Me-rider

Your friends can pick up their pizza's and six packs on way to your couch as well? But I agree, bringing it to the attention of the owner is the best thing. It really can't be that hard to manage and if done right is a cash cow. Hell he can even get someone to pay him a couple of hundred bucks a weekend and let some innovative entrepeneur run it. Has huge potential....

They should just legalise doping for the coming tour. The result should be everyone finishing with better times as they now have the extra performance. If times don't really improve then we can conclude they were all doping. Case closed!

Rather pickup a 6 pack and pizza on the way home. Nothing better for your tired body than slouching on a couch in front of the TV and carbo loading for the week to come...

"If you are not first, you are last!" -Ricky Bobby, Talladaga Knights

Lets be honest spending 4 hours on a hard saddle over rocks, roots and mud while pedaling so hard you can hear your heart beating over your Ipod is more than slightly masochistic... I guess masochist and cyclist are interchangeable then?

Some great advice here! To me climbing is in the mind - change how you approach hills. To me there is nothing more satisfying (on a bike that is) than approaching a tough hill a fighting your way to the top. One thing I can add to the thread is PRACTICE. Find a hill / climb and ride it a few times. I like to find a hill that is at least 20km away from the start point so after wrecking myself of the hill I have to some how make it home. The more you ride hills the better you will get at them. You will find what you prefer when climbing, spinning wheels, standing, grinding, whatever. You will also then learn which gears you should be in. Once you get to the top, you know you can so go back down and do it again. I am also a huge believer in the Rowing machine in gym. Done properly at a speed of 20 rpm and 500m split of 1.55 you can develop some serious leg power fast. The slower cadence requires you to train the explosive leg power and after a couple of minutes your heart rate will spike too. If you have not rowed before, find someone to show you how because in order to get the benefits in your legs and lower back you must have good technique.

I would tend to agree with this. They have no way of knowing that you did not take it with you when you left, specially if it looks used. I think airlines charge $150 to take it on plane. I am actually in very similair situation as I was here for 6 months (ending in 3 days!!) and I bought a second hand mountain bike. I phoned a few shipping places and the best option seeemed to be just taking it on the plane and claiming you took it over there to do some races as you are an avid cyclist. I however ended selling mine within 1 day of posting a craigslist add. Apparently I priced it too low? Good luck getting back. See you on the other side!

That is there business culture, they advertise it for a higher price. Their feeling is that if you too stupid not to know the real value of what you buying and you want to pay an inflated price then they are not going to stop you. They are fully aware of what their competitor's prices are and will bragain down to that amount. I am not saying that is the right way to do business but that is there business model - and it apparently works for them. I guess you can make the call whether you want to bargain or go to another store. If you go into the shop often enough and show them you know what you are talking about and that you know what the actual price should be, they will stop Bull sh**ing you and you will not have to haggle for to long. I used to buy all my diving gear from a Mia's (similair to Cajees but for diving / fishing) and thats how it went for me. I was a student so put my pride in my pocket and haggled. Eventually they recognised me and would quote me a realistic price which was a bit lower than everywhere else.

Agreed - Just drink 2 less tequila shooters the night before and you save yourself R30 and 30g! I was told a simiilair thing about changing every 1000kms? Something to do with the fact that your chain rings will get worn as well, so you you change chain more regularly to protect these?

I have the Merida 2010 model. I have had absolutely no problems with it... (I a relative newbie tho) I will say this when I did 2010 Lion man, my bike survived, but my friend riding the top of the range Merida softtail (25k) had his front brake fail! Then again he is pretty unlucky on his mtb.

I know what you mean, there is a lot of choice out there. After a while too much information does not help your decision but just makes it harder! Of the bikes discussed in the thread in 5k range which is probably your budget, (that was mine aswell) I don't think you can go too wrong. Also there must be a bike there that you saw and really liked the look of? Some bikes just speak to you when you see / ride them.

Your phone can do that? Mine has a long cable that plugs into a wall?

