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I hope you answered the question with "You're a very bad driver?" This reminds me of the driver I had the misfortune to encounter blocking a street doing some kind of unnecessary multi point turn in a very bad spot. The Polo had dark tinted windows so the gender and race of the driver could not be seen. I hooted loudly and aggressively at which point the drivers window was wound down by a woman who proceeded to call me an f...ing racist or some thing close.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/kaitlin-armstrong-captured-in-costa-rica-and-will-face-first-degree-murder-charges-for-moriah-wilsons-death.html Not much sympathy for Strickland in the comments here... I wonder if he will be charged as an accessory perhaps?

I am sure the higher end versions of SRAM brakes, for which you pay a small fortune are pretty good. That outlay is enormous though and for half the price you can get Shimano with similar if not better stopping power. One thing that is available for Shimano is loose levers. I'd always rather fix than replace but a fresh lever is always an option. BTW I've never broken a lever in 25 years of hard crashing and some 8 year old SLX brakes still work well enough with some dead easy oil top ups where necessary. By now the equivalent Guide's would have had new internals and no paint left on the lever thanks to Dot5.

Any of you bikers know much about brake calipers. I found the rear brake on the DR in pretty bad shape. The outer dust seals were being ejected by the pistons and the inside - well you can imagine. Solid deposits of what must be congealed brake fluid. That said, the pistons don't look too terrible but I think it would be wise to replace all the rubber. Are these things generic or am I doomed to a dodgy parts kit off eBay for the specific brakes on this bike?

Maybe this is proof of the power of the Bikehub thread on eBikes on Sani. Well done for sticking to your able-bodied bike and not going Zimmer frame (yet) 🙂

Modulation is in your finger. If you have issues with Shimano braking you need to work on your braking skills. Cheaper, more power and no brake fluid. It's simple really.

Don't touch either they both lack power compared to cheaper Shimano.

Yeah, or maybe a fancier air spring and damper...

Last post around 6 months ago... On the same subject, I have had a numb right hand issue that presents itself after 5 or so k's of riding, more so on long descents. A friend of mine was told by a physio to shake the hand periodically quite vigorously. Since doing this my hand has been a lot better. I've also adjusted my fork by adding 1x volume spacer and reducing the air pressure to around 40psi. That has made for a lot of sag but a far more comfy ride and the hand pain I sometimes got riding a 2km downhill is vastly reduced.

Which dodgy bike shop is this?

I have also just managed to resurrect my Spesh Command Post. Needed a service kit and my friendly local Spesh dealer was able to source me just the parts kit. working sweetly again for a while ....

Funnily enough I don't mind the internal routing. I've had to change brake lines and a derailleur cable and once you know how to do it, its a doddle.

I think you meant "headset integrated cable routing" ? Its making an appearance on various brands and it truly does suck. I'd base a purchasing decision on the absence of this abomination. No doubt saves a few cents on manufacturing costs for the frame.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/ask-me-anything-with-chris-ball.html Chris Ball is the guy behind the EWS and has somehow worked his way into managing the TV coverage for Discovery. In this QnA he comes in for some stick from the PB commentators because he doesn't really answer the big question re free live stream coverage. He has big ideas re expanding the WC circuit all over the world but is short on detail. Perhaps its too soon to say but we're already in June and they seem to have a lot to iron out still. As far as the EWS is concerned, Discovery has had the rights to this since last year(?) but the coverage changed dramatically this season. Very little build up video on their channel eg no course preview, which got a lot of people worked up. They did however produce a nearly 40 minute highlight show which was pretty good although it included some of the short segments they'd already put out. There is another EWS in Slovenia this weekend and so far they have done a slightly better job with the build up - i.e some rider interviews done during the shake down ride this week.

I remember the lower bits of that - rocky and tech as a climb. Loved that section if that's what you're talking about, with a real sense of achievement. Long gone sadly. I like trails with the least built up look to them - features for sure, but those that use the natural landscape without resorting to huge piles of clay and manicured berms. For instance on TM, as the jeep track degrades rocks appear and these make excellent kickers while dodging the rim bashing ones when you land. You can have a green trail with trailside features that are blue graded. In general trail builders overdo things IMO. That said, there is also a place for a flow trail with jumps for Africa.

Ya, that steep descent would be interesting on my enduro bike with an Assegai up front never mind a Rekon Race 🙂

I just wish SA was be back on the calendar. My only XCO as a spectator was at Coetzenberg.

That was a very sudden slam into the ground. She's had rather bad luck the last few seasons...

For me its track dependent. I eventually got tired of the carnage on the Leogang DH (and Rob Warners commentary - by the way he's breathless on the XCO too). Muddy very steep slopes are hard to ride but not that spectacular. I did enjoy seeing the skill differences between the riders in the DH - careful and balanced vs flat out and risky. I think the Lourdes, Val di Sole and Andorra tracks are way better to watch. As far as XCO is concerned, Petropolis is my favourite so far. Had some challenging features and that fast descent to the finish was awesome. The Olympic XCO course was also lovely to watch. Time to ditch the old school tracks like Leogang?

Did you watch the downhill? Robotic professionals falling all over the place in that event. Perhaps eBike XC) hackers would be even more fun to watch though 🙂

Great event and saturation coverage thanks to RB and PB. A tough track many didn't even qualify on. GM's oversteer in the wall ride corner was bizarre but quite cool - he got back on track pretty swiftly and came 41st eventually.

Women's got me so bored I went to do some car maintenance... Men's was much better. Great ride by AH on a tough but rather boring course. The DH was far more entertaining though.

My wife managed fine with a 50mm stem on her road bike. Road bike bars are super narrow so no, it won't make the steering too twitchy IMO.

A friend of ours has the lower end Alu frame version which I had to tweak for her. Its quite heavy but has decent spec. It does have some slightly weird frame features - the one being that massive main pivot which I like, but the cable routing for the dropper sucks (because of that huge pivot) and the system for covering/securing the cables on the downtube is not very refined. It also arrived from the shop built by a moron - grips and bars loose etc. Check it thoroughly when/if you get it. Looking at that Trek, I'd say get that. The fork is not in the same league as the Silverback s 34 but for the rest I think its a better, more refined bike that will do marathons and light trail duty. That hatch in the downtube will be very useful. And it looks way better.

Flippin hell okes - Trailforks https://www.trailforks.com/region/constantia-greenbelt-17002/ I wrote all the trail descriptions and added some of the trails.