Goodbadugly

The bigger problem of full suspension bikes. More maintenance. Sealed bearings are designed to go round and round and round... Thus lubricating themselves. In the suspension systems they move up and down. Sometimes just a millimeter or so. Lubrication does not occur. The grease is driven out. Soon it is metal on metal. And a visit to the bike shop/Bearing Man. The bearings in my Anthem lasted 4000km. Last week I replaced a bearing in the suspension of my Blur XC. Lifetime guarantee on bearings? Maybe. But it is much easier to buy them at Bearings International for R10 each than to wait for the claim. (These bearings had done less than 5000km's). Check and replace when necessary. I have tried to extend the life of bearings with a drill. 1. Strip the suspension. 2. Get a dowel that fits snugly in the hole of the bearing. 3. Spin the bearing using the drill to "auto lube" it. 4. Refit the suspension. Not sure it was worth the trouble. If you train a lot, get a hard tail for that purpose. Less maintenance.

Have a Blur XC for races and marathons. Had to replace some of the bearings last week. High maintenance. I was wondering about a lightweight hardtail for training (surfaced and dirt roads). Less moving parts. Less maintenance.

I was wondering about the carbon forks advertised (Planet X advertisement) Anybody tried them or similar product? Comments? Would you recommend a carbon fork? (A third of the price and two thirds of the weight of a suspension fork)

The width of your hand. The bigger you are, more seatpost inside.

Do what you must do. BUT my 2007 RM8 carbon frame cracked... If you are looking for at bling thing, go for carbon. Longevity? Go for alu. The weight difference will be minimal.

Topic closed. See similar topic in chit chat

This topic has been covered many times by MTBR ect. There are many newer tires on the market. The Race Kings for example. They were successfull in Europe when tested by their racer boys. That does not mean that they will be accepted by our local layman (including me) or pro riders. They don't have sekelbos. Or pendoring. Or 41 degrees celcius. Or a guy called "Johan". They talk about wet roots. We don't see lots of that. Like Tarmac-GSTR said, the purpose of this tread is to rule out stuff people dislike and the reasons. My experience in the last few months: Tried the Speed King protection 2.1 as a back tire. Too skinny. (46mm carcass) Feels fast, but a "plastic" (Made in India) compound I disliked. Little grip. Maybe the 2.3 would be better. Been riding a Intense systems 2 as a rear tire. I like it. Rolls nice. Rubber compound I like. BUT I got a hole big enough to put my pinky in it on a fairly standard South African dirt road. Continental Mountain King Protection 2.2: Being foolish enough to try to get this non-tubeless tire to seal with Joe's (running it tubeless) is prooving to be a mission. Can't get it to hold air long enough to ride it. PS. If you don't like this tread or get bored, don't read it again. And don't be rude.

Anybody compared their setup with a "standard" setup like the one offered on the Competetive cyclist website? http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO

Are those Rocket Rons Tubeless? They are supposed to be blistering fast, but the low weight makes me think of a Nobby Nic I had with rather skinny sidewalls...

I assume you want to build a kind of 29er wheel? It will most likely not fit into the 26 inch frame and fork.

Most/all XC tires are for dry hardpack. Very few tires(except dedicated mud tires) do well in mud. Check out the British websites if you are looking for MUD tires. Mud is all they have. For the rest, stick to the tire you know.

If you want tubeless, go for the tubeless/ ust model. Running folding tires with thin sidewalls is only for weight weanies. Tried it, but got a deep scratch on the Nobby Nic sidewall. Sealant is uneffective on sidewalls. Run folding tires tubeless if you count yourself lucky or like pumping tires with a handpump (after you have used up your 2 CO2 bombs) The lighter tires (tubeless) I have tried are: Specialized Control LK 2.0: 600gram. Crossmark 2.1: 690gram. Monorail 2.1: 609gram. Smallblock 8 1.95: 600gram. Race King 2.2: 640 gram. The Pythons are about the lightest. Bottom line: the lightest tubeless tires are around 600 grams. Lighter tires=more vulnerable.

