River Rat

At last, I always new it LUST is good!

can anyone tell me what the difference is between a UST and a LUST tyre?

Well that's what they said and I can only reflect on the immediate improvement albeit temporary. What is required to upgrade to the external BB set up?

I have recently had my BB serviced at my LBS, they said it just needed grease. But I have noticed that the grating sound is returning after 100km (albeit less pronounced after the service). I am at the point of taking it back to the LBS but I'm anticipating that they are going to suggest a replacement. I have seen the excellent thread on how to replace the bearings but frankly I don't have the time to source the equipment or the inclination to do it. So I would like some advice on what to replace it with assume that I have a reasonable budget and want a hassle free ride. The bike manual indicates that I should have a Shimano BB ES 25 Octalink as standard. Should I go for the same, Stainless Steel, Ceramic?

[ Those rules apply to all WC tournaments and the LOC knew all about them when they tendered to host the WC. Not sure why buying more then 4 tickets is a mission (probably to minimise scalping??) but fully agree with the food and advertising limitations, companies pay huge dollars to be the official licensed partners. Not entirely true. The Germans had less restrictions on them in 2006 I just think that FIFA have overdone it. I have had personal dealings with Match and the arrogance was so bad that we told them to take a hike and I glad to say that our hotel is 100% occupancy for th WC.

Campy's for the Italy games seems to be the right choice!

Okay add earplugs to your shopping list, maybe the Sram model

To all the naysayers and the dyed in wool racists on a day like this you can kiss my vuvuzela!!! We've done it! We are hosting the best party ever in spite of FIFA's attempts to spoil it with their overzealous bureaucracy!! Cervello you can stirr, you can chirp, you can snipe but the rest of us are having joll while you sulk on your own! Of course you could change all of that - buy a flag, get yourself a Bafana shirt and join the party you'll be surprised what lekker country we live in.

Ag shame! On this website if you can't swallow razor blades, drink diesel and p*ss fire you're a sissy get used to it or buy the blades and the diesel.

Sorry Shakes I went offline to earn some bucks! I have been at it for roughly three months. I am quite comfortable with Groenkloof and most of Fountains. Babbas I rate as easy but I got my butt kicked at Avianto ( more because of the length and gradient of the climbs than its technicality. I was clearly not ready for it but felt a great sense of achievement completing.River Rat2010-05-26 04:50:29

The build is what it is thats why I took up MTBiking. As for the armband anything that has power and balance in the same sentence is surely a must!River Rat2010-05-26 04:26:07

I'm not asking for anything to be made easier as I have aspirations to be a good techinical rider as I'm not built to be fast ( unless its downhill). What I need just some idea of what I'm in for when I enter an event. If a grading system is too much to ask for maybe a simple comparison such as, if you can ride every part of Groenkloof you will be able to ride everything in this event or there are two or three sections that are more technical. It is true that some events give a description of what to expect but until I do the race I have no frame of reference as to what do they mean when they say challenging! As for Shakes .... are you actually trying to contribute?

Man check the testosterone on this thread...... As a noob I have no frame of reference in terms on whether the events are too technical or not. But it would be useful if there was some sort of technical grading reference for the different races. The canoeing fraternity not only grade the rapids but also the rivers. Rapids are graded 1- 6, 6 being the life threatening whilst rivers are rated A, B or C. C being the easiest with nothing more the Grade 1 and 2 rapids. Having something similiar for MTB events would certainly help in terms of determining which events I am ready for. Anybody else have the same need?

Thanks Boet!

It was announced at the Babbas Lodge ride on Sunday that from next month ( I guess that means from June) you need to be licensed to ride at any event. Apparently you could do this by buying a temp license at R35 per event or an annual license at R75 plus club fees. Depending on the number of races you intend doing the Annual license seems to be the way to go provided that the club fees are reasonable. It would be helpful if my fellow hubbers could provide some info on clubs in Pretoria in terms of fees and contact numbers.

Maybe we should take things into perspective here. The organisor made it clear that this was the first event ( see thread under Events). Even at the start they announced that we are the gunea pigs. I think we have two routes to go here we can lambast the organisors for the mistakes they made or engage with them constructively to improve the event. Personally, considering the importance of a good relationship with the landowners within the Cradle of Humankind I'm proposing the latter.

Where exactly are you? Do you have a map?

website address is www.voortrekkermon.org.za very poor from a MTB perspective but it does give the opening and closing times.

Thanks Vinny. I agree, Groenkloof is fantatsic but it is great to have another option. I will give it a go in the near future. I see that they are planning to have a race on the 7th August maybe some of the single tracks will be upgraded for that.

I picked up a flyer at Groenkloof promoting MTB trails at the Voortrekker Monument ( would that translate to the "Front Puller monument"?). They boast upto 25km of MTB trails. Has anyone tried this and what is it like compared to Groenkloof?

That can't be a clean break!

By gad I think you've got it! I will leave the other guys to answer the rest of your post.