Headshot

What I did find refreshing about ze Germans was that they seem to have stopped heaping excessive praise on 29er bikes and were more balanced in their reviews of the 27.5 bikes. The smaller wheelsize came up as a positive rather than a negative... maybe the wheel really is turning :-)

I think they say Pole has gone too far and you should/could downsize when buying one :-) I know i would - a medium would fit me fine...

I havent read all the reviews but when they start saying the Spaz Enduro has a very progressive rear suspension design I start doubting their credentials. Also, on bikes like this you need to set them up carefully for each rider eg. by removing or adding volume reducers as any owner would. Then there is also that German brand love that comes through a bit...

https://enduro-mtb.com/en/best-enduro-bike-you-can-buy/ Quite a bit in here about geo - sounds like the're starting a backlash against extreme geo :-)

https://enduro-mtb.com/en/best-enduro-bike-you-can-buy/ The best bikes according to ze Germans...

IMO, keep the big bike and buy a light HT 29er for marathons.

I was also out on the road this weekend and the weather was truly perfect for that - not sure about the surf though. My road bike is old but speeds along on 2 year old tyres purchased on price. They grip and roll. I cannot imagine road bike forums/ Bikehub having long threads about tyre performance because I can't imagine it makes much difference at all. Then again, I suppose milliseconds could make teh difference between a Sub 3 and not.

Get an Aggressor for the back. I only have front tyre experience with it and it grips while rolling fast. Dhr is a drag and too much out back for around here IMO.

Spot on. The fork works harder and unweighting and catching air over the rough stuff can make things much smoother. On jumps and drops I tend to let the front wheel take the landing a bit more too rather going back wheel first.

When i attempted the Trans Savoie in 2015, there was a guy who raced the whole thing on a Production Prive hardtail. He was obviously a very skilled rider, but by any standards its quite an achievement. Around 3-4000 m of descending per day on some of the steepest stuff I've ever seen... As I said in a pervious post I crashed on a section of track I've ridden 200 times at least while on my HT. My previous couple of rides were on my tank. I rode it again yesterday on the tank and could not see where or how I had lost control. Hardtails are just far less forgiving but can be ridden fast if you take that into account and dont get complacent as I did.

We're such experts already - please find us an advanced Geo video. Thx

This sounds a bit like my Enduro only more so. Its amazing what these modern enduro bikes can do...

With DX pedals and a bottle cage my XL enduro is just over 16kg, maybe just under with the lighter front tyre it now has...

Gorgeous. We're waiting for the ride report. And how much is "moer heavy" . I'm still waiting for someone else to ride a bike heavier than mine...

Now that I am pretty used to my fornt tyre I have been experimenting with rebound front and back. I've noticed that some pro's seem to ride with very fast rebound, in some cases, full speed. I've always erred on the slower side, especially where proper jumps are involved. Since most of my riding involves higher speed descents, sometimes rocky and without any big jumps, I decided to experfiment a bit. I have been riding the fork with just one click away from full fast and the rear, about 5, only because the adjuster seems to make less difference. Its still very fast by my standards. So far, it seeems to be good. On faster bumpy descents, it feels very good and pumping the bike elicits a very nice response, making unweighting and hopping over stuff even better. I imagine that on bigger jumps my timing will have to be spot on. More riding and experimentation required. On a painful note, out on my HT this morning the rubber didnt stay down and and I have a rather bruised hip, knee and a bump on my head. Something about switching to a twitchy 26er frim a tank like Enduro may have played a role...

The PB league is up and running and I've created a sub league called Cape Town Gravity password is "bikehub" Gauties you can create your own and perhaps we can also have a joint Bikehub league. Go for it #bros.

A hot pink Levo without the motor... not quite. I think I'm still about 4kg better off.

A pretty bike, especially a red one, always rides better, even when the suspension and geo is all wrong. Get that right and you have a super bike. I feel like my enduro is approaching super status. The rider is the Kryptonite in the equation.

In summer we get away with about 800 pm, I just dont buy it all at once.

I bought R400.00 of electricty two days ago. Havent had that much chance to use it, but when I have, it works brilliantly....

As long as the user knows this, its not much of a problem. I didnt but its never really bothered me. A bike that has a steeper STA is just that, steeper and because its a standard measure you can compare bikes easily.

No electricity, no worries, just power yourself up with beer... I hope thats just a baguette sticking out of the holder there though.

Sudden increase in generator sales caused by panic stricken eBike riders scared of missing out on a ride...

68deg compared the charts 72.8deg means my STA is slacker, means climbing is harder, correct? Yes quite correct - the way to overcome that a bit is to run your saddle as far forward as possible, as little sag as is practical out back and slightly more than normal up front.

I found a pic of me from the 1990's rocking a Giant ATX with a 120mm 25 dia stem, yesterday. No wonder it was harder to progress your riding back then, even a modest dh must have been scary.