Captain Fastbastard Mayhem

As soon as we know... Still in discussion at the moment. Nothing concrete, hence no published date. Dunno on your second para. Deon and Mark are far better placed for that info.

My industry as well, though I can still wine and dine clients (if I like them that much... JK) As for "gifts" from product providers - absolutely not. R 2,000 limit per brokerage per year, so most companies just don't bother anymore.

it's because it's not a dog...

Ah, Red Bull Hardline.

http://www.pinkbike.com/v/embed/439969

.

I speak under correction, but yes. Mark & Deon have been the primary workers on this, with the rest of us trying to provide moral support. It was included at their (Parks) request, afaik.

stiffness, not weight loss. XTR crank is lighter, for example. And that's alu. What matters most to hardcore mountain bikers? Performance, durability, affordability, and style. Truvativ’s new Descendant series serves up all of these with confidence to spare. Guided by input from some of the most talented riders in enduro and gravity, each component in the Descendant lineup has been built to survive mountain biking’s most aggressive riders and thrive on the world’s rowdiest trails. http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb13292264/p5pb13292264.jpgDescendant Carbon Crankset The svelte strength of carbon fiber with the swagger of heavy metal. The Descendant carbon crankset uses a proprietary Truvativ carbon construction process that delivers a crankset light enough for XC, yet bold and badass enough for Enduro. Style and substance—Descendant. Details • Less weight with direct mount ring • Most affordable carbon crankset in the industry • Carbon construction for lightweight durability • Fully compatible with any 1x drivetrain • Speeds: 10/11 • Price: $311-340 | €340-371 | £262-286 • BB Compatibility: BB30/PF30-68/73mm, GXP/PF GXP 68/73mm • Chain Ring: 32 • Crank Arm Length: 175mm, 170mm • Crank Arm Material: Carbon • Weight: 587g (24mm, 32t, 175mm arms) http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb13292335/p5pb13292335.jpgDescendant Crankset Aggression with attitude. These forged aluminum cranks, with direct mount rings, feature the 1x benchmark SRAM X-Sync tooth profile. With attitude matched only by pure performance, these cranks deliver. Meet a whole new side of the mountain—Descendant. Details• Less weight with direct mount ring • Super-stiff design • 7000 series forged aluminum arms • Fully compatible with any 1x drivetrain • Direct mount ring • Price: $161-188 | €175-205 | £134-158 • BB Compatibility: BB30/PF30-68/73mm , GXP/PF GXP 68/73mm • Chain Ring: 32 • Crank Arm Length: 170mm, 175mm • Speeds: 10/11 • Weight: 674g (24mm, 32t, 175mm arms) http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb13292332/p5pb13292332.jpgDescendant DH Crankset Whether your target is high speed or big air, an unwavering focus on dependability and style can never be overlooked. Blending the experience of countless DH podiums, big mountain competitions and film sessions, the new Descendant DH crank brings clock-beating weight savings to freeride burliness—at a price that will leave money for the next adventure. Meet your gravity goals—Descendant. Details• Lightweight DH crank set • New graphics, World Cup proven design • Fully compatible with any 1x drivetrain • X-Sync chainring • Speeds: 10/11 • Weight: 725g (24mm, 34t, 165mm arms) • Price: $151-196 | €166-214 | £122-158 • BB Compatibility: GXP 83mm/PF GXP 104.5/107mm, PF30 83mm • Bolt Circle Diameter: 94 BCD • Chain Ring: 34 • Crank Arm Length: 165mm, 170mm • Crank Arm Material: Aluminum http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb13292393/p5pb13292393.jpg http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb13292392/p5pb13292392.jpg Descendant Stem Mix and Match might work for clothing, but not your mountain bike cockpit. The new Descendant stem is 3D forged from 7050 alloy, then machined for weight reduction, and is the perfect match for your Descendant bars—not that you’re worried about that kind of thing. Built strong, to take on the world’s toughest trails, Descendant stems keep you pointed in the right direction. Details• Perfect match with Descendant handlebars • 3D forged 7050 • CNC machined for weight reduction • Weight: 149 – 168g • Price: $65 | €71 | £54 • Four bolt handlebar clamp • Two bolt steerer clamp • Clamp diam: 31.8mm • Length (ST): 40mm, 50mm, 60mm • Stem angle/rise: 0 degrees http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb13292437/p5pb13292437.jpgDescendant DH Bar You say you want a wide, stiff, strong, championship-winning design? Here you go. The new Descendant DH bar borrows from a rich championship-winning heritage, and adapts it to today’s aggressive courses and riders. Descendant DH bars are the command center of cornering control. Details• Made with tough 7050 alloy • Descendant geometry from our best DH/Gravity rider’s input • Application: Freeride/Downhill • Price: $70 | €77 | £59 • Clamp Diam: 31.8 • Rise: 25mm • Width: 800mm • Back Sweep (degrees): 9 • Upsweep (degree): 5 http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb13292482/p5pb13292482.jpg http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb13292481/p5pb13292481.jpg Combine a proven shape, proven width, proven materials and a take-no-prisoners approach, and you’ve got the new Carbon and 7050 Descendant bars. They are stiff, tough, dependable, and give you all the comfort and positive steering feel you could want. Descendant series bars are the new normal for comfort and control. Descendant Riser Bar • Material : Carbon or Al-7050 • Back sweep (degrees): 7 • Clamp Diam: 31.8 • Rise: 20mm • Upsweep (degree): 5 • Width: 750mm (Carbon), 760mm (Alloy) • Price (carbon/alloy): $150/65 | €163/71 | £126/54 Descendant Flat Bar • Material: Carbon or Al-7050 • Descendant geometry from our best enduro rider’s input • Back Sweep (degrees): 7 • Clamp Diam: 31.8 • Type : Flat • Width: 750mm (Carbon), 760mm (Alloy) • Price (carbon/alloy): $150/65 | €163/71 | £126/54

