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Samurai Pizza Cat

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  • Province
    Gauteng
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    Sandton
  1. Buddy, most of the so-called "Spruit fairies" you are referring to are either living in New Zealand or moved down to KZN / Cape Town. The trails are now being maintained by Jozi trails. The original Spruit fairy is still involved, but only in a limited way. If the original Spruit Fairies and their friends did not cut down the tree that fell over that section of the trail a couple of years ago, you would not be having this conversation, as you would be riding in the street. ( the piece of tarmac on the left of your picture.) Start a new thread complaining about Hollard / Joburg parks and Jozi trails. Leave the "Spruit fairies" out of this; they might have built the jump, but they had nothing to do with the signage. Alternatively do the opposite of what the trail builders did when they got bored with flat single track...spend your own time and money and demolish the jump.
  2. That gap, as with most gap jumps in the Spruit have been there for more than 5 years. Now that the someone finally takes responsibility and post a warning sign, people start to complain about the placement of said warning sign. Unbelievable.... What next? Are the sponsors going to be blamed for uneven, lose surfaces and the deep sand under the bridges? This is exactly the kind of thing that make sponsors reluctant to get involved with these sort of projects. Let's just go back to the wild west where there where no sponsored security guards, trail builders or signage of any kind. The Spruit was actually more fun back then. Crazy stuff all over the place. If it looks like a jump, it's a jump...not a hump. I made the " jump without looking" mistake only once and landed on my face. The Spruit is still mountain biking, the same rules apply as any where else: Look before you hit anything: That means stop, and have a look...
  3. You can run Crossmarks on the super smooth bikepark tracks you're riding...
  4. Chromag Contacts ....love at first sight. I did not even have to install them. Just sitting there in the box. I have these on my DJ. Probably the best bike "bit" ever, ever, ever... I'll sleep with them on my pillow if my wife allowed me.....
  5. Been running CB Mallets on 4 bikes (2 DH, 2 AM) between me and the wife for 5 years...never had a issue. I'm not emotional about Crank Brothers...Shimano just don't have any offering that compares to the Mallets. I had XT and XTR "trail" pedals (if you can call it that) for years, loved them, but the CB cleat engagement somehow just feels better. Another major plus on the Mallets are the platform size, you can start on a seriously sketchy trail without clipping in...nothing in the Shimano range offers that. ( I have not tried Nuke Proof etc.) If I had a XC bike I would probably be running Shimano's, I never liked the Egg beaters. So IMO: AM and DH - CB Mallets. Trail and XC - Shimano. But in all honesty: FLATS FOR THE WIN!!!
  6. If it means an extra 7 races a season, and more DH tracks because of the increased public interest....YES!!!! Even road cycling have promo girls and boring thank the sponsors interviews, and you seem to like it quite a bit. I'll pass on the fireworks.
  7. Hi Headshot, Clearly I have insulted you in some way, and I apologize. But in reply to your message: It's not what I'm suggesting, I'm just rehashing and supporting what other people in the industry are already saying. Yes, the riders are underpaid. With the exception of Greg and Gwin who have very shrewd agents who negotiate their contracts, the average rider earns between 30 000 USD and 50 000 USD. (Endorsements and image rights excluded.) Given that these riders have fairly short careers, and are the best in the world at what they do, they are underpaid. The top guys might earn 300 000 USD ++, but it is still not much compared to what road cyclists earn. The majority of road cyclists' salaries are paid by the corporate sponsors. Not by Specialized or Trek, which are small companies compared to Sky or Movistar. Here is a Pinkbike link on this issue: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/pinkbike-poll-how-much-should-a-top-dh-racer-be-paid-2015.html The most interesting comment on this poll /article is from one of the sponsors: Troy Lee Designs troyleedesigns PLUS (Nov 19, 2015 at 17:44) Just some food for thought and let you fill in the blanks. Fort William estimated to sell 30k tickets to people to come watch DH racing, in the middle of friggin nowhere. Anaheim stadium sells out SX at about 45k (I'd say thats a good average of all the SX stadium sizes), in one of the largest metropolitan areas of the world (so-cal)....Sea Otter gets an estimated 40k people to pay to see some bike stuff, so, both have a great following, we know that. Live streaming from Redbull of the DH world cup is some of the highest rated/viewed action sports on the network, we are not at liberty to share the actual numbers, but, they are more than the highest viewed MX event, which is Redbull straight rhythm, and don't even talk about Rampage, as that breaks all records...but; While DH and slope events get massive coverage for the sport, they are few and far between-There are 17 Supercross events, 12 Outdoor MX, 1 live televised Monster Energy Cup, Live Straight rhythm, those moto guys almost have a full year of racing for the fans...heck thats just in america! throw in MX GP's in europe and you have so much exposure for those athletes, compared to bike. So, we as a brand are involved deeply in both industries; Bike and Moto, we love both, it seems Bike has bigger 'hits', just less of them? There are ONLY 7 world cups a year, that makes it really difficult to get year long exposure with those great numbers that the live events DO provide us with. The beauty in this though, is it creates a lot of video content from the bike athletes, to keep you satisfied all year, that is often more enjoyable to watch than a race run-moto doesn't get these cool video projects, they never have time! The big moto brands are also backed by a bigger corporate engine, KTM, Honda, Yamaha, Kawisaki, Suzuki have much higher revenue streams than bicycle companies, and race bikes are their halo product, with large budgets grandfathered in over the years. I think we'd be better served comparing apples to apples, and thats bicycle road racing to mountain biking-with road racers making millions, and there is no MTBer making millions, that is odd eh? They basically echo what Brendon Fairclough (a rider who could appreciate it himself) said in this article: https://dirtmountainbike.com/news/brendan-fairclough-leads-calls-world-cups-cut-30-riders.html I'm not supporting "dumb down" racing. I want to see more (not the whole run) of the best riders' race runs, and I'd like to see it more often, on gnarlier tracks. How is that a bad thing? The "average viewer" is that part of the TV watching population that just does not even own a bicycle. Or owns a bicycle but have never even heard of Greg Minnaar. If you get them to start following the sport, corporate sponsors will follow. Millions of people who does not own a road bike watch the Tour de France. Given, the Tour is over a hundred years old, but still. Would you prefer it if only some MTB'ers watch the sport, and not see it grow? And finally, you are quite active on Pinkbike and should remember the whole furore around how little the Red Bull Rampage athletes earn. Most of the riders fund themselves and make a financial loss when competing in that event. How is that good for the future of the sport? BTW, I never said the race was a snore fest: I said it was a damb squib: a situation or event which is much less impressive than expected. And it was, given the hype before the race. Have a great weekend!
