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I went for the EA70 XCT eastons they are 1800g 24 spoke but are full tubeless so no rim tape etc to be honest compared to the Giant wheels the bike came with I could not feel a noticeable difference I lost 5g and that made a huge difference to my Single track TT route that i use in Tokai They are lighter and full UST and thats what I convince myself is the big factor for getting them, as for performance ..? My new take on weight is if you lose all the weight that you can and are down to single digit body fat then there could be a case for a 100 g saving in the wheels Lighter wheels usually mean flex which equates to a loss of energy/performance but if you are in the 100 kg dept i doubt it would be noticeable except in the case of a failure to give an example i am/was in the 100kg bracket and lost 5kg that equates to a time loss of 1m 05 ish on my 5km route which is mostly at a gradient Most of the weight loss is a fixation on getting bikes to a certain weight, i have got my large Anthem 29er to 11.95 with all fittings etc i tried all the small gimmicks but body weight loss has made the biggest diffs I suppose a bit of the topic but value for money try the Easton EA70XCT 5 grand and a solid wheel in our fighting category

The thing with a saguaro is it quite a large volume tyre and so you can run it at quite low pressure For me thats always made it quite predictable, I run with a Fast trak on the back but am keen to try a Renegade, they look like they roll quite easy and sounds like quite a few guys had them for the Epic For winter the wet tracks in Tokai will make for interesting tyre choice Just out of interest used a Mezcal on the front and that was no good ..

I use the Castelli Aero at R1350 from cyclelab best price i have found they are very comfy excellent padding and very good build quality these are the first shorts I used without Chamois cream I have tried Cape storm, First Ascent good starters but the cut and comfort is nowhere near the Castelli, also they dont last stitching comes loose padding dies, I even tried the first ascent elite and thought they were great until I tried the Castelli's I tried Assos but could not find a pair to fit

Yes that was for a frame last year from Bridge cycles

from what I hear he Dogma isnt that light, the spez SL3 is superlight and stiff. my understanding is that a lot of the italian or such brands are stiff but more forgiving and the handle really well to be honest if I was going to spend 35K on the frame you should be doing a lot more home work get hold of Tarmacs revenge on the hub he is/was a spez fan and has the Venge and has now added the Oltre to his quiver Value for money at that price point SpezSL3/4 and take it from there for a bike like that and your neck pain get a proper bikefit from an independent fitter I had the same problem after 3 years of riding now its gone hit the google button

My road bike is BB30 but I can run my normal ultegra crank there is no BB just 2 bearings that the crank fits into so looking at a new crank and want to know what the difference between a GXP crank and my ultegra crank, if any

by the way in either case the wheels are easy to convert I used rim tape and a valve no problem Added both sets of tyres on those bike are not very good for conversions the sidewall are to soft and thin. Do a proper conversion at a later stage with decent tyres I get the feeling the bikeshops do the conversion knowing you will be back to get the proper tyres after the first burp and possible wipeout.

My Brother was in the same boat and went 2011, I think it looks better I also have the 2011 model much better groupset and I think the CR brakes are top the bikeshop should give you the shock pump free anyway I think its part of the shock by the way my brother paid 17 K for his 2011 demo model I would expect to pay around 22K for your bike I see there are a few good one s on the hub too Anyway point is its a great bike and well priced

I think you need to look at the total budget for the bike, not to knock the brand I think the trek is over-priced for what you are getting, last year I was offered a Specialized s-works SL 3 brand new for 17 K I went for the BH RC1 for 12.8K, not pushing the brand but the 4.5 as I understand is not a top end carbon bike. I would get a carbon bike but if you are gonna do tri's you probably want a deeper section wheel I think you get good value from road bikes like ScottCR1, Giant TCR.Its also easier buying a road bike off the hub compared to an MTB which may have taken a pounding I also regard myself firstly a MTB but there is something to be said for, riding in a group in a road race, that you wont experience on a MTB, where its more you against the terrain Road biking is quite addictive get the best frame you can afford and a good groupset like Ultegra. a decent wheelset would weigh between 1500-1600g for a normal clincher wheel, anything lighter and the price curve starts going haywire look at Mavic Ksyrium sl 1480g probably new around 7-8 grand. Easton 70 range around 4.5 grand but heavier and more training wheels Just looking at the bike in the ad 17.5 K for a carbon bike with 105 group you could get a lot more bike second hand anyway just giving you some start points to consider

I had the same rims, just removed the tubes and put rim tape with a valve. I ran with geax saguaro's 2.2 and the fast trak lk at not more than 2 bar, I weigh 100kg + I managed to run as low as 1.7-8bar rear and 1.6 bar upfront no problem no burps at all. Down in the Cape I reckon the 2 worst tyres to use for burping are the rocket rons and crossmark non tubeless versions their sidewalls and beads are way to soft for guys over 70-75 kg and you could never run them at those low pressures, yet funnily enough the bike shops still go out and do the conversion and the guy thinks he's saving until a major wipeout

+1 also give the valve a good cleaning

In all of this is the weight of the bike etc added in? never used a powermeter but might try it.

