Headshot

mmm, another almost meaningless tyre debate. I rate the X marks as a good allrounder especially in LUST - I have a 2.25 on the back - its fatter than the 2.35 Maxxis Ignitor I have on the front. Perfect for some extra traction, comfort and rim protection on the rocky downs I enjoy. Used Larsens for a year or two as well - also a good tyre in UST form...

Nice vid but... the action really is lost because there is very little sense of the steepness of the terain or the jumps - only your slo mo's tells the viewer where they are. Not a crit of your vid, just a comment on the effect of a high mounted helmet cam. Only way round it is a bunch of remote controlled go pro's mounted the whole way down the track I suppose Saw someone with is GP mounted behind the seat on the way down Meurants - the view of the bike behind on the jumps and drops must have been pretty good...

Shame man - he was out his depth and maybe having a bad confidence day - leave the poor niner oke alone

[And to all the 26inch haters, I regularly pass 29ers on my Zula. Must be the bike! Nope its just that converted roadies naturally migrate to a wheel size they are familiar with and they haven't learned to ride yet

I think all Zula sellers must be doing so reluctantly. Its still my frame of choice when my totally reliable 2005 RDS Raleigh breaks, if it ever does! And people still get seduced by Giants and Spesh et al multi pivot complex maintenence heavy suspension designs when they could ride a Zula or superlight, have almost zero maintenance issues and a ride that is still raved about. Its all about fashion I say...

Sounds like you need to send the shock back to whoever serviced it. The rebound also sounds wrong - my non propedal fox requires a good few clicks to get the rebound under control. Maybe they have used teh wrong oil - something too thick perhaps?

JB makes perfect sense to me. Your forum name gives away your bias. You have probably spent a small fortne on a Ti bike and hate anyone dissing it. Who makes Ti bikes these days?

Thats is true - in 07 when I rode it he was a machine. Amazing rider all round. My first experience of singletrack was on my ancient Sekai road bike (with fatish tyres) in about 1994 - took it for a blast round the green belt after my friends on real early MTB's - it worked well until the drop bar broke...

best argus on a road bike - 2h58, best on MTB with slicks - 3h25. so many variables, its meaningless really. I was 8 years older for the mtb time and the distance was 5km longer. Gearing definitley makes a difference as do drop bars and being able to slipstream with low rolling reistance helping out too.

Flippin spot on

It would indeed - It would also be great if Jurgen took the trouble to actually interact on the thread he has created. i see him commenting on the W2W thread. My personal opinion on ultra lightweight components - carbon bars and such like - unless you treat your bike with kid gloves and don't hammer the downhills - leave well alone. I have never broken any aluminium components in 17 years- even brake levers despite numerous crashes - the worst has been a dented frame - a Giant at that, but it was mine and a tree stumps fault, not Giant's.

http://www.mbaction.com/Main/News/Product_Test_ENVE_Carbon_29er_Wheelset_4785.aspx Full carbon 29er wheels a mate of mine hs just bought - cant vouch for the weight but they must be lightish...

yes, tears in my eyes laughing so much

You're 6 little yellow faces waving your stubby arms?

I had a similar thing happen a year or so ago - they simply didnt despatch the order because an item was suddenly out of stock. Also cost me. The last order a few months ago was flawless however... Am still getting sale emails and such like so I doubt they on teh skids but your never know....

IMHO although you may want to "race" it you are not going to win,and your time is not going to be very different if at all whether you ride a 29er hardtail, 26er HT or DS. Just go and enjoy it

All of the above re longer fork - I put a 120mm Reba on my RDS along with a short AM stem - the combo has made the bike a decent descender. Nothing worse than riding a drop off with a XC long stem and weight too far forward. Also, you could have been blowing through the shorter forks travel - more of it, even 20mm will make lighter work of the big hits and keep you on your line...

You cannot go wrong with the Xmarks - replace them with the same again and rejoice

Johan, I'd add another possible solution - if the lock out has a threshold setting - the small knob on top of the rotating cable operated knob, and thats screwed right out, then it will feel as if the lock out has failed. Make sure the small knob is dialed in almost the whole way and see...

I did a 3h25 in 07 on my old Giant mtb with slicks - its definitely possible - remember its not about the bike

I think most of what you pay is for the bling, not peace of mind at all - the opposite it would seem. A friend had CK hubs on his Foes dually - endless trouble too. As you say - your old "cheap" XT's are still running - my original XT's are now 6 years old and still ride beautifully on my g/f's bike. By all means bling - but within reason - I bought some fancy adonized spacers and a "brave" machined fork steerer tube cap - R100 and looks good. Maybe best ta keep bling for non performance parts on a bike

Must say that destruction rate is impressive - I have crashed often in the last 17 years of riding and never ever broken a drop out - mildly bent yes, but never broken. Strikes me as a crazy light poorly engineered component.

Havent serviced a bike there but they have always been helpful - sold me the correct tool to fit my XT crank bearings for my new crank - so they are good for the DIY guy, unlike Cycle Lab who sold me the wrong tool I have experience with Epic in Wynberg and recommend them.

No blood - boring

Useful comment. Actually, the Maxxis UST tyres seat almost easier than any other. If they seat easily on an XT rim they'll seat easily on a stans converted rim too. Try a conti RK for comparison purposes...