two hands

Thanks, I wish all writing tasks were as exciting. That article wrote itself. His stories were so vivid and powerful I was only able to include a few. I sincerely hope I get to do it again.

So sad to hear this... what an icon for so many of us. Hang in there, Ertjies. There's still so much more you can teach us!

Looking for an entry. Obviously will need to do the swap and pay admin fee. So if you know of anyone...

Hang tough and dig deep, Ertjies. Like you've always done.

The 'Aurecon guy' is ex-SA Champ Robbie Rodrigues. He stayed in front till the last climb, 500m from the finish, when Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio sailed past him to win the Ladies race (and, incidentally, beat all the Vets too). I was riding $, and it was great to welcome her across the line looking so strong. She is truly a phenomenon to watch on a climb. Ash is one of the best things to happen to ladies racing in SA. One of the few chicks who wants to win her category (the WHOLE category), not just wheel suck whichever men's category the women are started with... Inspiring stuff.

My first Cape Cobra and a helluva race. The Elite bunch was cooking with the up-country imports from Bonitas and 1 x Christoph Sauser. It was a pleasure to have my lungs forced through my eyeballs on a few of those hills... I have got to say though, a couple of team riders really do need to pull their heads in. I saw numerous riders from Bonitas, Cape Town Market and Maties throw gu sachets and energy bar wrappers while we were riding. I understand we all drop the occasional gu tab, or bottle. But I find deliberately throwing litter on the tarmac or into the roadside disgusting and totally inexcusable. Put it in your pockets! No-one is going to clean up after you. It is a privilege to ride in this part of the world and I don't care who you are, no race result, even in the Elite peloton, is important enough to warrant this behaviour. FFS you're racing for points in a minor regional league, not the TdF. *rant over*

Agree. For MTB, both. Stronger one on your bars as it will pick up trail obstacles better. Slightly weaker light should go on your head as it is line-of-sight, and won't blow the trail out or make everything you are approaching look the same in flat light.

Yep, those stats are straight out of the 2012 Specialized Media pack. And were done a few months back before there were 2012 competitors' bikes to test the SL4 against. But to their credit the testing facility in California really does test everything to catastrophic failure. Mixed emotions walking through a room full of perverse torture equipment and seeing a brand spanking new SL4 or Venge or Epic or Stumpy on a rig getting flexed a gazillion times... But that's how they get the numbers... squeezing every part of every bike (competitors included!) till it pops!

Have had the fortune of using Shimano XT, XTR, Time Atac, Time Z-Control, CB Ti Eggbeater, regular CB Eggbeater, CB Candy and CB Mallet. Unfortunately not Looks. My 2c: Eggbeaters are phenomenal for the first season. If you ride hard or race they go for a bucket of sh!t. And they chew your shoes... unless you're willing to spend even more on the special plate. Shimano are indestructible. But not the lightest nor the best feel. Time have the best feel and are less durable than Shimano but last (at least) three times as long as Eggbeaters. My Time Atacs (on my Cannondale Carbon Scalpel) are two years old and had to put them after 9 months of using Eggbeaters that came stock with the bike. I have Time Z-Control on my DH bike and they are also rock solid and yet easy to step out of if you need to drag a foot to corner.

Oh, and my Scalpel... not so old.

My Yeti. An oldie, but a goodie...

Thanks, mate. That is a great resource.

Apologies if there has been a thread on this recently, if so please just point me in its general direction... tried searching but with no luck. I'm keen to know your thoughts on the best XC/endurance race tyre combo? I have ridden everything out there. Okay, not quite! But close. I loved Maxxis Crossmarks for a while. Great speed and good enough cornering. But put them to work on the Epic in 2008 and we discovered a nasty weakness on the bead, where the tyre was prone to splitting and then wouldn't seal properly because no sealant could get there. Ended up trashing 3 or 4 tyres like that (in 7 days!). Moved to Specialized FastTrack LT and FastTrack S-Works for Epic 2009, which were great too, with much better cornering on the front. But they're a bit pricey and the wear isn't great. We went through three tyres each on the Epic. Now I've got Schwalbe Racing Ralphs on the back and Nobby Nic's up front. Good combo but the Ralph has been getting an absurd amount of punctures and a few tyre slashes. Not very hard-wearing. The Nic is good but I'm not sure it's not the fastest front tyre out there. I like the Ralphs. Am I just unlucky? Any thoughts/advice on tyre choice for another Epic? I'm looking for a little bit more than a brand name if you don't mind... reasons why you ove/hate a certain tyre would be helpful.