Cranky

922 and 755 g for the XTs (without skewers). Thanks everyone for the input. I think I am leaning towards the XTs, although I can still dream of those in your pic, Johan.

I use Crossmarks in the dry season, and Continental Mountain Kings at other times. The Mountain Kings have been great. Also used by Evans and George at the Epic, and Andrew McLean. They offer great protection from sidewall cuts and punctures - have yet to need to repair them. And pretty good at mud shedding, or gripping in loose sand and on rocks.Cranky2008-06-15 07:13:59

The XT wheelset seems to be light and very reasonably priced. Has anyone tried them, or seen a review?

Thanks Crow I have a 2007 Stumpjumper FSR, and ride mainly marathon and stage races. The Hope hubs have received great reviews, but the combo with the 819's appears to be heavier than the Crosstrails, giving me very little weight saving on my current wheels. Any other UST rims I could use?

Looking to upgrade to UST and lighter MTB wheels, spending no more than about R4500. Could get Mavic Crosstrail, or Mavic 819 rims with Hope Pro II hubs. Any views on these, or other options?

A nice comment. And it was great to see Burry and Sifiso on Supercycling last night. With Greg Minnaar up there too, and Barloworld doing well, SA cycling really is taking off.

Cocaine stimulates the nervous system, leading to increased energy, euphoria and increased aggression. But it won't help to take it a few days before a competition.

I hope Kevin gets the feedback and makes changes.

It seems to me that some race organizers are happy to relax and let standards slide, if they have sell-out numbers, rather than looking at ways to improve each year. Glen Haw and his Sani2c team seem to be the stand-out exception.

On Bicycling's Rate Your Race, the Cape Epic has fallen from a rating of 89% in 2007 to 78% now. Does the fall represent mainly the poor water tables and extra distance? Should I care too much if I don't get an entry for next year?

I agree, idrive. For MTB races I visit ndorphin, adventure zone, entrytime, cyclingnews.co.za, and supercycling. The original 2008 calendar posted on some websites and also published by Ride mag has errors and does not include new races. It would be awesome if there was a site (it should be CSA) where all races are listed.

Bicycling is a classier publication, but with too many adverts, useless sections (like the Style column), and too much US content. Ride is a chaotic mix of articles with too much of the editor's own (often scathing) opinion. In my experience, Ride's subscription department is way more disorganised than Bicycling's. But Ride takes me longer to read and has more local content, so it would get my vote (just). I far prefer the international mags, especially for their critical product reviews, but on the local front, I think Mountain Biker Magazine is great (and wish it came out more often).

Here is the abstract of a new paper from Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, one of the leading international sports journals. Note that although GABA (what's in USN HGH) may increase growth hormone, particularly when combined with resistance training (pumping iron in the gym), there is no data to indicate that it will cause skeletal muscle hypertrophy. So I agree with the previous posts - don't waste your money on supplements, especially here where much research is still needed on the actions and adverse side-effects of oral GABA. Growth hormone isoform responses to GABA ingestion at rest and after exercise. Powers ME, Yarrow JF, McCoy SC, Borst SE. Division of Athletic Training, Shenendoah University, Winchester, VA 22601, USA. mpowers@su.edu Oral administration of the amino acid/inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) reportedly elevates resting serum growth hormone (GH) concentrations. PURPOSE: To test the hypothesis that GABA ingestion stimulates immunoreactive GH (irGH) and immunofunctional GH (ifGH) release at rest and that GABA augments the resistance exercise-induced irGH/ifGH responses. METHODS: Eleven resistance-trained men (18-30 yr) participated in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. During each experimental bout, participants ingested either 3 g of GABA or sucrose placebo (P), followed either by resting or resistance exercise sessions. Fasting venous blood samples were acquired immediately before and at 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 min after GABA or P ingestion and were assayed for irGH and ifGH. RESULTS: At rest, GABA ingestion elevated both irGH and ifGH compared with placebo. Specifically, peak concentrations of both hormones were elevated by about 400%, and the area under the curve (AUC) was elevated by about 375% (P < 0.05). Resistance exercise (EX-P) elevated time-point (15-60 min) irGH and ifGH concentrations compared with rest (P < 0.05). The combination of GABA and resistance exercise (EX-GABA) also elevated the peak, AUC, and the 15- to 60-min time-point irGH and ifGH responses compared with resting conditions (P < 0.05). Additionally, 200% greater irGH (P < 0.01) and 175% greater ifGH (P < 0.05) concentrations were observed in the EX-GABA than in the EX-P condition, 30 min after ingestion. GABA ingestion did not alter the irGH to ifGH ratio, and, under all conditions, ifGH represented approximately 50% of irGH. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that ingested GABA elevates resting and postexercise irGH and ifGH concentrations. The extent to which irGH/ifGH secretion contributes to skeletal muscle hypertrophy is unknown, although augmenting the postexercise irGH/ifGH response may improve resistance training-induced muscular adaptations.

