Headshot

Beers was running a dropper as was Nino and a host of other pros. I\'d say they should all have droppers.

I just bought some front brake pads for a moto - R340 - 20 times the material that's in a bike brake pad and will last waaay longer. Moto chain quick link - also way more metal, with o-rings and a pack of special grease - R70.

I did the retro fitting thing to my wife's Zula - drilled a hole near the bottom of the seat tube above the weld at the BB with the cable then routing up the underside of the downtube with the others. I also had to trim/shorten the seat tube at the top to allow appropriate insertion of the post. Several years later and all appears to be fine.

Just remove the front wheel when you rack it in future. Putting it out back is a good idea.

I must say I have had more Shimano derailleur issues eg klapping into spokes and such like than I have ever had with the only SRAM mech I've had a GX 11s. Its a tough cookie. The newer Shimano stuff looks beefier though.

Look at Rapide.co.za - they have a "goat link" for about R200 if I recall. A 30t ring would be the cheapest option - Rapide can also supply one for about R400...

That said, I think that a genuine ie bacterial or viral flu bug will manifest in a different way, eg with additional symptoms like fever? A runny gut on its own without major performance issues would probably be what you describe?

I am still waiting for a sponsor to back me to finish on my steel 26er HT. As far as Hype and the coverage is concerned, there was a major lacuna. No stories from the middle to rear of the field. No shots of CEO's covered in mud pushing their bikes, wondering why they ever thought getting an employer paid entry was half the battle etc... I guess there are also many riders who pay their own way and suffer badly at the back but we never see them on TV. Poor show I reckon.

Team of 4 ...Beauties and the Beasts

My first 24 hrs coming up this weekend... should be a jol

What, didn't this multitude you speak of have spare cables and a multi tools on them?

I have recent experience with tyre inserts - depending on what you have, they can be very hard to fit i.e get the tyre back on with the insert inside no doubt even more so with mud and sealant all over the place. I suppose you need to discuss strategy, have a plan and apply it when the worst happens. Like ...5. - When puncture and rim appear terminal but you have an insert, leave it alone and ride on until you can swop a wheel... As for carbon rims - well when they go they do so in style and you are fked.

I run a 650B Enduro with 10-42 and a 30 up front. Its just about manageable on climbs but a 32 and wider range cassette would be better overall.

This trail center looks amazing. The speed of the top riders is mind blowing...

Agreed. I recall doing the very much a fun ride Eselfontein 3 day and having some testosterone fueled apple farmers holding everybody up the moment there was anything technical on the trail - i.e all the time. At one point there was a train of riders being held up by these situationally unaware ego wallies. There was also a palpable lack of respect to women riders, especially those who were quicker than their male counterparts...

When you try and do a cable on a new Scott you need to take the headset off anyway because of the innovative and oh so necessary headset cable routing...(said nobody ever)

Having watched the day 6 highlights and seeing what CL and AW did when they got the puncture makes me think they sealed their own fate (punny?) by trying to repair a terminally ill tyre and rim. Had they simply pedalled on to the tech zone with the insert still in the rear rim they would not have wasted all that time trying to fix it and would have been able to ride much faster... hindsight is horrible.

Good points made by our pundits except for the hair drier comment - I don't own one... yet. I fully agree that cable systems also f out - I mean recall those awful old bikes with multi piece cable outers - one wet ride and your shifting was shot - now with one piece outers they hardly notice rain or a bike wash. Of course its pretty easy to fit a fresh cable if it breaks and its usually pretty obvious what the issue is, opposed to a mystery shifting failure on an AXS system.

I know of another rider - Masters women whose entire AXS stopped working - had to do most of the day as a SS and without the AXS dropper. Reinforces my view that electronics on a bicycle is a dumb idea...

That too, but Nino had an electrical issue on Groenlandberg stage - Gerald mentioned it, and so did Nino in the post stage interview

So what issues did Nino Sram have with his brand new AXS the other day...May have cost them the race?

Good points, but things like disk brakes arrived when the bike industry wasn't trying so hard to rip consumers a new one so a frame upgrade was probably not a mortgage altering affair. I don't have an issue with improved performance - which this design (excluding the silly electronic shift assist) seems to provide. It also looks good. I do have an issue with overpriced bling that is basically unaffordable to most people being shoved done my throat on every YT channel as if its the equivalent of intelligent life being found on Uranus. 🙂

Lets keep this thread going with all things EWC. A few team changes and some great looking trails for the opener.

Well I guess when your bike costs R100k for entry level people start thinking you have deep pockets...

You are in the minority I suspect