ti guy

The bike you saw at Ride the Rhino was mine You are right, the AX stuff is pretty expensive. I am the SA agent for AX and import the stuff. The wheels are around R17 000, depending on the exchange rate. They weigh1.115kg, without quick release. I use the wheels for all my riding - in fact, I do not have any other mtb wheels.I also know that Willie Engelbrecht used to ride Tufo [carbon] wheels on his 26" bike all the time [when he was still riding 26" wheels]

On the 9-spd system they were the same, but when XTR became 10spd, it changed somewhat.

Wow guys/girls, I have just read some quite interesting remarks - from "cool", "awesome", "not that light", "compare apples to apples" etc etc to "you're so vain". What has posting a light bike with the QUESTION MARK following "lightest 29er in SA" got to do with vanity? I found a nice 29er frame after doing some research on 29er frames [i was concerned about top tube length and wheel base], spec'd it with some cool parts and simply asked the question: is the the lightest 29er in SA? Then there was someone who said that the weight is meaningless without a suspension fork fitted to the bike. I do not quite understand that ... By definition, the bike as posted is still a mountain bike - it just does not have a front suspension. I like it that way and I enjoy riding it that way. In fact, I just came back from a 6hr ride in the mountains, riding jeep track, single track [Jonkershoek from top to bottom] and a couple of gnarly downhills. The bike is still in one piece, although I must confess that my arms are tired from the lack of suspension I have a suspension fork and with that fork fitted to the bike, the weight is 8.1kg. There was someone who remarked that I should inter alia put a proper saddle on the bike. FYI, that is a proper saddle - carried me through 5 Epics in fact. I have found over the years that a saddle is an extremely personal choice - that one seems to work for me ... Once again, my intention was never to "show off"; it was merely to bring a nice bike to The Hub. Like it or not, it is a fine machine and not nearly costing R120 000 like someone remarked.

Know of anything lighter? I can probably bring it to under 7kg, but then I will have to sacrifice the XTR pedals for maybe Egg Beaters [don't like], the XTR chain for a Dura Ace chain and a XX cassette. The Tune saddle will we replaced by an AX Lightness next week, which will shave off another 38g.

That is the American shop that gets it stock from Antonio Sarte. Check out the wares on: www.sartoantonio.it The frames will be available in SA soon!

I have put it through all kinds of terrain that I have encountered in 5 Cape Epics - handled it rather well, although my arms were somewhat tender after a 5 hour ride on rocky jeeptrack last week

Is this the lightest 29er in SA? 7.4kg, with Polar CS600X

Check this out The Rules of the Cog.pdf

But why hoot at the guy in the first place, anyway? To tell him that he is being watched? To tell him how stupid he really is, jumping red traffic lights? Trust me, anyone who jumps a red traffic light does not have sufficient brain power to understand WHATEVER you want to tell him via the horn of your vehicle. And cyclists like that do not care about putting others' life/property in jeopardy. Cool it, take it easy and never, but never make threats of transferring bodily harm onto someone on a public forum ...

If I may offer a page from my experience: the reason why a 29er bike seems to feel sluggish, slow and unresponsive in the kind of terrain where you rode the Scott, has much more to do with wheel-base than with the size of the wheels. Yes, surely, the bigger wheels will not handle as nippy as a 26" wheel; but riding a bike with a wheelbase [and I guess here] of 113+ cm on a tight singletrack will undoubtedly affect the control. The secret is to find a 29er frame with a shorter wheelbase ... which I did ... 107cm ...

Hi there, I import Tufo tubulars from time to time and have recently imported a bunch of MTB tubulars from Tufo in Austria. If you let me know what road tubulars you want, I can always add it to my next shipment.

Most of the roads leading out of Stellenbosch are safe. However, as the other posts suggest, try not to pass Kayamandi during times when there is little traffic on the road. Polka Draai is safe, and from there you may join Bottelary [probably the road with the highest volume of bicycles in the Western Cape]. At the end of Bottelary, you can either go left on the R304 towards Joostenberg, or straight across the intersection onto Kromme Rhee or right onto the R44 back towards Stellenbosch. A great road to try out is from Stellenbosch along the R44 towards Gordons Bay and then the coastal road that runs all the way to Kleinmond. Depending on how long you want to make your ride, the out-and-back ride can be as long as 140km.

