Dirt Tracker

Anyone have a link to the group test which features the new Phantom?

Where from? I'm looking at options as well.

Is Cav' still on TDD at the moment? If he is then they have noticed up a win on the 6 Day circuit in London beating Ewan in the Derny.

That's a bit of a drop out out of the WT to plain ol' conti. Good that he's got a ride for the 2020 season in the current market and hopefully he gets some opportunities. Fingers crossed they get a Vuelta berth next year else we may not really see him racing.

What a suprise Cav' isn't the biggest tool that everyone wants to think he is. Guess we'll hav etc find someone else to bash (or set up a B-M thread to take up those duties) come the start of the season down under. As one commentator wrote recently about him: "You don't become the greatest sprinter in Tour de France history by being complicated, difficult or a pain to work with. You reach the top level by taking what talent you have and maximising every part of that and fitting into a team structure. Basically, if they don't like you, then you'll last five minutes and be another statistic."

I really like it a lot. I've always had a thing about grippy tyres not going well and fast rolling tyres not giving enough grip (or having a deal breaking flaw somewhere in them). To say it's a tyre you can fit and forget is the biggest compliment. It's the one thing I don't want to be thinking about, I want to be looking down the track to the next thing not in front of me wondering if it's going hold in / squirm / break traction on those roots / wash out in the corner / sneak a death gap moment on me. To date it's been as grippy as I needed at alot of places and rolls well enough that I wouldn't be cursing it at the more pedally places here and on the garden route. Puncture wise it's been perfect, side wall stiffness on the grid casing up front is good. Tbh I'll most likely get another because with hindsight it's been faultless and I trust it but you do wonder if that grass over the hedge is greener.

Going back to the Eliminator, do you think there would be any benefit on running a BLCK DMND over a grid on the front (apart from if you wanted to move it to the back later)? Not had any issues with the Grid casing on the front tbh.

I'll add one more condition to that. Wet grass. Holy ***, that is the ONE place a semi slick turns on you. All of a sudden your ride turns into an episode of tokyo drift but without the control.

I was thinking of looking at the Judge / Verdict combo as that has been talked up a bit recently but I'd have to abandon all my convictions about rolling resistance. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-judge-and-verdict-wtbs-most-aggressive-dry-condition-tire-combo.html

Squirm is a deal breaker for me. If a new tyres shows any of that it comes off and it's gone. Like the death gap, I don't need to be thinking 'I hope this stays where I put it' as I head towards any feature.

I was surprised at how good the Slaughter held in during most of the stages in Jonkers. It was a given that I did add a little more in the back for that day out but only to about 28psi. Only in the very dusty parts did it start getting loose but nothing unmanageable. I am constantly impressed by how planted if feels and how much traction you can get out of a semi slick like the Slaughter.

Because I like to get good traction but not a full on anchor. I found the Assegai great at grip but could feel the 'drag' a fair bit and maybe a bit much for the day to day trails around here (It is packed away, kept and waiting for the next edition of EzelEnduro). I'm running a Eliminator at the moment that shows you can roll well and still have a pocket full of traction but that is coming to the end of it's life so time to see what else there is and if there might be something more suited to the pretty consistent terrain we have in the Summer. Dry, hard, rocky, & loose over all of that. Was thinking of a Maxxis Dissector just to see (and move it to the back if it was weird) but they only do 27.5 versions and not 29.

Tokai, Jonkers, Conties, Table Mountain, Paarl shuttle loop, Glen and so on. 2.6 Spez Eliminator in Grid on the front / 2.3 Spez Slaughter DH casing on the back at the moment but have pretty much run that pressure across most of the recent rubber I've run. Style? That's a very subjective thing but trails I enjoy are pointed down!

Looks good. Haven't used a WTB in ages but they seem to be getting good review recently. How does that one for rolling resistance?

So what's been good for a front tyre on our local WC hard / loose over hard / sandy conditions? Specifically Contermanskloof, Jonkers, Tokai and Hoogekraal?

85kgs without kit and just go with 22psi front and back on 35mm internal rims. No issues.

It's cost the EWS ones are alot to buy and with the great exchange rate it's a massive investment. There isn't much to recoup from that outlay as well unless you make people buy a chip and then they own that. Sure you can rent the kit back into the event as as part of the business plan (and also rent it out to other events, which there aren't that many of) to cover the initial outlay. I'd guess the guys had to find a decent balance between cost and reliability because everyone moans if the system isn't working well but no one really wants to put their hand on their pockets in the form of larger entry fees / additional costs to help fund the top notch German ones.

Seems like some one beat me with sticks in the night. my battered body is as stiff as Ron Jeremy at a viagra factory this morning.

There was the option to miss it and the route was out there for all to see as well as the videos etc. Bar Tokai it's got to be one of the best known trail networks in the cape. I think the issue is more with the variety of trails a 'black' can be. Hoogies vs Plumber? Both black but not in touching distance of each other. That needs to be sorted out. Overall it was a great event. Loads of people and a true beast of a day on the bike. Near the end I felt like a bit of a passenger as I was getting pretty tired but stoked to have made the whole thing. Great turnout and gees but boy I'm going to be sore tomorrow. I do like the trails up in Jonkers because there is proper tech that can't be steam rollered and plowed. You have to adjust your riding and go hard when it allows you and slower when you need to. The people I saw coming to grief were coming in too hot and hoping their trail would save them, or conversely, not keeping momentum and doing the slow, stop, crash. Alot of stories to be told from today, blood was spilt, hospitals were visited, bodies were broken, epic stages were klapped, some times were off the charts and the first 2 cold beers went down singing hymns.

Here is the cached version from Google. If it's the same Professor who is in Retreat and an excellent mechanic then that does surprise me as I used to take my bikes to him all the time and he was a straight up guy. Bids wars are not something I'll enter into and I'll tell the seller so. It is a sellers prerogative to pull an advert and post it again if he / she wants. It's his item and you can sell it to who you want for how ever much you want but if you advertise it as one price than that is the price unless you're open to a negotiation. Maybe the should be a new tag line at the end of an advert 'Price negotiable down or up'

They did have the DD guys running predictions and algorithms at le tour and they did pretty well at predicting the daily winners. They even picked up some of the more 'wildcard' stage winners on the right days as well so maybe they 'know' something about these guys. Think there is a podcast about it somewhere. Pretty sure you won't find Patrick Le F setting up the quick steppers like that but at the moment anything could be a good idea! Anyone else notice that all the recent press releases have stopped mentioning the Qhubeka connection and none of the rider quotes have the usual tag lines about doing it for more than racing. Wonder if that means anything.

Things happen I guess, just lucky that we have such a jewel most of the year around to go play in.

Just some gate / staffing issues. It might rule out this weekend for recon' but should be solved in the short while. No need to trade that Rocky style enduro fitness regime for burgers & beers just yet.

Word has it they are only making 100 of this and the other one. Can't really be true?

Good to see Valgren got 5th at the Grand Prix de Montreal on the weekend behind GvA