Daniel “Edward” de Villiers

All sealants have a shelf life. When I buy my Enduro Seal at Sportsman’s Warehouse I check the manufactured date and buy the bottle that was most recently manufactured. This helps with the separation, but I also shake the bottle well before I use it.

Craig Colesky (a local) has ridden the Epic a few times. In one of his videos on preparing for the Epic in 2025 he mentioned that this year the most common tyre was the Maxxis Rekon Race:

+1 for the women's saddle. Bikes come with saddles that suit the average rider (read: men), and women and men are not the same down there. The first thing that was changed on my girlfriend's bike was the saddle.

I ride a hardtail with Bontrager XR4 2.6s front and rear. I recently got the chance to ride a friend's bike that had the Maxxis Ikon 29 2.35 as a rear tyre, with a Bontrager XR4 2.6 as the front tyre. I really liked the better rolling resistance of the Ikon, but felt like I could do with just a tiny bit more rear grip for better front/rear grip balance. Does the 2.6 version of the Ikon have slightly larger tread to match its larger size? I think this may give me that tiny bit more grip I am looking for. How much wider is the 2.6 vs the 2.35? I appreciate how larger tyres absorb small bumps better on my hardtail.

I have seen these on the Trek website, and have confirmed that my local Trek shop stocks them: https://www.trekbikes.com/za/en_ZA/equipment/cycling-components/bike-cranks-and-chainrings/bike-chainrings/fsa-gamma-pro-megatooth-replacement-chainrings/p/21945/?colorCode=black

For the last 5 years I regularly rode the trails in and around Stellenbosch with an old 26er full suspension bike circa 2008. I recently made up my mind on upgrading to a 29er, but was hesitant as hard tails were all I could afford if I wanted to buy new. I then came across the Trek Roscoe 7 which is now on special for R20k, and so I decided to take the plunge. After the very first ride on the bike, I was sold! Mountain bikes have come a long way in the last 16 years, and all the small improvements more than make up for the loss of rear suspension for me.