rudi-h

no you're talking! i might just take you up on that...

F place...?

PS Linden cycles have (at least they still had it last weekend) the gold "limited edition" Trance SX 650B in a large frame size for a price within your budget. You're far away from Joburg, but could be worth considering...

I've just been through the same exercise... Exact same length and weight and I also want a strong machine that is capable over most terrain types. From a logical point of view the Giant Trance seems to be the best value for money, but the standard fork and wheelset don't seem to be bomb proof and somehow it doesn't really have that WOW sensation compared to the other bikes in that class... I didn't really consider the enduro, I was looking in the 140mm travel range. The enduro is a really hot looking bike though... I ended up saving another few months for a Santacruz 5010. It did wreck my budget, but I'm getting a good wheelset and a Pike fork. will be arriving this weekend, can't wait!

stupid experiment. It's hard to believe that whoever went through the trouble of making that rig even thought it is remotely useful, scientific or representative. The major thing (other than weight) that makes a bike faster or slower is rolling resistance which is a function of wheel diameter, tyre pressure and tread pattern. Bearing and seal design in the hubs can also play a role as well as the rubber compound of the tyre, but bearings, seals and rubber compounds are generally not that much different between manufacturers. With road bikes the rim depth and spoke geometry also comes into play when you spend a lot of your time riding at speeds above the 35km/hr mark. Changes in rotational kinetic energy and angular momentum is way way way smaller on the importance scale, unless you ride around your dining room table where you never actually get the opportunity to get up to speed and need to start/stop all the time.

Hi-Jack on So about 20% of the conversations on the hub are about some form of "performance" comparison about which is fastest. Whether it is: elipitical vs circular rotors 26" vs 29" wheels clinchers vs tubby's deep section vs disc wheels Hard tail vs full sus 100mm travel vs 140mm travel vs 160mm travel road bike with tri-bars vs tri-bikes different tyre makes and models etc. My question is that in an age where we have stuff like power meters, wind tunnels etc. why are none of this measured, tested, compared and published on a scientific basis? Surely it should be possible to setup a series of scientific power based experiments in a controlled environment to quantify these benefits accurately and take the guessing and opinions out of it? So why isn't anybody doing it? Hi-Jack off

All quotes I got were just over R40k. where do you shop?

I feel for you and I'm sorry to hear about your accident and really glad you are okay now. However riding with a safety car blocking up cars behind you can't be the ultimate solution. Drivers plan their trip time (right or wrong) on the fact that their vehicles are capable of driving at the speed limit, and when drivers cannot achieve driving at that speed, then they get irritated and frustrated and worry about being late. If the problem is peak hour traffic, drivers accept the fact that nothing in particular is holding them up and then its easy to deal with the issue. On the other hand, if (for example) a taxi pulls up in front of you with no warning and off-loads the dude sitting at the back right (taking 15 seconds only), all of us are quick to hoot and show signs when we pass them. Why? Because the 15 seconds wait was so bad? No, its because you are waiting for something that you shouldn't be waiting for... Do you get angry? Yes you do! Does it make sens? No it doesn't! Same with cyclists, on the larger scale of us as humans living an estimated 80 years or 40 odd million minutes, two minutes here and two minutes there waiting for a cyclist doesn't change anything, but as becomes clear form this thread that most of us humans not logical about these things. Road rage and the associated frustration of waiting for somebody that you perceive to be selfish is real although it doesn't make sense if you really consider the issue. We also know that angry and frustrated people do stupid things Bottom line, as long as we share the road with cars: 1) You will piss off people (right or wrong) that drive behind a group of cyclists with a back-up vehicle behind them or riding two or more abreast. 2) There will continue to be fatal cycling accidents 3) We will continue to debate this, rant about this and differ in our opinions (even as cyclists) forever. My solution: Do not share the road with cars. I'm not saying I've nailed this issue, but after a few close encounters I vouched to only touch my road bike in thee places. Either riding at suikerbosrand (too few cars to piss off), at the cradle (only the parts with shoulders, not including the N14 to kloofzicht stretch and neither the beyers naude stretch past heia safari) and at races with full road closure. Nothing else. For the rest I ride my MTB and stick strictly to dirt and sidewalks.

Posting again... clearly I've got some serious buying issues! Last time it was about 4 inch vs 5 inch bikes, and after all your comments I was 100% confident that a 140/150mm trail bike with 650B wheels is the way to go. So I forgot about buying for a few months, cause I'll need to save up to at least R60k - R70k to buy a bike like this with carbon frame, proper wheels, proper brakes, dropper post and all those cool stuff. So then I went to the Spez store the other day and I see they do a Camber 29 (110mm with a relaxed head angle) and a Stumpjumper 29 (130mm). Both entry level carbon frames retail for under R45k after I add a dropper post. Also, the Camber is only 12.5 kg's, so it will be a reasonably fast bike for marathon type races aswell. Without riding any of these bikes, it seems like both the stumpy and camber aren't bad options, especially since I don't have to save up any longer! Questions: 1) Are the Roval 29" wheels strong enough to ride jumps and drop-offs without the wheels bending breaking and needing to be re-trued all the time? I weight 89kg and broke 3 Commencal aluminium frames and two maxxix 719 rims in the past few years, so I'm not too easy on the gear... 2) Will I have some buyers remorse when I see a Santacruz 5010 650B passing by after I just blown cash on a stumpjumper or camber?

