Brad@TheRiot

Does anyone on here have a road frame with horizontal dropouts for me? One catch though, it has to be really small.... like traditional 46, 47 or 48cm centre to top??? Or, do u know anyone who might have? I'm desperate!

They should focus more on making decent suspension, and less on sexy women to help them out. In a perfect world they would do both!

darnijl - what DH bike do you ride? I reckon it's all personal preference. For most recreational cyclists, I reckon a 2x8 would great. No need for the 44, they're not racing... and the 8spd would last longer (chains &rings etc). IMO, 3x9 is more of a marketing ploy than 2x10 is. I run s/s, 32/16 and I love it. Mostly commuting and a bit of spruit riding (more than adequate for the Spruit). I'd enjoy it at fountains and van Gaalens too. Anything more hilly than that, and I'd prefer a 36 to a 11-34 with a chain guide. That should be good

There is nothing wrong with the Taiwan made bikes, in many cases they're better than what comes out of the USA. They manufacture so many bikes, that they can invest the capital in machines required to build better parts. That Kwela looks good Brad@TheRiot2009-09-03 00:05:05

MRP G2 is on it's way Brad@TheRiot2009-09-02 08:23:20

Hope Tech M4's, or Saint.

Cheers! I crashed super hard in my last practice run, gave myself some whiplash (soft collar is so irritating now). Managed second place in the Elite class. At Bakkies: That's rad wheelset, pretty much what I am running. Super stoked on them!

Got some new toys: http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08839Small.jpg http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08849Small-1.jpg http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08848Small.jpg Boxxer World Cup, NOS. '07 I think. I'm loving this work. I weigh so little, so the air fork works well for me. I don't miss the sound of the coils rattling in my old Boxxer http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08844Small.jpg Sunline direct mount stem. Direct mounts are the answer. Lighter, stiffer, can't slip, lower stack height! http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08845Small.jpg WTB Devo saddle. Ti rail (light ), but most importantly it's nice and short. Long saddles make XS bikes look weird. http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08840Small.jpg Saint (old) cranks, 165mm. I still need a few things before I'm satisfied. The chain device is not mine. I borrowed it for the race on Sunday. I have a E13 LG1 but the taco touches the frame. So I've ordered a MRP G2, that should work. I still want the Sunline bars to match my stem. But Rush don't have the V1 flat bar, so I'll have to wait. Lastly, I want a short cage Saint rear derailleur. The 105 is just too sloppy.

Nice one. Excuse my ignorance , but what's that frame made of?

5 yr warranty. I reckon it's worth it!

X7 and X9 will ok. But, it's not just about the money. It's about what your riding style requires. If something does not work, save for something better. I work as bike mechanic/salesman. Far from loaded. But I spend what I need to on my bike, even if it means waiting a bit longer for better stuff. I'm running a 105 rear der, but it slaps around too much. Saving for Saint. Life's too short to ride sh*t!

SLX is designed for all mountain/trail riding. It is hard wearing, more so than Deore. But it's by no means a DH groupo. As far as I know, the SLX CWS does not come in a 83mm bb shell option, so it wont even fit on most DH frames. I also doubt that you can get it in a short cage option. If medium cage was available, it would be sort of ok... if you were running an easy ratio cassette, like a 11-32 or similar. But if you were to run a close ratio cassette like say a 11-23, then you'd need a short cage derailleur. Road derailleur's are available in close ratios, but they not as hard wearing as MTB derailleur's. More importantly, they don't feature "shadow" technology... so the derailleur bounces forward and slaps against the frame and slackens the chain tension. These are things that you do not want to happen The SLX shifter will work with a Saint derailleur, but the shifting is not as crisp as Saint with Saint is. In a nutshell... NO! SLX is not for DH.

