Roneblack46

I am doing the 65km with a mate of mine. Going to put the 1x10 to the test. Been checking the weather forecast. Seems the heavy rain is staying away. Should be an awesome race. Reading some of the older threads about it - couple of nice steep rocky climbs.

Have a look here: light-bicycle.com 650B carbon rims coming in at 1455gr a set. $564 excl shipping and customs. Weight rating of 120kg. Some Hubbers are riding 29inch carbon wheels from them with no issues. They also advertise "assistance with invoice" for customs duties. So you could get them landed here for under 7.5k.

I am in the fortunate position that my employer pays 2/3rds of my monthly payment. I am just finding Discovery not suitable for say orthodontics. My eldest has 6 months to go and her orthodontics comes out of my my yearly savings plan. My family limit for the year is what the orthodontics cost. So what happens is I run into my self payment gap pretty early in the year. I have a second teen waiting for orthodontics as well.

I have been with Discovery Health for more than 14 years on the classic comprehensive plan. So with a family of 4 including 2 teenagers it seems that Discovery has become more expensive but cover less. I am looking at possibly shifting to anther medical aid but have no idea. I would like to hear what other Hubbers are experiencing with their Medical Aid. Pros and Cons...

Huge gap between 1st and 2nd. Just saying....

I am planning on doing that race on my 29HT with a 30 upfront and 11/36 cassette. Lots of climbing so I think my current 32 will get harder as the race goes on. The descents there are short and steepish so I should not lose out much to the other 2x and 3x riders. I agree with a previous post where the 1x10 actually forces you to ride a certain pace which over the marathon distance does not expire you as much towards the end. Anyone got some updates on how their General Lee's are doing? Ease of gear changes, cassette wear etc. The only reason I have not gone that route is I am worried about the delayed changing between the bigger cassette rings. I do XCO as well and am concerned that when a quick change is required due to a gradient change the drivetrain will be left wanting. Maybe I need a 11/36 cassette for XCO and a General Lee conversion for the longer races. Actually may need 2 bikes.

So far I have been researching a few sites. Next bit of advice needed: do I purchase just the rims and build the rest from parts sourced locally? or do I purchase the complete wheel set. Anybody have an idea of what a wheel build will cost here in JHB? To give you an example: At http://www.light-bicycle.com/carbon-29er-wheel-mountain-bike-clincher.html I can get mtb 29er carbon wheels,all mountain,tubeless wheel ready,30mm wide,29er mountain bike wheelset with 23mm inner width carbon rims. Novatec hubs, Pillar aero spokes, weight +- 1500Gr for $568 excl shipping and inport duties. These are rated 120kg rider weight. Or at same place i could just buy the carbon rims (specially for down hill bike, AM & XC racing,tubeless-compatible, also rated 120kg rider weight) weighing 390gr for $165 each excl shipping and import duties (maybe I can get a "sample" version ) Then build the wheels here, sourced with hubs, spokes etc.

Most definitely. I have just started looking into it. I think the Carbonal mtb wheels can be built to rider weight of 115kg. Waiting for input from those who have done it.

Looking at a set of carbon mtb wheels. I see a few hubbers have them. Any advice on where to buy from and what is reliable? I also would like to know from hubbers who have them how are they holding up. Some of the post are months old so an update on those using them would be helpful. I ride a 29er HT and do XC and XCO. Weigh 85kgs.

I have had one since May 2012. My first experience of a 29er. So far it has been an awesome bike to ride. i ride maratons and XCO with it. The carbon frame may not be the lightest but I love the chunky and oversized look. Converted mine to 1x10 and currently weighs in at just under 11kgs. it is not the supplest of rides but then again it is a carbon HT.

Glad you got the bike back. Shows you how incompetent our police are. You made a citizens arrest according to our Criminal Procedure Act. I find it hard to accept their statement that you did it in the worse possible way from a legal point of view. The police need to pay more attention to policing and leave the legal stuff to the courts. You arrested the perp, got your property back. If he runs away then so be it. Gotta love the SAPS!!!!!

Good time to start strength training. Wear full ballistic vest and level 4 plates. Should be good for core muscles on the long rides.

