sometime

My Scott is a L but I was right on the cusp between L and XL - the sizing charts said XL but I prefered the feel of the L - so your height would suggest an XL Scott. My Giant is however an XL. There is only a 5mm top tube difference in length between the L Scott and the XL Giant.

Couldn't you just take a photo in your garden like the rest of us do (well at least us up-country types)? Very cool bike!

I'm 1.9m and depending on the brand I am either XL or just between L and XL on a 29er. At your height definately XL

The weightlifting has got to be the most compelling viewing at the moment (although I haven't seen enough women's volleyball!). Never mind the strength and technique required to lift 3x your body weight above your head, it's all the tactics that go with it that makes me watch all of the lifts with occasional jumps to the other channels. Fencing is the worst - it's not a good sport for TV.

Thanks guys.

Hi, I'm looking to fit wider tyres than my current 26 x 2.0 on my SS. Rims are DT Swiss XR4.1 with an ETRTO of 559x17. i.e. 26 inch rims 17mm wide. I'm running a rigid steel fork so am looking for some volume and width to provide some cushioning and grip. There's no problem with tyre clearance so I could run 2.4's like the Conti XKing but my concern at that width is the rather narrow 17mm width and if I'm going to have any problems with the wide/narrow combo? Googling reveals no max tyre width for these specific rims, but differing opinions from other rim manufacturers with the general opinion being 2.25 as the max. I currently run Schwalbe Nobby Nic and Racing Ralph 2.25's on my 29er. I really like these tyres so would be keen to run these on the SS, but locally these seem to be available at a max width of 2.25. Schwalbe's website suggests a max of 2.1 on 17mm rims. Anyone have any personal experience with tyre widths on this width of rim? Thanks

I rode my Velamos bike to school from the age of about 8 or 9 and continued riding off and on to school right until Matric. Doing my National Service in Pretoria in 1989 left me bored with hours of spare time each day so I bought a Panasonic DX2000 and started training and road racing when it was very much a minority sport. I remember races being a couple of hundred people. I've been cycling and racing bikes ever since but it's only been the past 10 years or so that I've taken it more seriously and trained more or less consistently throughout the year. I bought my first MTB in 1998 and started riding/racing that in preference to my road bike about 10 years ago. I'll be doing this as long as I'm capable of riding a bike.

I think there are plenty of Epic wannabes that will pay good money for an expert cycling trainer offering a proven training programme supported by expert feedback and ongoing performance measurement (Iknow this because a few of my friends have done this). But telling people they need this to offset some very high estimate of the cost of the race is not a good sales pitch. However telling prospective clients how your expertise can help them achieve their best possible result utilising quality training, nutrition, mental preparation and race strategy, is the way to go. Your prospective clients need detail Enticement and they also want to feel some love. Taking them into 'battle' means you're willing to get up close and persoanl with them in their training. Your attitude here is anything up upclose and personal! BTW I replied to this thread saying I'm doing Epic next year. You should have been onto me in an instant sending me a PM with your offers - but you didn't - you need to chase the business - it's not going to come looking for you just because you post here. FYI I don't need a trainer (I've been doing this cycling thing for long enough now to know what I need to do to achieve my Epic objectives) so please don't PM me. I was just illustrating a point.

Debbie Stopforth - she'll give you expert, honest and practical setup advise.

Agreed - that shot was the pick of the bunch. Nice pics Dangle!

Thanks guys. The pinstripes are decals I got from Mikes Bikes. They're made for the very cool Electra cruiser bikes that he sells. I really enjoyed riding it at CM last night. The weight difference running the rigid fork compared to the previous steel sprung fork I had is huge. Lifting the front wheel to pop over some pavements took no effort. I fitted some nice wide KCNC bars which I much prefer to the flat bar I had on there. Now to hit the spruit and see how I cope!

