sometime

I've been through all the different lubes - squirt, rock n roll, finish line etc. I agree with a previous post and I cannot get any dry lube to last beyond 3 hours in any MTB conditions (fine for the road bike). Lately I've been using Muc Off wet lube on all my rides and It's been the best yet.

Huh? You didn't answer if the fork was exactly the same which is really what this topic is about? Which make and model of fork was QR and which was TA?

SA Business Schools now have a new case study of how executives should NOT respond to comments questioning their products on social media. Any parent who feeds their kids supplements of that nature (in fact any supplements) needs to take a moment to contemplate their competence as a parent. By all means give kids milkshakes, crisps, sweets and cake as treats but please don't think that some powder mixed with water is going to substitute for or even supplement a balanced healthy diet. As for kids being competitive - sure they are but the real competitiveness comes from parents who achieved nothing in their lives but feel the need to compensate for this by doing so vicariously through their children. Those are the kinds of parents USN are targetting and no surprises that they buy into the marketing spin.

The difference is night and day comparing what to what? Exactly the same fork, in exactly the same condition, running the same +ve and -ve air pressures just one had QR and the other TA? Oh and I assume exactly the same wheelset, with the same tyres also at the same pressure? But you're right my bet is a little cheeky. It's probably 95% of Hubbers that won't tell the difference.

Too soon Iron - they still think they're going to ride them on Saturday mornings with their mates on a coffee ride, but they won't. It'll take them a few months of looking at the bike gathering dust in the corner of the house/garage before they'll admit they're not going to ever use it again and then you'll get your deal.

I can guarantee that 98% of all Hubbers would not be able to tell the difference if they were riding TA or QR. You will tell yourself you can but in a back to back 'blind' test you won't know the difference. In terms of safety a QR skewer can still come loose and will not fall out too easily - they're designed that way. Doing Barberton this year I was hearing a noise from my front fork for a while heading down a long, fast, rutted forest road, but was going too fast to take my eyes off the trail. When I did look down I noticed my skewer was loose but the wheel had stayed on. But I agree that a TA gives you some peace of mind in case a skewer comes loose. To the OP if you're buying new then by all means buy a TA but if you can get a Reba in QR at a good price then I wouldn't hesitate and spend your money on NB stuff like wheels and tyres. PS just read Johan's posts and agree 100%.

I find the Phenom too hard for really long rides - the Spez Henge gives much the same setup but with a little more padding.

You should try changing only one thing at a time. So either move your old saddle to your new position or try your new saddle in in the old position. Changing both means you don't know where you went wrong. Spez Henge is the best saddle I've owned.

I'm also looking forward to riding that trail with disc brakes, front suspension and a few gears.

I have huge respect for anyone who rides a rigid single speed on that course, regardless of how quick or slow they are.

Agreed - it's as much a mentally tough race as it is a physically tough one.

Thanks - I know a youngster who finished top 30 and rode a hardtail for the first time on this route - he swore never again.

Conditions were just about perfect with only a slight breeze on the last stretch of district road and pretty mild temperature wise. I had a good first half making up some good time on the climbs but I think I paid for that in the last quarter of the race. I lost touch with my group at the 75km waterpoint and spent the entire final district road stretch struggling on my own. At least there was no one around to hear my choice language abusing everything from the corrugations to myself for riding a hardtail on that route. The last few km's after Sorry Hill had me cursing the hardtail even more but I still managed my best result ever. Official time of 4h11 and 8th in Vets.

Surprised you would even ask this. The rules say your time from the gun applies only to the Elite and u23 riders but Would you honestly believe you deserved a podium in vets if you raced 2 hours, clocked out for 30 mins to recover then raced again for say 2 hours? Assuming you didn't do this did you get the vets podium you were talking about?

I'm 84kg running 29er hardtail and I run 1.8 bar on 29x2.25 tyres with no problem

I'm also a Vet starting in A.

I think I've taken this whole old school SS thing too far. Rigid, steel fork, v-brakes and tubes. I think at the very least I must fit tubeless - I've got pinch flats in my last two rides and running the tyre hard enough to avoid that, leaves me with very little grip and enough jarring to give me blurred vision (or was that the beers?).

Have you seen leading time on Strava?

A rigid steel fork and v-brakes and a front tyre pumped way too hard after a pinch flar earlier on in the 'race' made for an interesting ride down the mountain. I need 2 fingers to pull the v-brakes hard enough leaving only 2 fingers to try grip the bars and absorb the shocks coming fron the front end of the bike. So I was constantly trying to decide whether to leave 1 finger on the brake and then being killed 'cos I couldn't stop in time, or keeping 2 fingers on the brake and being killed because I couldn't hold onto the bike over the bumps. But it all ended well - what a great weekend and compliments to Grant Usher and his crew!

Why you playing this one so close to your chest?

Good idea - I'd be a little worried out the thermodynamic stresses created when the bladder's contents, hit the red hot braking surfaces and the resultant chemical reactions, with the distinct possibility of a toxic vapour cloud being created behind you. But the Performance Design should ensure that you are so far ahead of the bunch that this shouldn't be a problem.

Friday morning for us

Years of V-brake use on those rims has no doubt given them a concave surface, creating aerodynamic lift in the lateral plane. You therefore need to watch out for the rims turning faster than the tyres resulting in tyre burnout and plumes of white smoke.