Brian Fantana

I have a Dakine Session 8 L pack as well which works great for races and shorter rides.

I am also a proud owner of a Dakine AMP25 pack. The other day we did a 118km Karoo training ride for Transbaviaans. My friends were very annoyed with me at our halfway stop when I pulled out two boerie rolls and a 500ml Coke while they had to chew their jungle bars. In addition to this I also pack a lot of tools and tyre repair items in it. I have helped many people next to the trail, which is something I love. And this specific pack is extremely comfortable. I have done 6 rides longer than 100km with it and I did not once feel that it is uncomfortable or too big.

I agree 100%. I think I have posted this before but Empire bicycles have manufactured a 3D-printed titanium bike frame last year which is full strength and rideable: http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb10612559/p4pb10612559.jpg http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb10612553/p4pb10612553.jpg http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb10612553/p4pb10612553.jpg This is the normal Aluminium model: http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb10612552/p4pb10612552.jpg

At Attakwas this year, Manuel Fumic had an Evoc saddle bag and there were a few of the Bulls Team riders with saddle bags as well. The plus for them is that they get new stuff every year, so durability is not an issue for them. I don't like to have stuff attached to my bike and therefore, I prefer to use one of my hydration packs. They are always packed with all the tools and gear I require, it is just a matter of filling up with water and off I go.

This will not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is definitely an interesting way of manufacturing a long travel bike frame. Ribisu, mountain bikes with the frames CNC machined from solid aluminium. Apparently a block with a weight of approximately 100kg of aluminium is used to manufacture the frame. They will obviously recycle the waste material in order to make the process worthwhile.

Took the Ball'nChain out for our last long ride before Transbaviaans:

The only sensible saddle bag ever made:

I am no expert, but from what I have read, it is more a diagnostic tool than anything else. It will expose uneven extractions quickly, which will enable you to diagnose the problem. Have a read here: http://www.home-barista.com/naked-extraction.html http://www.home-barista.com/weiss-distribution-technique.html From what I understand, uneven extractions are commonly caused by lack of distribution (the puck varies in density in different areas of the puck).

Yes

It looks like an awesome ride. Similar geometry as the Bronson with single pivot simplicity, and as far as I understand, very well priced.

If your device has a basemap installed it can calculate your altitude by using your position (obtained from triangulation) and interpolation between contour lines. So it uses triangulation indirectly to obtain altitude. I agree with your advice to reset/calibrate a barometer regularly.

http://media.giphy.com/media/13ACgPjxw4WwlW/giphy.gif

In 2011 I started riding a 150mm travel trail bike after riding and racing XC bikes for 5 years before that. After a few weeks of riding the 150mm trail bike both my 29" hardtails were in the classifieds and were sold within a few days. I am still on the same bike and ride everything with it, XCO, XCM, Trail AM etc. I have done a few road races on it as well. Since I started riding the trail bike I have stopped using the heart rate monitor and speedometer, and I have kinda lost the competitive streak I had. I do push the limits of my skills on every ride though. I did Attakwas this year on my 13.5kg 150mm bike and my time was only 15min longer than what it was in 2011 riding a 10kg 29" hardtail with similar fitness. Trail bikes have opened the door to whole new world of mountain biking to me. I can probably ride all my current favourite obstacles and technical sections on a XC bike, but the trail bike inspired the confidence to get me to the level I am currently at.

I think he was riding a hardtail this time. Still a Momsen though.

Maybe not full on navigation, but you can add routes to the unit and it can show your position in relation to the selected route: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/images/2011/08/garmin-edge-200-in-depth-review-91-thumb.jpg

I use an iOS app called MAPP. You can open gpx files with it from email. It shows your position in relation to the route with cellular data turned off. It runs really smooth, and I have downloaded topographical maps with contour lines for the entire South Africa for R32. I only use it on long exploration rides, and when cellular data is turned off battery life is great, and I have a cigarette box sized power bank for back up as well. The app can also record routes and navigate you on those routes when you ride them again. Example of how it looks like, it will show your position as a blue dot:

Absorbing some winter sun:

Yes, due to the slacker head angle you will drop a few millimeters on your front end, and in turn the BB. My Revelation has an axle to crown of 529mm and with the 68º HA it gives a perpendicular distance of 490.5mm between the axle and the crown. If I slacken my 68º head angle by 1.5º, the perpendicular distance from will change to 485.1mm which is a 5.4mm drop on the front end of the bike. The BB drop will be less. The BB drop will be in the shape of an arc around your rear axle. You will have to convert this drop to an angle (by using abovementioned drop and distance from rear axle to crown), and by using the distance between the BB and the rear axle you will be able to calculate what the drop in BB height will be. The offset shock bushes can cause a big BB drop. My bike has a rear suspension leverage ratio of 2.9. If the eccentric shock bushes are mounted in a way to slacken the bike with an offset of say 3mm it means that my rear suspension will sit into the first (2.9 x 3) 8.7mm of its travel. This means that your rear wheel will travel further and closer to the frame at the end of the stroke. So unless you reduce the stroke of your shock, you will need to be very certain that your rear wheel will not touch the frame and cause damage when you bottom out. In my very personal opinion it is better to just ride the hell out of the bike you have, and if you want a bike with different geometry, it is easy, just buy a different frame, and ride the hell out of that bike as well!!

Cycleops also has an app, that can be used with the Powertap Powercal Bluetooth. It is about R1200 for the Powercal strap, and the app will display heart rate and calculated power on the iphone screen. Here is a review of the PowerCal: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/11/cycleops-powercal-in-depth-review.html

It is awesome, but I am not so sure about that $ 8 700-00 price tag for the complete bike.

In my limited experience, I can also say that things go South from two weeks past roast date, but I assume storage plays an important part. I have also found that coffee is vey Intense for a day or two after roasting. Friday after work, I popped in at Masterton's and the one type of bean I bought was scooped from the roaster into the bag. I had two doubles when I got home at about 18:00. Could only sleep by about 03:00 am (I am usually not affected by a double or two in the evening).

Clinics will only teach you that much, unless you dedicate an hour or 2 per week to train your skills and apply theory on the trail, a clinic on its own won't make you a better rider. The following videos have helped me a lot over the last two years, but the key was to train, train, train and apply theory on the trail. A quick and fun way to improve your skills exponentially is Pump Track riding. Find your nearest one and ride it once a week for 30min or so.

The main problem is marthon/half marathon type races (XCM). One of the race organisers here in the Eastern Cape has a technical and endurance grading system in one: http://www.mountainevents.co.za/about/mtb-course-grading-system If all the trails in SA are graded and marked as per IMBA standards and race organisers are familiar with trail grading, they can actually colour code the route profiles. On the profile the line can be red where the trail is challenging enough and green where it is gravel road or jeep track. Drop offs, rock gardens or jumps can be indicated with a black diamond or similar. The colour coded route profile will indicate the technical difficulty as well as the physical (strength/endurance) difficulty through the distance and gradient indicated. This problem will persist in years to come, but it is up to trail owners/managers and race organisers to tackle this problem and make it work.

There already is an internationally recognised trail grading system in place. https://www.imba.com...ficulty-ratings. Trail owners/managers must start to implement it and also become members of AMA-Rider, the SA affiliate of IMBA. Personally, I believe it should be law for every trail to be affiliated with IMBA and to comply with IMBA regulations and trail gradings at all times.

That's how he trolls rolls.