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I love mine - I use a combo of the thick and thin pads which means I always have a spare set of clean dry pads. I'd rate it as warmer than an XC lid but thats fine in winter and to be honest I didnt feel unduly warm despite the heat yesterday. It actually also works well as a helmet as the rock dents in the back of mine prove.

It was huge fun, but IMO not a patch on the Welvanpas course in terms of steepness and flat out fast sections. No doubt when the trails bed in a bit it will get much better tho. Looking forward to the 2014 series!

My email to CSA re Greg Minnaars non nomination for the SASA awards did not garner a response. Pathetic.

Got my confirmation too - Delheim is the start venue. Thorns anyone? Tjoepless tough tyres FTW.

Hey, Dev, why you selling your Force carbon?

Mmm, those horse trails in Tokai that are not legal are flowy fast, bumpy fun.

Agreed - it rocks!

I have the HD SG on my front wheel. Its heavy but very confidence inspiring. I'd agree that it works better on damp/loamy soil than summer sand, but its by no means a slouch there and converts to tubeless well. The NN's have a similar tread pattern but shorter knobs and are flimsy in comparison, unless you get the snakeskin or whatever they call the toughened version. Another tyre I am trying for the first time at the moment is the WTB Bronson - wide for a 2.3 and lighter than the HD SG. Its a nice tight fit, pumps up tubeless like it has a tube in it and so far has not tried to burp off the rim...

Aha, that makes a bitta sense. I just like bolting bikes together...

The answer is clear. Its not okay, at all.

This may be a stupid question, but why not just build it yourself? And on the subject of "build" - its a bit of a misnomer for a process which is far more like an "assembly", no?

Shimano SLX at the back - RF narrow wide 34 in the front. Next step is a further chain shortening exercise.

Bonus - you wont run out of revs.

Hey ya wimps - the 34 isnt that bad to pedal - just drop your cadence and plod...

I have the 2013 Reign. It does indeed pedal really well, and if you built it up a bit lighter ie XC tyres and wheels, it would handle long races well. I found the suspension needed tuning to work well on the descents. Both the shock and fork were too linear in spring rate for my 84kg. I bought a set of aircan spacers for the float ctd and a bigger spacer has made the shock much better. The fork is harder to resolve - the negativity around the 2013 CTD forks was justified. I added float fluid to the airchamber and that definitly helped a bit and with some extra air it handles just about anything well. Its just not the plushest or stiffest fork around... Mine is converted to 1x10 and I can climb most steep stuff, its just more tiring. I have also lost the chain a few times despite setting the clutch as stiff as possible and am thinking of putting a guide back on.

Looks like I may get a pass for this one. On the issue of the difficulty level, I have no problem with a DH style course as long as there are chicken runs - for instance the Tokai DH line is pretty rideable whether you do all the features or not...

Going to try - some parenting responsibilities to resolve before then...

The video says it all....

XT is for sensible performance orientated rider people, XTR is for the "bling 'n brag" brigade. Not sure where SLX fits in - my bike just came with it ...

They all have ceramic pistons at least from slx on up as well as the heat disipating design and pads if you want them- the piston heads only make contact with the pads at the edges so probably run a little cooler... The PB review of the 2012 SLX found them pretty much as good as the XTR

Hey Nagridder, are you racing the Urban Assault?

Must say Shimano have done a brilliant job of making all their brakes look the same. These are just like my SLX brakes with more chrome. They all take the same pads too. I wonder if they all work the same too?

Thats funny - so its really just about the bling, or do they actually perform better when they aren't being maintained? And again, how often do they need a service?

How often do CK's need a service? - If I paid that kind of cash I'd expect many years of maintenance free use...

Just got my wife a small 2010 Zula with X0, R1s, DT 1600's ... the list goes on and in near perfect condition. The price R10k. Its madness - fueled in SA especially by the marathon and XC bike dominated market. Give Gear Change in CT a loo -0 they are on the web. A large brand new KTM full XT carbon HT will set you back about R10k unless its been sold...