Good luck on finding 28 hole rims. Dt Swiss 4.2 d. I recently bought 2 of these. About R900 each. Looks good. Black. It looks painted, not anodized. Scratches easier than the Mavic rims. 400 grams each. Dt 240s hubs combined with Competition 2.0/1.8 spokes gives you a wheelset weighing less than 1.6 kg. Mavic will have stock in a few months of the XM 317. 445 grams. About R500 each. You can also look at Alex 100 pro. I don't know them and won't take the chance. Why not go for the more common 32 hole? Lots of rims to choose from.

11-34 for me. It helps on those 15% climbs. I got used to it easilly. No noticeable bigger jumps between gears. I prefer the XT Casette.

You are right. The Competition 2.0/1.8 with brass nipples would be the sensible thing to do. The built wheel set should weigh 1590 grams according to the DT Swiss spoke calculator. A good weight for a MTB wheel set. (Interesting to calculate the weight using Revolution spokes and alu nipples. Goes down to 1466 grams. Just a little devil on my shoulder reminding me that I can "save" 120 grams of rotational weight.) How accurate are the spoke length calculations of this tool? http://www.dtswiss.com/SpokesCalc/Welcome.aspx

I am having a wheel set built on a DT Swiss 240s hub (28 hole disc brake). The rim will be a DT Swiss 4.2d. Pattern 3 cross DT Swiss spokes . But I am not sure which ones to use. Competition 2.0/1.8? Or Supercomp? Revolution? Will u use ALU nipples? I need a wheel that will last for many years. Terrain will be XC and light trail. I weigh 76kg. Full suss bike (Blur XC)

We are also looking at te Mountain King 2.2 with strenghtened sidewalls for the 2009 Epic.

Also running the Monorail 2.1 ust at the front and Crossmark at the back. The Crossmark had a cut that I had to patch from the inside. (Nope, to big for Joe's sealant). The Monorail running fine. Better cornering, less "sand spray" than the Crossmark. Rolls well. My Crossmark weighs 690gr. and the Monorail 609 gr. Both UST 2.1. The actual width of the carcass is more like 47mm. (1.9 inch) on a 17mm. rim. If you stretch it a bit with the vernier you can measure 52mm. over the widest blocks. I like the Monorail. I prefer it to the Crossmark.

I have a wheelset consisting of Mavic 317s and the DT 370's. Came of a Giant bike. Strong and reliable. It takes a beating. They feel unbeakable. Not that light though.

Garmin 305. Since the 705 came on the market, the 305 can be bought for around R3000.00 if you shop around... I have a CS100 polar. The HRM picks up the flapping of your shirt and gives strange readings. Also not that splashproof. Had to go in for repairs after a drizzle. Replaced it with the 305 and couldn't be happier. I can only imagine how good the 705 must be.

I tried a BBB generic in the juicy 5's. They worked fine. And squealed less.

Get NEW cables. They do need replacing from time to time.

Tires are also a personal thing. I rate them according to the way I feel that day. Tire pressures are rarely evaluated in these "shootouts". The tire pressure mentioned in the German mag is 2.5 Bar. The guys run lower tire pressures where I stay. A guy called "Nino"had a discussion (MTBR) on the pressures he tried to run with his new the Conti Race King supersonics. Took a while to find his sweet spot. His comments ranged from mixed feelings to exceptional. MBaction will try to sell and push Kenda Nevegals. Kenda USA and the John Tomac signature series. They sell the "best trail tire" The Germans will try to sell their own brands. Schwalbe and Conti. Hence the Nevegal has the worst kind of rolling resistance thinkable... They present the "fastest tire". Be prepared to talk to ABSA or FNB before you invest in a set of Racing Ralph EVO's. There might be some small truth in the rolling resistance thing? Tire manufacturers has tried a few tricks to present faster and/or stickier tire compounds. 60a, 70a rubbers, Stick-E etc. Some promoted more tpi for a faster tire carcass. Up to 128. The "fastest tire" of the day is still on the bike of the winner of the race. Whatever that tire may be. I stay slow no matter how fast a tire I ride.

At the moment I am using the rapid rise model. Once you get used to the idea that up is down and down is up, or was that up..., they are easy to use. I tried going back to the "normal" derraileur, but that messed up my auto pilot. So now I am a rapid rise man. It just feels normal to press the big leaver (both sides) to go faster and the smaller one to get the cadence up for that climb. Buy whatever you like or can find. But stay with the one you choose.