Dirt Tracker

Runners world. Gone. News24 Struggling. Other magazines shutting left right and centre. Bad business models and no ability to transition in a world where the axis of Google, Facebook and Digital advertising has been a obvious tsunami for years. Covid has shown how many businesses are built on sand and unable to survive a few months.

Oli does seem like a decent oke and I enjoyed those trail pinned videos he did but he has been spruiking all kinds of things from one end of the spectrum to the other. There was the thing with the finance company, the signal bikes(?), the the Santa Cruz bikes, the bike parts vendor guys, the feral bogan gravel period, the Red Bull bits, the first ascent campaigns and so on. I know it’s hard to make and living and survive in the industry but the impression is growing he’s a voice for hire rather than someone who actually backs the products.

There will be fall out. I’d guess that Froome would have loved to have stayed at Ineos for the next 2 years on a good contract with all the benefits that a super budgeted team brings to the performance table let alone an astounding line up of riders to support him and a familiar environment. His biggest rivals will be his former team and they know him inside and out. Strengths and weaknesses. But they can’t promise him top dog status so time to move on, build a new team around him and see how that goes. I think it takes a good part of the season to get things familiar and even if ISN is throwing cash around to build the team it’s not on the level of Ineos. Sure they will get some good signings in the current economic environment but it’s not the well oiled machine of sky / Ineos quite yet. If he was a year or two younger then it would be a good move. Who knows what the landscape of pro cycling looks like in the next 12 months with the pandemic still accelerating and the tour still on shaky ground.

I reckon it will end up as: - TDF Bernal and Gee as the past two winners - Giro: Carapaz as the defending champ - Vuelta: Froome and hope he wants to put on a show for the new team and knocks that off giving them the clean sweep for the year. And The Cycling Podcast wins the drag race to the line to get the first broadcast on the announcement out.

Would love to do the Lesotho one but I think it's more XC / Marathon sort of riding? Enjoying the ups as well as the downs rather than suffering the ups because you're there for the downs.

The question is do they take him to the tour as a 'thank you' for good service and then what roles does he have? All 3 leaders and the road will decide and potentially weakening the 8 man team if one doesn't play nice. Or do you cut him and send him to the Vuelta and see if that can be a team bonus win this year. Thomas has been training like a demon as has Bernal. Froome has as well but he still hasn't put in any performances since his accident. If anyone has the headspace to come back from such a horrific set of injuries it's Froome but on the pure fact of it, he's totally unproven. It's not just physically but mentally. What if he gets the jips on a hairy descent? Or the TT is a windy one and it's flash back time? Who also has allegiances to whom on the Inoes short list and how will that play out with the 4 available domestiques? Who on the tour short list is maybe looking at jumping ship with Froome? Going to be interesting but one thing we know is Brailsford has no room for emotions in his decisions.

Ouch. I'm guessing he won't be adding the those tour titles 'in the next stage of his career'

I'd say its a locals discount to allow some of the guys here to be able to enter and keep some of the guys in it who helped build it to what it is. I get it's out of the league of of most people in SA already but looking at the price for a foreigners vs earning and what other big ticket / bucket lists cost I'd say it's better value. With what I earn locally vs what I earn when consulting overseas I couldn't afford to find the cash from my SA earnings against the rest of life costs but I could on a cost ratio from my US and EU cash as it's a smaller percentage. It's also the case with alot of game parks and lodges etc, locals can't afford them as they are angled at overseas visitors so there is a locals rate. Only when you come here and see what cost of living is, what you can get and how far your money can go and visa versa in the way that how little SA rand will get you even here.

How much do you think? Have a friend who is looking for a reasonable pair for a new build.

They are family friends from back when Ken was at St Andrews. Such a loss of a genuine good guy. Want to thank all those who came out and joined the search. There is not much else to say apart from a tragic situation for the family and a heartbreaking situation for a man who has left us. RIP.

I've had both (E4's, single pot Curas and now 2 pot curas) and they are actually two very different kind of brakes. The Hopes have modulation for days and while they do stop you when you first get them they take a bit of time to get used to. First ride I had on them I thought that were broken and were not going to stop me going down Jonkers. Once you get used to them and understand the joys of modulation then they are really, really good. They are not the biggest 'stoppers' in the world and are a way off even the single pot curas (which were run and won on the UCI DH circuit by a few top tier teams). Hopes are a 'want' thing. They look trick on a bike and the ability to get all the parts is attractive. They also seem to last a long time but I guess people also keep them longer than as set of Curas and people tend to move them from bike to bike. So they are keepers. Just found myself a couple of times at unexpected moments hauling on the Hopes and not slowing as fast as I liked for those 'oh ***, give me all you got now as I need it' situations. They don't crop up very often but still. My experiences of Curas have been been very good. They are the undercover brake. They are the brakes that a lot of guys who work in bike shops seem to run. In fact I first saw them on MarcHD's bike when he was at Conties, at The Hanger etc and got great review from him when I asked about them. The originals ones had great stopping power and I really got on with the way they bit and the lever. Those are just personal things and may not be what you're looking for. I honestly wondered what the 2 pot brakes would bring and if even more power was going to be too much. I took a chance on a great deal and ditched my Red hopes for some gold big boy curas and I can say I'm sold. Again it's a personal thing but they deal with a lot of available power very well (unlike the Maguras) and it's never a case of just jamming a ton of stopping into your wheels when you pull the lever. There is modulation and it's good but it tis very different to the huge amount of modulation that Hope give. They are adjustable but the Hopes are very adjustable. Maybe too much. The one thing I really love is that they have a special device that means you can take off the hoses from the callipers without losing any fluid, letting air in or having to bleed. clip off, clip back on. Perfect if you build across to a new bike, good for travelling and stuff. You may not use it much but it's nice to have as I hate bleeding brakes. Maintenance wise they have all been very low. I had the single pot Curas on for +/- 1 year and never did anything to them other than to change pads. Hopes for about a year. Same, same. New Curas 6 months in and again just keep going on. I did get the LBS to look at my Hopes when I first got them as I thought they needed bleeding but that was because I wasn't used to the feel. Cost wise the Curas will always win by a lot. See if a friend has some hopes and give them a go then take up the demo on the Curas and make a decision. They are both top end brakes and you can't really go wrong.

