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Jeez, I think the point has been made your buddy went to Bridge and got bad service and possibly thinks they were quite underhand ... its all possible but those guys have been going for years with a loyal following they must be doing something right You not gonna change the guys that are loyal to Bridge myself included There's a guy who posted about a shop in Hout Bay about what he thinks is bad practice .. thats his choice but knowing the guys there a few things dont add up, be that as it may I'm not gonna get all cut up about it Its interesting that your mate didnt post about this but chose you to slag a bike shop off .. If he was that pissed maybe he should have sent them something in writing... as they say pen is mightier than the sword

You probably need to rebuild your wheels or get some custom ones made up, there so many factors give the hubbers more info, type of spokes, rims, hub type A guy your size is definitely gonna need a custom set of wheels, done by a reputable wheel builder, unfortunately thats gonna cost more than your bike

Try a S-works Fast trak ( 530G) on the back and Maxxis Ikon / Spez Control/ Ralph I have used a Geax Saguaro upfront and they are great but very Heavy Another thing to look at is this water catcher thingy ( made of material) have seen it in the UK quite a bit just above the front tyre attached to the fork in a vertical position stops the water and mud shooting up in your face

The good thing about Stans is you can also convert the rear to thru-axle should you upgrade a frame and the freebody sounds lekker

I have just put a set of Formulas on was using Elixir Cr's which were great for me and I rate them over the 770 Xt's but the Formul's are in a class of their own they really do feel powerful and to put in context was on 185 upfront with Elixir and now on 160 upfront with the R1's only because had so little time to find a bigger rotor Anyway point is the R1's are more than capable as they are so save a few bucks upgrading .. and they are superlight so an added bonus and picked them up for a great price from a certain poster on this topic.. the likes that even CRC dont compare

I have a Anthem 29er and have upgraded to a Pivot, the only issue I have with the Anthem was that it didnt have a rear thru-axle To put things in Context the Pivot frame is heavier but my final build is at 11,7 KG complete with grips, bottle cages, mounts and pedals I have quite a heavy but comfy saddle this bike cost me 40K but has everything I want, My main point is that frame stiffness and suspension balance arent factored in by most rookies, everybody is so concerned about weight, with my current build I could get my Giant down to Scotts weight but its nowhere near the performance package of the Pivot I'm not Pushing the Pivot brand, I like the uniqueness of it but there are so many thing that bikes like Scott and Giant dont cater for especially in the handling dept, things like front wheel washout, rear end stiffness, active suspension etc ( I really still rate the Anthem suspension right up there, but the steep angle of the front fork make it twitchy causing washout) get on to You-tube if you can and review all the bikes, I cant stress the importance of research, in my case I was given the Pivot for a week to try out and hit my local trails By the way do you have a 29er in the Zaskar The other thing to look at is what are the top riders using, if you are doing 15 hrs a week then you will look to performance and maybe even a hardtail in which case Scott is right up there At 35 K price point a spez will be much lower spec than Scott and I reckon the the Giant will be 3-4 grand cheaper than the Scott. Scott and Spez not easy to come by once the seasons stock is sold out seems like most impoteres only bring in once a year so think about that ... thats where the boutique brands are great

The Giant pips the Scott, when you mentioned trail ride, the most you could race is 4 times a month so most time would involve trail/XC terrain the Giant suspension is far more active and the rear shock is more reliable, back-up service on the Giant is great Try get hold of a demo and hit the trails, that will always be the best selling point, any shop that cant supply or get a demo for you isnt worth it in my books Dont always worry about weight any Duel Suss bike at the 12 KG mark for a size Large is good enough Doesnt sound like you ride much, I may be wrong, so be carefull entering the Carbon frame market The Scott is one of the lightest frames around if I'm not mistaken. Even Giant who are leaders in Carbon arent willing to go that light, so it must come down to a compromise Having said all that negative comment about the Scott its still a good bike in the right hands

try the Mamba for flowing bumpy trails when get to the road cycle up and start again, you should use full travel on a XC bike Its about 2 mins of ride time, you'll be carrying good speed too

