Daniel de V

One thing to note - I think the freehub for NX and GX cassettes is different... You might want to factor the cost of a new freehub in as well?

You can also record service history for your bike on the app (self service, or shop service booked through the app). I like to think this may help my bike resale value as I would have a detailed record of how well I maintained by bike.

I use an app called Hubtiger. It is a very cool maintenance tracking and service booking app (lots of bike shops use this platform to book services). You setup a bike profile on the app, then you can link different components and set service reminders for each based off of hours ridden (e.g. for a suspension service), km's ridden (e.g. to rewax your chain) or time elapsed (e.g. to topup tubeless sealant). You link your Strava profile to the app so that it can pull in your ride data.

I ride a trail bike that I ride XCM and trails with. I have a trail tyre up front (Bontrager XR4), and currently have a Maxxis Ikon in the rear. I was considering putting the Maxxis Rekon Race on the back when the Ikon wears out. What would you suggest I rather put on in the back? Is there a different tyre to the Rekon Race with the same or more grip with less rolling resistance?

I took part in the Wellington trailseeker today and noticed an overwhelming majority of riders had their bikes equipped with Maxxis Rekon Race tyres. What is it about this tyre that makes it so popular for XCM? The Maxxis Aspen seems like a tyre marketed for the same kind of riding as the Rekon Race, why is this tyre not nearly as popular?

Do I understand correctly that in your experience the Maxxis Rekon Race’s in 2.4 have more grip than the Maxxis Ikon 2.35?

As a bit of an aside, does anyone have recommendations for a front tyre with more grip than a Maxxis Ikon and faster rolling than an XR4?

My Trek also came with XR4s. I ride tar to my local trails so wanted something faster rolling to get there, but still enjoy the trails. I swapped my rear XR4 for a Maxxis Ikon 2.35. I could instantly pedal in 1-2 gears faster for no extra effort. I still have all the grip I could need for the trails in Jonkershoek (if anything, the front XR4 has more grip than I need). I can highly recommend swapping the rear XR4 out. If you like the results and realise you don’t miss the extra grip you can then swap out the front as well.

Changing tyres can completely change the feel of a bike. My trail bike came with Bontrager XR4s (likely similar to Maxxis Rekons) front and rear. These are marketed as trail tyres. I do ride tar roads to my trails and do some gravel riding here and there. I changed my rear tyre to a Maxxis Ikon (marketed as an XC and light trail tyre), and it felt like I could pedal 1-2 gears faster for no extra effort. It was definitely worth the swap for me. Maybe you could try something similar and see how it works for you?

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.