Nuffy

Big thank you to @Paul Ruinaard, @Robbie Stewart, and @jannosmit for your trail suggestions. Sorry I was only available during the week for Jonkershoek and @Robbie Stewart and your crew couldn’t join me. I ended up having two lekker rides from Doolhof (where I was staying on the weekend) around the Wild Boar White Trail, I think, plus a bit of exploring some of the branches off there. I was hoping to ride Canetsfontein, but I couldn’t justify the R2,000 fee. I understand that they probably need a deterrent to keep trails like Cliffhanger from getting congested and causing pile-ups and rescue and recovery missions. Looking up at that mountain in person really brings home how dangerous it could be. Then on Monday I rode Jonkershoek, hitting Armaggedon, Red Phoenix, and Iron Monkey. Huge thank you to @ALLMTB for showing me around! I had a bit of a look at some parts of Plumber. It looks proper! I’d like to give it a go someday, but when I’ve got more time to figure it out bit by bit. I was glad I rode the Wellington trails first. They were great, and full credit to the trail builders, but there wasn’t anything technical, and I might have been disappointed if I was coming to them after having done Jonkershoek. I knew Jonkershoek would be good, but it exceeded my expectations. There’s plenty there that I’d like to come back to and work on. If any of you fine people ever find yourselves in Harare, Zimbabwe, please do hit me up. I’d love to show you around some of our trails here.

Thanks, @Robbie Stewart. Sounds good! Although, I’ll need to be a little bit restrained – I’ll be riding my spare bike, and don’t have any riding companions lined up yet, so I don’t want to break myself. Anyone fancy joining me in Jonkershoek on the 19th, 20th, or 21st?!

Thank you, @Paul Ruinaard. paarltrails.com looks like an excellent resource. I’ll try to plan for a day on those trails. I’d love to do a Jonkershoek outing too, but that might depend on my other commitments.

Hi all. I am going to be visiting Wellington for a wedding over the weekend of the 17th of January, then staying in Cape Town southern suburbs for a few days. I’m hoping to bring my bike and hit up a few trails. What’s worth checking out? I’ve seen mention of the Wild Boar trails in Wellington (in this topic, among other places). I remember riding the Welvanpas trails years ago and loving those – are they still going? I’m also thinking of checking out the downhill track at Spice Route. Is that open to the public, and are there other good trails there too? I am mostly into enduro-type riding, so looking for trails that are steep and technical, but I enjoy a wide mix of stuff. My bike will be a 140/160 mm all-mountain/enduro rig. I am not afraid of a big climb or two, but am not super fit at the moment. 20 to 30 km with 500 to 1,000 m elevation or a bit more would probably be ideal, but I’ll take what I can get. Any suggestions gratefully received!

Shimano also has some nice ones with steel teeth and composite and aluminium bodies (like the SM-CRM81 (11-speed) and SM-CRM85 (12-speed)) that are a bit cheaper than this, and their cheap all-steel ones are nice too. It’s not going to help @Croglet unfortunately, but I think it’s another good selling point for Shimano cranksets.

I seem to remember Lyne was offering steel chainrings a while back. I can’t remember what mounting spec, but I think it was the Sram 3-bolt type, and in limited configurations. I don’t see them on their site now, though.

I use the Race Face steel chainrings for the same reasons as you. I have looked for these Sram ones too and haven’t ever seen them in stock at Cape Cycles (the Sram distributor). It looks like the only steel chainrings they do stock are 104 BCD T-type, probably aimed at e-bikers. The NX cranksets come with the steel chainrings, but I’m not sure why they aren’t also sold separately. You might get lucky by asking around at a few bike shops in the hope that one has a take-off from a bike or crankset, or is willing to split a NX crankset.

