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I would be inclined to go giant XTC or scott scale I think in hardtail you will get good value be carefull about buying a seconhand carbon bike especially a hardtail to be fair though most guys rate the Merida 96 as a hardtail/softtail me I'm a Giant guy but nothing wrong with Merida its a very popular XC bike the hub market doesnt seem very buoyant so there are plenty of bargains to be had, be carefull though you always want to try and ride the bike you buy couldnt think of anything worse than getting a bargain that doesnt feel right, just to save a few

da is a good buy then I would say that merida isnt a bad choice its a hard soft tail very good for cross country and they are well priced the 96 can be locked out fully so you can get the best of both worlds one thing is make sure the bike feels right things like a comfy saddle can make a big difference I dont like Merida because it doesnt fit me but it could be the bike for you, if you are in two minds The worst thing would be to buy a hard tail and after your first 2-3hr ride find you are broken try loan a bike ...

try loaning a bike if possible, if you are a racing snake build consider a hardtail, but if you are of the larger build and I generalise here 85kg + check out the soft tail XC 3-4" travel max any longer or you will get left behind on the hills Also get a 26 inch before being talked into a 29er

You can get the Giant for R26k. Really, is there anywhere in cape town with that sort of pricing, looking for a large in that silver/ blue colour scheme trying to support LBS but they arent suppliers so its not easy. what is the consensus about the standard wheelset airsup6176@gmail.com

thanks for the contacts couple of bike shops I never heard of, good to know

Any contacts for a wheel builder in the cape town area for mtb 29 er specific

I would only use a chain breaker on an MTB, I cant see a road bike taking such a hammering if its maintained I see you should have your chain checked every 500-800 kms far more often on the mtb though

Sorry just edited I see you said road race first up if you use a bomb 2 cartridges ( CO2 thingy) make sure you use it a few times, waste a few cartridges getting to know it if you are riding tubeless (mtb, no-one in their rightmind would ride on the road with a camelbak way uncool) make sure you have a plug kit( for cuts I had a punture on a tubeless and changed it to a tube, what a mess + you have no protection for thorns with a tube that has no slime in it) and also you know how to use it MTB Tip I carry a bomb and a pump, pump weighs 130 grams, you see so many people needing one and really halfway through the race after half a bottle you wont feel it and a bomb doesnt go far in a mtb. MTB I always carry a powerlink and chain breaker, the one time I left my chain breaker at home my chain broke.....MTB saddle bag is good to keep the repair stuff, pockets for bottles and chow, I also use a pouch on my stem for gels etc Also practice as you would race get used to riding with the minimum I race with a lightweight camelbak that only carries a litre and a bottle with 32GI, on a long race carry a portion of powder in cling in case I need a juice top up The difference between a big camel bak and a lightweight + saddle pouch is about 0.8-1.0kg without water in either that a couple of thousand in parts on your bike on a road bike I dont use the camelbak just two bottles and no pump as you cant get the wheel hard enough with pump anyway but then have a tube every now and then I'll pull over and help a fellow racer in trouble its a good feeling, I mean I'm not gonna win...

your chain sticks to the front chain ring and jams everything up, if you are not quick enough say on a climb and you crank you will break the chain. last year did the Lourensford and had a new chain on, I had one or two rides to bed in etc when the race started everything was fine until the first mud puddle my chain started sticking to the chainring, I managed to catch it everytime until on one sharp climb my new chain broke I repaired it and managed to get some lube and continued the race very cautiously Took my bike to the LBS on the monday and the fault was put down to a worn granny ring Bottomline be careful with new chains, casettes and in particularl the granny ring Chainsuck leads to massive debate about what the best lubes are the lesson learnt for me is always to race with a small tube of lube some lubes are better for wet and some for dry ...

Those 2 images look like very different dents one is uniform and looks pressed and the other looks like an impact dents unless its at a funny angle- Tyrone

probably not because those ztr arch are probably more efficient, the read up on bike radar reckons the giant 29er wheels flex a little and anyway I would rather have reliability over weight 10 mins to fix a flat you cant make that no matter what weight the wheel is I would rather use the reliabity as a mindset to know you can hammer it when you need to.

I have been following this thread with interest and can see the errors in taking short cuts wrt rim tape has anyone ever tried self vulcanising tape instead of rim tape in my mind it does 2 things for the weight of one ? covers the spokes and seals against the tyre ??

I'm out in Nigeria will be home in about two weeks I have a Reba team dual air with remote lockout in white bought in Aug last year excellent condition adjustable 100mm-120mm its currently at cape cycle systems getting a service with a view to selling as am going 29er route Its a great shock with all the adjustments you could want not sure but the steerer is at 245 mm and a 1 1/8 thickness which is usually a standard thickness Contact me on airsup6176@gmail.com

I have a set of Mavic 317 with DT swiss hubs weigh 1900grams with the rims strips looking for 1300 bucks in They came off my anthem 1 your best money spent on upgrading your bike is wheels and get ust rims XT 1700 grams 3 grand or American Classics 1480 grams 4 grand Xt\s are stonger but AMC lighter better for racing

These are the business having tried most of the brands mentioned Mountain Kings would be at the bottom of my list

I bought an edge 500bundle at 2800 bucks delivered to my door through easygis the guys name is Matthew and its a great piece of kit

It has a very similar look to my raleigh LTD carbon bike but the java i a good looking bike been looking at planet x site a there is good value there.

I am going through the same process but it seems the GF has come down in price and so they are the same price although I havent squeezed for a better price anyone got a negotiated price on either bike GF 29995 and the giant at 29000 are there better prices bearing in mind still got to convert to tubeless etc I see the Giant has an RLC vs RL and brakes Avid CR vs Elixer I think and XT vs X9 so its close given that GF has a few years on Giant I hear the giant wheels might be a bit flexible according to bikeradar although I doubt my abilities would pick that up any inputs

I have Ultegra and no problems the extra cash is the price of 50 grams and thats it, the Ultegra runs off the same technology just remember to have your chain checked and if you're going dura - ace then it could be costly

I want to put a normal XT crank in a BB 30 frame if I understand correctly can it be done is it just a new BB the vice versa isthere is an XX crank on the hub that is BB30 can that go into a normal anthem frame I know BB 30 means bigger and stiffer I want to know its application for getting my next crank I have searched the hub but no clues

yeah got a program from her and its going well also you can always ask her questions I try get advice from one person to start out with she also does a gym program if you want one

what would a 29 er set cost 9mm QR

Ok thanks I learnt something not sure why that was mentioned in a MTB ad though

I have both XT and am classics the xt's are about 300grams heavier and more bullet proof both wheels are ust so no conversions and rim tape, tyre on stans in and inflate my AM classics have a few dings but that partly betweem me and the dodgy floor pump gauge my advice dont get white rims only problem with the Xt is if they give any hassle it can be costly but if you maintain them you will have years of fun I have put a buckle in each of them but to be honest the type of falls I've had I would have thought the wheels would have been totalled The other thing is the XT are centre lock so I have adapters so that can also add to the weight only reason for the adapter is I find the XT rotor slightly thinner than avid and I seem to feel it for a zula I would be inclined to go XT if you are doing a bit of trail, but for racing AM classics

what is BB drop and how does it affect the ride