Arch EX with stans hubs are just as light as Crest with Hope hubs, most guys look at rim weight and then go put heavy tyres on. I have Arch EX with Spez S- Works tyres and they are about 150 grams lighter than Crest with Maxxis Crossmark non UST ( quite a light tyre) The Arch EX are bullet proof .. The Crest may stay true but they do Flex,even with strong riders in the 70-75 kg range.. I have personally witness cracking at the nipple area on a lightweight XC riders wheels Seems a bit pointless to put a bullet proof hub on a Rim known to be fragile ...if you google reviews you wont find many good reviews on the Crest except for light build weight .. but spoke tension loss plenty .. flex plenty Its lekker to have light wheels but you want confidence

well said same happened to me .. dont go cheap will make you cabbie bad be carefull that if you dont use agents sometimes the towbar can hang and effect clearance try get one where the hook detaches In this case I would suck it up and pay the 6 grand .. dont look at the 6 grand look at the diffs between the the 2 thats the amount you gotta hangle in your mind with..

Every Bike shop that I have frequented in the Cape Town Southern Suburbs has its good and bad but the common problems are generally the smaller shops that give better service usually cant compete and have higher prices on parts .. every single shop that I have been to no matter what the reputation of the mechanic makes a balls up now and again These are mechanics with all the course certificates on the wall But the thing I have found is that if you really gel with the Mechanic then its great to have a chat explaining everything you need When he makes a balls up its a lot less stressed when it comes to confronting the situation My observations are .. I usually spend at least 2 hrs in the shop .. coffee *** praat etc .. is that most people even the okes with the top bikes know very little about what happens in front of and below the saddle Coming to service I see these guys come in and you can see a buyer and a stalker a mile away ... thats why I'm always gonna get better service than the stalker Also what I've seen is that good mechanics are like hens teeth Its a bit of a dream of mine to have shop but what I've seen is that its a bloody tough industry, this doesnt take anything away from what happened to the guy .. and I probably would klap someone if that happened to me ..

Have you tried the Alliante its for the less supple guys and with Techno gel the only spez saddle i would look at is the Henge, it has a better shape In Both Cases you can get a test saddle both brands have that option

Its Marketing see it, believe it, buy it..

Another Thing Dodger, I have started doing lap riding sort of XC style and the Pivot is great for it, its an excellent climber and very supple down the tracks the rear shock has quite a long stroke and the interesting thing is that the rear shock is set quite low only about 130 psi compared to 210 psi on my anthem but just about no bob Thats where the linkage is sorted, the Designer Dave Weagle I think... is a master linkage man and the DW link is patented to the Pivot but he works on many other brand linkages and if I'm not mistaken he helped Mr Morewood on the new Pyga ..

Just read you post again you can do it on that budget and compared to the carbon comp no comparison I think if you are looking at linkages you should take the Scott out of the equation, the rear has been problematic and the actual linkage is nothing to write home about The Epic comp having tested it is good but the problem with Epic is you have to basically buy off the floor any upgrades start making the price astronomical and you cant add just any parts because they run a few systems unique to the brand the up side of the Epic is if you want to flog it they usually are quite in demand I bought the Pivot frame and built it up, there were Spez epics in the shop and the Comp is naaaice but its quite a heavy Carbon bike and thats why I dont see the point to me you buy carbon to be lighter, with suspension theres no way you can feel responsiveness etc, for me only an S-works makes a carbon bike worth it due to weight but then the price is crazy believe me when you fall on a carbon you will always get up and look for a crack ... no way with an Alu frame