yep.

LOL. That was what, 10 years ago? Fuuuuuck me. I'm getting old.

Yeah, the Plumber is Bennet Nel & Hylton Turvey's new Black Line. And it's a dusi. I wouldn't do the drop in at the top yet, but the rest of it is pretty darn kiff and SUPER technical. B lines around all the mega tech stuff, but just enough of a challenge to keep you on your toes (I do the B lines at the moment - couple of crashes have wrecked my confidence levels) Then there's the Red Phoenix, which starts next to it, and that is the Red line. Fun FUN FUN!!!! Fast, Flowy, loose and just plain FAST!!! Lots of little features in there, and the faster you go the more technical it becomes. Lots of scope to pop, play, and just have a blast. Then there's also Never Ending Story, which is the Blue Line. Also fun, also fast. Also very much worth it. Then fuuuuurther on, there's the "Old" Black line, which is also referred to as the Nationals track as that's where the Nationals was held last time around. Fast, loose, steep. Further on from that is the Canaries. Upper Upper Upper Upper Canaries or whatever, then going down via Upper Upper and Upper and lower etc. Also a blue route, but more technical in nature and more rocks on the trail. Not as fast by nature, and if you want to hit it hard you need to work it. Helluva good trail until Upper Canaries, which is essentially a flattish technical trail, but still fun if you want to train and be under the trees. On the other side of the mountain, they're rebuilding the Fire Hut trail (I presume) and that used to be my favourite. Fast as hell, and loads of little features which you can pop off and fly over. To be honest, I can't wait for winter to arrive. The trails need rain, and they need it now.

Can't even juggle when standing normally... But I can appreciate the complexity of those movements... I can do the balance board thing standing and sitting (eyes open) thanks to years of paddling k1's and surfskis and SUPing using paddleskis or windsurfing boards before it was a "thing" Add any other movement, especially on a balance point thats so small, and, well... Thud nghhhhh As for the rest. Yeah naah

I know!!!

Have you double checked the permissions on all sides? I found in investigations for a client of mine that somehow the permissions got revoked, which meant GC & Vitality weren't talking to each other...

Which "subscription" are you referring to? Vitality itself? If so, that's a bit shortsighted tbh. If you're referring to Strava Premium, then it's not that much ito contributions. Vitality itself though has FAR more benefit attached to it, if you just utilise it, as described earlier (and pretty exhaustively at that)

It is. This is just a representation of how you can get there. Essentially, it comes down to 3 categories of "event" Exercise with HR Recording Timed, recognised event Exercise / gym visit without HR recording Apply those, and get the allocated points according to either your average HR, or the event, or 100 points.

I find Iain Banks a bit hit and miss. Some of his stuff is truly brilliant, and some seems as if it tries too hard and juuuust misses the mark. But insofar as deep sci-fi goes, he's one of the better ones.

Yeah, that was a good immersive read. There's the next one in the series, a sort of continuance, is the LiveShip series. Then the Tawny Man, and then the Dragons series. That's the timeline / original order in which they were meant to be read. Also on my re-read list.

Do you mean William Gibson? Douglas Gibson seems to be an editor-turned-author, dabbling in political writings. William Gibson is the author of Johnny Mnemonic, Burning Chrome & Neuromancer. If so, definitely interested, and wondering why I haven't read him before. Suppose that it comes down to there being so many sci-fi writers, but finding the great ones amongst so much chaff is actually pretty difficult.

yes. All of them. There are loads, but well worth the read, even considering their age. They've worn very well (the Asimov stuff) Must read them again.

To Paarl DH, and then Jonkershoek where we sampled the lower sections of the 2 black trails and the red trail, which are all riding very well at the moment. All with a great bunch of people.

Awesome vid. Very interesting to see the techniques he employs for stability training.

yeah. Pretty much, IMO. Apart from things like the DELTA link, which is nothing more than an adaptation of the single pivot, designed to make the suspension curve more progressive than a garden variety single pivot design would be. It's all refinements at the moment. Not many more ways that you can suspend a bike than what there are at the moment. Obviously pivot placement and shock placement will always have a role to play, depending on what type of bike it is and what the designers want the characteristics to be, but for the most part it's pretty much the same.

yeah, pivot points above the chainring in order to reduce the effect of pedalling on suspension movement.