Green Mamba

Don't touch it!!! Technically inferior combined with poor local service = recipe for disaster. Cannot replace the fork with a standard one; too costly. I own a Scalpel and ended up having a spare Lefty so that one can be in repairs while I use the other one. Swapped to a standard Fox fork about 2 years ago with zero problems.

GoLefty, you are blinded by your support for Lefty's. My DLR had exactly the problem as you describe; a single O-ring was replaced by the dual O-ring system after the first race in which the shock deflated. Since then I had to return it ate least 5 times (3 times directly to the importer) and the problem still remains. Somewhere along the line they even replaced the complete inner of the shock; still no joy. I am not pre-judiced, only a realist. The shock has been with the ditributor for 3 months now without any sign of a replacement or fix. I am doing the Sani2C and would not dare attempting it on a Lefty without a second one to back me up with. If I cannot sort out the problem, I would be forced to use my hard tail with a standard Fox fork. BTW, I know of at least 2 other people in my training group who expereinced the same problem and frustration at the lack of support they received from Cannondale. Also, I spoke to 2 other cyclists who opted to replace the Lefty's with standard forks simply out of frustration. Count yourself lucky that you have not had to rely on Cannondale's support in SA. I speak out of experience!

Stay away from the Carbon Lefty's that came in early in 2006. Serious (I mean SERIOUS) design flaws that Cannondale is not prepared to fix. I have replaced mine with the Terralogic version and no further problems (touch wood). I still have the old one but would not even offer it to anyone (BTW I saw someone offering a similar one on the web a couple of weeks ago). I also seriously considered going with Az's solution of fitting a standard shock through the Cane Creek reducer, but then you have to buy a new hub as well. Bottom line: Bad idea to select a bike if you do not have the option of fitting a different shock when you have problems (especially if it is fitted to a bike in the upper proce bracket). I guess this holds true for all components.

Results are starting to roll in!

Not as bad as it sounds. I did mine: 5 min to complete the form; paid R90 for cyclosport (both road and MTB); left it with my club and recieved my license card in the mail yesterday. 2 weeks from start to finish with very little hassle.

Thanks guys, I will try it hopefully sometime this weekend and give feedback. I am glad to hear that the fix is relatively simple and is not gonna cost a lot of money.

I had some serious problems with my Mavic Crossmax wheels during the Epic in that the freewheel body started to malfunction at high speeds. It turned out to be some deisgn flaw with a synthetic bush on the inside of the body that collects dirt and then start rubbing. A number of other riders seem to experience the same problem. The advice from my LBS is to remove the rubber seal on the inside of this bush because the theory is that this is actually the culprit that causes the noise anf the friction, resulting in reverse chain suck. Any solutions? Do I need to replace the freewheel body at a cost of R500?

I recall some very negative comments about vibrations at high speed downhills on the Scott carbon forks. Will try and locate it again but search for it before you make up your mind.

I have used tubeless Hutchinson Pythons with Stans for the past 2 years with only one flat in 5000 kms of offroad riding (including this years Epic). You have to replace the Stans every 4-6 months before it forms the white rat ("witrot") inside your tyre. The rolling resistance on dirt roads are good but they suck in the mud (like the Larsen TTs). I saw a lot of riders using them during the Epic. The biggest drawback is that the local distributor inflates the price of the Pythons to the point where it olmost doesn't make sense. I am fortunate to have a brother in the States who me the tyres from as required.