nickelass

Ride on my own about 60% of the time. More concerned about a bikejacking ,that a loss of skill thou. So always consider this fact when on my own. Rode two weeks overseas in tech trail,and hardly knowing the terrain. Considered the risk,and stayed mainly within my limitations,most of the time. Great fun to ride on your own,just try to know your own skill level,and stay within it,also consider the unexpected,such as as ,potholes ,wet and loose rocks, overhanging branches,snakes,front wheel washouts,etc.

very good!more stages please!

Ride an mbuzi at least 3 times a week, and a friend who rides with me has the shova LT. We both say we will never sell them.

Own a scott spark 720, only 6 months old,done plenty of long distance rides. No problem,the headset is just sealed bearings as all bikes, no difference,so what makes scott any different to any other bike?

no

glad this ended ok,having your new bike stolen before your first ride,would be terrible. As mentioned was this just a random guy walking past, who saw an opportunity,or was this guy watching before this occurred,and has done this before. ,

Ride a scott 710, tried the anthem,was lacking in the excitement I wanted,in a bike.,Scott just felt right ,love the twinlock,almost like having three bikes in one,just completed a 550km ride ,and the bike ,is amazing,no need to change wheels ,components its all there! Ride all before you buy. Actually wanted to like the anthem (have a 26 anthem I still ride) but the scott was way better for me.

If you do not yet have a shock pump, (about R400), I would be happy to meet you at giba ,and could help you out, suspension, to me is more about what feels right for you,and the fine tune can only really be set right when you are riding, over roots and drops.

The shock is designed to bottom out occasionally,and will not be damaged. I found the best method to get your suspension to what you like, is to only use the manufactures recommendations as a starting point. Then go on a ride at giba with a shock pump,and adjust your fork and shock to what feels good for you,pick section of trail and repeating it to you get the correct settings.

A small upgrade on the Anthem would be the fox factory fit fork, although I have not ridden with an evolution fork the reviews have recommended the performance of the factory is that much better. Not sure how this would affect the price though.

Both are good.I have I friend who has both a scott 29 and an anthem 29. As yet he likes both,interested to see which one he may end up preferring. As for me I have the 27,5 scott 710.Yes it is more expensive. The scott has been said to be a single pivot design. I like single pivot designs.The single pivot design is made more efficient by the use of the lockout, and I think it is a feature which enables you to deciede what suspension you what, depending on the terrain. If you have no desire to use this, I would not buy the bike. Also another feature is the shock has a pivot which can be turned to make the bike slacker in the head angle if you want to tune it more to your needs. The anthem suspension is so good it is more automated and once set you do nothing more. I have a 2008 anthem I still ride. I did try the 2014 27,5 anthem, and for some reason did did not have what I wanted,yet for me the scott 710 suited me. On a recient long distance ride I have just done,the most selected bike was the tallboy. Next was the scott 29,and the anthem 29. There were no 27,5 bikes at all(my sample group may have been small, but its what I observed.) The anthem is a very solid choice,and they are very light,once you have done an upgrade on the wheels.

Wow! what a good ride!Thanks for a well organized event.The trail was excellent, and I will be back next year for sure!

yes , but I also ride a 650b.

was after a crossmark, but the lbs only had ardent race,so have both front and back , These tyres are so good that I bought a spare one today.

also faced this decision 2 months ago,always said the only 29"er I would ever get was a tallboy, but also liked the scotts geo setup. Was always more biased towards the 27,5 wheel though. Test road the scott 710 and it is so good for me the decision was immediate. Maybe I would have bought a tallboy if I had tried one.

As you are already comfortable with a 29, you will most likely lean towards that.

The scott has an aluminium rear chainstays ,same as the giant,I am riding a scott 710 ,tried the anthem 650,but preferred the scott. I would not say the scott is inclined to break,as I have only heard this ,yet I have a friend who has broken two anthems. Ride both and make the decision more on that. The advantage of the scott is the twinlock ,which really works for me.

I ride more alone than with people, though this is mainly on weekdays. The main reason, its easy to go with your own flow,,how far, how long, what trail, how hard. I do have different friends to ride with, problem is we all have certain ideas of what , and how we want a ride to be, and its not always possible to suit all. I do take some risks (on my own) on my well known trail , but wear a full face for the risky stuff, and if not feeling well balanced, back off.

The taller you are, the more suited you are to a 29,er , have reciently got a scott 720 650b and really enjoying it.

I have used a train ,with a bike bag, from Italy to Geneva, was going ok,but then an unexpected train breakdown had me running.

1 spinning bike 1 26 ds freeride bike 160mm 1 26 ds xc bike 120mm 1 27,5 ds xc bike 120mm 1 26 ht 130mm bike

I find its motivates me to ride harder, when using a heart rate monitor,have figured out my own perceived effort , and an average value,based on my statistics for the last four years , sometimes though I do not use it ,as I am doing a fun ride, and it does not count for training.

Using xt trail pedals on my cross country ,trail bike, and its great for me as you have the choice,either clipped in or out. I have always ridden rock gardens and the real rough stuff clipped out,but on the open trail I like the feeling of the extra power clipped in. On my freeride bike its 510 s and flats, (nukeproof ,neutrons) feet feel so planted on my pedals its feels almost as though I am clipped in.

I was planning to do the camp over option, but am unable to email the organizers for this,( comes up on my computer that the email address does not exist.) Don't mind just paying on arrival, would this be ok? Has everyone booked for the camping online?

Managed to get a scrap air receiver from a small compressor,motor blown, used a compressor from a scrap fridge, and now I have a small compressor.