Headshot

Ass sauce has such a good ring to it ....

Yes you can - my cheapo Garmin Instinct is very easy to read and has customizable data fields (up to a point) You can easily glance at your wrist or move your hand off the bars to get a view. Its almost easier as you don't have to look down towards your bars. I used to use a Polar V650 but gave up due to the utterly useless connectivity with my phone and the watch is much easier to use as far as I am concerned.

I recently started using a Garmin sports watch. To me this is the way to go and its useful for other activities too. (It also overstates my meters climbed per ride which I kind of like 🙂 )

We know you are an unbiased eBike rider, ne? The evil of an eBike as opposed to a shuttle is the relatively small cost involved with a shuttle which enables mere mortals to have more fun without spending as much as a decent car on a mere bicycle. So there Doughnut! 🙂

DHR2's are notoriously slow rolling in my experience, especially out back. I'm running a WTB Tough 2.4 Trailboss out back and an Aasegai exo+2.6 up front. Nice strong fast rolling rear tyre and grippy front. You don't need DHR2 type grip out back unless its very slithery - then again Jhb is just that right now isn't it? *Yes, the difference in rolling resistance to a slicker rear tyre will be very noticeable. An Ardent is better than a DHR but still not the fastest you could go.

Shots fired! 🙂 That said, maybe real eBike cyclists can just switch off the assist and ride through the booms under their own power. If they want to use their 80Nm then they must pay 🙂

I suspect the women's racing season will be the one to watch but then again, the men's has also got more interesting in the last couple of years. I presume AH will be flying the flag as usual. I wonder what was up with Kate Courtney last year - she hasn't delivered on the promise she showed a couple of years back...

So frikkin expensive 🙂

Not really, more people get injured more badly on marathon events and just riding around than at DH races. You're wearing protection and your mindset is different.

How about some downhill events instead of all this marathon stuff guys - there's at least 4 WC DH events this year- first is this weekend. All you need is a trail bike, a FF helmet and some knee pads.

https://www.entryninja.com/events/77146-stanford-classic

They will be back as Covid issues reduce over time

Its a mess out there. I did two road rides in December/Jan and flatted my rear tyre 10k's in on the first one. Amazingly a ride through lower Salt River didn't result in a flat...

I'd love an eBike, solely to do laps for more downhill fun and especially at Jonkershoek which has Euro worthy levels of descent and hard climbs to get back up. If there were lifts at Tokai and JH, I would not even consider an eBike. That said, I hate the idea of increased weight, cost and maintenance that comes with the extra complexity. Its all good if you're wealthy or sponsored, but when a bicycle starts costing more than a car with spares prices to match, I lose interest.

Can you experienced roadies actually determine a performance differential between different tyre brands or is it really just the width and durability ie puncture resistance and comfort that determines which tyres you ride? For instance if I buy an under R400 Maxxis 26c "training tyre", as opposed to a R1000 plus Pirelli or Conti, am I going to be faster?

Or go mountain biking for two weeks in the Alps...

There is something wrong with the mechanism that locks the dropper into place, Get it to a Spesh dealer.

I wonder if there's scope for a solar powered top up charger - just add a nice flat panel to the top of your helmut and wire it to your lithium.

I'm 55 and almost only ride mountain bikes. I have also had numerous crashes, broken ribs, collar bone and torn ligaments. I'd agree that injuries that are not resolved properly do impact on your strength and fitness. For instance, my collar bone shoulder is sore and clicks which discourages me from doing push ups and pull ups. I get occasional knee pain in my ligament knee especially if I have been off the bike for a while. That said, there is nothing that is so debilitating i.e so sore that I cannot ride properly. I would love to take the advice above and go for a biokinetic assessment and start some kind of program to deal with my ongoing pain. All that said age is also a factor - its that much harder to retain strength and fitness as you age.

The Rhodes/Cecilia area is my main MTB activity area for evening rides. Summer so more people out should make it safer but also attracts the crims. Eish.

No, I drive an SUV that tows Fortuners out of trouble on slushy mountain passes. True story.

I think I have, but it was aluminium on magnesium. And remember, my fork is bigger than yours so it doesn't bottom so easily.

Steel on steel - what are you riding - a Makro Cannondale?

Its getting ludicrous - all this bottoming out that you guys feel you need. Now its a mark of your riding skills, bravery or lack thereof or your addiction to excess travel. Sorry manne, I'll try bottom out some more next ride 😉

What travel fork do you manage that on, because I can assure you if I was bottoming out my Yari, it would not be set up correctly on the damping front 🙂