Just thought I’d add an update on the original query in this topic. I ended up ordering a set of 165 mm Race Face Turbine cranks directly from their US website. However, I also got a stiffer spring for the rear shock (550 lbs linear – the original was a 500–610 lbs progressive). My reason for getting the new spring was more to try to get a more supportive mid stroke and make the bike a bit poppier than it was about trying to remedy the pedal strikes. I did one ride with the new coil before I replaced the cranks, and I immediately noticed a more upright riding position with a less wallowy rear and fewer pedal strikes, although this particular ride didn’t include chunky climbs of the sort that usually cause the most pedal strikes. Then I installed the new cranks and did another ride in some of the worst terrain in my area for pedal strikes. It wasn’t completely strike-free, but there was definitely a vast improvement over my previous setup. There were at least two or three occasions where I was certain I would previously have hit the pedal on a rock but cleared it this time. I can’t be sure if it was the stiffer coil or the 5 mm shorter cranks that made more of a difference, but I’m very happy with where the combination has got me.

If the bug really does bite I predict you’ll be wanting/needing to upgrade well within the year! I think you’ve been given some great advice already, but would add a couple of things: Do as much learning as you can now so that when you are ready for the upgrade you are better prepared and have some idea of what to look for. Buying second-hand is probably a good call, but you need to know what to look for. I would see if you can buy through a shop you trust, or a bike-specific platform like this one with seller ratings, but see if you can get a potential bike checked out by a shop or someone you trust. The sizing and basic specs is one thing, but it takes an experienced eye to spot things like suspension that could be problematic and lacking service support and spare parts, incompatible builds, etc. The seller may not be deliberately trying to pull a fast one, but might just not know any better, so don’t rush into a buy just because the seller seems honest. Many people will say a bike is in excellent condition if the wheels and cranks go round. You’ll want more than just that basic functionality. A second-hand bike is an attractive option because it has already lost its value. So, assuming it was fairly priced, you could potentially resell it for the same as what you bought it for if you realise it is the wrong size or not appropriate. A new bike will lose a significant portion of its value as soon as it goes out the shop door. Try to test ride as many bikes as you can. Friends’ bikes, demo bikes, whatever. Make notes on everything that stands out to you, positive or negative, from things like the sizing and geometry to the grips, saddle, handlebar width, etc. You’re unlikely to find a new one that has everything you like, but once you’ve worked out what’s important you can prioritise that and budget for changes to the small things. Try to get an idea of what a bike will cost to maintain in the short, medium, and long term. Some parts, like the drivetrain components, wear out and will eventually need to be replaced. You can prolong this by looking after them, but the day will eventually come. Too many people have the idea that once they’ve paid the big initial purchase price, any future expenditure is just cheap basic maintenance. If you buy a bike with a Sram Transmission drivetrain, replacing that cassette and chain is going to cost more than a lot of the complete bikes in the classifieds, and you don’t really have a lot of choice for alternatives. But if you’ve got a 10-speed Shimano drivetrain there is a much wider array of replacement options and they’re a fraction of the cost. So, a bike purchase is not a once-off – you will be paying again and again and again over the years, sometimes out of necessity and sometimes for the joy of an upgrade or some bling. The choices you make in that initial purchase will determine how expensive those subsequent costs will be. A high-spec bike on clearance sale may be attractive now, but will you be just as happy with that choice three years down the line when you’ve had to fork out for an overhaul or two? Unfortunately this is something that is difficult without experience, but you can start by asking a few questions about a potential bike: 1. What are the consumable parts? 2. Are they available? 3. How much do they cost? You might be better off spending a bit more on the initial purchase to save on running maintenance costs or give yourself more upgrade options in the future. Welcome to the sport, have fun, good luck, and drop in to ask more questions – you can see there are lots of others keen to help you!