I do not know you; ergo, I will not call you by [what I assume] your first name. So, Bornman it will be. And you are so right ... why bother at all?

Good to be vigilant in these trying times ...

You are funny

To be fair to Litespeed, they did offer to repair the frame under warranty - free of charge. The only condition is that the owner has to pay the shipping. And, as I pointed out in an earlier post, it is true that titanium cracks, but so does carbon and aluminum. It agree with you on your first point. It is silly to think that buying a titanium frame is buying a frame for life. That would be soooooo boring to ride the same frame for the rest of one's life. It's like driving the same car, sporting the same hairstyle or haircut or dating the same guy or girl for the rest of your life. Naaaaah, variety rules and if you do get the opportunity ride a titanium frame just once in your life and do not like it, ditch it for a different material.

Which one is me?

No bias at all. I'm not sure what you mean by a small "fortne"?? Maybe a small fortune? If that is indeed what you meant, the answer is "no", I did not spend a small fortne [sic] on a titanium bike. And secondly, I do not hate anyone. Period. As to your other question re "who makes Ti bikes these days", maybe you should read Borman's letter before you invest a small fortne sic] in a ti bike. As he points out, titanium is expensive... But if you are looking to buy one, just Google "titanium bicycle frames"

Gladly Bornman writes in 2 of his replies the following: "It [titanium] is a totally inappropriate material for bicycles". The reason why this is so, is, inter alia, that > it more difficult (read expensive) to manufacture than either steel or aluminium > to make a very light strong titanium frame is is very, very difficult > the [titanium] frame heavier than an equally-strong aluminium one > to "make" titanium requires a huge amount of energy, many times that required to obtain steel or even aluminium; this makes it expensive and gives it in modern parlance, a high carbon footprint > process of welding, bending, milling, mitering and forming.... is easy with aluminium, difficult with titanium ...difficult and expensive > an alu frame can be made lighter, stronger, more durable and much much cheaper than a titanium frame. Bornman concedes that "Since titanium is twice as hard as aluminium, some parts can successfully be made from it. Bolts - sprockets etc. Insofar its use in bolts goes, it is a poor substitute for steel. In that application it only saves half the weight of the bolt, but bolts weigh nothing to start off with, looking at the overall bike." [my emphasis] For many thousands of bicycle owners, it is important to save weight in the built of the machine. Yes, even a single gram will count and if 70g can be saved by using titanium bolts instead of steel, bolts do NOT weigh "nothing to start off with", even looking at the over-all bike ... But does that make titanium a totally inappropriate material for bicycles? I think not. Surely, titanium cracks and breaks. We read about that in magazines and on The Hub. But so does carbon and aluminum. We have seen evidence of this in the same magazines and here on The Hub. Bornman is rather vociferous about the cost of titanium; in no less that 4 lines does he mention that it is expensive. That is true, but it is also true that decent carbon frame costs as much as a decent titanium frame. I have ridden titanium frames for a long, long time - on the road and in the mountains - and I have yet to suffer from a crack or any other breakdown. I admit that titanium has its deficiencies, but to conclude that it is an inappropriate material for bicycles, is a little stupid.

You quite obviously have no clue what you are talking about.

AX Lightness Phoenix. It comes in at 62g and the most comfortable saddle I have ridden.

Try PVM Fusion - seems it contains everything you are looking for.

You are welcome; I will make sure she gets in touch with you

Mmmmmm, weird! I had a meeting with Sue yesterday [we are working on a new bib-short] and they had huge numbers of compression gear in the factory shop. Their custom-made program is also fully operational. PM me your e-mail address and I will forward it to her with a covering letter.

Thanks, but they are out of stock on everything; I do not believe they ever had stock of anything