My sister picked up a new Anthem 1, with Stans tubeless conversion, Tubeless Larssen TT tyres, Thompson seatpost, for R19 000 3 months ago. It's a great racing bike, suitable for XC. I have the Specialized FSR Stumpjumper Comp, which I got for R21 000 last year. Compared to the Anthem, it's better on descents, and more suitable for trail riding. Both bikes get 9/10 ratings in international mags, and live up to those scores. On the Merida Mission, I'd wait for the new model. Their racing team has completely changed the suspension and the new design looks a better bet.

There are lots of Gauteng MTB races that you can use for prep - do a few of these and you'll be fine for 94.7: 2 June ? Snickers Winter Challenge, 13 July ? Walkerville, 7 Sept - Spring Classic, 14 Sept ? Logwood Classic, 28 Sept ? Sterling Light, 12,13 Oct ? Crater Cruise, 26 Oct ? Telkom Satellite. You can also pop along to the regular Vit T Go races at Babbas Lodge, and head out a bit further to rides like Sun City, or the KZN races, which usually are more technical.

Merida is about to launch a whole new suspension design. Read the latest issue of What Mountain Bike for details. I'd wait or buy another brand - you don't want the old set-up, which has not received great reviews.

Thanks Dragson. Will take a look again on Friday.

Well if you go to supercycling.co.za, for example, the headlines are about Liquigas, tandems in the Panorama tour, Die Oog MTB race, some road racer retiring, etc. Surely 7th in a World Cup XC, ahead of many greats, warrants a mention alongside those? And Pfannberger rides for Barloworld, so it'd be nice of our media to focus on their results. These are all big firsts for SA cycling - a top XC MTBer, a top road race team, a top BMXer. But we get the standard international press releases. So local cycling journo's are not doing their bit to help raise the profile of cycling here.

But even the cycling media guys are half alseep?

Why is SA media coverage of cycling so poor? Burry Stander comes 7th in the World Cup event on Saturday and there's nothing in the news, nothing on cycling websites like cyclingnews.co.za, supercycling.co.za, cyclingsa.com. Pfannberger gets a great result for Barloworld in the Li?ge-Bastogne-Li?ge, and again, it doesn't crack a headline. Oh, and Sifiso Nhlapo, who should be gracing the front pages of our local newspapers, just won again in Europe. It seems that the only place to keep in touch is The Hub!

I rode at Groenkloof yesterday and couldn't find the link to the new 15km section at Fountains. The staff at Groenkloof were of no help. Can anyone help out and let me know which way to steer my bike?

Never heard of a security problem there - the same is true for Northern Farm, despite open gates around the perimeter.

I don't own one, but they get good reviews in international MTB mags. For the price, you could look at offerings from Santa Cruz and Specialized too. Which Yeti are you looking at? Go to www.mtbr.com for reviews on MTB bikes.

Great news. How do you access the Fountains area? Is there signage?

I agree with the comments. Really excellent coverage, with a great mix showing the riders, the route, the community support, and the cameraderie. Great script by Max Cluer and footage by Go Boy Productions (who are much better than Big Shot Media, who I believe did both the Epic and Sani2c race).