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I tend to agree with you and I'm not planning on buying a 29er fork and wheel for my enduro, but after my recent experimentation with tyres, air pressure and suspension settings I am far happier on my bike. I think that this is just another thing to try in the search for a better, more fun and possibly faster ride. Just had a thought - my 26er HT might go well with a 180 fork and 27.5 front wheel...If I sell the 26er Pike I could start saving for a 29er fork and wheel for the Enduro. Mmmmm :-)

I wonder how my enduro would go with a 26" out back. Could make it lghter and whippier!

I am edging ever closer to another nice Maxxis tyre. The ex front wheel Butcher I have on the back still has lots of tread but is showing signs of losing its side knobs. Not in a good way either - there is one that has a nice cut/tear at the base, all the way through to the casing. These things keep their tread but wear out in other ways before their time.

I'd love a ramp control cartridge but it's not in the budget right now...

Just picked up a pair of Ion K-Pact slip on knee pads in black. Reviews rate them highly and they are a cut above the rest in terms of styling. Long overdue replacements for my tatty 661's

I've crashed amny many times in over 20 years of MTB and only ever damaged ribs. Impacts on my shoulder were painful but i was never off the bike for more than a week. Then in Sept 2017 I was out with a new rider showing him around and dispensing invaluable riding tips. One of them was "watch out for pedal strikes" . I then demonstrated exactly why they are a problem. Standing up and pedaling for a small jump I bashed my right pedal into a rock that had been exposed by erosion and obscured by trailside plants. I launched up and over the bars and straight into relatively soft ground on the point of my shoulder. I felt the bone go and knew immediately what had happened. I managed to walk my bike a few hundred meters and got a lift home before going to hospital. The X rays confimed the collar bone break. It was severe in that it seemed to have shattered and was very displaced. Needless to say I had surgery a week later and a long plate inserted. I still have the plate and some discomfort in that area. My shoulder as a whole is not quite how it used to be but is far better than say 6 months ago. It didnt help that I fell in June last year and disclocated my sternum/clavicle on the other side. Happily that got better without needing surgery and none of this intereferes with my love of riding and fast downhills. As far as getting the plate removed - I will be guided by my surgeon, but am happy to leave it in as long as possible to allow the break to heal properly. I am not enthusiastic about operations. The clavicle plate op was my first ever general anasthetic. My first ride post op was around 2 months after the op on my brand new bike.

I may have mentioned that I'd started playing with my Enduro's suspension settings. More air out back and now also much faster rebound front and back. The Yari seems quite over damped IMO. With one token and bottom of the reccommended air for my weight, I don't reach full travel on the mellower terrain I have been riding of late ( it does include a drop off and some high speed rough bits and hard braking at times though). A Tokai test ride is overdue. I am now running the fork fully open i.e max rebound and no compression damping and loving it. There is no top out "clunk" with the rebound set to full fast. Any comments on the damping of your Yari or Lyriks? Back end is also set faster than before and the bike feels great at speed on rough terrain - kind of like its flying over rather than bogging down in holes.

Perhaps, but it is a very well designed and made frame - big bearings, storage space and great looks. Its also less than many big brand carbon frames eg Trek and not a lot heavier considering its a borderline DH bike.

I have only hopped on an Ibis once and immediately noticed how well it climbed. Seems to be a trait built into the suspension design.

My last couple of rides with semi trained roadie fitness as an added bonus have yielded some great speed and easier climbing. Still running the Aggressor up front and the grip on damper trails has been great. One thing I've always known but never bothered to adjust is shock air pressure on cooler days. I could see the sag was greater on one of my cooler rides. Friday was warm again and the sag was back where it had been. Next on the agenda are a 38mm rise bar from Rapide (anyone have one?) and a DHF 2.5 for the front.

I suppose it would make more sense if real bikes didnt exist...

I have serious lust for a Bronson.

Had a fun day out. Wifey didnt like the wind and faded a bit so I waited for her a few times until she made the top of Chappies. In the end she was only 7 mins behind me..

We got a new Uvex road helmet and glasses combo on sale. There were other deep discounts on helmets at First Ascent and Solomons.

I'll be towing my wife along from around 07h23. Hoping to be able to hop from group to group to help with the wind a bit. Not ehjoying the weather forecast much. Our training rides have mostly been in perfect conditions.

I would like to see that Marin in the flesh and swing a leg over it. If it rode really well I could be persuaded but I'd still dread seeing the race pics at enduros.

I suspect that many cars and bikes had cleared the road by the time we went through Millers. No sign of any metal or punctures being repaired there either. I rode through some glass, small pieces of bottle - may well have been at Oudekraal. Tyres survived though.

Did an almost CTCT dry run yesterday. It was scary for a number of reasons. We started at about 7 which was a tad late. The main road was thick with cyclists but all in single file until a large group entered the road at Boyes Drive. They proceeded to make a peleton of sorts and ride 2-3 abreast at times and occupied an entire lane at the Muizenberg traffic lights. We stayed well back lest we be tarred with the same brush... It was embarassing to witness. The cape point to Scarbourough section was lovely but after that it was a constant battle with traffic and bikes. The intersection debacle at Kommetjie is a disaster - the lanes are super narrow and there is a detour into the shopping center FFS. This is still mild compared to the madness of Camps Bay, Clifton and Beach Road Sea Point. It was almost a pleasure to scoot through the city and home via Salt River and Woodstock. Looking forward to the tour and getting bacl on my MTB's again. This road stuff is hectic.

I think they have been bought by Mavic already...

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-enve-m735e-wheelset.html Scary failures on a supposedly strong (and heavy) carbon wheelset.

I drilled my wife's Zula for a stealth cable but avoided any issues with the BB by simply taking the cable out of the seat tube a few cm above the junction with the BB. You could do the same and then run the cable up the top of the down tube with the other cables there. Far simpler than trying to get a cable around the BB...

https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Pyga/Hyrax-X01-Eagle,22165#product-reviews/3466 Local is lekker according to ViatlMTB.

Against a field stacked with riders who dont race the WC. Epic win.

That feeling when you discover that a guy with a big black eBike is claiming top tens on your local tracks able bodied Strava leader boards on said eBike and you hit the flag button on Strava. True story. (Unlike other people who always save their eBike rides as exactly that and only compete with other eBike riders) Should I have flagged this guy's rides or just let him carry on wallowing in his glory or blissful ignorance , as the case may be?