camelman

From your description of the riding you are planning I would suggest a 29r. Unfortunately good deals are not easy to find. 29r's are good if you do the following. Endless hours of gravel road riding not too technical singletrack - for beginners riding on the road, as you can fit a normal wide 700c road/touring(28-35 depending on rim) tire on that mtb to make it roadworthy. If she is short, 1.6m or less or have less than 2-3cm of stand over height over the top tube, then go 650b/26". Standover height is basically the length of your inseam. I am 1.90m tall and have an inseam of 86cm. My wife is 1.6m tall and has an inseam of 76cm. Measure it by standing barefoot with your back to the wall and legs together and take a stick/ruler and pull it up (horizontally for results )between your legs till you basically "sit on it". Measure the height on the wall. This will be your inseam or your standover, unless you are wearing stillettos. Make sure you have at least 4 cm to spare on the top tube of the bike when standing over it. Most decent bike manufacturers will list this height under the geometry section. If they don't then try it in a shop or move on. I have seen way to many women(fewer men) get all caught up in the 29r hype and forced on bikes that are to big for them, and thus not enjoyable or safe. A comfortable ride is a great ride. It will keep her coming back for more.

Bikefit. Wife always had cramps in her calves. After a proper bikefit, no more. Her cleats got moved back a bit putting less stress on the calves and spreading the load more evenly over the other muscles. Dr Jeroen Swart also had an article about cleat position somewhere and strain on certain muscles. Could not find a reference to specific cramps in any post, so if this is not your issue I apologise.

I replaced an slx lever without having to bleed the system again. You might be lucky if you need to change them around. It is a sealed system, so in theory you should be able to disconnect and swap. This may work, but there are no guarantees.

2013 Model was terrible. Rode a 2014 on a test bike that was much better, but not my favorite. I like the firmer feel of the Rockshox. Just my personal preference.

Depending on your skill level, I would go with the one with slacker head angle. Usually the Merida's are really aggressive (had two, so I speak from experience) and a bit twitchy, thus limiting you to XC racing in general. At least with the Scott it has the chip you can swap in the rear suspension to make the head angle slacker and the BB lower. The Scott can also double up as a light duty trail bike. Another point to remember is that all the Scotts come out with the twinlock system. It locks both the front and the back shock at the same time. The Merida, I am not sure. I have seen two models with one having a Fox "twinlock" and the other a separate Rockshox lockout for both shock. Something to consider as well as confusion and clutter on your handlebar is not always great, especially when starting out. And last point to consider is the bike that actually makes you want to go out and ride. The one that speaks to you. I know the Scott comes in more expensive, but you have to compare apples with apples and most bikes these days have pretty comparable price points for the same spec. Your choice in the end and my 2 cents worth. I am not a huge Scott fan anymore, but between the two I would pick the Scott if I was a weekend warrior

I agree although that small Scale 29r was advised by a bikeshop. That was bought when woman's bikes were purple copies of male bikes. All new bikes from now on will go for the standover test with baggies as well as the dismount behind the seat. For her trail bike 650B is the maximum wheelsize she can safely stand over when getting off behind the seat. For the trail she has a Scott Genius 720. The standover there is ok and she can safely get off the back without the wheel sucking her baggies into seat tube. BTW, that intense looks super small for a medium. Good brand to buy if your pocket allows it.

Me and the Mrs are going at 7:41. Hope not to get held up on the techy stuff and downhills as that is the only place we can go fast. Might hold up the racing snakes on the uphills though

I applaud Christoph for all the work he does in the community, and I think this race is a great boost to the community. It gives the people a day where they can forget their struggles to survive and see and cheer the best in action, an oppurtunity they won't get otherwise. The youngsters also get the opportunity to look up to these riders and aspire to do better in life than get caught in a crime cycle that unfortunately accompanies many of these communities. Sometimes events like these can do much more to uplift the community than a lot of money that just gets pumped in there.

I agree with Jaaki's observation that it needs to slide in and that might be where you have hassles too. If you were to ditch them and want something with a bigger platform, try the Shimano XT trail pedals. Still the same SPD design on both side of the pedal, but it has a cage around it that would make riding with you tekkies easier. It is also a great help if you can't get your foot in and you are already on the downhill

Chuck Norris has such good skills, he only needs half a fork. Happy Birthday old timer, see you turned 74 yesterday (the real Chuck, KFM was full of Chuck Norris jokes yesterday).

