Dicky DQ

It is due to the chainline. When pedaling forward there is tension between the Chainwheel and the casette, when you backpedal there is slack in the chain and the DR has a spring in it pulling it inwards. That is why it climbs up a gear or even 2. also you should not be dong small ring small ring riding anyway. It is just your drivetrain telling you not to do it.

As said before a hard tail is a hard tail. 29r is slightly better than 26 but only just. and it is not an extra xxxx" of travel. Maybe an inch if that much. The wheel is bigger sure, but bump absorption is still being done by the tire and there is not that much difference there.

Just because it is carbon it is not to say it is lighter than Alu. Fact! However plastic bikes tend to be better specked component wise these days so that may make the lighter. But comparing frames you will be quite surprised.

100-120km at 28 - 29km/h Brakenfell to somewhere up Franschoek Pass and back. But that is now while we are trying to get fit. Can't ride with the training groups just yet as I am too slow and fat.

Anyway fun was had on the keyboard instead of on the saddle, excuse the pun Johan.

Hi Johan, sorry my layman's terminology is probably wanting, as is my logic and experience. However, all I was getting at is: 1. Though axle technology does not provide any perceived benefit over QR 2. Tapered headset does not provide any percieved benefit over normal 3. 2:1 spoke lacing does not provide any percieved benefit over normal lacing Because, now with bigger wheels with more rubber and the opportunity to run lower pressures it all seems to be negated by the additional (flex, movement, whatever in the tire.) Just my observation...... Not scientific, measured etc. All that I know is the 26" tire with QR "moves less side to side" and thus feels More "safe/secure/rigid etc. but that is just me.

Have a beer on me Covie... I got to go get one myself and work out all this stuff, but hopefully other peeps will get insight........... or not.

Profile is the ratio of the sidewall vs the width of the tire.

?? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire ??

Anyway I am over and out...... I know what is and what is not, one day you peeps can show me the difference in a lab..

No it is not. This is also why when motor vehicle manufacturers try to get better performance out of their cars they opt for lower tire profiles. So again it (for Covie, does make a difference what happens away from the tire) the final amount of flex what what depends more on the tire than anything else.

Sorry that is where I miss the point, stupid me! the ground interacts with the rubber that is attached to this super rigid wheel set, through axle, tapered head tube etc. the marketing people will tell you how stiff everything is now, as long as you disregard the rubber. But in the real world that I ride in I can't. So save me 1mm flex at a cost of 20g and X K ZAR in the metal bits and give me an additional 1" flex in the rubber and I am going to notice it. If you can so be it.

Remember you can still prove 1 = 0 and visa versa. and as they say in Afrikaans "papier is geduldig, jy kan enige k@k daarop skryf"

OK stupid me... What has tire pressure to do with the debate??? I am doff so here is the way I see it. 1. You have a piece of steel (oops that also had flex, but let's ignore this for now, in the bigger scheme of things) 2. You put it vertically against the ground and apply side/vertical/etc. etc. forces to it. NOT MUCH HAPPENS! Unless the forces are quite large. 1.1 You take the sale piece of steel now you attach 3" of rubber (forget that it is thin rubber inflated with air.) 2.2 You apply the sames side/vertical/etc. etc. forces to it and it moves. The amount it moves can/could/would/should also be compounded by the flex/etc of the steel, but what where the real "movement" is happening is in the rubber. Simple enough for you? The more the rubber moves (i.e. the lower the tire inflation, the softer the tire sidewall is the more the movement is period) Your argument could ring true IF most people were changing from 29" QR to 29" through axle, and then only just, but......

Sorry to say I HAVE the new through axle and 29" tires. AND even at 4 bar tire pressure you can grab hold of the tire with your hand and move it between .5 and 1 inch side to side. I do not need any degrees or what what to see what is in fact happening where the rubber hits the road. Now drop the pressure to 1.7 bar and see what happens. So math/engineering degree et al is not needed. What it is is what it is! Unless you into marketing the ............... new way.

