mtbDobby

eeeish - I am not fit and certainly not racing fit, think I will be dropping down to the 45km race

"The pivot and bearings on SCOTT Spark are extremely easy to maintain. An external treatment with a grease spray after every bike wash is all you have to do. We do not recommend heavy grease sprays since these will leave a film on the parts which is difficult to remove. We recommend the same for the chain also. If you have to change the bearings you can order them included in a service kit at your local SCOTT dealer or buy them with international parts number as shown above in the specs list in a hardware store. In case of a change of the bearings or of the rear swingarm you should contact your local SCOTT dealer as you need special tools for disassembly and assembly." as per the manual for a 2014 spark.

Unfortunately I have not ridden a 650b yet and cannot shed any light on this.

As I have had both I feel I can make that comment and I can fully justify this as indicated by me saying in my opinion = everyone likes different things about a bike and has different riding styles, I like complete lock out on climbs (I did epic on a hardtail last year and previously on the anthem.)

I have had both or atleast I now have the scott spark 910. The giant is a great bike but I don't like the shock design, I found mine prone to peddle bob which was a problem on climbing. With my scott which has the ability to set complete lock out (twinloc) I am in control of the setting at all times which I like. In my opinion I found the Anthem to be more of a trail bike and the scott more of racing bike - you must decide which you prefer which means ride both and make a decision otherwise you will always wonder.

Big shout out to these guys - we drove down from jhb and my mates wheels (front & back) got damaged by the rear exhausts, as we only down for a week we didn't have time to arrange replacements however the guys at the store managed to loan us a wheelset to enjoy holla trails. Thank a mil guys!!!

Why not join Cyclelab - they have mtb rides every Saturday for varying levels, great way to get fit and better your skills, they leave basically from design quarter at 7am in winter and 6am in summer.

my fitness is not great at the moment - I have a entry for the 80km, how much trouble am I in....???

epic = bragging rights to your mates that have not done it. jhb2c = "fun" with your mates

if you really ment "technically easy" - then that just makes your comments worse

Dammit - and here I was hoping to see if the spruit it was a mud fest and if not was going to leave now and do solo ride.... Thanks to this w@nker I'm no longer in the mood $&@?....

respect!

That is the reason the organiser requires a medical clearance that you are fit enough to take part - as the entry is open to everyone anyone may enter which means its not an exclusive list of race snakes - Not everyone can be a lean mean 70kg mtb racer....should that stop them from having the chance to compete...not in my opinion, that does that detract from the event or make it soft - A back marker out there slogging for 10hours everyday deserves his medal (if they manage to finish) as much as a top 100 rider, perhaps even more so.

after stage 1 there are already 19 riders who are out and plenty more to come

yes cut off time is not written in stone - but they will only extend cut off time if the winners of the day come in later than expected due to the conditions. To make a sweeping statement that cut off must be 8 hours come hell or high water otherwise the race is now deemed soft is laughable. the race is for pro's and amatures, thats what makes it unique - I have done plenty mtb races and trust me, the epic is tough no matter what the cut off time is, if you have not trained and are not fit you will not finish and even then you may still not finish due to tough terrain.

you need to learn to tether the brakes for effective stopping and use...personally I run 160 upfront and have no issues

web address seems incorrect

I've done 2 epics and think this is a valid question strangely enough, and has nothing to do with the number of hours you have ridden in preparation. In my 1st epic there was a day of plenty walking through beach sand, and I was wearing the falke mtb socks, the sand that got in there thru the weaves become like sand paper when combined with sweat and as such the blister were proper painful. In the 2nd epic I stayed away from falke and there was another day of plenty walking a beach sand, and I even stopped on occasions to take my shoes and socks off to get rid of the sand, had some funny looks from other riders...needless to say that evening and next morning the blisters that were on show in the medic tent where of a high quality and I couldn't help but have a smile to myself. Beware of the sand and walking - not sure any sock is fool proof but I did have a better time of it not using the falke, that's not to say its not a good sock when actually riding and not walking.

I'm also no expert but what I found amazing during last years epic was in the 1st day or 2 my Avg was around 155bpm, by the end of the 8 days my avg was below 120bpm and I could not get it over 130bpm no matter how steep the climb. This points to the fatigue mentioned previously and actually all posts above have valid points - rest a couple of days prior before testing max HR

update - loving it so far

Thanks - that is a concern of mine, but not getting younger(nearing the big 40) and have some lower back issues. As for the not riding part, well I have not found anywhere willing to demo this exact bike over a weekend, a ride in the car park or pump track on a different model is not deemed a ride in my eyes. I was actually hoping there would be some comments on people who have ridden this bike but there don't seem to be many.

Haven't ridden it nor taken delivery...

I have just upgraded to the above bike - I was riding the Volcan xc29er which is a hard tail and am now going the dual sus route - have I made the right decision in terms of bike and going dual sus? The volcan was definitely lighter and got me through epic last year....would be interested to ready the thoughts on this?

ztr crest on tune hubs - 80-85kg with no issues, if u heavier go for the arch rim

basically nothing since epic....put on about 4kg....hate myself for doing nothing and even more so for eating that chocolate.....will start on Monday....this time I mean it!!!