The changes were very subtle and and so when there was no fitment I thought I would truck on, after a few days I had too go back to my shorter stem as I was way to uncomfortable I mentioned it to the guys and then it knda fizzled out, my point is that I think its best to get an ergofit from the real pro's not people that have just done a course and its not their core business with the BG fit there were emails checking my comfort, progress and regarding the need for any tweaks

I've had a few setups the ergo fit that I had done was great for the measuring etc but there was no fit on the bike. Debbie at trail and tar does a BG fit R500 for the first bike right down to setting the cleats and shims in my innersole for better foot position( which in my case made a huge difference ) even listening to the balanced sound coming off the spinner the result is went down on the saddle and as Covie said better powerstroke, def more in the bike than on top so much so that reset my front shock much softer to get the right sag Nice and loose in the shoulders and neck as I'm looking more ahead than down, the list goes on Debbie is a real pro with the bike fit Money well spent and the second bike was R250 for the same service My opinion of ergofit is I would only get one from the Doc, had 2 ergofits and there was different measurements and as I said never even got put on the bike.

I used to have 25-12 with std crank and then went to a compact and back to a std crank I put a 28-11 on as Insurance most time while training I never use 28 so effectively running 24-11 but in the odd race when the cadence is higher and your're a bit more amped when you hit Ou Kaaps after 60 odd kays its always nice to recharge the legs spinning them out and then back to 24 Personally if your struggle with a 25-11 then I would say you are wasting your legs running down at 12 and 13 except on the downhills, work on the legspeed, go compact for a while did wonders for me, otherwise 28-11 I hardly use 28 and seldom use 11 so basically running 24-12 believe me the diffs between 28-11 and dura-ace 27-12 not worth it get the Ultegra it will be well worth it rather work on the leg speed and learn to enjoy climbs the more you do it the more you enjoy it.

Is it possible to check group results on racetec eg what the leading times in group were etc

that RM has some nice curves thats one thing with Giant even on the road bikes that dont inspire you in the looks dept I was looking at the RM recently hear good things about the suspension both up and down the tracks whats the weight on that bike take it its a large I upgraded my giant with the new easton ea 70's lekker wheels

why did you change

The comments above confirm what I thought that the DA shift blades slightly smoother and that the guys who have DA hold onto them Thanks for the inputs

I have the Giant 29 er size large and at the moment depending on the tyres I use weight is between 11.8kg-12.0kg Have a look at the Epic the giant 29er is probably the most popular bike as I witnessed on the prologue last year That bike handles Tokai like a beast its not unwieldy in the turns my only gripe is I wish the rear shock had a full lockout eg the rp2 for the climbs it has a small amount of pedal bob but nothing to cry about But the suspension is great, the spec of the bike is good although I prefer the 2011 model to the 2012 not wild about 2x10 but you cant go wrong one thing Scotts hard to come by at certain times and Giant excellent back-up service I have made a few upgrades but the bike as is, is great The Giant as I remember actually has a racier geometry but in the end the test ride should be your decider 12.0 kg as is now I need to lose some

besides the price difference are there any hidden advantages to each, currently was on an Ultegra 6700 compact and moved to the std size but using an old Ultegra 172 mm but was looking to have 175mm 53-39 I'm not looking for someone to tell they have a bargain for me just whether one is better than the other I get the feeling that the Shimano shifts better, maybe I'm wrong, there arent many/any Dura-ace 7900 cranks second hand which leads me to believe that they are very good and the owners dont wanna let them go. Any Thoughts

The Easton wheels are bullet proof 2 options are the ea90's about 1700g and the ea70's 1824g which I have they are great and bonus is proper UST rim, no rim tape More and more I can feel the difference with a Thru axle and the beauty that people forget is that if you take the the wheel off 99% of the time there is no issue with the brakes rubbing on the disc thru misalignment If there is misalignment in the stationary position you have to wonder what is happening when you hit the trails I'm so impressed that my next ride I will go for a rear thru-axle aswell The Sids are great shocks cant go wrong

I have been using these they taste great even though they dont look like they will my wife who is quite allergic to various foodstuff has also been using them for riding and marathons I'm quite interested in the drink didnt know there was one