Some quick photos

Our first CM and certainly not our last - what a great night! Well done and thanks to the organizers - you've really created something special here and I hope the authorities don't get involved and try control it. Divernick thanks for saying hi - good to meet you. To the marshals who waited for us at the back of the field while I replaced a tube - thanks. To everyone who stopped to see if my wife was ok after she had a little fall - thanks. To yellow ice cream bike man - thanks for the tequila! Thanks to Il Giardino at 44 Stanley for agreeing to make us 5 much needed delicious pizzas well after their kitchen had closed. But most importantly thanks to the residents of downtown Jozi for welcoming us into their world and to everyone who was there for making it the great event it was. We're already looking forward and planning for next week. Pictures to follow.

This was my very first MTB. A Trek 7000 bought in 1998/1999 from Linden Cycle. It did years of good service including my first Sani2C and has been used by loads of mates as an intro to mountain biking before they committed to buying there own bikes. More recently I have used it as a 1x9 training bike but I decided it was time to see what all the fuss about single speeding is. I finished building the bike last night. I need to tidy a few things up (and lose the plastic pedals!) but it's ready for its first ride tonight at CM. Specs Bike - Trek 7000 Fork - On One Rigid CroMo v-brake Brakes - Deore V-brakes Rims - DT Swiss XR4.1 Hubs - DT Swiss 240S Tyres - Kenda Karma 26x2.0 with tubes (will be changing these to 2.4's) Stem - FSA Bar - Scott Pilot. I'll be changing this to some nice riser sweep bars to relax the drop between saddle and bars Chainring - unknown brand 38T Crankset - Original Onyx with the black anodising worn off in places Seatpost - ditto Chain - Shimano 9 speed Saddle - Spez Phenom Rear cog - Endless Bike Kick@ss 19T secured by Gearclamp Chain Tensioner - On One Doofer/Doofah/Doofuss Pedals - Shimano SPD Paint colour - Gulf Oil orange It's no slinky thin tubed steel framed 29er SS, but I'm chuffed with it.

Very keen - no Enticement needed either!

If I could ride downhill like you seem to be able to I would also chose 2 weeks in the Alps. Actually I would still chose 2 weeks in the Alps - downhill skill or not. But I'm doing my first Epic next year. Do I think it's good value for money? Absolutely not! Is it something I want to do? Absolutely yes!

My SS is going to make its debut at CM - I've still got some work to do on it tonight. mrs. sometime will also be there. Really looking forward to it!

And some would rather have that sticker on their bike than an overpriced season in the Alps? Take out the overpriced part of each comment above and each comment is fair. Value perception is subjective not absolute.

Nail. Head.

District roasd only route: Leaving Parys going over the bridge over the Vaal turn left following Kopjekraal road. At T junction turn left onto dirt road to keep going to Kopjekraal. At next t junction turn left to follow road to Venterskroon. Go through Venterskroon and climb up small pass. At top of pass turn round and come home the same way. 70km and 3 - 4 hours depending on your fitness.

Chinese blank frames, branded, marketed and sold in SA only. I think their time has come and gone to be honest. Brand is still owned by Emotion/Evo cycling here in SA

Tony Viana died quite a few years ago (from cancer IIRC)

Agreed - last year's bottlenecks put me off this race completely. Anyone know if there are route changes for this year?

I drove past a guy (there may have been two) who had clearly spent the better part of his day picking up rubbish along the spruit at the start of the Albert's Farm section (i.e. beyond the T junction traffic light intersection of John Adamson Drive and 5th Street/Milner). He was driving a red LR Defender 90 and I could see the Landie was full of black rubbish bags as was the entire roofrack. He seemed to be picking up the last bits of rubbish he'd collected piled up along the pathway that heads up to Albert's Farm. Based on his clothes, physique, choice of car etc I would guess him to be a paddler/MTB'er/both. If you're on here well done and thank you! There's a lesson there for all of us who take it for granted that our little Jozi MTB highway looks the way it does with no intervention other than the few occassions City Parks makes an appearance there.

I'm not disputing your result just curious how you achieve that on what is very limited time on the bike (quality or not). Do you do any other training or are the 2 rides and 5 hours a week all you do?