With a name like stretch I guess your daughter might follow in your footsteps? My wife also has a Scott scale 29r and standover is very tight. Not super or safe, especially in an emergency dismount when you cannot decide where on the toptube you will standing over. Funny thing is it seems the trailbikes have lower standover height, although they have more travel. I guess if you are 1.7m and above male bikes should be fine, otherwise go try them out. Make sure you can stand comfortably over the toptube with your feet in front of the pedal/crankset

At that height you will struggle to find any small bike that fits. My wife is 1.60 and can barely stand over the top tubes of her bikes. Go womans specific. Not a mens bike painted purple. Check the specialized, giant and Santa Cruz(Juliana) womans bike lineup. Make sure you can comfortably stand over the top tube with at least 2-4cm to spare. Would also a recommend 650b wheelsize bike for you.

Try applying some soapy water with a sponge to the bead next time. Sometimes it works wonders. Had similar issues with my Geax on Rovals. Sorry about your tire damage. It sucks big time

\You can even go a touch lower. I run the same size tires. What you will find, is a tire with a stronger sidewall can be run slightly lower as the tire holds it's shape well. I reckon everyone over 85kg, like yourself should run a tubeless tire with a stronger sidewall(Schwalbe snakeskin/ Geax TNT/Maxxis UST). I have found that at my weigh the lighter sidewalls tend to "fold in" under itself when you corner aggressively. This is just my opinion after playing with pressures and trying different brands of tires.

At 95kg I don't qualify as a snake. More like a fat anaconda

Golefty sounds like those trolls on News24. Whipping everyone into a frenzy with his bizarre statement. Maybe he should go post his statement on there and check the response.

Dissapointment: Momsen bike stand. When will companies learn that painting a bike white and pink and putting a woman's specific saddle on does not make it a woman's bike. My wife was super bummed at learning its a repainted standard model. She is quite short and have standover issues on most biked except women specific. So yes, big up to Santa Cruz for having half their display as Juliana's.

I weigh 95kg and on a 29r 2.25/2.3 front Tire I run aound 17-19PSI and on the back around 22PSI (Yes I use PSI cause it gives me a bigger scale to work with. There is a big difference between 1.31bar and 1.39 bar)

Liability, that is the only reason. If you run lower it's on you. Thank our lawsuit happy friends in the USA for that info.

It is great to hear that they have responded and hopefully educated the driver. No use "nailing the bastard" or suspend him from duty as this will only cause more antagonism towards cyclists in general. Hopefully the incident in Sea Point has told us all to try and resolve these situations without violence. The only other way is to do what was done above, report the situation and let the companies deal with it as I am sure they are actually getting some systems in place to deal with it. The more this is done, the more educated drivers we will have on the road. Unfortunately this does not work for all the other fools on the road in their own cars. On the other hand, also learn to share the road. If vehicles are getting stuck behind you/ your group for kilometers, stop for a moment and wave them by. This will actually go a huge way to instill some good will towards cyclists. We don't own the road, it belongs to all vehicles.

No worries for now. Apparently they only received stock this week or last. The kit should be in the bike shops within the next 10 days, Africa time (make it 2-3 weeks on the calendar). As always nothing much new at the expo. This (ION) and the Brunox lube lube stall were new-ish. I talked to the guys at Brunox and they say they were not selling well, yet. They sell those little aerosols lubes for chains and stanchions, but I know them from the stanchion lube oil I have used in the past. As I have found out after coming back to SA, looking after your suspension is not something that gets done at all(generalising here) until it breaks down completely and then we complain like hell about the prices of new suspension parts (ask mr Droo). Days after arriving here I went to 4 bicycle shops and no one had oil for lubing your stanchions, one guy even wanted to sell me Squirt to lube it, as they have never heard of applying lube to your stanchions. So come on people show your stanchions some love, it will even improve their performance remarkably.

Check out the ION brand of clothing as you come up the stairs from the basement. Nice bright colours and good quality clothing for the baggies and backpack club. Gonna get myself a pair of baggies and a long sleeve top for the trail.

Bactroban also clears it up. No prescription needed,but you have to ask for it at the pharmacy. The cream one works best. To avoid it, chamois cream. I prefer the Mark chamois cream to the Assos one. And on top of it, it is much cheaper. I use it for all rides over an hour.

Was actually referring to Philip riding the 650b. And you are right about Nino and the 650b development. I think he might be the "boss" I was referring too .