Swift01

I will run the current 32/18 with a new tensioner and chain What is the norm for a 26inch SS. Most people seem to have the 29er's and run 32/16 or 32/18 in Gauteng.

Tensioners...... Did my first SS ride at VG on sat. Learnt my chain was too long and was slipping on the rear sprocket up the first big hill. Fixed that on route with 2 chain links out, but then 5km later the chain snapped (8sp sram brand new) which got caught in the tensioner and broke the jockey wheel and bent the rear hanger.... Too much oats in the morning = too much power ha ha. Anyway bumbled along for another 10km with make shift SS but chain was half a link too long and kept coming off. Met some guys halway up the greek church, and was told try cable ties which I had. After that things went well. Cable ties lasted longer than the original tensioner ha ha (and the old spare 9sp sram chain I packed also lasted longer)........ So the question is what tensioners are you guys using? and where do you get them from? Enjoyed the ride a lot. Got to adjust a few things like how one rides but other wise very cool. Nice old Style Gary Fisher Paragon 200 model with V-brakes...

@Andre 77 if that ever happens again, just take the old bit of pipe out and sitck in the bit with the saddle. May be low but at least you can get to the end. Better than walking thats for sure. Did the 70km crashed twice like rookie which resulted in a broken handlebar. Seems the ground is harder than FSA nano light bars I really feel sorry for the 20 and 10km guys and i suppose later the 40km guys. I got passed by the leading 40km guys quite near the end, which means I had been passing huge amounts of 20 and 10km guys. I think the faster 70km guys forget what it was like to start riding. These shorter distance guys are "A" racing between each other and B"B are mostly really buggered. The amount of 70km guys shouting at them was sad. I managed to weave in and out and pass them without loosing speed and without even having to shout track etc. No need to shout at guys. Also 3 guys were throwing handbags at each other at a river crossing cause one may have tried to cross before the other They must have been racing for like 80th position ha ha Almost finished building my SS bike looks like a lot of fun

Ha Ha some how I am still lobbed into the A batch again. Suppose I should not moan about their system from that point of view, but it still stinks and does not seem to have any consistent order. I really think they need to start it off fresh. I know some one that is seeded higher than some of the pro girls, yet they normally beat her in the big races. Just does not figure, but she is happy to be in A batch all the time. Lets all register in North west next year and give less to the CSA and SAS Gauteng back pockets. May be they will listen then

Aaaaah the old SAS seeding thread. Yip they are quite something. I had to email them twice and it took over 2 weeks before they realised they had uploaded the Sani Trail races wrong. Just remember when you search for your SAS seeding on the top right corner you can set it to "National" or "Gauteng". This could explain why you may have a better National seeding than your friend but in a lower batch for the nissan race as that I think follows the Gauteng seeding. I could be wrong though. I have given up with the system long time back. The trouble is we are forced to use it and have NO choice. I can't understand how ROAG can get your time sms to you straight after the event but SS timing and SAS can take ages. I also take offence that if you live in Gauteng you must pay R75 more for your CSA licence. I don't feel that money is used very well considering the mess up with SAS seeding. Lucky we have a place in Haarties, so I joined the Haarties club and registered there. No R75 to Gauteng CSA at last . Like a friend said that has just left SA. He loves the place but wants to go somewhere that he feels his Taxes get used correctly and for a better use..... Doubt I will go to that extreme. See you all at the Nisaan this weekend looks like it may be a bit chilly

@rouxtjie if you come join us at Thaba for the SS champs beers on me (Scotsman is now hoping you will be too tired to drink lots) Don't forget the old Giants Castle race. That one is also a tough one. So far it is the only race I can't get my dad back to.

The beers at the cockpit brew house are excellent. See you all there after 70km of fun

This must be the longest thread eva ha ha. Yeah hat was funny the brother in law racing snake shot off with 10 bottles no bombs or tubes in his back pocket and the first corner lost his bottles. They ended up one side of the track him the other side sonhe had to wait for the whole field to pass to collect his bottles. Told him i would beat him up the first hill no sweat. Don't get started on how to carry tubes without them rubbing holes. Some interesting methods. We could have ended up with baby powdered smellin tubes in sweaty condoms :-)

Just be careful of strapping a tube to your seat post. Leave it there for a month or 2 and when you really need it, it has a hole from rubbing together. Happened many times. Always amazes me that guys are willing to pack their shirts like a pack horse but won't use a tubby bag or camelpack. If your going to carry the goodies, then at least make it comfortable. I suppose I am still old school, I carry my tools etc in a tubbie bag, and still use a backpack for juice. At least I don't run out of juice on those races where it suddenly gets really hot and all the water tables dry up like it so often happens. The amount of times I have had to help guys that carry nothing is crazy. Actually costs me a lot of money 1x bomb R12 1 x Tube R50. In one race I gave away 2 tubes 4 bombs and fixed 2 chains........ If your going to carry nothing make sure you have your dad riding the race cause he will eventually come past you with all the tools plus the kitchen sink

I just put new chain rings on so I will grind away until everything falls apart. Basically I have resigned myself to the fact that i will have to clean it 1-2 times a month. For the Alan key set I got mine at some shop "Ardorf? or something like that. Next to Dunlop and Hi-Q and Toyota by the Malibongwe off/on ramp. Very good prices.

