supavan

A mild challenge? Ja! The Hobby Park takes its toll.

I hear the prologue is fully booked. Next time.

I'm trying to get some people together to go watch it tomorrow night. Dressed up as cycle couriers...

There's nothing that can be done about mother nature. Sure it made a couple of sections a bit tougher that it would have been but there was only one spot where the mud proved too difficult for the non pro riders (as you ducked under the road going through Avionto). Please thank the land owners in the area for the use of their property. It would be great if the trail was always available. I wouldn't mind buying tickets to ride.

To be honest, it would complicate things but it would be nice see how the SS riders did in relation to the geared riders. Besides, would you split SS into rigid vs suspension? The purists would insist on rigid. Myself? I dig my dual sus. The better to bomb down mountains with After all, I'm in it for the smiles.

One of the best MTB events I've attended in a long time. Terrific route that was challenging but rewarding. Great atmosphere at the finish line and the waterpoints were great too. I know that these events cannot be presented at this level without the monetary input from the sponsers. With that in mind a big thank you to EQSTRA and Biogen. These to companies really come the party and it showed. Excellently prepared track made for an unforgetable event. I'll be back for sure. The only improvement I can think of is maybe throw in a singlespeed category?

Now stop singing that Nirvana song in your head and see if you can help. What happens to you MTB framw when you total it and the insurance replaces said frame? The reason I ask is that I am looking for some bits and bobs off of a GT Sensor 9R Pro (2012) frame. I'm looking for the pivot bearing caps and pivot link arm. They are blue on the 9R Pro. Yes I know it's a needle in a haystack thing but maybe someone has knowledge of said needles. See the the red arrows in the image below http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10955341/Capture.PNG

+1 Lourens. That is exactly what I've been looking for. Thank you.

Hi everyone. I'm trying to find out if there is any difference in the length between the Fox F32 RL 100 and 120. I'm talking crown to dropouts. The reason I ask is that I've had to replace my bike's frame which came with a Fox F32 RL 100mm suspension fork. The new frame is a GT Sensor 1.0 which would normally be fitted with a the 120mm variant of that fork. I'm pretty sure the fork would be 20mm longer to allow for the extra travel but I can't confirm this since I can't find any dimensions on these forks. As much as don't want to mess up the frame's design angles by fitting the wrong length of fork I don't want to go spend thousands to get a 120mm if the actual external dimensions are similar. Measured from where the crown meets the frame to where the centre of my 9mm QR skewer is, I get approximately 48cm.

Fair warning. I am about to whinge... A note on the route marking. Not great. There were a couple of times where we had to stop and make sure we were on the right track. For what is supposed to be a UCI level event I would have expected a higher standard. Yes, the riders are supposed to familiarise themselves with the route beforehand but lets be fair here: The route map was not available on the entry website, only at the start of the event and most people a won't be capable of memorising said map before setting off into the unknown. It wasn't all bad though. I am talking of maybe 3 spots along the route. Race distance. As jcza mentioned, the distance was well short of the advertised 60km. about 10km or so. I can't tell exactly as I'm still not sure where finish line was. There were no banners or lines in the road or anything marking the fact that you have crossed the end point. Transport. The route is a point a to b meaning you do not finish anywhere near where you started. Considering that the race was against the train (I steam train I think it was. don't know. never laid eyes on it) you'd think that there would be some sort of arrangement for the cyclists to catch the train back to the start line. That would be convenient. sadly no. It has to be said that this had nothing to do with the Goldfields cycling club though. I don't know who was in charge of the train bit but clearly no thought went into it. The train may as well not have been there to be honest. Safety. There were medics but the only time I saw them (on their quad bikes) was at the finish. When I had my fall I was at the back of the 60km MTB group. There was absolutely no one around. Now I know my falling was my own idiocy but I have done a number of MTB races now and 90% of the time the dangerous areas would, at the very least, have a marshal with a radio stationed there. Maybe something that can be taken into consideration next time. Water points. Which water points? In races that are only 15km longer you would easily have 3 or 4 water points. Today? None. At the very least there could have been one at the 30km mark or somewhere near to it. Or did I miss them. Can't be. I was going rather slowly at that point. Again with the route. A farmer drove up alongside me and wanted to know how had organised this MTB race because he wished to lay a complaint. Apparently no one had consulted with him at all and we were crossing his farm land. Now this is more than likely just some elderly farmer who could not bother reading the notices that were sent to him. It just wasn't being put on the spot for doing something that you were though was agreed to by all parties involved. So now that I've whined like a wet princess how about what I liked? Plenty seating at the finish venue as well as more than enough well priced food. I gobbled up a number of pancakes while watching the lucky draw that seemed to have a prise for almost everyone! I'm still sorry I didn't buy one of those rotisserie chickens. The looked great!

Ja, 90% of the route was like riding at Northern farms. Not the single track bits of NF either. The two big downhill sections before the finish was fun though. Not the part where I crashed near the top of the first rocky decent. Enthusiasm lost out to cornering ability in what turned out to be a 31kph shoulder first dive into the dirt. Managed to put two dents in the top tube. One minor, but the other big enough to cause the paint to crack. A bit miffed about that. I don't think it is bad enough to be terminal but the cracked paint will flake off eventually and it obvioulsy killed any chance of selling the bike for an upgrade.

Thank you to all involved in organizing this. I had a blast. Pitty the ride back fell apart with a couple of guys almost causing a car to have a head-on on the way back to Dunkeld. Too much of the dutch courage I fear.

