Nic Brigando

Looking awesome! Glad you get the experience the magic. Which suntour fork did you get? Hoping for many happy miles for you man! Yup, raw with clear coat. Looks incredible up close, the photos don't do it justice😁

A decent litmus test would be to go try the longer routes at northern farms. If there is a lot of stuff you can't ride there, it's going to be the same stuff in the race, and you have your answer. I doubt they'll put all of their hardest stuff in; previous years skipped the hectic bits, so the 50km loop would be your best bet to try. As far as I remember, all the proper 'technical' stuff is on the 65km loop.

Steel is real 🤘

Think the Java bikes aim a little lower than Elves. Can get a full 'decent' spec Java for cheaper than an Elves frame.

I am the biggest advocate of steel. My experience with both the Rapide and Marino frames have been stellar, and I have another Marino hardtail (160mm, 62.5 HA) on order. Hopefully I'll get the chance to ride more frames from other brands soon enough! And honestly, having ridden many enduro bikes, the 15k landed price tag on a steel dualie marino frame is unbeatable. (Not to hijack the thread! The Tigre still holds a dear place in my heart!)

Haha yes, she was a looker. I tend to swap/buy/sell bikes a lot, and I ended up cannibalizing those parts for an XC build, which ended up getting sold as I didn't like that bike at all. Regrets... Trail casing for me was fine. The biggest thing is to run a proper insert on the rear. The bike inspires proper confidence, and on the trails it absolutely rips. Steel gives you a feeling of invincibility when it comes to hitting the rough stuff. You do have to remember that you're on a hardtail; but I used to frequent all the gauteng enduro trails on that 130mm setup and had absolutely no problems. I used the double foamo inserts from CSIXX and after installation it was smooth sailing. I got a lot of flats and rim dings before that. The nature of a trail hardtail is that the rear does take more abuse, I initially rode with inserts in the front, but eventually realized I didn't need them. I felt the Ardent 2.4s were perfect for me, while a pair of WTB Trail Boss 2.6s deadened some of the lively feel that I enjoyed from the frame. I previously ran Barzo 2.35s and they felt fast but obviously lacked the grip of the Ardents. I did start getting frequent flats on those ardents, but that was after close to 5000kms of hardcore riding, and they were definitely past the point of replacement. I replaced the bike with a marino steel frame that closely mimics the tigre but 'improves' the areas where I felt the frame could be changed to fit a more enduro type bike, but I want the rapide back for the more chilled rides as the marino just eats everything in its path. Some more pics to whet the appetite (steel is real🤟)

I see there's no larges available on the site, which is a pity. Think the medium is too small to run as a proper big trail bike. Would be perfect for XC though.

Anyone got a tigre frame/bike lying around that they want to get rid of? I'm getting that hardtail itch again... Med/Large in any of the colours...

Very much considering a pair of those SpeedOne brakes for my XC bike. I run Shimano Zee's on my enduro bike, so have a decent back-to-back reference, and will update if I end up going for them.

Late night wolwespruit rides. Nothing like sending a flow trail in the dark with nothing but your spot of light ahead of you😎

Blyderivier, a few weekends ago. 160km MTB bikepacking trip from Graskop to Blyderivier and back😁

In the never-ending chase for newer tech, N+1 and marginal gains, it's important to remember; The best bike is the bike you already have.

Factor in the 'value' difference between brands, and you put secondhand sellers of the top-end brands in a rough spot. Sure, you can list your mid-range Spez Epic for 50% of the cost you bought it new, but for that same price, you can pick up a top-range Titan Cypher with better components. The 2nd hand market is flooded with both Spez Epics and Titan Cyphers, and countless other brands in between; how on earth is your Epic going to stand out, unless you drop the price significantly below the others? I recently went through the process of buying a 2nd hand bike with a friend that wanted an older bike with high-end components. She settled on a 2014 spez epic, and methodically went through 20+ almost identical ads before she went for one of the LTD Edition burry stander ones. It had a key point over and above the rest of them - it was the LTD Edition. And the rest of the ads, while all viable options, are left to sit on the classifieds, all identical, until they either get lucky or get frustrated and drop the price. Not to mention that you can build a bike with similar specs with a bit of patience and a bit of bike knowledge. A sub 12kg FS bike costs less than 20k if you get the right components and frame.

Pitching up at events being on a heavier, less-adept bike and yet still keeping up with guys on 200k+ world cup bikes is an awesome feeling, for sure. I won't be winning anything, but I wouldn't be winning on a 200k+ bike anyway

The primary feeling for me is fatigue. Even when set up, a Suntour XCM fork is not going to perform as well a Fox/Ohlins - but perform here does not mean time/speed/traction, it means that my arms and shoulders 'feel better' at the end of the ride. And from what I can tell, that's almost entirely up to the small-bump feel as opposed to any other factor.