covie

Top i have 4 sets of baggies you can have them , first time i did a ride longer than 2 hours i was chaffed raw. Baggies might look like mtb attire but they sure as hell are not designed for long periods on the bike.

Yeah Bib's are much more comfortable, and they dont move around, so less chance of chaffing, Invest in a good one.

Lol asking about a 29'er on this forum is basically like getting caught by your wife having sex with your daughters best friend.............. But yes 29'ers do make excellent stage race bikes, you wont get a decent dual suspension for that price range, so yes if you cant afford a 26" or 29" dually then get a 29 hardtail bike.

Look for a decent second hand machine for around 6k, 1k for bibs, R500 for helmet like bell solar R350 for gloves, giro all the way R500 for a camelback. 2L R750 for shoes with cleats. The other k for a decent multitool and a cheapish cycle comp. And you should be good to go.

Its the CWC contego track and yeah you can ride to your hearts content, but be warned the one drop off caught me by suprise quite a nasty one, ended up in 2 broken and 3 cracked ribs. Besides that its an awesome little playground.

Just moved from 3x9 to 2x10, basically because it came stock with the new bike. So far I love the 2 x 10 setup the ratio's to me just feels better, admittedly, on the serious climbs I really miss my granny and i find myself wanting to shift to a lower gear that simply is not there Monster hills i use to be able to climb quite easily by shifting to granny and spinning to rest the old legs, I now struggle with since there is no option but to grind away till you get to the top. That said, my leg strength has improved tremendously, and in another month or so I dont think those hills will be so intimidating anymore. It just takes getting used to, and getting forced to develop the leg strength needed to power up the hills. On the medium gradient hills though you fly like a demon. And they seem much easier to do than before. I also find that you can accelerate a lot quicker in short bursts as is needed on ST, much better for some reason, dont as me why but its like the gearing just makes more "sense" And lastly you tend to shift a lot less which is never a bad thing. But in general, i stay in my small blade while i warm up, once the legs are warm I drop it onto the big blade and i can ignore my once shifter in general. Which means even less shifting.

I trie the Race sport versions of both and both of those let me down after a couple of months, I now only stick to UST. The extra weight is worth the peace of mind.

The scott is ok but remember you will want to rip out that dtswiss at the back and slap in a Rp23 or RS, so add another 4k to the mix.

Actually i get better grip with slightly higher pressures (obviously rider wheight dependent) have to rember XC tyres does not have the strong sidewalls of DH tyres, so everyone wants to run their pressures as low as possible, the problem is it completly bends the carcass and deforms the tyre actually ending up in less grip, washouts and tyres running of the rails. Ive tried so many tires all at different types of pressures, i get the best results for my 87kg's running most tyres between 1.8 and 2.2. Anything less its no grip total washouts and really staggering rolling resitance.

Saying skill i dont agree with, dont come more skilled that Evans and George, but i agree the faster and more aggresive you ride, the more the chances of getting punctures or tears, and these guys are aggresive. And sometime they have to take those chances.

AMC's en route they havent arrived yet, needed the 20mm maxle conversion kit, and that took some time to get hold off.

That time will tell, but almost everyone i know that has been through both group sets have told me SRAM is much better in mud than Shimano, though this winter will be the proof in the pudding. Biiggest advantage to me still is that i can tune it 100% on the trail with a multitool as if done by a prof bike mechanic, could never do that with shimano, got it to work ok but never perfectly. And i can do it in less than 5 mins.

I need .... errr want to upgrade my wheelset anyway so the new ones will have racing ralph/rocket ron combo on AM classics, the stock wheels with ASPEN/IKON will be the training set.

Congrats on the bike cant go wrong with either already my 26" anthem, but..... had XT XTR on all my bikes got a new Rocky mountain with X7, thought that would be the first to go.... wrong, @#$@ XT, even the SRAM X7 wipes the floor with shimano. Not to mention tuning the SRAM stuff is a breeze, where with shimano you need mystical powers to get it right. Im now spening my money on new wheelsets and better forks as upgrade options the X7 can stay till it brakes. But thats just my humble opinion. XT is obviously not bad, but i have been converted to SRAM junkie i beleive.

Agreed best scenario is getting ikons for training and the schwalbe's for races. if your inclined to spend the money, Though im fairly impressed with the IKON and i hated every single other maxxis tyre with excpetion to the Ardent.

Got the ikon on my 29'er and not a bad tyre so far, that said its normal foldables and not UST, or the exo versions but so far they have been holding up. Im between getting the ikon UST versions or the Schalwbe racing ralph snake skins, Happy with the performance of the IKON Know that the evo schwalbe is useless, the snakeskin is better, they grip like crap on a woolen jersy but wear quickly. tough choice to make.

Ironically ive seen many a fat bastid ride like a BOSS!

Using non-ust rubber WILL fail at some stage, bike shops even sign disclaimers if you wish to use normal foldable tyres as tubeless, cheap yes, till it comes of the rim and you need to have teeth replaced. converting Stans vs Ghetto, just go stans tried tested and proven.

What makes you think I cant afford a spesh or any of the other posters on this thread?

Agreed you will never get a acurate result, not only is it what they currently ride, hubbers will vote for what they perceive to be the best suspension which will reside on their dream bike that they would one day like to buy.

Santa, Rocky Mountain, Pyga, ellsworth they all need a honorable mention and cash to be forked out for.

camber got rated 10 out of 10, one of the lightest AM bikes out there def my choice if i had to buy a new rig, much more versatile than any of the other.

After my first wipe on the new rig ill let you have a go at her

Forget the best suspension well for XC anyway Smoothlink suspension

And so you get to the menaltity of most first world European countries, they buy cheap ass cars and spend their money on worthwhile things. Its only in SA that you get some guy eating stale bread while living with his mother but he drives a merc/bmw/audi, cause we SAFFA's are cool like dat. Here cars much like our bikes are status symbols more than functional tools. We want shiny cause my bike has to be prettier and more expensive than yours. Its a SA mentality. I have many friends in europe half of them own cars worth no more than 4000 euro which are their day to day vehicles, yet they all have porches, lamborgini's superbikes, which they use ..... for racing on race tracks. They dont drive to work in it just to show everyone they own one. Yet again if you have the money and want to waste it go buy a 80k bike thats your right, buy your M3 and drive like a (that word that gets you a 2 day ban) because you can.. bottom line is, if you are on your 100k bike and then 9 year old passes you on a raleigh in a race, yes you are looking like a prick with a pretty but expensive bike. As in everything in life form needs to meet function.