy and fairly cheap to drop 1kg by going rigid) 10. Derailleur 11. Saddle, frame and other static bits

Well Op, I hope you have been given a chance to ride a 1x11, how was it?

Could you PLEASE move these trails to JHB. I would love to live near these, and ride every bloory day!!

I use a set of 520s almost daily, on my commuter, yes strong,( so actually like them for training) but When I put Crest or AM race wheels on bike , you do feel a huge diference in acceleration and tyre profile

For a better ride, GO WIDE

DT Swiss M520 are VERY HEAVY ( and too narrow), Put some Stans ZTR Crest rims on your AM Race hubs, handbuilt, strong and reliable option. Or Arch rims to be safe. ( I think 50 grams more per rim), or try the new American classic 101 rims. Mavic SLR are too narrow for me and expensive , with some hub issues. Shimano XT also too narrow and rather heavy, with open bearings.

Put gears into the 2 biggest rings, so, 36? rear and 39? front. Then depress suspension, sit on bike, and be sure that there is about 2links ( or 1 male and 1 female link) overlap on the chain ends. cut at this length of overlap and join the chain with quicklink. This should be the correct tension on the chain. Sram type 2 is excellent and should never drop your chain.

Look S-track or Shimano M540, really trusty, much better value etc. easy answer.

Unflavoured 32GI, the blue tub. You will have to add caffeine, have an espresso before and after the ride.

Sorry, I'll miss this one in future. Cold, dusty, and very so-so track, not really fun. Hope the guys doing it do enjoy it, just not my cuppa.

XX1 recently on bike. Fantastic, I love the gear ratios. 34 front ring ( Wolf tooth, so saved a few grand on new cranks). Well over 60km/h before I spin out in the 10 and the 42 is, for me, a bail out gear. Love gripshift, always have, new xx1 gripshift ( no problems with mine, so far) is awesome, smooth, precise, easy, light. XO1 seems a very good idea for the 'consumables'. Already for sale on CRC at 2/3 the price of XX1. Quiet. Go and give it a ride OP, I'm sure you will love it.

Maxxis Ikon 2.2

Sounds good, I'll try to bring some mates.

Wow, strange combo, having Xmark front and not liking rocket ron which has a lot more grip, anyway each to their own I guess. Rocket Ron has even more grip than Racing Ralph, where you running proper pressures? Xmark has nice low rollresitance for the rear but useless grip in front, loosepack on hard surface washouts very easily. mostly bulletproof though. I'll use Icon rear and 2.35 Racing ralph front, worked well on Pioneer, should be OK.