Just got this from e block watch and facebook: "For those in the Pretoria East area... the veld behind the Moraleta Church (between the squatter camp and the estate towards Mooikloof) .... please avoid the area. a friend of mine got bikejacked there yesterday afternoon. Unknown number of assailants. His bike was taken and he was stabbed 5 times in the back with a large knife (1.5" wide)" Anybody have more details.... Just relaying this to the community..

I weigh 84kgs and run my Rocket Ron 2.25 on the front at 1.5 to 1.6 depending on the terrain. Rocky 1.6 and less rocky 1.5. I run a Specialized Ground Control 2.1 at the back at 1.8. all this on a hardtail 29er.

Sorry to hear. My old hometown seems to be getting rough. I am down there for 10 days from next week. Taking my training mtb and my usual Gauteng training partners. see attached.....

Sorry to hijack this - quickly. There is an XCO race at Thaba Trails on 16 November. Come and try it out. See XCOSA.co.za for details. You will find it tough and challenging. I think I must mention TOUGH again... Hijack off.

IT IS NOT ABOUT THE BIKE (WHEELS) IT IS THE ENGINE..... Seriously here is my take and I have a 26er FS and a 29er HT.... Depends on what type of terrain you like to ride.... And what matters - enjoying the ride or racing for time. Here in SA we are obsessed with long distances and flat terrain. We moan and bitch when we have technical courses. ( there are a few threads on this here). We moan and bitch because we cannot ride technical terrain. The Nissan Trailseekers are a good example. A 3/10 obstacle results in everyone getting off and pushing. When has height been a problem when there was only 26ers around? I enjoy technical terrain and do XCO as a main event. I also do like the longer races even if the terrain is flatter. Hell I like riding on the Spruit. Just to get outdoors is great. When it gets technical and tight the 29er can feel bulky and slow. A 26er rips tight and technical. on the flats the 26er is just as fast as a 29er. Remember IT'S THE ENGINE THAT COUNTS. My opinion is that a 650B FS may be the actual happy medium.

Read reply #34 They credited me the excess amount.

Hahaha I was expecting some of those.....

I threatened them by throwing my bosses name around. Barack Obama...... Only joking about the threatening bit, the boss bit is true...

I have been riding the Widgit since March with no issues. Never dropped a chain and the teeth look as good as new. I do about 350-500km a month on my 26er, which is my training bike, so the Widgit has done over 2500km with no issues. I paid about R1300 for it back then. This past weekend I rode the 26er at Hakahana and mysteriously lost 2 chainring bolts during the race. But that is me not the chainring. I have not serviced my 26er since March. I just oil the chain and ride. My cassette still looks good and it has been on my bike since January. So that has probably done near 4000km. 1 advantage of the 1x system is there is less chain wear and cassette wear. That has been my experience so far. I had a new 2x10 chainset put on my 29er in May this year. Did predominantly XCO racing with it and both chainrings are stuffed after 5 months. I suppose XCO is high intensity so definitely unforgiving on the drivetrain.

Before all this came out I ordered a Widgit chainring from Australia which is current on my 1x9 26er. Then these narrow wide chainrings came out. I prefer the 1x set up. So my 29er 2x10 chainrings are tired and need replacing. I have been doing a bit of research about the 2 and have not found any real difference in the 2 other than that the Wolftooth has longer and thicker teeth. Here is the deal clincher. I have to write smaller so sars/customs don't find me. i get my USA purchased items mailed here free of any charges etc. so i paid $143 (R1400) for the 2 rings and i wait 2 weeks for it to arrive. That is allit costs. Nothing dodgy I just work for the US Embassy in Pretoria so have mail priviledges.

So my Wolftooth Chainrings have arrived. 32T for marathons and 30T for XCO stuff. Running this on a 29er HT. Going to keep with the 11/36 cassette. Thought about General Lee 11/40 but have seen there are shifting delays (not good if you are riding XCO) and the cassette been pretty worn after 4 months. so will HTFU on the uphills.

Just received a call from NM. They are crediting my account for the extra expenses incurred due to this. They never intended that campaign to result in this. So ups to them for accepting this and rectifying it. People still need to be warned though.... Thanks for the responses guys. Appreciate it....

So I have stated my case to someone higher up at NM and they will look into it. So I will wait. With all the scams doing the rounds on the networks, I instructed my daughter not to reply to these sms's. Hell if I received this sms I would read line 1 and 2 and then delete it. so I wait in anticipation.... beginning the social network extortion