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He gave me the impression that he has frames/parts which have been bought back by the insurance company, and hes selling these parts off to people on behalf of the insurance crowd

He also used to flog Fox shocks dirt cheap too. I nearly fell for a transaction with him a few months ago but walked away. The MO at the time was also stripped down insurance claim parts

Pick a budget. Then keep 5k of that budget for helmet, gloves, bibs, bottles, socks, pump, plugs, etc. Shoes and spd pedals you can get later. Buy decent bibs to start with otherwise you'll buy cheap now and better quality all too soon. Then go shop for the best bang for your buck. You're on the right track with your shopping, but know that you will at some stage upgrade to a dual suspension bike... If you buy new or 2nd hand from a dealer, 9/10 times they upcharge you to go tubeless. If you buy from a private seller, 9/10 its already tubeless... With the size and weight you mention you might want to try an xl frame just in case Have a blast, its the most important thing. Know you wont win races on your first outing or even make the top of the climb, but persistence and training pays off Oh, and greet roadies with enthusiasm when they come past, its the best thing ever 😉

3x7 means 3 gears upfront and 7 at the back. Sure, sounds great at 21 different gears to use, but it aint. Its super old school tech a 2x10 or 2x11 is a better spread across the ratio range compared to a 3x7 (ie: ratio for climbing gears) A 1x11 or a 1x12 system is best ratio range, and far less maintenance with no front derailing system A x7, x9, x10 and x11 usually have the same wheel width on the back so your options to upgrade the x7 to a x11 later is there, albeit at a cost to change the rear hub freebody

I'll take a flyer on the bearings for the pivots, dropper and perhaps, the skewers, maybe the hubs too. Dont get me wrong, I think the Trek top fuel is a great bike. It has a specific place in the sun like every other. To me the Spez has more sun shining on it

You're welcome @Keane - Keep my 10% sale commission for the SPCA in cape town please 🤘

You'll need a good trail helmet too. Not the cheapie lids you get for R800 a pop. When you're having an extended dirt nap because you decided to Liverpool kiss a tree, you'll quickly forget the brand of entry level bike you were recently sitting on

Spez - The epic evo comp is the best all rounder you can get for our local conditions and the fact that every true red blooded south african wants to have a one-stop-shop-bike-for-all-occasions Both OEM's will make your eyes water at service time if you take it to them, but to me the Specialized has less proprietary parts which allows you to change/service things yourself more so than a Trek.

Doesn't Keane have QR straight steerer rigids, non boost? I'm sure I looked their parts up when I wanted to convert my old ride

The epic evo is a great bike. If you have the spare beer coupons to upgrade then do it. Move the slx 4 pot to the epic and if possible, slap a RS sid 120mm onto the front. If i recall the epic evo is standard with slx drive train which, to me, is an upgrade to the gx. Get rid of the manic x-fusion dropper and replace with another brand that is easier and more cost effective to service - like a Lyne v2 (I've made t-shirts and busy editting the video... 🤬) Now you have a proper ride that'll go and take you everywhere

Spez has a special on their 2.3 ground controls at the moment (not the T7 casing)

Get a dropper And remove the dork disc

They're norrmally supplied with a new cassette. I needed a new one recently and got a replacement sans cost from one of the local cycle lab workshops. Call your lbs and ask

This 👆 Its the only way people will learn

💪 Is that chain long enough in granny? No point if you dont even use granny gear 😉 Ive got a road that'll sort you out on that 42 Matt... And your chain is on the wrong way too btw

Dont let anyone stop you from doing an upgrade that makes you warm and fuzzy inside. If it works for you , then do it. Just do your due diligence on the rebuild as there are wheel builders then there are wheel builders, and, you might even find a complete set for the same price as rebuilds...look around, there are 2 local suppliers which are very good (Lyne and Rapide) As for loud hubs, they're magic. There's nothing better than the sound of an angry swarm of bee's bearing down on a lazy and/or slow single track rider to assist them in giving you track to pass 🤘 Welcome to the Norco family too!

Did you try a different charge cable?

Are you sure its not just the cable plug that is stuffed? Simple enough to check if you have the same type cable around the house for charging other items. Usually they are the older type cell phone cable, which were prone to these types of mishaps.

Correct - cable tension can change on a ride. Mine actually increased in tension which would activate the release lever ever so slightly and would cause the seat post to sag gently over a 500m distance. By the sounds of it, your cable sleeve it dirty which is fouling up the needed travel, or the sleeve has gone south (which makes the cable length longer) which then prevents the lever from going the full travel. I'd change the sleeve and cable to start with, give the dropper post and top cap a good clean as Droo suggests, or take it to your LBS so that can do it

Without getting into tooooo much of a debate, the imported goods are hit a whack of an import duty. Add that to the cost of the actual finished item, import costs, couriers/transport, customs blah blah stuff etc, and you end up at R x xxx for a pair of bibs. Then you get local goods at a fraction more expensive with (arguable) the same (long) term quality. Who's ripping who here? Yes, fabric material is expensive but it doesnt attract the same import duties made up garments do, so why then is local is lekker isnt necessarily the more cost effective option?

Gotta love me a friday topic on a tuesday

Meh... we all sukkled! Have a good race none the les

There's an epic climb to get to the epic descent on day 2 Chad.... Rewards aint for free. But that descent is a cracker if you can box it out on single track for 11km