TYGA

Did you take the Inbred or Shova? Quite tempted to Gear Up this time around....Dead Man Walking does not lend itself to SSin, the rest of the course is mostly rideable.

Just pulling into Underberg to start the tour...massive friggin hills in this place, going to be interesting hauling a fully loaded SS to Winterton!

Race in November and another next year is the only way we'll know if the battle plan really works.

You okes are ROUGH!!! And I thought JC was a guy...weird.

Same here but quite a bit more moola.

There you go.... https://www.bikehub.co.za/index.php?app=hubmarket&do=view_item&item_id=37909

I reckon the Zula and Shova are knockoffs of the Heckler and Superlight....

Meet Mr and Mrs Cruz. Like Fantana says I reckon you'd be happy with either of the brands but no prizes for guessing which one I'd go for though you can pick up Zula's dirt cheap these days.

Very nice looking build!

Sorry...this is the URL I meant to post I have the B17, it's awesome, may be too chunky for a racer though. Trawl the net, there's a myriad of info re these legendary saddles. https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/47738-brooks-saddle-big-ugly-and-oh-so-comfy/page__hl__brooks__fromsearch__1

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/108079-helderberg-mtb-route/page__hl__helderberg__fromsearch__1

Those are the same "style" markers as on the Longridge side...my guess is an extension of the route. It's a pity they could not extend from Longridge via the farms to the Helderberg trails as you would then have a great link between SSW and Stellies.

Tandem?

Where in Technopark was it stolen from? Looks a lot like a bike I used to see regularly on a BMW wagon across the road from our offices.

I'd ride that. Nice looking bike Nic and great work with your initiative...keep it up, well done.

Try guys like these, this particular one doesn't list Volcan but there are a couple of companies on the net that specialises in hangers...believe it or not. http://bicyclederailleurhangers.com/ I'm sure you could get one machined as well if you can't source one.

Thanks CR, appreciate the reply.

Thanks for that Chickenrun, your approach to the ride ("disciplined touring") is pretty much the way I would like to do this around 3 years from now. Getting a month's work of leave from home and work may be a hard one to arrange but it needs to be done. Other than the unpaid leave, what do you reckon you need to budget for the month of the FC and what sortof training did you put in during the 6 months or so leading up to FC? Apologies for all the questions...we all follow the heroes but it's nice to hear from a "normal" okes point of view. Given a carte blanche what bike would you use?

These okes are absolute machines, what a pity Hillbilly is out the mix, I was looking forward to seeing how he measured up on a geared bike this year. Chickenrun what's the criteria (short version...no need for too much detail...) to be a able to enter? Qualifiers and conditionals as you mentioned above.

Lovely. Have any of you been using Stans hubs for a SS conversion? I was looking at the state of my Stans freebody when I changed cassettes on my geared bike recently and the cassette has chowed that soft alloy PROPERLY....I wanted to use the wheels on my SS but I'm not sure the freebody will be up to the job.

I had some issues with play on my Stans 3 30 hubs...are you on the same? If so and rebuilding the wheel and replacing the bearing doesn't sort out the play, there's a bushing between the bearing and the hub body that may be worn...have had the same issue on mine, the LBS did not pick it up but consulted the reps who supplied a replacement part mahala and it sorted out my issues.

I'm sure there'll be some news on his blog shortly. http://glennharrisonsa.blogspot.com/2012

If this is the one you are looking at I've seen it....it's in brilliant nic and the guy who owns it rides like a granny, that is if you can actually get him onto the bike at all. I know this because every time he brings his two year old to come and play with my two year old we bitch and moan about how little we get to ride compared to how much we used to, mostly because of aforementioned two year olds. https://www.bikehub.co.za/classifieds/29980-specialized-stumpjumper-26er-fsr-comp-2011-dual/ Great bike for playing, singletrack etc and if you're not going for a win more than light enough for K2C and a few other races.

Sounds eina. Keep cushioning on a rigid bike in mind. I've been running a 2.3 WTB Exiwolf at a very low pressure on the front of my rigid SS and wouldn't go for much less than that where we live....the extra volume helps a lot on rocky and rooty descents.