nickelass

Would be keen,do small jumps,have not any clue at all about drop offs,count me in. Have my morewood mbuzi ,like riding uphill as well though. Have no protective gear for the real rough stuff.Maybe the course could be in two stages,to cater for all? The first session maybe just basic protective gear needed,such as we all have? Good way to get a beginners group together.

I have been following this topic with interest,what nigel says sums it up. Many of us started on the xc route,then found its more fun to do trail am as well. We all still want to hit a 40km xc though,with our max effort for the ego and enjoyment ,the races are fun to. Getting a 150,160mm am bike is great,I would not worry about weight,as you will be slow anyway uphill,more effort makes you stronger!all the better for the light xc bike when you race. Getting the best syspension on the am bike this the answer,downhill and jumps is why you want the am bike for,weight is less important.Strenght is very important. Ihave an anthem and a 160mm morewood, I tend to ride the morewood more,is more fun and has improved my limited technical skills.

think the answer is to use a 650b on the front wheel only,if you really like it go the extra cost and get a fork designed for 650b. I may go this route with my anthem. There is a mub clearance issue on the back. I have only once encounted a mub issue(last year trans lesotho)it was so bad any wheel clearance will still be and issue.What happens is the mud /clay forms a layer which continualy gets bigger. This reaches a point where you are now pushing your bike with neither wheel turning.so you resort to carring your bike only to find its 3 to four kgs more. The only answer is to find a stream and use a scrapper to remove the mud.It does not come off easy. I ended doing a complete strip down of my bibe on my return,as I all the lower suspension bearing were clogged up, and replaced my bb.

The tv footage was so exciting,that my wife and I are considering changing our limited dstv package today in order to watch the full race.What time each night are they showing the race? This is the first time I have actually followed the epic and I was really impressed at the track yesterday,though the tv angle did not give a good perseption of the difficulty,the hubbers pictures did!thanks

I happened to ride at Giba with two muslims,one of whom had ridden the Sani2c.

we also come accross a bunch of elderly people walking up the gravity trail,I just think they dont realise the danger.A couple of years back on the bmx track a medic was hit by a bike on the track.the rider had a neck injury,the medic ended up with a broken coller bone and rib.

thanks for your advice,unfortunately,my talas are in such bad condition,I am reluctant to throw money at them.I considered the lyrik coil,more because of being cheaper than the fox,also Iseem to get by without the travel adjust,I was hoping the lyrik do not run through travel ,so more dh. The reviews I have read advise coil as being better than the air,in this regard,could there be something better than the lyrik? Reluctant to go more than R6.500. Help apprieciated!

Asking the all mountain downhillers out there. I am currently using fox talas 160mm forks 2007. They work well for about three weeks after adding oil to the lowers,the oil is leaking out,thou its not apparant where,I suspect the seals,as the stansions are worn. I am considering replacing them. After a little research,Iam thinking of rockshock 160mm lyrik coil, as I think they are most suited to my needs. I am riding a morewood mbuzi,my riding style is uphill and down, more leaning to the down ,small jumps ,swichbacks,up and down,intermediate riding more. I am not that conserned with weight,more with performance,being the main objective,and less serviceing. I considered coil over air for this reason, Anyone out there able to offer advice based on their experience,anyone using lyrik please advise me if this is a good choice?thanks

nice bike!what front forks are you using,and what travel?the reason I am asking as I am changing mine,and need advice on what to use, in the 160 to 170 travel range.

there are sections to ride it to the side,or chicken runs,none of my riding buddies have complained about it,in fact they all liked it,cant see why the jumps are a problem,there is loads of other track to suit all.

If they work for you,fine.I had bar ends,until I had a particularly nasty experience with a vine on single track,catching one. I removed them and have never missed them at all. Maybe they do give more power on the uphills,to me that would make me want to use them,however I am now comfortable without them, I have done a 4 day stage race and have not had a problem with my hand position thou.

main thing is to have the correct tools,then get the knowledge whichever way you can,after that just inspect and do preventive mantainence,and keep a record,then you know when to lube wheel bearing bb etc.Will save yoy money,and prevent costly breakdowns.

there is no entry signs on some tracks,but even then people often ignore them,and not because they are lost,just because they want to ride the track the other way.I think tracks should have names rather,and some track should be two way.Such as the waterfall trail already is. The problem is people say it should be this and that,but no one does anything,the people (read members)who have a interest should do something,(maybe a meeting,and have an action plan).Some of the new trails were made by members in there own time. When I first rode there we used to have "wakkey wednesdays" and the track were reversed for fun,some people have not forgotton that. Giba has excellent track,some sponsers are nameing track,first timers can spend 5 mins asking staff, members or looking at the map in front to plan their ride. I can not see a solution to please everybody,even on many races people miss marking and get "lost".