So here is a question. What is considered to be a good head angle (okay I know a bike is the sum of it’s parts but it’s a good start) for a HT. There are a lot of longer / slacker HTs about but if you look at the Momsen steel it’s ‘longer slacker’ is about 69 degrees, the big wig is 68 and quite a few new frames sit in that 67 / 69 range. I think that a 66 / 67 is a good start for a trail bike an 67 is almost a magic point for ‘fun’ bikes. You have to work hard as a frame designer to be good around 64 degrees.

The core stuff looks nice but it’s not angled towards riding. These guys do some nice tops. Simple and classic. https://www.norrona.com/en-GB/products/skibotn/skibotn-wool-34-t-shirt-men/?color=3897

Look, it costs and actually NZ is the most I’ve ever paid for anything wooly (keep minds out of the gutter!). When it comes to wool there are guys punting 15% or less actual merino content for a hell of a price so for what you get and longevity of Mons it’s actually pretty decent. I have a Mons Tee from 4 years back that is like new after serious wear and no stink!

Just been checking the latest Pink Bike Summer Gear guide and there are some pretty sweet jerseys in there. Two I spotted where Merino and that got me thinking, what local options are there? There is a massive Marino industry here but I see very little use in local mtb kit. I actually had to purchase some Swedish merino hoodies and kit from the UK recently in anticipation of winter and it’s awesome. So back to the original thought, anyone making 3/4 jerseys or tees like Mons Royals here in SA?

Went from 26 Trance to a 29’r and after a while got a Commencal Meta 4.2 as a more enduro ride. I’m not a tall guy but made sure the 29r had a low stand over and never had any issues. The 29 was a 130 / 120mm trail bike and the 27.5 was 160 up front and about 150 rear. Despite the Meta having more travel and more aggressive geo it got hung up more and was less capable in jonkers and the fun stuff around my way in Stellies than the short travel 29.

Oh,fricking.yawn. Fascism? Liberty? Good god. Crucify the government for being ineffectual and then when when they act decisively they are fascist. Look at it another way, thank *** we have been asked to do some things to protect the greater cause for a few weeks and thank god we are not the US or the UK where latest reports said that a weeks delay in lock down has caused about. 20,000 deaths. But don’t let that change your view. Yea we’re all oppressed and under the thumb, big Gov is here to strip you of your liberty and it’s your right not to have not responsibility to anyone.

Brilliant. Thanks.

How often is this happening and why? They must be some serious switch backs or else ease up on the trick stuff #barspins!

Can anyone tell me the official status of beaches and surfing / dog walking etc? I thought it was still banned but I’ve seen a lot more cars with boards in the last 3 days than for months and heard reports of M/burg line up packed out. I did google but couldn’t find a conclusive report. So a real thing or just another Cape Town example of picking the rules you think you might like to apply to your lifestyle.

In latest Cotic news: they sold out of 6 months supply of BFEmax frames in 2 weeks & new stock was is only due in December. They will be launching the new Solaris Max in the next 10 days and the will open pre- orders for the next round of BFEmax after that. Decisions!

Doesn’t seem it’s too hard if if you’re selling a Hope HB160 for R55k which was listed last night about 10pm. Either the seller reconsidered or it was listed, sold and removed in record time. I was scratching around to make sure I could get the money and then it was gone. Only just got over that.

I got very excited as well as the site still shows them at that price but no stock anywhere.

What is the feedback on the Momsen? It’s a great price and steel but sits with a 69 degree head angle. Personally I think 67odd is the sweet spot for trail bikes (obviously when looked at the bike as a whole). I’ve had my eye on that Honzo for ages at trail tech but they aren’t budging on that price even when it was Black Friday. I think that the Slade is a good package for R17k, offer R16k and it’s even better! It’s a really nicely spec’d build with the money spent in good areas and the rev’ fork is really good and often gets looked over as people clamber for the pike and the lyrik. So many good frames about but you have to look. A lot of overseas ones won’t come here which is always a shame. Personally I’m looking at the Ribble 725, Cotic Solaris or new BFE Max, the Stanton 29r, Bird and Chromag Rootdown. For me a trail / am frame should be steel, they just ride so much better. Overall my money would be on that Momsen if you’re looking for a frame that is more trail / miles that focusing on the downs. Price is crazy good and those whole have them seem to be fanatically loyal to them.

As well. I think we’ll get a short time at 3, then the current rising infections will spike up and welcome back to tougher restrictions. The forecasts are not good for the WC and even the best ones seem to say ICU facilities will be maxed out in the next 3-4 weeks. Enough time for a bit of bike, Build a nice beer & wine stockpile, got some new toys delivered, buy one of the turbo trainers that are flooding the classifieds, get a new Tokai pass and not join tygerberg for a year.