rudi-h

To those who cannot grasp the congestion issues... Many will ride with mates and fall back into later start groups. Many will have a chilled ride averaging 20 instead of 35, spending more time on the same stretch of road. Many will stop, take photos, have a drink at the water tables that would normally not even have noticed it. Many will boose heavily riding in not so straight lines. To those that cannot grasp that the event costs will not drop... Do you honestly think that zero cash was spent to date and that all costs will be incurred on race day as every rider passes a kilometer marker? Salaries of organisers are paid regardless (likely including overtime work to make the required changes). I'm sure 99% of service providers have been paid deposits by now and would still insist on the invoice amounts being paid as per the purchase orders... The only saving will be on the tonnes of cokes, bananas and whatever else they would have given to the dudes being out there for 7 hours on their saddles. Last time I checked coke and bananas weren't refundable at you local grocery store either... So simply transferring your entry fee to next year, well good luck.

Maybe you should start by counting to 35000.. That's why you can't ride a second lap. There won't be space, that's why.

Reading this thread I start to understand why we do not have consensus on 26" VS 29" wheels after daily debates of the last 6 years. That's not even talking about the red traffic lights debate that started about a century before the birth of le hub!

Holy smoke I'm glad that I'm not married to half of you lot. All this bitching just gave me a headache! I'm also coming from jhb and also paid R6k for the weekend, but no, I don't expect them to refund me, I don't expect them to tolerate me for another lap on what is going to be a very congested road and even thought I'm disappointed in the situation but to start slinging insults at the organisers... Can't wait, gonna be great!

Just curious, why is there such a strong perception that the race will be cancelled. Can one not ride next to a piece of land that burned down? excuse my ignorance, I live in the highveld and have ridden through hundreds of fields that burn down every winter. I understand that the fynbos is a different kettle of fish to the highveld grasslands, but is it really not possible to ride there?

Surely you can't expect help from le hub after admitting to be a stravasshole? I mean no one on le hub goes for strava segments. Ever.

i didn't think it was badly marked... but then again I was far away from the front so many folk around me to follow. course was nice but tough, and the run definitely not for the faint hearted! some bottlenecks on the bike but I think the athletes are more to blame for this than the organizers. seen some dudes clip out and walk for a rock the size of a tennisball out there, so I guess unless you make it all 7m wide gravel roads there will always be bottlenecks on the singletrack... None the less, big up to the organizers for an awesome event!! I really don't know why an event of this class only sells 1/10th of the entries compared to 70.3... maybe marketing?

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I have a serious shin and a calf bite... clearly not enough talent yet

see some mention above to the "thickness" of the pedals. Just curious, what difference does it make whether the pedals are thicker or thinner in terms of the cross section? i cringe to say, but I bought giant pedals (and put them on a santacruz... i know) and they are quite "thick", probably around 30mm if i had to guess? does this mean I need to buy a pair of saints?

Careless whisper. Seether nailed it

slightly off topic, but i see many of you wondering to go with flats (and good shoes) or not. so maybe a little something for those who are still in two minds... i started riding bikes from back when I was 4, so i always thought I can ride and am pretty fast on singletrack, but could never do proper tricks. ive been hesitant of jumps, couldn't (and still can't) wheelie properly, manual was beyond me and i couldn't hop much more than a pavement (with cleats only). so with the youtube era coming along a few years ago and every second video you see involves some dude with sick bike skills, I thought I should make a childhood dream come true and give it a go to improve my skills. Bought a book (that one from Brian Lopez) and practiced a bit, but after falling my arse off a LOT on relatively easy jumps, i seemed to have lost interest. buying my first trail bike 2 months ago, I promised myself that I'd learn to ride this bike properly and take it to Moab/Whilster in the next 5 years. Got flats (and 5.10's) and signed up for some lessons with Peach. It's only been a bit more than a month and I can't tell you how much more I enjoy riding a bike now! I'm by no means exceptional yet, but I managed to clear a 350mm bunnyhop the other day (with flats), I can do a track stand as long as I want, getting better at endo's, I'm getting the hang of a manual and I'm not super terrified of getting some air anymore. I couldn't believe how quick it is to learn if you actually get taught. For some reason we take lessons when we play tennis, guitar, golf or whatever else, but nobody ever teaches us to ride a bike properly. Id strongly advise skills lessons and I'd strongly advise flats to anybody that remotely likes mountainbiking. If you are anything like me, you will never regret doing this! I'm like a little 5 year old kid again! edit: spelling

a bike without a dropper... is hardly a bike at all

So how much difference between impact low's and freeriders? I bought freeriders cause i preferred what they look like... any meaningful differences?

I'm definitely in! To those who are wondering if it is worth the while, IT IS! I've been to Peach's skills clinic a few weeks ago and it is incredible what he can teach you on a bike in the space of a few hours! hops, jumps, berms and balance (or any of these) for me

unfortunately with mountain bikes you don't buy value, you buy fun/enjoyment. unfortunately what makes a bike fun and a ride enjoyable is a) good suspension components, b) a stiff and light frame and c) and stiff and light wheelset all of the above are exceptionally difficult to design and manufacture and the companies that get it right know it which means that they keep their prices high...

dude, rather eat dry oats for 6 months before you buy a crap bike. in my life my bike gets the 3rd biggest budget after a house and a car, because its the one thing in the world that makes me smile the most! if money is tight, shop around for a while and get the best 2nd hand bike that you can afford and double your budget. In a year from now you would have forgotten that you were out of pocket by an additional R5k, but you'll enjoy your bike for much longer! i'm suffering from post bike purchase broke-ness at the moment. I haven't been to a restaurant in ages and I'm eating peanutbutter sandwiches for breakfast and lunch, but my weekend rides makes it all worth the while!

Its a 160mm Pike, but as the 5010 is a 140mm bike the shop suggested to space it to 140mm not to compromise the riding position... Not sure how much difference this will make in the ride, I've never had the privilege to ride a bike of this caliber or travel, so I'll have to see when we do the setup. Any suggestions for or against spacing a fork?

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!

George Mallory (6 time everester and record holder) is South African born if I'm not mistaking... We used to rock climb with his brother which is still in SA as far as I know.

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