Marketing K@K!!! All this talk about having too low tire pressure and all. HOGWASH!! the big reason for going big wheels is to get an even lower tire pressure. So do the math, the lower the tire pressure the more the sidewalls will flex, period! I got all the new bits, tapered head tube, through axle, and what ever else. All a lot of cods wallop I say. Bottom line, you cannot take certain components out of a closed loop and say this or that is better XYZ. You have to consider the closed loop in it's entirety. The rest is marketing hype period! Another example is the "....." from Fulcrum Wheels with 2:1 spoke lacing. WTF! More spokes, heavier wheels, and why? is the drive side and/or the braking side not attached to the hub which will evenly distribute the force across the hub's width. Or do the "new through axles" make the hubs weaker so that there is now a twist some where??? What a load of.....................

Depends where you ride. If the going gets tuff SRAM. It just works. However the XT shadowline is better. XO is the business, with X9 a close second. I have just put on X9 RD and X7 levers. It is now probably the same as XT as X7 levers are not the same. But no matter what when chain starts to get warn and mud comes into it you want SRAM. However if you are a dirt roadie go for XT.

I am sure the R8's Lambos, Ferrari's Porches et al also use it.

I was looking to get one Good value if you like S!^tmano Grrrrr. But stock is only coming in month end. Could already be here. Pricing is about 4k less than Merida 3000. so I believe very good value! PS I got the Merida 3000 and changed to X9.

No worries I have them all now, just looking to see what is better. Can't find anything, Oh wait, with through axles; now if I take the wheels off to transport the bike in the car i have to watch out or the free-body falls out and I lose the bloody pals "spelling" (those ratchet thingys in the freebody)

Thanks to Fulcrum Wheels: "What is Two-to-One™? A system that is as simple as it is effective, the result of the ingenuity of the Fulcrum® engineers and attentive observation of the results of the tests performed on the wheels on a daily basis. These tests made it possible to understand that the forces that act on the sides of the wheel, and therefore on the spokes, are extremely different; but what’s more, the differences between the front and rear wheels are also evident and significant. The front wheel, in fact, has to remain stable even during braking of the disk on the left side, and the rear wheel, in addition to making room for the sprocket set, has to compensate for the traction of the force on the chain side. So how can we keep the wheel perfectly in balance even when it is stressed by braking and acceleration? By doubling the number of spokes and positioning them in such a way that, for each stress on one side of the wheel, there is an equal and opposite force on the other side. This may seem like a simple solution, but especially on harsh and demanding terrains like those of off-road riding, the 2:1 Two-to-One™ system is crucial for ensuring consistent control of your bike even in the most critical situations. Advantages: The advantages are truly striking. In braking, the front wheel maintains the desired trajectory and does not skid, while the rear wheel, precisely due to this spoking system, reaches a high level of torsional stiffness that enables the optimal transfer of power to the wheel. The 2:1 Two-to-OneTM system also makes it possible to reduce the unit load sustained by each spoke, and this minimises mechanical stress, prolonging the life of the wheel." Keep the Wheel in Balance...........

there fixed

10 hrs a week is more than enough if structured properly. Not may top 50 finishers do more than that. It is the quality that counts not quantity.

My thoughts.... What a lot o crock. And the reasons are, in no particular order; Tapered Headset, Special Lefty design, Though Axel, all good and well making those parts stiffer but, where the rubber hits the road it all depends on the stiffness of the tire sidewall, the profile of the tire and the pressure. If you are riding a 29r with non UST tires at 1.8 bar, there is Huge flex, lack of torsional stiffness etc. compared to a 26r with full UST running 4 bar. Bigger BB, same applies as above. and the latest Whoopla....., wait for it more spokes on the load/stress bearing side??? WTF?? E.g. Fulcrim 2:1 on the front wheel there are 2 spokes on the disk side compared to the non disk side. OK thinking about it, under breaking, the caliper grips the disk which is attached to the "new bigger through axle shaft", so maybe. Not! Can there really be so much of a difference between the stresses on the 2 sides? And on the back wheel the 2:1 ration is on the drive side, but the same thing applies here. Or am I wrong you gurus out there; please help this poor dude.

Guys, guys. It is all semantics. they just communicated the pricing wrong. what they should be saying is the cost of a wheel-build is X and if you buy all the parts from us there will be a discount of Y. I don't see the issue with this thinking at all. We do the same thing with some of the products we sell as a bundle of software and hardware. If the customer insists on supplying his own PC's we charge a surcharge as we always end up having to spend more time on the installation as we do not know what the state of the hardware is and etc. etc. we then also have to spend additional time on the job. Not exactly the same but similar.