camelman

Found some of the boys this morning on the trail. Not difficult catching onto the Saffa English between the rest. As for the wagon wheels I broke a spoke in the back. IMHO don't think they are quite ideal for this terrain, but you make it work. Enjoy the rest of the trip and hope the weather improves.

Build your own phat bike. Morzine mud fest.

Ag no man. Nice bike, but it should not come out in Yeti blue. That is sacred.

See you guys on Friday. Hope the weather clears up , at least for a day.

Intense Spider http://intensecycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Spider29CompWhiteSide2.jpg 68.5 Degree head angle with a 130mm fork

Frame and Enve rims in carbon Handlebars, stem, seat post and crank in aluminium please.

650B is an upgrade from 26"

Sharp, simple yet effective. Thanks for that, might just keep a needle and some floss in my breakdown kit for touring. Nothing is worse than doing a 3 hour climb, cutting your sidewall on the first 100m going down and having to walk 1500m of vertical descent. If not used for the above, at least I can pop a blister and floss my teeth in the high mountains or stitch up some skin after a fall.

I have tried to patch a sidewall cut from the inside. It got me home but the bulge of patch sticking out though the cut was too much so I had to ditch the tire. Maybe if there was a patch that did not stretch(with some reinforcing) it would work. Anyone seen those? And please do not try to patch the inside and superglue the cut on the outside. Superglue and rubber solution are mutually exclusive. You can throw away the tire after that experiment. I have done it so you don't have too.

I will concede that my comment about the warranty makes no sense. As for it not a making a difference, there I have to draw the line. I do it regularly and it makes a difference in the feel of the fork, though not so much in the shock. Maybe there is not enough oil inside and/or the foam rings are dry(I understand that their job is to lube the stanchions inside). But each to their own, I will continue to lube.

What a load of rubbish. Some valid points, but it is surely not coming from someone with experience, or even someone that has actually ridden a bicycle. Yes crashes damages and break bikes, it has always happened, but him saying the bikes shatter and then the guys fall. Sensationalist story, to say the least.

I use it on anything with a stanchion, dropper seat posts, forks and shocks. The problem with the oil inside the stanchions is that it sits at the bottom of the leg, and if you don't store your bike upside down often, the oil does not reach the foam in the seal to saturate it and lube the stanchion. And sometimes there is so little oil it does nothing at all (usually from the factory assembly). So I use it on my Rockshox and Fox forks and the dropper seat post. I have never had a problem, and my Fox fork has gone in for a service and a warranty replacement at the agents without any question from them.

This is what I use. Works like magic. http://www.brunox.com/website/medien/produkte/372%20Deo%20125%20ml.png Reduces the stickiness of the fork stanchions quite a lot, and if you clean it after a lube nothing gets trapped there. They sold this at the Argus expo, not sure where you can find it now. Otherwise I use plain silicone oil in a bottle. It applies a bit cleaner as it is not an aerosol that goes everywhere. Just be careful of the silicone sprays, they might have some other chemicals in there that your seals don't like. The best man to ask is Droo. He has seen it all and can tell you if it is necessary to lube or not. IMHO it is a must if you want to get your money's worth and a lifetime of service from your expensive forks and shocks. On top of what he did to lube, I would cycle the suspension a few times after applying the oil and then wipe off excess oil and some extra grime that comes off. In dry dusty terrain the dust tend to stick to the oil a bit but does not get in. Mud is no problem at all.

The XTR pedals require some maintenance. Open it up once in a while, pump in some grease, check the seals and adjust the cones on the bearings. It is not a Toyota Hilux, more like a Lexus so it will require a bit more maintenance than the M-series

That was my initial thought, but then the high bottom bracket becomes super high. And a new fork is quite a bit more expensive than the headset. I wanted to keep it an XC hardtail and that was the whole idea behind it.

That is the price you are going to pay. I actually asked for an FSA unit, the guy talked me into installing a CC unit and when I got there it was a Works. I am Switzerland, and the price was a round R1800-R1900 (CHF180) for the unit. No idea though where you will find it in SA, sorry, but worth every cent. I was on the verge of getting rid of the Giant and getting a Yeti, but cash is a bit tight and decided to give this a try as alast course of action.

It's difficult to see from that pic, but I only see 3 cables on the handlebar, which means this might be the RS-1 with a Brain cartridge installed. Just a guess, don;t shoot me if I am wrong.

I used to love my Giant XTC composite 29r, but after rising the Specialized Epic I found the bike way to twitchy and responsive, especially on step technical, rocky singletrack. After a lot of technical analyses I have come to the conclusion that the head angle was super steep compared to other big brand hardtails (Specialised) and a lot steeper than some of the boutique brands that have had really good reviews (Yeti, Niner Santa Cruz and Intense). So after a lot of internet research I ended up getting a angled headset installed. I got a 1 degree Works Components unit installed to slacken it out and it made a huge difference. Yesterday I did a 900m vertical decent that I would have really struggled with before and the bike handled it superbly. The back wheel is still a bit lively on the rough stuff, but that is also because of the short chainstays. Bottom bracket dropped a bit, not sure how much, but this was always a complaint about the Giant, feeling like I am sitting above the bike (I ride an XL), so I am happy with that. So for anyone wanting to improve their XTC, I can highly recommend installing one of these. I would even go so far as to say install a 1.5deg unit. A close up of the headset. It does add a bout 8mm to the top of the head tube so bear that in mind A side view, the bottom cup adds no height And the the Piece de resistance My Niner top cap with my favorite beer

I am a cyclist in a rugby player's body. I am not made to run away from people, rather run over them.

Happened to me and a friend. Think it was a bit of a Stan's and Maxxis issue, but I thought Stan's sorted out the formula of the mix. Not your fault, it has happened to a few people. Search the Internet for "Stan's and Maxxis tires", and your picture will pop up frequently. Pop it with a needle and hope for the best, otherwise buy a new one. WRT the tire pressure, it is a bit high, no idea how you have any grip going around a corner. I run about 1.3-1.6 bar and it's only that high because I weigh 95kg.

Won't hurt your back if they have retractable tri-bars for landing. Already in the brace position.

It's the wrong month for this joke, or is Bastille day like April fool's for French companies? Wondering who will win the bidding war on the seat supply? I vote for Fizik.

Don't know what size you are, but from what I have found XL bikes are not easy to find. I had to squeeze onto a large mtb. Own pedals, shoes and helmet is a must.

Assos S7 T'Equippe. Good quality and will last you a long time if you look after it. I still have Assos Shorts from 2008 and they are still ok. It is an investment. And don't forget the chamois cream. No need for Assos, Mark II will be fine.

Getting mine in the mail in the morning. Can't wait.......for the beer,