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I have aset of each AC and XT both good wheelsets the AC quite a bit lighter and both are proper tubeless so no rim tape etc The AC has a bit of a section which I assume gives it strength and they run very smooth I use the AC for races and XT for jolling I weigh 100 kg I had a mean crash at the lourensford cut in the front tyre so did a bit of rim riding, no damage bar a small scratch ( it was quite a spectacular fall if I say so myself ) I had an issue with my XT rear hub but to be honest its not worth fixing and the wheel runs absolutely fine( just keep the hub cones greased) a new set XT 2900 and a new set of AC 2010 tubeless 4000 from a guy in CT

for your bike get a reba team you get the option of 120mm travel if you want( did plenty of home work I got one for 4200 in the end from my local LBS better than CWC price) and they are far stiffer than the Sid ( racing snakes ) My Reba team with the lockout moef weighed 1650g my Tora was 2000G + The Fox is great but they are a little more pricey and cost more to maintain but none the less still a great second hand option I see I-cycling has some XT rims( 2900 new) I might get a new set and will be flogging the old ones will let you know You cant ride an Anthem with those rims bud

Get the fork, I upgraded to a reba team on my anthem kept travel at 100mm, I took my fox and put it on mt HT replacing the tora. its a different bike the fox is plush you can run it at much lower pressure than the tora and none of that squeaking when the shock is working hard You will have a different bike by changing that fork and you can flog a tora quite easily Ok I did get the wheels a month later AMC's

I have XT,s and am going to try elixer cr's as the Xt,s definitely lack stopping power I find on long decents that my fingers can cramp because I have to squeeze so hard and long to maintain control the Cr,s are rated higher for braking but I suppose I,ll see when they are fitted the one s I tried felt far more powerful and they have an adjustable bite point I also find that every once in a while I need to get the brakes bled as they get air in the system Anyway thats my feedback on the XT's

I,m also interested the new rt 9000 and the team version are light check crc full suspension those are complete bikes different shock arrangement The alu version I,m told is 12,8 from someone on the hub- Craig wright I seem to remember

GIANT ANTHEM 1 2007/08 LARGE standard full xt amc classic tubeless 2010 I iweighed them at 1480 g rear spez 2bliss front mezcal wheelset with XT discs about 300g lghter than an XT wheelset fork Reba team with remote lockout 2010 race face bit s fizik alliante saddle heavyish the bike comes in at 12 kg the 2009 frame is about 400g lighter just bought some avid cr still to fit

JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF A BIKE BATH IS THE WAY TO GO

I though this article did a a better explanation than Dr Swart especially for the MTB crowd

Spoonza I have been going through this exercise, I have a giant anthem 2007/08 which is great but time to move on, wrt the Merida that weight seems excessive my Giant is a shade under 12 KG( LARGE) and I felt that the 2011 96 was lighter than my bike, as for the ride you really need to get the 96 setup perfectly as the ride is very much hardtail, if If I'm not mistaken the sales man spoke about the 1:1 ratio so 1kg/psi ( DT swiss remote lockout)but the components are great spec I was a bit disappointed with the ride I felt that for a 100kg the geometry was very racy and hard, but the saddle was not suitable for me so that was a put off.( I use Fizik Alliante technogel) I tried an s-works epic without much setup fiddle and it was a dream straight off. But if the 96 is what you want its well priced and a great spec but test ride it. For myself I'm thinking Ghost RT Lector 9000, Specialised Epic I may even look at the Scott 35 carbon frame so many choices ...

I have XT brakes which seem good but definitely not one touch braking and have had a few occasions where they need to be re-bled just for kicks am going to try avid elixer CR apparently a little more adjustable and you can set the bite point, same price as XT My rear XT caliper has a tiny leak but they are 3 years old and I ride 3-4 time a week but in that category XT or Elixer I dont think you can go wrong

Thanks for the advice sorry Chris looks like I hi-jacked your topic a touch ..all in the name of info though

Thanks that does help any idea what the going price is, I tried Easygis but you have to call them and I am out in west africa ...so not going down that route

This is all quite interesting I am between a RS 800CX pro and one of these 500/705 edge garmins I was worried about the readout on the polar I have rs 200 which is fine but what happens when there is more info can one easily see it while riding and also what are the button functions like on both types especially with MTB Anyone

I bought a Raleigh RC LTD which is full carbon it was fairly new for 5 grand from a guy in george and its great, nice colour scheme and it does the job, with carbon you can feel the responsiveness of the bike and believe me I'm no expert. Point is the Raleigh seems to be good value for a solid reasonable weight bike and its strong, I weigh 100kg and mostly use it for inteval traing to help with the MTB I have a large with full ultegra and richey protocol wheels and it scrape in at under 8 kg So to answer your question Yes you do get cheap carbon thats good and versatile

I'm eyeing out one these advertised by Lazza on the hub its going for 4 grand which seems well priced its new is there anything I should know about these I was also checking the edge 705 but I hear that debate is like the lube debate. what to do

having ridden both these bikes in a car park I was wondering if they are a similar ride out on the trail, I'm inclined to think the 96 is a harder ride is this true. I'm using the Anthem 1 2008 model and looking for a new steed have started doing races but want to get into stage racing so far its between the epic alu version( pricey but proven), the 96 ???( racy but a hard ride 2011 excellent value), giant anthem( fair value but proven), the ghost( good value unproven in SA but by all account a good international rating) and a zula ( quality build, simple, heavy)

the team has black box motion control it is also APPARENTLY slightly stiffer and mine has the floodgate feature on the lockout not sure if the race has that.

I also had a fox and changed to a reba team my travel is set to 100mm it is a good fork and also supposedly cheaper to maintain I got the one with remote pushloc and the team comes with floodgate only thing is lots of settings to fiddle with I weigh 100kg and set + 125 psi and - 115psi bottom line I dont think there is much difference performance wise its a mixed bag with top riders going either or but the fox is more expensive, cost more to service and has less settings ( the reba has some nifty lockout settings I got mine for 4200 in Aug

get hold of maryks and get on a program she encourages gym time maryke.verster87@gmail.com chat to her and she may point you in the right direction I go away plenty and its amazing what 2 weeks away from a bike can do its hard but it helps go to gym in that time

as far as I know these brakes get air in the system quite easily and a real bugger to get the air out best done by a bike mech I was at the LBS the other day and they were struggling with the same type of brakes.

you should be able to replace the damaged spoke without affecting performance just get them to check that the wheel is still true, I had a spoke replaced not to long ago on the mavic 317 with dt hub also running tubeless it cost me 20 -50 bucks including spoke and labour

does anyone know what the 2011 prices are for the 96 looking at the 3000 D carbon or the ali version saw one at cyclelab for 23K maybe some one has a link

Yeah Thanks for all the advice it sounds like the granny gear did not enjoy its 4th chain it appears that I may need a new granny ring and in future I will run the chain in a bit more but thanks again for all the advice

PM sent

But is what he says true that wax based lube no good in muddy conditions ?