If you looking at GTs, the 3.0 is a bit cheaper. Granted it does not have 9 speed cassette or deore components but is probably more than adequate. I bought a Merida tfs 100 last year whcih is in similair range as the GT3.0 in terms of components and I have had absolutely no issues with it. My 24 speed bike has managed to serve me pretty well up to this point. Advice to buying a bike: (having no prior experience like I did) -1 Go to as many bike shops as you can and ask them all the same questions. After a while you will piece together the truth -2 Take a pen and paper and write down components specs, prices etc and then google the bikes -3 Once you have a better idea of what is out there, set your budget and go to the shop you felt most comfortable at and ask to try out the models in your price range. -4 They will always tell you that the next level up is better (and it is, but not necessarily for your purposes). -5 Leave your ego at home! Sales people thrive on that - if your budget x then your budget is x don't feel bad about it. -6 There are plenty of hidden costs to budget in as well, so expect to go over budget on accessories. Helmet, shoes, spds are obvious, but dont forget spare tubes, pump, multitool, bottle cages, bottles, chain lube, tyre levers (worth every cent if you have had a flat. Bike Rack? Happy buying - its the start of something beautiful.

Takes balls to apologise. Respect!

Nice link, thanks.

I was not grumpy until I came on this thread. 1. I was not lucky enough to have opportunity to ride 112km (or 70 miles as they would say here in US) 2. I am on Eastern time, so its only 10am That said, my contract finishes at the end of the month and I am gonna be travelling the californian coast. So I am temporarily grumpy.

So just to be clear you should not stand on your cat??!!

I came across this article a few years back when I was training for something other than cycling. I found it pretty useful for my purposes. http://www.markallenonline.com/maoArticles.aspx?AID=4 From what I have gathered, distance and time is impportant but so is Heart rate. I am by no means an expert but from what I understand training at the correct heart rates is the most efficient approach. Offcourse maintaining certain heart rates is difficult on a Mountain bike where the intensity of the course is not alway under your control. I am fairly new to cycling so I am too impatient to try it, but based on this article it may prove a useful experiment for a hubber to pick a route and cycle it regularly trying to maintain the targetted heart rate. After a few months report back to us whether it works? As a consolisation prize (in unlikely event it does not help) each hubber can also agree to buy you one beer at the end of your program? Fair trade?

If you use a heart rate monitor you can also get a lot of benefit from the trainer. Rather than going on time, try do time at specific heart rates. 40 minutes at 80 - 90 percent will give you a decent workout.

Only one question remains; Are you allowed to fit it to your bike if you have riser bars?

Thanks. The standing advice was aimed mainly at climbing. I always stand coming down a hill for better control - and riding a hardtail its more pleasant on my behind as well! I guess then it comes down to personal peference when climbing. Trade off between traction and power.

What is the deal with standing on a MTB? When I started last year I was given the advice that you should never stand but always try to remain seated. Is this valid? I was wacthing videos of the 2010 EPIC and notice the pros seem to do quite a bit of standing. Is there some guidelines as to when you should / should not stand? Or is it pesronal preferance? (I am talking about in an ideal world, I know sometimes you just have to stand because you do not have the energy to turn the pedals on a steep rocky slope.) I also seem to find on a really steep uphill standing gives me more control over the bike.

Very interesting thread! Thanks for all the tips guys. I have been taking notes and plan to use them all in 2012 or 2013. Only been riding for a year so far, but absolutely love the idea of mountain after mountain. I am a bit of an oddity because I really enjoy climbing - no better feeling than conquering another hill. (well maybe one other thing ) Good luck Swiss Van, next year you can provide the rest of us with some tips.

Because there is nothing better than watching Saffers fight it out on-line forums. It is also a nice way for me to keep connected to SA cycling world until I complete my work contract in the States and return to good old SA. I must admit seeing all the posts relating to race events makes me nice and homesick. I also like the fact that every beginner mountain biker and new joiner is going to post a question asking about Tubeless Conversions, whcih leads to a debate as to wether UST or non-UST.

Are you pedaling?