Hey Dodger Try something different Pivot Mach 429 They have a carbon coming out this year try Complete cyclist in Joberg somewhere having met you,I would still go Alu frame The Pivot should offer you everything and more and the nice thing is you can spec build it way cheaper than the Epic or Spark .. If you went to town you could get it down to sub 11 KG ..mine is at 11.8 kg on an XT build and Arch wheels The best part of the bike is the Linkage it is truely a climbing bike and awesome down the track Google the reviews if you want some pics I can fwd or check in Rant forum and search Mach 429 have put up my review and some pics

Why must it be lighter than 200g ... I also thought I needed a 155mm because thats what the fit says yet after trying 3 Spez saddles my Fizik Alliante at 143 mm was way more comfortable ... I think Spez stuff is great but i'll tell you that with Fizik their business is Saddles have a look at the the 2 brands of Saddles Phenom vs Alliante in the comp range Fizik about 30 grams lighter and about 10 times more comfortable the Phenom is flatter and harder so requires a cutout where the Fizik is way more bowed and is softer so doesnt require a cutout, the Fizik only have Sloot .. in the Ladies saddle I think its the Vesta Not saying one is better, because everyone is different, but dont be fooled that you need a cutout to give an example an Alliante weighs about 280 grams, you could loose 80 grams somewhere else on the bike and still have the comfort .. any saddle of your choice.. but dont be fooled that a Spez saddle is like some sort of Lazy boy even the Henge which is very heavy and more cushioned still doesnt come close to the Alliante

mine are Formula R1 brakes .. great brakes and superlight and potent stoppers my others are my Arch EX wheels with my Spes S- works Fast traks that combination is lighter and more bullet proof than ZTR crest and a run of the mill UST or similar tyre, I reckon a XO cassette would be a nice addition but hear they are quite fragile - weighed my current wheelset 29er sub 3.4 kg without skewers and a 36 XT cassette those are my 2 light reliable components what are yours .. lets build the lightest reliable bike cyberstyle the exchange of info will be great, I might be able to save a few more grams and still get reliability

Back to the topic of bike weight my pivot is 11.6 kg at its lightest with XT group, Arch wheels and Formula brakes got an Alliante saddle, tried shaving weight trying the Spez saddles but Sadly those saddles turned out heavier and way more uncomfortable ... Ultimately at a certain point bike weight will come down to how much pain you are willing to go through, light saddles, lightweight tyres, rigid forks, superlight grips ( that can kill the wrists) Then there is the pain of forking out when some superlight component goes tits up..

I had a good laugh at that one ...I'm sure someone has tried that...

I suppose some guys take loads of gear with ... so baseline riding weight is a bit more comparable .. but you're right riding weight is a whole new topic i just tried the go to the toilet theory where guys claim to save 500grams ... but it didnt show on the bathroom scale ha ha ha ...

I hear that a 180 mm upfront increases braking by 15% although at the moment running 160mm Formula R1 upfront and no lack of braking power for me at 97KG just be careful with lightweight rotors like Alligators certain types can be very ineffective especially the lightweight wind cutters and there you can feel how it pulses upfront ... really not worth it for example with my avids the original Rotorb and 30 grams heavier rotor defo much better than after market Alligator wind cutters

On your way up there is a wooden shack where you get a ticket for 35 bucks carry on up the road and hang a left and follow the road for another 300 bumpy meters follow the road up on your left is the fairy garden unmarked probably 300m past the boom thats an up hill warm up after that follow the road up asthma hill about 1,5 km and keep heading up coming down you should see the single tracks although would be good to have a guide, if I was home would have shown you the way During the week plenty ladies riding so just ask if you lost you can also enter through the top gate probably 12km's of descent and some good stracks but then to slog back up It can be tricky beause not highly visible from the road tracks hope this helps although can be daunting but at least you can feel safe even if you see baboons just ignore and they wont even take note of you

This is not the Bridge Cycles I know, I know you cant just pop in because they are quite busy but not because anyone isnt willing to help Anyway they'll have to watch themselves this can spread like wild fire I use the shop in Hout bay, small but quite personalised and pretty good prices