You know that feeling you get when your plans work out just as you had hoped? Ja. Me neither. It seems that I have contracted the bubonic plague. At least that is what it seems like if you look at all the meds the doctor prescribed. He should have included something for shock and depression to help with getting over the bill. The long and short of this sad tale is that I am currently on a 10 day course of antibiotics during which time I am not allowed on the bicycle. I ignored this on Saturday and ended up having to phone the wife to come fetch my sorry ass a mere 5 km from home when my heart rate started doing weird things. The ride I am trying to orgainise will therefore have to be postponed. I am really unhappy about this turn of events but that's life. On the upside I have more time to create a poster.

Excellent

Hi everyone I've had an epiphany! instead of leaving from some distant spot and trying to find a route to Gilroy's, why not start there, get lost, and then return back there? That way you don't have to ride back home in an inebriated state. Much safer in a car. Wait what!?!? So until further notice this is the plan. Start at Gilroys, ride a circular route in the direction batch water swirls (requires less effort I hear) and end up where we started.For the scientifically mided that means we'll have travelled a great deal to achieve a displacement of 0km. So really we'll not be doing much hey

Awesome

Okay, so I had a long hard look at google maps trying to figure out a route that would not suck total balls. I'm thinking we start at Victory Park and head to Albert's Farm via the Botanical gardens (we'll have to play nice with the unleashed dogs). From there it gets hard since I can't see any obvious way of getting to the West Rand without having to go onto the road. Not even sure where to hook up from there. Was looking at the green belt starting at Strubens Valley (behind the Makro) but I can't see any obvious trails. Suggestions? I'm planning of a recce ride over the weekend if this sniffle I've devloped doesn't mutate into the buebonic plague.

I've sent the invite out to the swampdogs and cyclelab jhb. Do me a favour and let me know and update the list below with your name if ou are going to be joining. I'll update the list in the original post every couple of days. Also let me know if you can't make it anymore so I can remove your name. If you want to be really helpfull the PM me your email address so I can keep you updated. ATTENDEES: supavan (Werner)

UPDATE: Beer tasting at Gilroy's costs R80 per person and starts at 11:00am. Booking is advised.

Below are the details of a ride I did a while ago. Same sort of area. http://www.sports-tracker.com/widgets/wdgt_workout.html?username=WernerVanAswegen&workout_key=1mph6kfirqaau3gv

The date is only provisional at this point. It really depends on response.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED - SEE POST #19 FOR DETAILS Hello there fellow singlespeeders and you curious folk who just couldn't resist reading this. As you must surely know by know, the 2012 singlespeed world champs is bening held here in South Africa this year. If this is news to you I suggest getting out from under that rock you are living under and surf on over to http://www.sswc2012.co.za. If you are lucky there may still be some entries available. Getting back to the matter at hand: Training. I am sure that a lot of you have been training like deamons, riding at the ungodly hours of the morning, braving the cold and dark. Stop it immediatly. You are not a roadie! Next you'll be shaving your legs and then we'll really have to start the mocking. Train when the sun shines and the worst of the frost has melted away. Where was I? Oh yes. Training. By now you have probably become used to only having one gear. You've made peace with not being able to pedal down hills and having to mash the pedals like a bezerker when going up. Your legs are as hard as steel! That is all fine, but I fear you may have neglected a core part of your fitness regime: The Consumption Of Beer. TCOB is a core part of the SSWC and, like any sporting dicipline, you will need to train if you aim to succeed. As anyone who has been cycling for a while will tell you, it is better to train in a group than alone. Especialy when it comes to beer. Drinking alone is after all the first sign of being an alchoholic (according to my mom in any case). So I propse a group training session. The plan is to ride to Gilroy's (http://www.gilroybeers.co.za) where we can take part in some beer tasting. The finer details still need to be hashed out like from where do we ride, what route we'll take. You know. The minor things. What I need to establish here is how many interrested parties there are. So please reply here if you think that this is just the sort of training you've been after. UPDATE: Beer tasting costs R80 per person and starts at 11:00am. Booking is advised. ATTENDEES: Supavan (Werner) Stretched@Birth He-man Thug j_a_n Narra Kona Kula

Again, thanks for the info. Hairy, I hear you on the feel of the ride, but I'm not aiming to go hardcore just yet. I've had a look at the chain tensioner suggested by The Nerd. Looks the ticket. They have an updated model which I enquired about. Canadian company so we'll see if they are willing to ship...

Thanks guys. I'll check out those links tomorrow. What's the deal if I want to convert my dual sus? I'm not looking to win, just to have a blast so it makes sense to me to just convert my current bike (Mongoose Kanaan Elite 2010)

Okay, so here's the long and short of it. In a monent of utter madness I have entered the 2012 Singlespeed MTB world championships. Someone has to come last to make the winner's achievement seem more awesome right? The thing is I don't have a single speed MTB. Now I know I could use my regular multispeed bike and they'll just duct-tape all the gear related stuff into submission, but there is a place for duct-tape and it is not on the sensitve parts of my bike. Or any sensitive parts for that matter. Trust me. So I would like to build a budget/bargain/cheap-ass singlespeed mtb. It can't be costly since I really don't want to lose half my posessions in a divorce. I know there are a lot of sites on the interwebs that show you how to do a conversion but they are mostly written by people living in first world countries where things are easier and more affordable to get a hold of. So. Please point me in the right direction if you know of said direction. Thank you kindly.