Headshot

Wow, that's brilliant. I lost a whole bunch of stuff to theft in March but nothing ever showed up on Gumtree or here. On crime in general I agree nowhere is safe. We have a holiday place in probably the smallest "town"in SA. There is one shop, on a farm. The permanent population can't be much more than 100. Tik is there - our boat trailers had all the lights smashed to get the bulbs out. Numerous outboard motors have been stolen including all four of our owners (perp now behind bars after burning down a house). Another one was locked up a few weeks ago for stealing a firearm.

The new Reign 2 is looking good - if it is R30k it will be a bargain. Most of the Giant brand kit is good quality and you can upgrade as things wear out...

Amazing that there are no Brit XC stars - they all became DH racers maybe :-)

Ouch indeed - wonder if that hit on th bar that knocked off his left wrist was what did it... which hand was it? Must say great as the race was, the coverage was not the best for me. Not enough close ups and Warner was rather off form. "Cunny" turned into "Rich" and there is a distinct lack of humour. Maybe it was too hot for them...

Course looks amazing - lovely mix of flat out and uber bumpy. Looking fwd to live webcast at 815 tomorrow night...

Its level when you are going down :-) Gwin and co will be racing these at MSA this weekend...

Spaz, shut up. Give me a Morewood. :-)

Johann, my experience is with lighter wheels and lower rolling resistance, lighter tyres on a 150mm travel bike. I got a set of No Tubes Olympics on light SR hubs for nearly nothing. Fitted with light XC tyres, the bike weighed 1.2kg less than my heavy nearly DH worthy rims and tyres. Needless to say I noticed a difference in putting the bike on the roof of the car and pedaling up hills. It also rolled faster and picked up speed quicker no doubt thanks to the semi slick tyres. That said, I would not ride these wheels/tyres as everyday wheels because of reliability issues.

I changed to 1x10 last year. It cost me approximately R500 for the RF front ring - I already had a clutch derailleur and 11-36 cassette. I carried on using the same chain for a while and am still using the same 11-36 cassette. I find the 34t front a bit high when it gets really steep and may try a 32 t Rapide ring when its time to change the cassette and chain, or I could put a 40 or 42 tooth ring at the back for around R1k. The l/h shifter now does duty as a dropper post remote lever and works way better than the stock lever. Its a no brainer

Its quite simple, the seller is guilty of misrepresentation and the contract could be cancelled for a full refund.

Probably just my eyes, but that bike looks all wrong - way too steep at the front. What are the actual specs because it must be an optical illusion...

You could also try Bridge Cycles or Olympic - they have stuff at discount rates sitting on the floor or across the road.

My 150mm am bike - a Giant, ali frame, has a ding a few (3-4) mm deep in the middle of the chain stay part of the rear triangle. The frame is still going strong. A knock like that would I think have caused a failure in carbon I think. The article is entirely unscientific - there is no way the riders can compare accidents then and now and say with any certainty that an older ali bike would have survived. Anyone keen to revisit previous TDF's, check the crash stats and bike breakage data? :-)

Where is 'western head'?

Tend to agree with JB, even if he has given up on Africa :-) That said, and to throw a spanner in the works, a lighter wheelset is probably a better performance upgrade than just about any other. Do yourself a favour - get a scale and weigh the wheels sans cassette and tyres - that will give you an idea if they are really heavy or just moderately so. Anything under 2000g is probably not worth upgrading from. Lighter tyres might be the answer for a bit of weight saving, but they come at a strength penalty... A decent 26"rim will weight anywhere from 400g to 550g. Find the specs on yours to see how much they weigh.

Should I use hot or cold air for my shox?

This is why I stay off farms and always ride in front of tractors and farters.

I heard that advanced roadies can tell which brand of petrol the cars that pass them use by sniffing the fumes. Is this true?

Thanks, shall we have another 26/29 debate? Check out this non-roadie pump - http://www.wigglestatic.com/images/lezyne-alloy-dirt-floor-2012-zoom.jpg

Are roadies more sensitive to criticism than off road riders?

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb11157707/p5pb11157707.jpg

Funn components are available from performancebikes.co.za - about R500 plus postage from PE. They also have stems.

So much for 26"for life :-) I wonder why it's taken them so long - they jumped on the 650 bandwagon balls and all a while back...

Bike looks too clean - needs some riding I think :-) I went to a 203 mm front brake with 180 rear- its brilliant but not essential. The weight gain is minimal. I just put 785mm bars on my bike too - that with a 50mm stem is perfect for me. Get some really wide ones and cut them down if you want. Funn Fatboy bars are good value and available online locally.

Love the look of the Process 167 -must be the slackness, long fork and proper wheels - wonder how well it goes uphill though - must weigh a bit... That Yeti is very pretty but a rip off price. Gimme an old ali sb66 for much less... I think Kona has an SA importer - Pta if not mistaken - the 153 is expensive though...