Karl K

Ikon rear and Racing Ralph front. Light, rolls well, grippy and reliable. I use it for XC, marathons and training. The Racing Ralph wears too fast on the rear but lasts well on the front. I did ±4000km on an Ikon on the rear and was still fine.

To a quite few of the contributors to this thread: "i" before "e" except after "c". Or use spellcheck...

3. I agree on your positive points though.

1. I received no mail 2. 5 days?????????

I think it is ridiculous that there are no results published 5 days after a provincial championship was held. I phoned WP cycling as to date there has been zero communication on the delay of the results to the participants via email or SMS or on the WP cycling website. They say that the organisers have not released the results yet - something to do with a new timing system. Very unprofessional in my opinion...

I'm in Cape Town and have struggled to find someone (I'm sure there is someone somewhere but unfortunately our paths did not cross) to build a set of wheels properly. So on the bike I bought earlier this year I had Ruan at Spokeworks in Pretoria (know him from my days in Joburg) build me a set of 29'er ZTR's with Tune hubs. 7 months and 5000km (including many races and lots of riding at Delvera, Tokai, Jonkers, Grabouw, Welvanpas, Contermans, Hillcrest etc.) later and they're as stiff as the day I bought them! None of that "you have to wait for the spokes to settle" nonsense and not once having to take the wheels for truing. I see many guys (including myself a few times) having problems as result of poor wheel building and once a set of wheels begin to give problems they will continue to do so until you have them properly and completely rebuilt. So if you're in the market for a new set of wheels, look up Spokeworks! http://www.spokeworks.co.za

I come from a Yeti AS-R. Went to 29er HT, but still missed the Yeti although I really like the 29er wheels. Just upgraded to a Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon. Climbs well, pedals where you had to stand on the HT, takes big drops with ease and extremely nippy in tight single track. This is the best bike I've ever ridden (my opinion of course). So I'd suggest, go 29er, but you don't have to go HT. There are some good options: Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon or Alloy, Santa Cruz Superlight 29'er (new and great value - looks awesome), Specialized Epic, Scalpel, Scott Spark (great value) etc. I'd of course go for the SC.

163.6km Garmin

Dear Cradleresident. I was riding in the area with 3 mates this morning. I saw numerous incidents like the examples you posted. I agree and it is shocking and this is exactly the reason why we do not do Club rides anymore. There is no regard for safety and the attitudes when you confront these idiots are beyond words. We have a simple rule: when there is a yellow line with enough space - two abreast, no shoulder - single file! As an experienced rider I can vouch that there is no reason to ride like these guys.

Hi. Having ridden Mavic, ZTR and now XTR, I honestly think are all great. If I had to choose one set for life it will be the XTR's. They're light, stiff and very strong. They are also simple to maintain and give little problems. Best value is probably XT as they're only 100 g heavier .