Brighter-Lights

Firstly, the Stirling was advertised to be very light... something like 220g.... our's (2) are both almost 300g.... After a year of everyday use the padding has worn out. My Uvex's padding lasted more than 2 years of every day use... Still a nice looking helmet, but heavier than advertised.

Some manufacturers make tubeless ready versions... It basically is the normal foldable version with a slightly thicker sidewall and wider, flatter bead, OR the same sidewall with a wider and flatter bead for better sealing on the rim. They normally are quite an amount lighter than USTs. I used the normal foldable 'Performance' version in Attakwas, and been riding them without any punctures since September 2010... the ones I weighed were 460-490g, but fast wearing... not even 2000km on the rear tyre.

I never had a problem with Rocket Ron's - running them tubeless on American Classic wheels. In fact, they seal much better than many of the other brands I've used before...

Die Diva is 'n bekende keuse, die Lady Gel Flow is nie 'n lekker saal nie. M was op 'n Lady Gel Flow en het hom na 3 weke uitgegooi en glo dit of nie, ry nou al baie lank 'n Selle Italia Filante Gel Flow, eintlik 'n mans saal... Die Fizik Vitesse is ook 'n lekker vroue saal... Wanneer wil jy bestel?

I once rode Caroo to Coast 2x9...32/44 - 11-32. You'll def. need your granny if you want to ride all the sections in Attakwas...

Nobby Nic and Conti Race King are 2 totally different tyres. For all round RSA conditions I prefer the Race King. BTW... I've got Conti Race King Protection versions, 2.0", brand new in box - R350-00

I would advise to be VERY VERY careful when bedning the tubeless AMC rim... they are very soft, but also very thin. I straightened my AMC tubeless rim about 10 months ago and it bent so easily it felt like I was bending a piece of cheese, the problem is, because it's so thin, bending it just a little too much could result in that section of the rim wall cracking and seperating from the rest of the rim. Tape the section you want to bend with some sort op PVC tape to prevent it from getting scratched. Then take a shifting spanner and close the jaws over that section and use it as a lever and bend little by little. Sometimes it's best to leave it like that if it's better than it was, because bending it that 0.5mm further might result in a crack... The type/size of tool/clamp you need obviously depends on how long the dent is, and how deep it is... Take the tyre off, re-fit it and see how the dent affects the seating/sealing first. Sometimes a fitted tyre will hold a seal because the sealant has glued the tyre to the rim, but when fitting a fresh tyre, it may not seal or seat properly. You want to be sure it seals, but more important, make sure it seats properly, or snap/pop onto the rim hook. If not, the tyre could come off/burp at lower pressures, because the total rim wall height on these rims are lower than one a STD rim, (almost like on a stans rim) so tyres, once off the rim hook, can very easily be put on, or taken off the rim. I never have to use tyre levers, but once the tyre has popped into place, it's secure... Good luck!

Always get the smaller one... my experience is that many biek shops don't know !@#$ about bike setup and in PE is a perticular shop who's way of fitting often size too big. With a smaller frame, you can easily reach the next size or 2 up with seatpost and stem changes... I'm 1.72 and ride a XS Anthem X0... Using a 400mm KCNC seatpost and a 90mm stem. A Small would also work perfectly and even a medium, BUT the smaller frame handles a lot quicker.

I've had a Gaint Anthem 1 (2007) and now 2 Anthem X0's, and no paint issues at all. Some tapes could have an effect on paint. I had vinyl stickers made for our Sid forks and replaced the one set the other day and noticed that the original paint underneath the sticker has a cracked effect... Giant is powdercoated which is very tough and shouldn't flake at all imo..

3M PU tape is VERY expensive... rather get scotch guard tape... I paid over R400 for 1m x 30cm... I won't get it again... BUT... it IS very tough and good for down tube... overkill if you just want to protect from cable rub...

I have modified Madelein du Toit's (Solo lady winner of Bicycling Omni-Motion 24hr) with an external battery pack to give her a total of 60-70hrs on her Edge 500. Unfortunately, Garmin (stupid) use TIME in the original and latest firmware to track battery usage, instead of voltage. Something I hope they fix in the next firmware. So, after about 17 hours it will show 0%, even though the battery voltage is still at over 70% of a single cell Li-ion. When charging the setup it also show's 100% after about 2 hours, even though it now takes a lot longer to fully charge the bigger capacity power supply. I still can't figure why on earth they would use time as the trigger to indicate battery usage, as voltage is the correct way to do so. The original Edge 500 battery is a 660mAh Li-ion, I kept that and added a 2400mAh external battery. The reason for all of this was that unlike the older Edge, the Edge 500 can't be run while the charger is plugged in. The previous Edge would run with an external battery plugged into the charging port. I hope they change the way the software calculates battery level (supposedly improved in the latest firmware but still using time) but for now she's using it with the external battery and almost never have to charge it.

don't forget the Schalwbe Rocket Ron... light, great in dry and mud, excellent grip...

I use a VDO Z3 PC Link... if I'd buy now I'd much rather get the Garmin Edge 500... VDO has a 5 year warranty, but after 1 year all the coating is flaking off, and programming it is a schlep en the data review program is inferior... not saying it's a piece of rubbish, I bought it for the power output. Power is good if measuring the average and max in a TT, but it stops working while free wheeling and is no good if you want to train by power, it takes too long befor the actual reading is displayed...

I prefer 11.32, with 11.34 in 5,6,7,8 the gaps are bigger and I always feel that I need a gear in between its ratios.

