ACM

Response from race office: " Hi. We are waiting confirmation from CSA. We will ride on Sunday, might not RACE though. "

Two weeks leading up to race has not been good. Training up till last weekend went very well and then came bronchitis...:-( Tried to get over it by resting, but went onto antibiotics yesterday. Eish!!! Weather doesn't look good. Might be one tough 3-days. My first stage race; so am super excited, but now very nervous due to illness & no training since last Sunday!! Will have to stick to team entry name/ strategy (aka easy riders). See you all on Friday; hopefully weather clears up nicely and hopefully health improves and hopefully we can ride on Sunday and thereby honering Madiba (doing what we love doing)!!

I have mailed Sandy Korb to check if this applies to Sabie; will post response here as soon as I get answer from her!

I've build a 2x10 and went for 24 and 38 chainrings in front (11-36 back). I came from the traditional 11-36 back and 24,32,42 on my 3x10. Based on my new setup I've lost 1 gear ratio on the top end. This works pretty well. I wouldn't go for smaller than 24T for the small in front - you're only able to use granny-granny when there's lots of traction (and then you normally don't need that low gear ratio). And between the 24 and 38 you get enough overlap as well as wide enough range.

My previous bike (Giant anthem x) shipped with metal pads and the squeeking drived me insane (Avid breaks). I replaced with resin pads and never looked back. The stopping power is much better and feels smoother (not sudden locking as with the metal pads). The bike I've build recently I fitted with XTR brakes that came with resin pads. The resin pads definately has a smoother breaking and no squeeking. I haven't done very wet / muddy rides with resin pads... so cannot comment on that. But from a preference point of view I'd go for resin.

The website was measured with a bryton. I've seen plenty times where the Garmin and Bryton's readings are different. Normally the Bryton is a little above the Garmin - so not sure if their reading was correct. I measured +-483 on the half with my Garmin Edge 500.

Yes, it's the standing type rack

The thule rack has clips and you just slide the number plates in and out - 30 seconds to swap one for the other :-)

I have 4 number plates for my thule rack.... 1 for my bakkkie 1 for the wife's car 1 for the caravan 1 for the previous caravan ????

One 'bad thing' about 24" is that you don't get foldable tyres in a 1.75 range which means you cannot convert to tubeless. We did a ride the other day and got a puncture... Eventualy the 'green tube slime' did seal, but not without hassles. Afterwards I wanted to fix the tube as it was still losing pressure and it has 8 punctures :-( I would love to be able to convert to tubeless!!

My son turned 10 in May, but is small for his age. Weight = 25kg and 1.3m tall - so very small. I opted for the Momsen JSL40 (24") - weight is 10.3kg. It's a great buy. He can handle & control the bike. It has an air shock and very good components. We've done a couple of rides at groenkloof doing 300m ascent in 15km and he can peddle it up hill. That was important to me. For a small kid to peddle a 12 or 13kg bike uphill is tough and then the enjoyment fades. Not to speak about pushing the same bike uphill if he / she cannot ride it. My advise is... go to the shops and see how your son fits onto a XS 26" bike. I looked at many XS 26" bikes and they were just to heavy (entry level bikes - I didn't want to spend a fortune) and big for my son to be comfortable on them. I'll rather "waste" money with the 24" and let him ride it for 2 years and have 2 years of enjoyment vs. struggling and loosing interest. But, for a bigger 10yr old I would probably have gone for the XS 26". I see the gradual migration from 20" to 24" and eventually to 26" as an investment in time with my son. Money well spend :-) So, again my advice is: go do some measuring and fitting and see what he'll be comfortable with vs. what you would like to get him :-). Good luck.

Yeah, but if I had to ask one to marry me (or nail colours to one) it would be the 29er (having ridden both).. hehehe

I'm 1.65m and 65kg I can't comment on riding a 27.5".... never has & probably never will :-) But I had a 26" Silverback Phoenix for 1 & 1/2 years - small frame. Then I went to a 29" Giant Anthem X29 - also a small frame. I had this bike for over 3 years. I've now build myselft a 29" bike (went to a carbon frame) - also a small frame. My opinion is that the 29er is a much easier ride - over technical terrain. The 29er has less rolling resistance, more momentum. I've never considered going back to a 26" bike. For a small person like myself the stand-over height on the 29er is not "very comfortable" (to close for comfort to the plumbing...). However... I stand over my bike at the start of the race and maybe once or twice in a race waiting for traffic - so, this should not be a consideration in your decision. In terms of the setup and positioning... I've NEVER had any problems setting up the bike based on pedal positioning, etc. I did my setup on the Giant and then went for professional bike fitting and my setup was perfect (no adjustments - other than stack height). So, I think this pedal positions / setup sounds like BS. What I will say, I do think for a small person the lager (29er) take some time to get used to manuvering the bike (short twist and turns). I am however a better mountainbiker today than I was 3 years ago (riding the 26"). And I do enjoy riding technical races. A statement towards 26" is easier to manuver can be countered with practise, more riding and getting comfortable and convidence in your bike and your riding ability (no big difference between 26" and 29"). If I was 1.67 and consider getting a new bike and have the cash... I would definately go for the 29er... Tjokkits, you will not look back!!! I have never looked back. That's my 2 cents.

