Mike Mac

I had a fitment in Stellenbosch and they measured my sit bones and recommended a 143mm saddle. Longs story short, I couldn’t ride two days in a row and if I did a longer ride (2hrs plus) I was out for 5days. The pain was unbelievable and didn’t go away despite some perseverance. So get those measurements checked. Willem at Freewheel Cycology in Kenilworth did te measure for me an recommended a 155mm. Worlds better.

Some feedback from the weekend. Firstly, thanks Warren Moult for assisting me with routes. Much appreciated. On the Sat I rode the routes around George Dam. Despite getting a little "lost", I mamaged to find a few gem single tracks. My fav tracks that I found where Jellietot, Sequoia, Rooikat Ran (I actually had a close up encounter with a Rooikat, not on this section though), Pepsi Pools and Elephant Bath (the latter has potential to be developed into an awesome DH run with space for A, B & C options). On the Sunday, I opted for the Swartberg pass to Prince Albert and back up. This isn't my fav type of riding, however, if gravel road with 10-15km climbing on either side of the summit is your thing (and you have the legs), it is an awesome road to ride. M

Good luck with that one. I looked around for a 9 month before finding a pair. Paid handsomely for them too.

Riding up Tokai yesterday, as I came out of Fairy Garden, there was a guy coming straight up the road about 30 m behind me. Anyway, I continue to grind my way up the hill to top of Vasbyt and it is not too long before this guy is on my wheel. He sits there for a short while, but as soon as the road smooths out, he puts in a burst and comes past. Says hi and is on his way. I try and sit on his wheel for a while, but my heart rate is going into the red, I hang on as long as I can and eventually drop off and wave goodbye as he cruises up the hill. These damn racing snakes on their analog bikes. Wondering if I should have hit turbo and shown him who is boss ???? ????

I am going to play around with the pins lengths (the pedals came with different size shims) for a while and see how that goes. Thereafter I will decide if I am going to try a different pedal or just stick with the Shimano’s

Hi Reviving an old topic. I recently managed to get a pair of 5 Ten Freerider Pro (previously riding with Leatt 3.0 Flats). I have Shimano PD-GR500 flat pedals. I noticed that after one ride that the soles of the 5 Tens are slightly damaged by the pins. Is this normal? That also got me googling regarding pin length. There seems to be a lot of different views regarding this topic and I was wondering what other Hubbers think regarding maybe installing the washers to the pins to shorten them a bit (to save the shoes)? Will this have a marked impact on the grippiness of the shoes on pedals. I was also wondering if the shorter pins may allow slightly more manoevarability of the shoe on the pedals, without necessarily causing the foot to slide off. I sometime feel that my foot is in the wrong place and the only way I can move it is to lift it and put it back down again. Could shorter pins benefit here or will it be too much of a grip compromise? Googling pedals also led me to best flat pedals and the Shimano's simply don't feature in any of the top ten reviews. Should I be looking at something else like Hope or Nukeproof (that is if I could get)? Apologies for the disjointed post and questions that this venture to new shoes has opened.

Thank you. I was being lazy and hoping that someone in the know would provide me with "must do" routes . I will have a look and see what I can find

Thank you. No Christofsen coming up in members search. Hopefully he will see post. M

That would be great. Thanks

Hi I am going to be spending two days in the Oudshorns, but ther isn't anything listed on Trailforks for Oudtshoorn, I am looking at the George area. I am looking for recommendations on two MTB routes to ride (1 on Sat and 1 on Sun). Distance of 30-50km is in order. I want to avoid roads and any suspect areas (I will be riding alone) as much as possible and focus mainly on blue equavalent single track. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

That sucks. I go through there all the time, mostly alone. I will need to be more careful.

Damn those peddle strikes were hard ????????

Can you elaborate on where this is taking place. i have been riding the Greenbelts a lot and alone recently and would like to avoid areas of concern.

What tests are done to look for the paracite? I paddled the rivers in KZN for many years. I have also suffered from fatiqued for many years (undiagnosed). Perhaps this is something that I should have tested. M

Sorry for your loss Shawn. These buggers are very convincing. It is very easy to say you shouldn’t have done x,y,z but these guys are pros at sucking you in and having you trust them as being legit. I hope you get your bike back.

The new Gen 3 has micro tune which is great in situations when riding with analog bikes. One can easily adjust the level of support (within the mode) on the fly and hence match effort quite easily.

You must see what the guys in the US and UK are doing with these bikes. So many are fitted with a 170/180 travel fork. One would think that it is overkill and that it would mess with the designed geometry quite significantly, but it seems to be the path many follow.

Thanks. Looks like I am going to have to suck it up and find a riding buddy.

Not sure that it is an effective strategy as they loose out on entries from all the Norman-no-mates who would enter as single entries. I can (sort of) understand from a safety point of view. Do the fields spread out that much that that there won't be another rider passing by in a relatively short period of time?

I am curious to know why so many MTB events are team orientated and don't have single entries?

Front 29x2.6 30mm internal rim 1.6bar Butcher Rear 27x2.6 30mm internal rim 1.8bar Eliminator. Weight (rider and bike) is 105kg’s and I ride mainly Tokai. I found that I could go lower if not cornering hard, but found that with less than 1.6 in front the tyre could fold during flat turns. Less than 1.8bar on the back and it’s starts to hit the rim on square edged ledges. I also ride with compression damping pretty much fully open on the front and rear, which I do think helps the tyres cope a bit better when slamming into rocks. I would love to get away with less pressure, but the above seems to be about the least pressure I can get away with without having issues.

I own an e-bike and love it. I came to MTB late (at 56) and if I had started with a "normal" bike my progression would have been much slower, I would have ridden less and may well have chucked in the towel, as when one starts later in life, it is bloody hard work (getting to the top to enjoy the fun bits). Instead, I am getting out there, riding far more trails than I would have, learining a lot quicker (because of the distances and varied terrain I can cover) and I am loving the new challenge. Fitness and skills are improving to the point where I am now considering getting a "normal" bike. I am curteous, acknowledge fully that I have an advantage on the uphills over guys on "normal" bikes, that has nothing to do with my abilities (or lack thereof) and have total respect for what the guys on the "normal" bikes are able to do. What would be nice is if, like most Hubbers, people would just respect that some choose a different route to get out there and enjoy the trails. It doesn't make us arseholes and quite frankly, it is getting quite tiring smilling and waving when one has to endure the snide comments from those who think they have a right to be derogatory to others choices. Yes, there are some on ebikes that behave like dicks (they have pissed me off too), but that isn't due to the ebike. They are generally just dicks.

I am one of those that missed the boat. I totally understand the situation from organisers point of view. I hope everyone who managed to get an entry and the organisers have an awesome event.

Hi. I am also looking for an entry if more than one is available. Michael

Thanks for the replies. I have ridden Donkey and all the Snakes quite a few times. I have also done one or two of the DH sections, but not often enough to say I am comfortable on them. I will need to think carefully if I take it on or not.