Brian Fantana

Intense Tracer 29, 275, 26:

Orange Five, 29, 650b, 26

It is almost here!!!!

At X-Games, in the Moto-X best trick category you can see gyroscopic forces in action. In certain tricks, riders will gas it at a specific position in the air. The rapid acceleration of the rear wheel generates gyroscopic force, which is needed in order to help them get into proper position for the next, flip/360/landing. However, this only helps while they are in the air, while they are on the ground, I am not sure how big an effect the gyroscopic forces will have to help keep the balance.

Without arguing with any of the previous posts, I believe that it is not only your body that keeps your bike upright when you are riding at higher speed, lets say 20km/h +. Your bike geometry, especially the head angle will help you as well. The fact that all bikes I know of have head angles slacker than 90º dictates that a bike will "try" to keep itself straight when travelling at a fair speed. The head angle of a bike is similar to the Kingpin Inclination angle on a car, which is where the self centering action of a car's steering comes from. Imagine trying to ride no hands with a bike with a 90º head angle, it will be very challenging. However, the forces described above are small relative to the weight of the rider (weight not mass). So although the head angle plays a part to keep the bike upright, the intuitiveness(which is a very natural thing) of the rider plays a bigger role in keeping the bike upright.

I hope those district road riders who present Supercycling watched yesterday. About two weeks ago they had their mouths full about 29ers for downhill, and then they said : "If you thought 29ers are not for downhill watch the following" and then they showed the highlights from Sea Otter where Gwin won on the Specialized Enduro 29. All you can do is sigh :wacko:

V12 uses cartridge bearings while the V8 uses cup and cone bearings.

Mine works, on my phone via WiFi.

That is correct, you need to decide between an XC bike and a trail bike. An XC bike will in most cases have 100mm travel front and rear, with a head angle in the range of 71º-72º. The ride will be quite responsive and the geometry is quite aggressive(racing geometry), but a proper bike setup should sort you out. A trail bike will have 120-140mm of travel front and rear, and the head angle will be in the region of 67.5º-70º. These bikes have a confidence inspiring geometry instead of pure racing geometry. Make no mistake, a trail bike can still be raced. The type of riding you want to do will dictate which is best for you. If you want to race marathons and aim for podium in your age category, an XC bike is a no brainer. If you are not aiming to race competitively, but want a bike that will increase your confidence and push the limits of your skill on technical trails, I will recommend a trail bike. These days trail bikes light enough to do the odd race as well. I don't think you should let the tar training sessions influence your decision. These days all the full suspension bikes in the price class you are looking at, have platform/floodgate adjustments on the fly, which means that you can firm up the suspension by flicking a lever, and you can inflate your tyres to a higher pressure for your midweek tar sessions. But imo you should not compromise on your bike's trail ability in order to have a better ride on tar.

I think GLovesMTB's post was quite logical? The Giant Anthem crack prone area might be solved with the newer frames, which is the only point one can argue, if you really want to. The rest makes perfect sense.

A great dual suspension 29er is the Ellsworth Evolve, the suspension on that thing is amazing!!! Might be a challenge to keep the total cost below 30k though. If you want a low maintenance dual suspension 29er, Santa Cruz Superlight 29 is an option.

Keep an eye on special offers, Rockshox Reba RLT is great value for money, and it is a great performing fork.

It is easy to obtain the weights of your cassette, rotors, tyres and sealant. Subtract the sum of the above mass from the total mass and see how it will compare to a crest wheelset. If the difference is less than 300g, you should perhaps pursue a different weight saving scope, such as the fork. Depending on your current fork, you can easily save 500-600g on a fork, and the fork will be more tuneable and will most probably improve the ride of the bike as well.

Aluminium should be TIG welded, preferably AC TIG or AC squarewave TIG. In certain applications helium is incorporated with the Argon in order to obtain correct shielding. The above means serious $$$. Way better to have an expert do it for you, than buying a welder yourself. We have a few artisans at our plant who weld Aluminium very well, but those are usually thick plates, and the components are not exposed to the type of stress like you will find in a MTB frame. On a MTB frame, the heat treatment is crucial. But in the end a MTB frame is a relative inexpensive item, and a crack is a good excuse for an upgrade ( my opinion of course).

So sad. He and his brother loved training on that road, especially with Transbaviaans approaching. Spud, my condolences to you and the rest of the family. Colin's positive attitude on the trails will be missed.

At this moment I am not sure what happened.

It is a sad day in the Bay. Dirty Twin, Colin Heydenrych, passed away. RIP fellow mountain biker.

Brendan " loose as a goose" Fairclough

+1 on that. RedbullTV has the only mtb shows that I want to watch.