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Not really a ww, but I'd say 1kg just on the frame is a big difference - a liter of coke difference

A Shova weighs a lot more than a Zula and 4" works well enough for general trail riding. Look at the UK guys on their hard tails with 140 mm forks...

Pedal harder and get the jump on your buds - it aint the wheels...

And that was def not 7 out of 1000 - there were scores of other brands and bike models no doubt, so thats a telling and very negative stat on those frames...

Saw a Scott genius - 05 model or so, snap its drive side chainstay the other day. A friend was borrowing it - its owner gave up on it cos of all the bits that broke. Ali does break but I have had no issues with my two ali bikes - one 12 and one 5 years old and I tend to ride at things rather than around them. That said I think Carbon is for sponsored racers or the very rich - even if they build frames that dont crack for no reason, you can still damage the frame far more easily than metal leading to a failure. Ever seen a carbon dirt jump bike? Well have ya? Headshot2010-05-04 06:03:55

I think those are perfect options for the kind of riding you do, but I second Splat's comments on the 120 mm travel thing and you do have a point on the comfy vs race geometry isssue. I would personally not touch a Carbon bike and a Zula with 120mm fork would be my first choice, but then I have Tokai's trails a few km from home and only do the ocassional race over 40 km.

CRC are useless - I emailed them about this - I wanted a few spares just in case. They referred me to std DT spokes and nipples!! They then advised that not even their UK supplier had any spares for this wheelset.. Please let us know what Joahn B says.

Magiclight uses a single SSC P7 emitter and is one of the few LED lights that has a proper reflector which is partly why it works so well. Its a knock off of a Lupine Tesla and has about 700 lumens maybe less. Cant comment on the sigma but my magiclight is very good - bright enough for s/track at speed and very low weight. Batteries doe give problems but local guy Brad will sort you out if it fails.

Had exactly the same experience when I broke out the old hardtail recently. Some of it is the tyres. If you run a soft rear pressure it can make the bike bob when pedaling. Mine started feeling fine after I rode it a bit more but its a biatch to get back into the h/t riding style, esp if you come from tubeless back to tubes and are used to just hammering through rock gardens ...

Any special reaon why you want such an expensive bike with rather unique technology (brain shock and lots of linkages and proprietary bits) when you could for far less money do a custom build on a Morewood Zula, for instance? I saw an awesome one at CWC the ither day, complete with a crank bros telescopic seat post etc ...

Don't think all bikes with linkages driving the rear shock are the same. Many are mon pivots (circular axle path) unless they have the so called Horst Link on the chainstay or some kind of VPP design like a giant. Specialized I believe has a patent on this which is why the Scott Genius could not be sold in the USA.

Go for it - they look amazing. I also got mine at well below usual price. Only negative is the back wheel is slightly out of true - not sure if it came like that or I did it - I started out slow and easy but have been riding rock gardens and jump/drops since so it may just have taken a hit. Only problem with them is spares - good luck trying to find a spoke or nipple even from CRC...

Yeah name the bike and post a copy of the invoice so we can comment...

Sounds like it rides a lot like my trusty Raleigh RDS...:-) The simple beauty of a mono pivot - who needs all those crazy links, brains and other nonsense, really?

I'm 187cm and 80 kg but I'd weigh a bit less if I was able to ride as often as I liked. I have found that after along layoff but remaining light (staying off the beers and fatty food) I feel noticably better on the hills than when i've got back into training after picking up a few kg's. You can feel the difference very easily. Lose the gut then worry about the bike. You're just sacrificing reliability and spending a lot of cash where you could be saving money by eating less with the same result :-)

Pieterman, for something like the freedom challenge I'd go for an ali bike over carbon and one with as few shock pivot points as possible. That said, the Zula and Superlight would be great choices but probably more costly to get the same kind of build as the mass market guys like Scott and Merida can offer...

Yep, it needs a spell check/grammar edit

A better title "Dingbat Road Riders" ?

general rule - same width +- as your shoulders. Narrower is better for fitting down tree lined s/track but increases effort in getting the wheel round eg on switchbacks and will also feel less twitchy on fast jeep track descents.

I have had the ergon mini bar end small size grips on my bike for 3 years. The large size is designed for rugby players and could have been the cause of the previous posters probs. I use mine with dual controls and found an almost total reduction in numb/tingling hand problems. I have quite a pronounced weight forward set up on my marathon bike and these helped hugely - so much so that any round grip feels horrible in comparison. Not for everyone obvioulsy, but if you ride stage races, I recon they are a hand saver.

Good job guys - must make a plan to get there and ride!

I am going to tough it out on my Race Kings as long as possible :-)

I have found my race kings very good - have them front and rear. Close spaced sharp knobs that wear with square edges unike some other cr@p out there. Low rolling resistance and ideal for dry cape summers on sand, gravel and rock. I'd maybe go with the mountain kings if you are riding in mud a lot or at least a mountain king on the front.

Ten to one the biker in question is also a motorist and a road rager behind the wheel too... When I drive I give cyclists a wide berth and always expect the kind of thing you saw this guy do.