Eugee

Thank you, a decent unbiased report.

I am sure as long as there are people out there that has not been on a 29er and loves technical twisty single track and as long as there are reports saying shorter riders have problems fitting a 29er these posts will continue. After 4 years the opinion is still largely divided and no one has a clear answer.

facmp: i mates riding, none with 29er in my size. Cavendish: thanks for the advice, have looked at the scott spark 29 elite and its a nice bike. Would have preferred to know what exactly the difference is and whether it would suit my riding style before i just go for the best bet. (Im not a betting man) TwiggzSA: I might actually end up doing exactly that as at my length most reports i have read is positive. My friend however is not as tall and there the geometry plays a big role. Is there really no way to test drive a bike in cape town? Thought if anyone would know it would be a hubber.

That is the problem im sitting with. every single person i talk to has their own opinion and right at the end wile taking the last sip of his beer tels me just go test drive them. Bike shops look at me like im from mars when i request this and then the sales person starts with his own version of the debate. Evan had a wait for the 650B. Problem is i cant spend 20k to test ride a bike and then not like it.

Both a friend and i have been looking to upgrade our bikes. Now we have gone through the research thing and read all the 29er vs 26er threads and are more confused than ever. The one thing however that stand out in most of the threads is these words "go to your LBS and test drive both and decide" That's where the problem comes in. Does anyone know of a bike shop in the cape town region that have bikes to test ride on anything but the parking lot, cause the parking lot really doesn't tell me all that much. Advice on what to get and why would be great too. We are both looking at spending about 20k and we both do longer cross country to marathon style riding. She is 1.7m (5foot7) and i am 1.8(5foot9). Thanks guys

Its not difficult at all, there is a bit of climbing to start off with but nothing worse than going up from zewenwacht's side. You should enjoy it.

Guys you are aware of the following factors which might spoil our fun. The old tannie with the small little yapping dog on a leash The two 7 year old friends that just got their first bike and is daring each other to ride off the second bridge The teenage guy taking his girl for a romantic walk next to the dam hoping hes going to "score" The Walk for life oomie doing his new best time for the majik trails at 0.000004km per hour Ok those are the ones that has caused me to go off the track to avoid a collision. Im not even going to start on riders going up the single track and slower riders. As much fun as it would be to find a mutual track where we could all compete for a beer at the end of the week. I can not help to predict a few horrible crashes when we have MTB riders donned in downhill gear going down a track at death defying speeds that is for all purposes a public space with no access control. Unfortunately the results of these crashes might not only be a broken fork, rim or even coller bone but the complete banning of MTB's in majic. Ok Im expecting some hectic flaming for bringing it up but there has to be someone with some sense

I just used guys in durban called lassen Really friendly staff better price than all of the other guys i asked for quotes They even delivered the samples for sizing for me (in durban) Very happy with the artwork and design and the fit is perfect Would suggest them to anyone. Ps. they keep your design so if you need to make more there's no re-charging like some of the other companies do

This is a very interesting topic. I have no scientific evidence but I must say what I saw the last couple of weeks amazed me. A month and a half ago a friend of mine bought herself a MTB after doing a ride with me the previous weekend and falling in love with the sport. Now previously she was running twice a week with half marathon events over weekends. Now she runs twice a week and does weekend warrior type rides over weekends Almost immediately after buying the bike she did the burger MTB 42km and found it to be a little too easy. This weekend she did the koringberg 70km and finished it with a average speed of just below 15km/h Born a freak of nature? Does running actually help?

I do agree with you there will be a lot of people breaking the rule. Not much one can do about it though. I have been involved in organizing events and I know for a fact that that is one of the reasons and headaches, The others are getting seedings organized and the manpower needed for the paperwork. (that is why the argus actually charges you to transfer.) If your racing good luck

Well im not involved at all, but usually the reason for not allowing transfers is pretty simple. The race organizers spend a lot of money trying to make a sport that will never be as save as say chess as safe as possible. for this reason your important medical information is linked to your timing chip. In case you do take that downhill to fast and crack your scull the in race medics will make a quick call and two things may happen, You used the other persons name but not his timing chip - your timing chips number will not be found on the database and your race number will be linked to another persons medical information. You did not use a timing chip - pretty much same as above. Since you insisted on not following the rules you would probably be the first person to complain about how bad the race was organized afterwards. The point is that the race was organized for you to enjoy and you had a lot of time to enter.

hi guys sorry to inform you, but if you go to the rules and regulations on the event website the very first line states Rules Conditions of Entry: There are no refunds and no substitutions. Its a bummer I know

burger entries can not be transferred as far as i know

Its my pleasure, Ive been waiting years for trails close to home, not going to let a couple of idiots take that away from us.

Hi, Thank you guys for the great routes right in my back yard. I want to raise a concern though. Was riding the green route on Sunday morning and ran into a couple of riders who quite willingly admitted to not paying the fee and had no intention of doing so. According to them they have been riding the farm roads for years without problem Naturally trying to explain the delicate balance between having routes on privately owned land or not was fruitless. Route maintenance etc, according to them, also seemed to be done by the elves residing in the hills. Is their any way of reporting illegal riders? How should we treat these parasites? I thought of taking photos and posting them here, I'm sure a name and shame campaign will go a long way to discourage pirate riders.

I do agree here, A national seeding system would cut out the middle man and solve the problems with travelers wanting to do racing. Whether or not they will do a good job is another debate.

hi tankman Thanks for clearing that up ten. So the PPA arranges the seeding and timing of events then. I get your gripe with not having a choice. sometimes that gets to me as well. Cant say that they are supper expensive though. The cover the CSA license when you join them and its only like R200 odd bucks. Id say the weekends race was well worth it. So the couple of other races I did. Im not involved with the PPA in any way but, Id say go for the membership. Like tankman said : you entries will be cheaper, your race times will be available and you'll get seeded, which means you'll get to race even faster and not get stuck behind the guy/girl still learning to do the downhills. Lastly I Have to agree that if your on holiday in wp and wish to do a race here, it does seem a bit unfair to get a membership for only one race. Maybe the PPA should look at a day licence for timing or something. For us capies it will still be cheaper to get the membership as we do more races but for the visitor it will at least mean they will get to see their times.

I might be completely lost on this one, but Was this race not advertised as a PPA event? In my opinion there is nothing to be upset about. The PPA organizes events and collaborates with groups wanting to host events for their members. If you are not a member they allow you to join the ride, but first and foremost these events are for their members. Cant see any problem with that. If you are very serious about the competition side of things your time should be enough to let you know how your doing on your voyage to fame. The position in the particular race does not mean all that much. Coming in first when everyone else is doing the event as a fun event does not mean all that much now does it?

well it depends on what your perspective of a mother is. You are sure to get at least one minor hill but as your first race you might see it as a mother. The sub 40km are normally not to technical and do not have to much climbing so you should be fine. let us know if you did that sub 2.

did my first race earlier this year with not a lot of training. The only advice I can give you is to take it slow and enjoy it. (most races you only need to go at 12km/h to make cut off) First race was chaotic with everyone racing. don't get pulled into it. 27km is not that far so if you take it slow and enjoy the vibe, view and other cyclists you'll have a blast. (

Thanks that sounds awesome. Don't mind technical to much.

I'm doing the 50km but my first one. Some info is always appreciated

:thumbup: :thumbup: (although i think she has done it once)

i just fount it so yes it is correct. guy wearing a blue helmit.