Impossible to really get lost at giba,as you are in a valley and any reasonable person just follows the track back down the valley to get back,also enought people ride there to point you the way out.Yes they are making more track,and less concerned with signs,please dont renew your membership if you are offended,makes no difference,you are the loser.

An interesting point of view,only to me after riding for a couple of years I have changed my setup as my body as also reacted to the forces imposed from riding.However a newbie has no knowledge and needs a starting point, I bike fit is just that.

Come accross many snakes at giba,and there are some days I can predict I cross paths with one or two. Usally if the weather has warmed up,after a spell of cold days,the snakes tend to bask on the open paths. If the trails are not busy be carefull. Both the mambas and cobras are very alert,and move off the track, as they react to the vibration,the puffadders seem to not always move,lifting your legs high seems to be the best answer if you are forced to run over them.

A heavy all mountain bike, skills on downhill have improved,plus much better for training on,mad me faster when I ride my other bike,an anthem.

a friend of mine had a simular problem,turned out he had a broken pawl which was occasionally jamming the works,we managed to open up the freebody fairly easy,much like a hope hub.

I use trail pedals,have the same outlook as you,nice to have cleats,but I ride mostly not clipped in.Only clip in on long tame uphills for the little extra power.When I first started riding 5 years ago I was told cleats are the "must have" and you cannot ride the rough stuff without them. I had not mastered the basic skills,and now I was trying to ride clipped in.The falls I had because of this were made worse,or in most cases could have been advoided. I do smaller jumps clipped out with trail shoes,and am now learning to "stay with" the bike also to position my weight in the correct place to achieve this,my riding has improved ,as well as my confidence,in my abilities as a result. Many newbies to this sport are so focused on being clipped in,and the extra power,and are told "ride clipped in,like most xc riders" they fall harder and more often,and hurt themselves ,as a direct result.

fractured and broke same collerbone in two separate crashes,as well as ribs and shoulder,lack of skill and stupidly.Have now learnt to take reasonable risks,I hope.Ride some minor downhill with jumps,I think to many people ride clipped in before they have the skills,and as a result are not balanced properly,and rely on the clips to stay on.When they do come off they are unable to protect,or "bale out" a minor fall then becomes much worse.I ride mainly clipped out most of the time,and I feel more confident,it has saved me on some occasions.

Iuse grease mixed with a little fork oil,it works for me as Ihave booties on,as I mentioned,it does not get dirt as the booties prevent this,my fox forks are old and already have stanstion damageiI bought them like this and made a plan,Iam using motorbike booties (the forks are 2008fox talas 36)and they seem to work fine.Supprisingly they do not get dirt in and they is no stictsion.My opinion is lubing and protecting the uppers is the answer,but you would need booties.On my rebas I use removable lizard skins,bought from CWC.

have the same with both fox and rockshox,the only answer is to do a basic clean of the seals,and a fork oil change.You have to take the lowers off though.Once damage is done its too late.I have put booties on my fox forks,because of this.I cannot understand why forks dont have booties, they work!I was told this is not done as booties trap dirt in,and if left is going to do the damage.The answer is to cable tie the booties at the top,and leave the bottom open,so you have access for cleaning,plus lube. In my case the damage was so bad I filled in the marks with nail varnish,and fine waterpaper to smooth,the performance of the forks is not affected,though I do lube the uppers regularly,the good thing with the booties is the lube on the stantions helps performance,and does not attract dirt as you have the booties.In most cases slight damage is only cosmetic,and wont affect performance,though it does allow more dirt to get throuh the seals.

last year the sani2c was forced to use an alternative route for day 2,as it was to dangerous,so they had a back up route and cut out the section which was so wet it was considered unsafe to even walk,dirt roads were used and even that could have been considered "unsafe",at the end of the day I dont think there were any complaints,Im sure there was extra work to use the alternative route,the answer is to make the decistion early,in this case the decision was made 12 hours before the start of day 2.

there is only one, morewood