If done properly it will be stronger than the original frame...

There's a difference between hitting the wall (which some call bonking) and bonking, which is complete glycogen depletion. I've bonked before. There's 3 times that I will never forget. On one of them, I was only 8km from home and not able to ride in granny gear on a flat. I had to phone someone to fetch me. Here's one: In 2006 we were pre riding the Herald 60km route in Longmore Forest near PE... Being in ok form, and knowing the area, my budget was for no more than 3 hours. I've done a 110km in the Baviaans Kloof the previous day and was just gonna take it casually (I told myself) We were quite a big group and I would sprint out every hill to get to the top to photograph them as they ride closer. My ride consisted of all out efforts and stopping to wait. Then at 2 hours into the ride and 40km (still whithin my budget) we all stopped at a stream and I filled the Camelback with water from the stream, which should've been ok since it's 'berg water' . Not long after that, my drink went off and I had to dump all of it. We we're climbing out on a 11km drag, away from any water and I thought I would be ok for the last '20km' . Somehow, the 40km (short route) group, which should've joined us for the last 20km of the 60km got lost. The leaders of our group decided that we should wait as we could see them on a contour on the opposite side of the mountain. I got hungy and thirsty in the summer heat. It's often reached over 40deg C in Lonmore in summer. Everybody in our group was hanging on and very reluctant to share anything as they realised that this ride is suddenly going to be much longer. I suddenly started to feel really hungry, thirsty and weak and at the next stop to wait for the slower riders, I lay down in the dust. That was all that could comfort me and we were in the middle of a state forest, no easy way back to the parking lot... I had to continue going and were doing so very conservatively, hanging on for what felt like dear life. At one stage we entered some Pine forest again and at the first stop to wait for the others, who were also running empty, I broke off some of the new leaves of the ferns and ate them. How desperate can one get to eat fern leaves... From this point there was a bit of downhill towards the finish and in the end the ride took us a good 5-6 hours incl. the waiting - with an actual distance of over 70km... Big lesson learned... Today, I don't bonk anymore. Bonking happened in my early years when going out flat out with not enough food or drink, or if having enough, not using it... I DID hit the wall on new years at Grootvaderschbosh when the 20km trail turned into a 4 hour nighmare of crossing streams and 35% gradients. Poorly kept, marked and overgrown route. Always take food if riding in the unknown. We took no food and only one 500ml water each, as it was supposed to be only 20km... and 4 hours later we were crawling back home... we could've and should've turned around, but the optimist in you always believes that it's gonna be better soon...

I run Rocket Ron's tubeless on 2 bikes, one has American Classic tubeless wheels with just tape, the other has stans type rimstrips... they work great and are light and the tread pattern is a perfect all round option... they do wear fast though...

771 is 26, 34, 48... 770 is 22, 32, 44

Anthem X0 (RP23) It depends on the terrain (wet or dry) but I do a rear shock air sleeve service every 4 months (dry) (by that time, if you're sensitive to those things, you'll feel that the rear end becomes a bit stiffer) I also have a neoprene boot covering the rear shock. Fork: Sid Race: With everyday riding, I HAVE to do a foamring service once a month (about 60 hours - offroad riding only) OR after a 24hr race or muddy race (try not to ride in mud) I drip a drop of oil (castrol BOT 402) on the wipers before every ride and cycle the fork, that lifts the dust that sat on the wiper edge. I wipe off with a cloth or old sock. After filling foamrings and open bath oil, it takes about 50-60 hours of riding before the foamring oil works down into the open bath and this results in a little more stiction. I do 2 of the same bikes like this, they're 7 months old now and the forks are buttery smooth, better than when they were new and if taking off the lowers about every 50 hours, you'll get rid of dust that passed the wipers soon enough before it can do real damage to the stanchoins, because dust DO pass the OEM wipers, and don't even go near the Enduro Forkseal's wipers on a SID - they are nice looking, wipes properly, but with no foam ring, they need CONSTANT lubrication at least every 40km and in a long race like Trans Baviaans, where we had them in both our forks, the fork will become stiff and sticky after 100km or so... bad idea... I do a damper service once a year (front and rear), but to have a fork last long, it needs to be clean and lubricated where the friction is. With the right tools, it shouldn't take more than 30 mins to take off the lowers, clean, relube etc. I use Castrol BOT 402 (SAE 75-85) in the RP23's airsleeve, in the SID's airsleeve, in the Sid's open bath, in the foamrings. Fully synthetic. Works perfectly. I wan't to add that 90% of folks fork that I feel, feel like crap and they don't even know it because the've long forgotten how it was sliding on that very first ride. I invite anyone to come and feel my fork at any time, I'm always floating on air... no stiction... buttery smooth...

I've found that I don't really get more miles from the expensive chains. I've only used XTR, PG991 for short while, then switched to entry level chains because it made more sense financially... PC951, HG53, HG73... Wippermann 900 (terrible) With regular lubing and cleaning, I get about 1500 to 1800km per chain riding offroad only, before I reach 1/16" stretch... What are you using? MTB or Road... Anyone familiar with the

Use a light 31.8mm seatpost with a vesconite or nylon shim...

If you're in Stillbaai, consider Grootvadersbosch (Heidelberg) and (MTO) Garcia forest near Riversdale. LOTS of fantastic riding around Riversdale...

Anthem X is a great bike...

You'll be surprised how much your body changes in 3 weeks doing nothing... I'll look it up in the training bible and come back.

Deflate negative first. Then pump positive, then pump negative. For RS forks I like positive + negative the same.