nothing, except for a stoopid looking bike and you'll have to carry two varieties of spare tubes

Point taken and my above post is from my own experience only. I am 1.85 and weight between 90 and 85 depending on the season, yet no issues with frames or wheels breaking on my cheapie raleigh whatsoever. I have managed to crack / break 3 MTB frames and a Mavic MTB rim in the same amount of time though... But yes, I'm all for cool looking bikes, so one should always buy the hottest bike that you can afford

i ride a raleigh RC3000 that I bought new for R4200 in 2007. Its done over 15000 km on a single chain and casette, has been washed and lubed only a handful times and only had around 3 services in all that time. It has Shimano Tiagra components and I maintain that from a cost (R/km) perspective it must be the cheapest and most reliable bike in Joburg. With some help of second hand tri-bars and a forward seat post, it has completed 2 x ironman, 3 x 70.3, one argus and 7 x 94.7's of which the best time was 2h47. Not a bad bike to ride and from a maintenance and reliability point of view its as good as you'll get! Haven't had anything better, but I manage to train and stay with mates that have much more expensive bikes, so it cant be that bad... Bottom line, any road bike is good enough, so go out and buy the coolest looking bike within your budget!

i think this is to some extent a case of the pot calling the kettle black... I don't know what happened and I wasn't there, but I can just say that I was riding in the cradle on the weekend and us cyclists aren't exactly keeping in the yellow lanes... On saturday there were huge bunches, riding mostly in groups of two abreast, and when one group passes another, then its minimum 4 abreast... Can't say I noticed the front guys looking back to make sure any cars aren't coming...

it doesn't exist The cradle and suikerbosrand are the only two safe road routes in JHB. If you ride MTB there are some more options, but not quite if you want to do 4+ hour rides without riding in circles. Many clubs have routes that are longer, but IMO it's not safe with all of these routes having some busy sections and dodgy crossings here and there.

I don't think there's a safe route, but if you really want to, id do the following Go west through turffontein, cross the M1 and get yourself into Crownwood / Xavier road. Then go north, over the one-way bridge just after crossing Booysens reserve rd, continue over main reef road. Just after the railway lines, take a left for a block to avoid the traffic and continue north until you hit smit street. Across from garden city clinic, take a right and head up past the senet tower. Down the hill take a left at the traffic lights opposite the SABC and ride until you get to UJ, then a right into beyers naude. Once you get to emmarentia / marks park there are many options to ferndale. It isn't a great route and you need to ride on sidewalks for a lot of the time, but its do-able on an mtb. I've commuted a portion of the described route while working in Crown Mines a few years back. Just make sure you don't do it in the dark, some of those areas are dodgy, and i'd also not try to tag a laptop along. It will most likely take your ride up to 30 odd km's, so it will be a long commute both in terms of effort and time.

So 1 x 10 would be cheap, but 1 X 11 would be expensive... So then after your initial factory fit 11 speed cassette goes tits up, you can replace it with a 1 X 10 and then it'll be cheap to maintain again?

Why isn't 1 X 11 cheap to maintain? Its less components than a 2 X 10?

truth is it doesn't matter on a road bike, unless you are going to the alps to ride some tour de france passes... I have a heavy road bike (>10kg) and manage 35km/hr average on races. Its the skinny wheels and the position that make a road bike fast, not so much the weight

You say there is meat... what is the wall thickness of the seat tube?

Looks true... 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHAZofdZgXI edit: Oops, already posted

Thanks that'd be really awesome! I'll let you know next week, this week turned out to be a bit of a mess so far

So what you guys are basically doing is telling me not to save the R15k... And then there's the Pyga, Santacruz 5010, Jeckyll, Yeti 75SB, YT Carpa, Spez and all those other bikes on the enduro thread... seems like i'll have to save a lil bit more!!!

I'd like to hear from guys that own BOTH 100mm XC bikes and 140mm/160mm trail bikes. (full suspension only) I'm very seriously considering buying a trail bike. I'm a reasonably capable technical rider and I enjoy single track, drop offs and jumps a more than open gravel roads... So my question is this: My gut tells me to buy a 140mm trail bike, more fitting to what I like to ride. The issue is that the pricetag of well specced 140mm trail bike is roughly 1.5X higher than that of a 100mm XC/marathon bike for the same spec. Using Giant as an example (in an attempt to simplify my point), these are the ball park prices: Giant anthem advanced 27.5 +- R42k Giant trance advanced 27.5 +- R58k Then when I look at Nino Schurter on TV, he manages to ride virtually anything that I can ever hope to ride and most of the time he does it with a HT, nevermind a 140mm trail bike... So my question is that if I would buy a Giant Anthem instead of a Giant Trance and add a dropper post, then I've effectively saved R15k. So what do I get for the extra R15k is it: 1) Is it durability? bigger jumps/drops without the worry of my frame cracking? 2) Is it more forgiving? Will a 140mm bike save my ass where I would have fell on a 100mm bike? 3) Is it more fun even though I can ride the same trail on both bikes? 4) Something else that I haven't thought of?

I was wrong once... and that was when I thought I was wrong

I get permission issues when downloading the points table... Is it only me or a general problem