  8. Dirt Merchant is having a sale on the Transition Scouts and Trasition Smugglers.... Just saying.
  9. I see where you are coming from, but just like in road cycling, the teams does not necessarily have to be made up of only three riders....the younger up and coming riders can still be racing in the national and euro cup circuits. When you get your chance to race a WC when someone is injured, you just have to take it. A lot of the riders outside of the top fifty are self funded anyway, and few of them ever get a paid ride. Imagine a Sky DH team made up of 10 paid riders. Number 9 and 10 in this team might not race world cups, or earn much, but at least they will have some support and they'll learn from some of the best riders on the circuit. The alternative is sleeping in an old van hoping for a miracle race run somewhere in the future.
  10. My five cents. This weekend's damp squib race and all the "hype" around 29ers showed how flawed the the current WC set up is. World Cup Downhill racing needs a Kerry Packard- World Series Cricket type shake up. (Without going into the details, he almost single handedly changed the way cricket was played, marketed and how much cricket players got paid by starting a rebel series not endorsed by the ICC) What Brendog said last year makes sense in a lot of ways: Fewer riders, getting more TV exposure, corporate sponsors, more races. The reason there is almost no corporate sponsorship for the World Cup teams, is because the sponsors does not get enough exposure. By showing more of each rider's race run, and having more races per calendar year, will bring more money into the sport. MX racing has proved that point: more races, more TV time, crowds etc means more money. The entertainment factor is also well below par. While most of us on this forum love to see world class riders ripping through rock gardens, or negotiating a tricky rock drop, the average viewer is a lot more impressed with huge jumps over roads and rivers. How many of those did we see on Sunday: Nada. They chose to show us none of the jump line. Funny how huge crowds go and watch MX riders hitting the same jumps again and again. If they want to increase the viewership and interest from the wider public, the broadcaster needs to cater for them. Say for arguments sake only 20-30 riders had to race on Sunday. The best riders would have ridden in similar conditions. ( The track did deteriorate quite quickly, so some riders would have had an advantage anyway.) Do not get me wrong. I have no problems with the riders who does not regularly make the top fifty, but unfortunately that's how pro sports work. Not every pro road cyclist gets to race in the Tour. This is what I would like to see: Fifteen teams, 3 riders each. Twenty/ Twenty five riders race on Sunday. No protected riders. Twelve to fifteen races a year. ( They can race all the races in Europe for what I care, I just want to watch more races.) Everybody on similar bikes for that season. ( The same wheel size comes to mind.) And finally: The UCI give the teams a much bigger stake in the sport, or just leave DH to regulate it self.
  11. Join the Dirt Merchant ride on Wednesdays / Fridays and Saturdays. It starts from Dirt Merchant in Craighall, and it's a chilled bunch of trail riders who likes to session jumps. If you're lucky you might even get a post ride beer at 8:30am....
  12. Please contact Phia at Dirt Merchant in Craighall, she might be able to help you. 011 326 4737
  13. I think the Switchblade is a great helmet for Enduro racing. You really want to push yourself on challenging terrain and want an open face for the climbs. For trail riding in the Spruit or 40deg+ days at Hoogekraal ( I should get up earlier) , no. But to elaborate: I have a Fox Rampage MIPS, the Bell Super 2R and a normal trail lid. If the trail features are intimidating or on DH tracks: The Fox. Everyday riding: my normal trail lid....where does the Bell come in? Enduro races. Only because they do not allow us to climb with our caps and dh with our full face helmets. I think this rule is actually detrimental to safety, as most people just take one helmet: their trail lids. That's why the Leat is my choice. You have a DH rated full face and a trail lid in one.
  14. She fell on a rock, and the chin guard was attached. If she was wearing her full face, there would have been no injury. The Bell is cut to high over the ear...unlike the Giro Switchblade
  15. My wife and I both have the Bell. Loved it....until she fell in an Enduro race and cut open her head ABOVE her ear. Lost all faith in the amount of protection these helmets give. We're getting the Leat next year.
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