You need the alan keys with the very long handles to loosen it. About 30cm long. Takes about 20 min to take it off clean it and put it all back together. Is yours not the BB30 though? If so I can't take your BB out, I am still running the old external bearings, but you can still get the arms off and clean. I did mention beer

@rouxtjie or 10mm who cares, U have both, bring bike around. I have beer in the fridge

kosmonooit is correct the Noir cranks won't take the hope BB. I believe there is a conversion you can do but have not investigated it asI will just change the cranks one day. @rouxtjie The Noir cranks need an 8mm alan key to take off the crank arm

oh the GPX bb only costs 340 to replace but still a pain. I have never had to replace BB's so often. I could create a GPX bb grave yard by now

The problem with the GPX is the Labour required to make sue they last. I am having to take it apart and apply fresh marine greace once a month min. I cleaned it before Sani2c and we did the trail which had some mud. Also washing the bikes is not as careful as when your at your own house. First thing I did was strip it back at home and found water was getting in. I also stripped the GF's bike and her had a little water after the same race but not nearly as bad. She has an SLX BB and also it has done 3 times the amount of distance. My training bike has LX BB and that lasts way longer. I think try the enduro bearings route. My previous BB I did even get 400km before the non drive side was feeling rough, even though it looked like no water had gotten in. I don't think the actual bearings are very strong. I opened the one side up and there is only about 10 ball bearings held in a plastic ring unlike most other bearings where they have over 20 ball bearings almost touching each other. Enduro I think will be stronger. Some of the GPX bearing problems I have had I don't think it is water but the actual bearing just not being strong enough. My next upgrade will be a new crank set. They are the worst I have ever used. Apart from the BB I have had chain suck for no reasons. My previous FAS was slick changing and even though I used the same oil I hardly ever had chainsuck. Truvativ in my 10 cents worth opinion was a mistake to buy.

I mostly use a socket when one is able to get to the bearing from the other side. Must get ones of those extraction tools :-)

So your rating the Giant above your GF bike?

Mmmm SWH first accent shorts R499 C-lab = R449 CWC = R425 (free shipping over R500 so I can get more goodies and still pay the same as SWH) I also see Diskem/Hammer have back tracked in their price. Dec Hammer 32 servings R479 Jan - to beginning May now R509, end of May same store R489..............

@singletrek if you add your 2 wheel sizes up then devide by 2 you will get 650b.......... Thats what happens when your sitting on the fence and ride a 69er. When they said 650b would be the way to go they didn't mean stick a 29er up front and keep the 26er out back ha ha

Just bought 4 x digital photo's from actionphoto for sani and I don't think any of them are in real focus. I may as well used my iphone would have been better.........

If there were any photgraphers then there is loads of pictures of guys with pain in their faces when doing the 70 ha ha.

@rouxtjie I also agree the guys moved over when you asked them and even congratulated you for still riding. I found the people out on the route very good.

@typhoon I wonder who you could be with that car picture ha ha Did the Monster again. 4.05 or something like that. Didn't have th best weeks prep for it with a Sani stomach bug One of the last pure MTB races around. Big up the the organisers, that is the best condition the route has ever been in since it started (I did the very first one eish is all I can say). They have improved a lot of the sections I assume for safety reasons, and after the race was excellent with the rehydrate tent for some and the BEER tent for others It is a race not to take lightly. The funny part is the actual monster climb was like a recovery section from all the rocks and sand. Big up to everyone that finished.

Wow this is a first, normall these guys are awesome. Best I check for my sunglasses which were in the cubby. Everything else looked 100% They take a lot of pride in looking after your car as it is a huge fund raiser for them so i would be very supprised if it was the person driving it. Yeah I think they drive like 10km/hr as I hardly noticed a fuel drop

Did the trail... Had a great time as per normal. Day 1 brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Day 2 had a blasted, right up until, 18.5km into the valley. We were battling with sun hitting us directly in the eyes all the way down the valley and my partner got a face full of sun and clipped the edge which resulted in her getting a Helicopter flip out the valley. Broken collar bone. After that it was just ride along for the rest of day even stopped at all the water points which is unusual but had no will to ride or race after the crash. Amazing how it changes your day. Good thing is she is looking well and in good spirits and sporting some new metal in her shoulder. No half measure complete snap. Day 3 was cool as I got to ride with a good mate and my GF. I did get a comment later from her that I hurried them up at the water points man I thought we were there for ages ha ha... but had a blast rode ahead stopped too loads of photo's all day...... One guy asks if I was doing all day intervals. By the way if any of you are the guys that phoned for us in the Valley as we had no receptiong thank you very much. I did go to the organisers after Day 2 and asked them to anounce a big thank you but alas they didn't do it, which brings me to the only gripe of the race... The organising. I have done the adventure quite a number of times, and have to say they were quite shoddy this year almost like they put half effort into the Trail race. Race briefing on Monday was a mess (no screen etc)and why they moved it out of the tent I have no idea. Race briefing in Jolivet was also a bit of a mess. The hall we were in, 1x screen with a projector bulb that did not seem to be working very well and sound that at times we could harldy hear even though the speaker was close.. The reason I say this is in previous races this has been very slick and good. Oh and they definately over sold. The only year I saw tents going past the brick wall at the back was the year they over sold and they apologised for the congestion in the race villages. Jolivet just can't handle that many people from a catering point of view due to the space. I believe they had everything running nice and slick for the adventure and the race. Lets hope they get the trail up to scratch..... Poor guys in the very top tent for eating at jolivet as there was no space left in the main sections had no projector. Yip I hear you guys about the gel packets. it was the most I have ever seen on the route....... Just so wrong. Why can't people put them in their pockets. Day 2 was interesting as after the crash I ended up in the mid pack. I have to say those guys there are a ot of them that can't ride technical stuff. Stop at all sorts of small things and definately don't know what to do when they are walking up something small 2 a breast and you ask twice for track (with a please after it). They just carry on walking so eventually you have to pass off the track.... crazy. They should take lessons from the guys at the back. Day 3 those guys near the back are having fun, if they can't ride something they move over quickly, if your still riding up something while they walk they make you feel like a pro with all the keep it up comments. Big up to them had a blast.