Firstly, free riding and DH are very different. DH bikes have lots of travel but are built as light as possible. Free ride bikes are built to last and take big hits. In some cases they're also quite pedalable (in terms of a small amount of climbing). I know that in parts of the UK guys run 7" bikes for a DH, even with single crown forks. It's because there tracks are less steep and/or less technical. But all the world cup guys are running 8" plus bikes with triple clamp forks, because they're riding on tracks that require a bike that can soak up insane rock gardens and deep braking bumps etc. I chatted to one guy who believed that 7" was enough "for most SA tracks". But he was 40sec's of the winning time at Mankele (on a 7" fork)... so I'm not sure about that. I think 170mm in the rear is ok for free riding and certain DH course. But remember, that it depends what you're trying yo get out of the bike. Also, the mm measurement is not the be all and end all of what makes a frame... the rest of the geometry is really important as is the actual build strength. Consider that an Ibis Mojo is 6" bike, but it's far from being a free ride or DH bike. Even a Santa Cruz Nomad has 160mm of rear wheel travel, but it too is far from a DH bike or serious free ride bike.

I disagree. For DH racing, you actually want the bike to be balanced. For the record, suspension is not there to sort out your lack of talent when jumping off things. It's there to soak up bumps and rocks etc. It's a common misconception, people seem to believe that full suspension bikes are for jumping. Wrong. Think about BMX'ers, trials riders and MTB jumpers... the MTB jumpers only run front suspension (if they're not running a h/tail), that suspension is to soak up small bumps at the trails (dirt jumps). BMX riders do 360's down 20 stairs and land smoothly. It's in technique, not suspension. A suspension bike would break, because it woud no doubt bottom out. Free riders use 160+mm bikes because they're riding rough terrain, not because of the size of the drop offs that they're doing. If you run a fork that is too long for the rear end then you'll be slacking up the head tube angle. Two problems there: firstly, the geometry changes and the bike will not handle as it is supposed to. Secondly, you run the risk of snapping the head tube off - as you slacken the head tube, so more stress is at the head tube/down tube junction. If the bike is not meant to run so slack, the chance are that the frame will not hold up.

Ride to work.

Nice one Hog! Just be careful on the left line at the Spruit! That table top is alright, but the rest of the jumps are dangerous. They're step down jumps and the spacing's not right. Jumps in a set should get longer or stay about the same length. Those get shorter Step down jumps can cause really sh*tty OTB crashes... nobody likes a scorpion grind

It's definitely quite a bit different. It rides deeper in it's travel' date=' and you can feel the bb is lower. I'll be changing to 165mm cranks. Running 170's now, but I'm only 5'2", so the 165's will be great. The bike definitely corners better than the DH Team, probably due the lower bb and riding deeper in the travel. You can afford to run more sag, seen as you have 0.8" more travel anyway. What I do miss is having more options on the Swinger. On the DHX 4.0, I have rebound, compression and Propedal adjustments. On the Swinger I had high & low speed compression, bottom out resistance, air, rebound, compression (by coil). So you could fine tune the ride a bit better. I will probably upgrade to a DHX 5.0, which has bottom out resistance. The 2010 Glory is gonna be a whole new animal... [img']https://assets.bikehub.co.za/legacy_images/smilies/smiley2.gif[/img] They were stripped, lowers resprayed (with new OEM decals) and they had a full service. My mate Jon has them on his Boot'r (where the 888 came from).

I might put my Boxxer back on the DH team (will run a new Boxxer), then the Bomber will be available. It runs a short steerer tube, for integarated frames and direct mount stem setup. If you measure your stack height, PM me and I'll let you know the length of this steerer.

I took this Glory: http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/cid_090814_172955.jpg Used my old bike, plus new rims & a lot of TLC and got to this: http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08807Small.jpg http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08803Small.jpg http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08805Small.jpg A few more new bits to come... watch this space Here's what I'm building up to sell: http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n130/hellchops/DSC08810Small.jpg Will post pics in the classifieds when done.

That is frikken rad! Particularly cool song!

I'll be selling the Giant DH Team as a complete bike. But there will be some left overs' date=' so far: Race Face 40t (I think) Race Face bash ring Easton EA70 bars Easton Vice stem There will prob be some more too... will see when I'm done. I'll post pics and prices when I'm sorted [img']https://assets.bikehub.co.za/legacy_images/smilies/smiley2.gif[/img] The bike was in DBN. I bought it from LL Cool J (Lloyd Ramsay).