Hi I also phoned them and at first they didn't want to give me a price indication, but I told them I'm not driving all te way from PTA to Jhb for them to tell me it's going to cost R2,500 - then I just buy a new one over the internet for the same price. So thye gave me an indication of between R1,200 and R1,500 (I think); based on the condition of the device. I then took it in and they asked R1,200 for a new one. They don't fix it/replace the backplate. They basically give you a new unit at a discounted price. Good luck!!

Exactly why I went for this solution (to be able to carry bikes) whether I'm camping with caravan or not. Just keep in mind that the Thule bike racks (euro classic) weight 18kg and 3 x AVG bike is probably another 35kg to 40kg, meaning your towbar (behind the venter) needs to hold a dead weight (force on towball) of +- 60kg. I went for the Euroclassic G5 (I think) because it takes 3 bikes, but can be extended to 4 bikes... me, wife & 2 kids... I would professionally fit the towbar (if you decide to go that route) and don't attempt a DYI job. You would need to fit the towbar to the chassis of the venter. Also remember that you play with the weight distribution of the trailer - there is a min and max weight allowed on a towbal. I think 90kg (max) in SA and min 25kg (speak under correction). So, you need to pack your trailer so the weight is distributed more forward to counter the weight at the back.

I use a Thule Euroclassic bike rack on my caravan :-) I fitted a towbar to my caravan and put the Thule onto the towbar (back of caravan). Carrying 3 bikes (20", 26" & 29") Have never had any problems with stability. The thule fitted onto the ball (of towbar) is very stable (no side sway or bouncing). Now, not sure if you can fit a towbar to a Venter trailer; but if I was you and don't want the racks on the roofs, I would go for a towbar behind the Venter

In this case it might still take years....

Do you want a new one? Everytime I hand in my garmin for a new one (at a cost of R1200 offcourse) they only take back the watch / edge, not the rest of the stuff. Then they give me a bundle pack with HRM as well. So, I think I have 3 new ones lying in a shoe box. I'm in centurion, so if you want one PM me, if you pay registered postage I'll send you one

Yes, but as far as I can see the www site only allows exporting one activity at a time... exporting 4 years of activities will take AGES

Don't get me wrong, I love my garmins (I have a Forerunner 405 as well as Edge 500), however.... I'm onto my 3rd "broken" Forerunner 405... and 2nd Edge. The edge "clip mechanism" on the back of the device broke... after reading and investigation on www it seams to be a common problem. Although Garmin's service is great.... I had to fork out R1200 for a new unit (for a known problem) My first forerunner's battery packed up in 3 months... didn't hold charge. Got it replaced for free (under warrantee). 2nd forerunner had the same problem, but just outside warrentee period... cost... R1,200 for getting a new one.... now this one is doing the same and guess what... outside of warrentee period... costs, another R1, 200 for... guess what... replacing something with a known problem. Read on battery problems with Forerunner 405 on www and you get pages and pages... tried all the tips & tricks and it only works for a while... So, the question is: why do you stick to something that's obviously flawed? Good question; all my years of information is on garmin's site, the tracking is great, the forerunner & edge are awesome devices!!! If ONLY garmin is willing to replace for free when it's a KNOWN problem I'll be punting garmin ALL THE WAY!!!

Looks nice!

Thumbs up for Shift Sports & Marketing... I emailed them asking when will they be doing another night race (as I didn't see more scheduled events on their site). Gavin (MD) emailed me and said they will do another event early next year and offered to 'credit' me for an entry (because I missed the event). BIG THUMS UP

I had a tear in exactly the sam spot; also with a race king. Properly clean tyre inside, fille wih new stans and it sealed with leaking! I roade that tyre a number of races (including technical/rocky sections) and held-up. So I wouldn't worry too much

I'm so dissapointed I missed this race. I entered, prep my bike and during bike prep cut top of my finger (off) with rotor - spend 16:00 to 20:00 at Unitas... might need to amputate top part of finger I was so looking forward to this race... I hope they do another one so I can do it!!

Tx. First 'serious' mountain bike injury and I wasn't even on the bike