Morwa

Hubber, a quick question on the Shimano I-Spec mount. Are all the I-Spec mounts the same?....meaning will the new SLX I-Spec shifters fit on the XT brake levers? or will the XTR I-Spec shifters fit on the new XT brake levers? Are these interchangeable?

Did my first K2C on Sunday. Just over 6 hours! Respect to all the guys and gals with the sub 4 time! The final nail in my coffin was the Simola (hope spelling is OK?) hill at the end! But....I'll be back next year! Awesome ride and the atmosphere was great. One thing I took home was, that here in the Free State we have no hills.... and the local "koppie" is not a HILL! Next year my preperation MUST include hills..... and one last thing.... the silly idea of converting my current 3x10 to 2x10 flew out of the window on my way back.... I BONDED with my granny!

Mongoose, I'll PM you... But thanks those adapters are going to look awesome on my XTR Race crank!

I hear you TNT.... but all of the "kama sutra" positions start on your knees..... BEGGING to have sex!

Sorry TNT...... die Brits is bietjie rof vir 'n boer... Gaan ophou oefen vir 'n rukkie....

Hubbers, News on the knee. The pain is still there and I'm going to lay of training for the next two weeks. Next race is Karoo-to-coast, so I hope knee will have recovered a bit. I've also redone my bike fit. This time by Retul, so bike setup is spot on. Guys in Woodmead are doing the Retul fit (www.retul.com) in SA. Must say very technical and probably the most comprehensive bike fit I have done to date. I've went to my GP today and had some X-ray's done on the left knee, and I'm seeing a Orthopedic surgeon in October (the quickest I could get an appointment!!!). Surprising result from the x-rays is that my right leg is 11mm shorter than my left leg. Could the length difference of 11mm be the issue? Any Hubbers that are sitting with the same issue? How do I "compensate" for the 11mm?

At least we have bragging rights on the fact that we can see what we breathe. Not that bad at the moment.....and a huge improvement on the air quality in the last 10 years. Especially from the industries side......but we will alway sit with the domestic coal burning from the informal settlements.... that is actually the biggest problem! Back to riding..... We are going to do a 80km on Saturday (dirt road between the farms in the region). LSD to get hours on the saddle for the Karoo-to-Coast ride on the 23rd of Sept. Welcome to join... Always cold beer afterwards!

MTB Hein, PM me your mobile number. I'll give you a call. Not a lot of mountains.....but there's some nice trails along the Vaalriver.

OK, thanks for the replies. I'm back from the physio. Her diagnosis is also very vague....and she used a lot of medical terminology which I didnt understand. But the long and the short is lucky for me not a worn out cartridge! It's an allignment issue or muscle imbalance issue as CycleJunkie noted. My muscle on the ouside of my leg, joining at the kneecap is very stiff pulling my patella towards the outside of my leg. That forces the kneecap to "slide" not within the "normal path", causing the pain. The physio also suggested to see a Bio-kineticist to assess the power and allignment imbalances between the legs, and help with stretches. And....the normal "rest" the knee. But that is going to influence my current Karoo-to-Coast training. Now, just to find a "good" Bio-kineticist in the region????? Damn.... I'm going to miss the Myprodol "high's" while training. @FacePlant, thanks for the comment PJ.... but I doubt that that is the issue since my saddle is the same height as the previous frame, but I'll play around with different heights.

TX for all the replies. My cleat position stayed the same....since I'm using the same shoes and cleats relative to my old frame. So I doubt that to be the issue. My old stem had a 0° angle, where the new 100mm stem has a 6° angle which I piointed downwards. That could be a problem, but the height difference would be very small. I agree on the muscle balance issue, but would an "inbalance" occur in such a short tome period? Bergbok.... I'm thinking more in the line of..... ageing is not for "sissies".... in my case!

Hubbers, I need some advise please! I've changed my frame on me 29er, but the effective top tube length (horizontal) between the old and the new frame is identical. I've had my bike fitted by CycleFit so all the settings between the old and new frame is identical. The only thing that I changed was going from a 110mm stem to a 100mm stem on the new frame. The reason for this was, that I felt that I needed a bit more agility from the handlebars (steering). Since the change has been made, I'm struggling with knee pain (front of the knee, under knee cap) on my left knee. Could the stem change (10mm) resulted in this injury? I'm having difficulty to understand why the stem change could results in this sudden knee pain. I'm seeing a physio today to uderstand the injury, if it's the tendon or a joint injury.

Very nice indeed!!! Congrats! I've send you a pm.

TX Tankman for the reply and pic!

Tankman.... That's strange indeed! I've been on the Shimano cycling website this morning... M985 cranks only comes in a 40-28T/ 42-30T/ 44-30T setup. Spoke to my LBS this morning as well.... looking for pricing on XTR chainrings .... Hmmmm. LBS told me 40-28T is the "lowest" ration that will work on the M985 cranks. The XT's has 38-26T rings, but according to my LBS....will not fit the M985 cranks.

TX for the replies!

Hubbers, I'm currently running a 3x10 2012 XT setup on my 29er. Itching to upgrade my cranks to maybe a 2x10 setup. I see that the XTR M985 cranks only comes in a 40-28T/ 42-30T/ 44-30T setup. I dont have the legs for a 40-28T setup. Why no 38-24T like in the XT series?

This is one of my "dream" bikes.... One day for sure! And for 2013 Pivot is releasing a Carbon Mach 429.... http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/pivot-and-bh-new-2013-mountain-and-road-bikes-34736/

@Grondpad, Here you go.... 1. http://www.hongfu-bikes.com/html_products/29ER-FULL-SUSPENSION-263.html 2. http://dengfubikes.com/product.asp?id=36&classid=23 and an very good site for info: http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/dual-suspension-chinese-carbon-29er-737952.html

I use SRAM 10 speed "master links" (black one's) on my XT chains all the time. No issue.... so far. Much easier than the stupid "chain breaker" to remove the chain.

Does the entry come with a complimentary bottle of Diemersfontein Pinotage? Then I'm in.....!

@Vinny The headset is not the issue here. The Hope reducer is basically a top hat shape, sized to fit onto your 1 1/8" fork crown, with an outside diameter sized to take your 1.5" crown race. You then use the 1.5" crown race from your headset over the top of the Hope reducer. Your headset will, effectively, see a 1.5" tapered fork when it's fitted. My main issue is the “play” between the reducer and the fork steerer. Like I mentioned there is about a 1.5mm gap between the reducer and the steerer, and I would have preferred a tighter fit. I just wondered if somebody else had the same issue?

Any hubbers with experience with this Hope Tapered 1.5 Reducer (crown)? I bought the reducer from a well known and respected online shop in SA. When I got the reducer, it had a natural aluminium color, and not the black color as posted on the site. So I Hope it is a genuine Hope product (pun intended). Anyway, last evening when I tried to install the reducer on my current 1 1/8” fork (after removing my current crown race) I was amazed to see how much “play” there is between the reducer and the fork steerer (almost 1 to 1.5mm). Isn’t the reducer supposedly be a “tight” fit on the steerer, the same as the crown race on the steerer? Would the gap/space between the reducer and the fork steerer jeopardize anything? The new 1.5” crown race is a fitting perfectly on the Hope reducer though. Any ideas?

It's now 8 degrees at 13:20 in the Vaal. We had a good rain shower. Tomorrow is going to be very cold and muddy!

TX Azonic! Indeed a beauty. Never realised stickers are so expensive!

I'm riding! Ok venue has changed from the hotel to showgrounds. Where can we pick up the numbers on Saturday? Also at the showgrounds or the hotel?