Thanks. 9 out of 10 times the above works, but I’ve had two that I haven’t been able to do, although I didn’t try heat on the latest one. I’ve broken at least one bench vice on this task, so I have invested in a much stronger one. Thankfully the bearing on the latest hub is still smooth, so I didn’t spend a lot of time on it, although I have some new muscle aches and hand pain from hauling on that wheel! I’ve seen suggestions elsewhere to use an impact wrench, so I’m going to see if I can find who was selling the tool with a compatible fitting. Anyone else here tried that?

At the risk of derailing my own thread… @droo, since we’re here… any tips on removing a DT Swiss ring nut? 😁

From 175 mm? Did you notice a big change? I used to be firmly against 30 mm spindles too, my thinking being that they don’t leave much space for big bearings. But seeing how many respected brands use 30 mm spindles (Hope, Race Face, DMR, etc) I’ve started thinking that as long as the parts are from a decent brand and I’m not trying to fit it into a BB92 pressfit shell, maybe I should hold off on the armchair engineering.

I’ve been eyeing those up too. They look lovely, but I’m also put off by the proprietary BB. It’s not that big a deal, but since I’ll be shopping for a crankset to replace the slightly defective one on my hardtail anyway I thought I might as well try 165 mm on the big bike. Your points on the suspension and pedals are good ones, and I will do some more playing with the LSC. I get very little pedal bobbing, and only use the climb switch on long tarmac climbs. It’s a coil shock, and I am tempted to try a stiffer spring, but I think the sag is pretty close to optimal as it is. Recommended fork travel is 150 mm and I’m running 160. Yes, it does. And a longer wheelbase. The increase in frequency of pedal strikes was entirely predictable. But for me the trade-off was worth it for the improved stability at speed, confidence when the trail gets steep, and a more planted front wheel when winching up climbs. My main reason for starting the thread was to see if there were any options available in RSA that I had missed, and out of genuine curiosity about what others are running. There seem to be more and more options available overseas (Canfield, NS Billet, Intend, plus many others), but the trend for shorter cranks doesn’t really seem to be taking off in southern Africa yet. My current plan is to hold out for a Race Face Turbine set, but I’ll keep an eye out for other options. Maybe I should grab the one in the classifieds for the hardtail and leave the full sus alone…

Thanks @droo. I'll try that next time. My method (if it doesn’t come off easily) involves leaving the wheels on, putting the opposite pedal under a convenient ledge and sticking a handlebar over the hex key for extra leverage. So far I’ve only had one that didn’t come loose like this. But if it’s my own bike and I’m not in the workshop I won’t always have a conveniently-situated ledge and spare handlebar…

Ah, I didn’t realise 5Dev does alloy cranks. They look good, but the cost could be enough to put me off, especially when you factor in the shipping and duties as well. I guess I’m still scarred from the early days of DUB when there wasn’t an abundance of third-party options, and we saw poor durability on the press-fit variants which were out of stock for long periods. But your points about there being more options now and the BSA versions being more durable are certainly valid. And it looks like Cape Cycles has the Descendant 165 mm in stock… However, as with others above, I’m also not keen on the Sram crank bolt system. They are consistently the most difficult to remove, and it’s not a process I want to have to go through on the side of the trail or in my home office the night before a ride. It’s not a deal-breaker, and with proper care and the right tools I could certainly live with it, but I’ll hold out a bit longer to see if I can find something more user-friendly. Yes, they are gorgeous. Unfortunately the price isn’t so attractive, and I don’t want to be stuck trying to source compatible chainrings. I realise they do offer a spider for a 104 BCD mount, but it all starts adding up and becoming more complicated with more interfaces that can work loose, creak, etc. I currently have a 170 mm Deore XT M8000 set on my enduro bike. I would like to try something a little shorter if I can. I plan to move the M8000 to the hardtail, whose current cranks are a little worse for wear. I do still get more pedal strikes with my current 170 mm cranks than I did with my previous bike. I realise there is an element of adjusting my technique, but it also happens when traversing steep rock slabs where no amount of pedalling finesse is going to help. Unfortunately I am the LBS, so the effort and pain would be mine alone.