Tatt

Have been offered an Xfusion Revel at a reasonable price... I think an upgrade might be in order if SWMBO agrees (can't go with the kitchen and iPad this time!). Tom

I'd save my pennies for a Max... But I also really loved my 110... Sizing (based on my height of 185cm). Said this before somewhere here I think. Knowing what I know now, if I was buying my 110 again I would have gone with an XL instead of an L and the shortest stem possible. I ran 760 bars on my bike and the same 50mm stem that I have on my Max. Running 780's on my Max and it feels a lot better for me (except on single track in forest, then life becomes scary!). Tom

It worked for me... My Stage cost me close on R450k... Most expensive bicycle I've ever bought!

Just buy her a new kitchen and an IPad - it worked for me...

From my experience the warranty service is superb. They went out of their way to fix my old bike at no cost when the second owner had an issue. Not sure you'd get that with anyone else, and the bike had also been serviced by non-authorised dealers during its 2 year stay with me. Tom

Just been looking at a video of the Trocadero Fixie. .. That looks like an interesting bike! Tom

Just happened to be riding past when this pic was taken by Chris Opperman..

Actually never thought about it! Have done Tankwa and Epic like that with no issues. Will have a look at a mates Stage to see if mine are lower than his. Tom

Getting its 2000 kay service, so only have these pics at the moment.. And I don't have a clue why the uploader is turning my pics upside down now! Tom

I've got the most amazing pic with me on my Stage in the background. Will post it if I get permission to use it! Otherwise you can search Chris Opperman on FB - the dude takes stunning pics! Not as good or high up the leaderboard as LK, but for a backmarker the Max was superb. Probably around 10 Stages in the race altogether. Tom Tom

I use specialized side entry and camelbak bottles. They've just rattled around for 600 kays and didn't lose one. Tom

Brilliant bike! Got a brief post a few pages back on my experience so far. Very chuffed with it! Tom

Have had a 110, and have both the 120 (daugjters bike) and the Stage. Pricing: shop around, the 120 was old stock found gathering dust at a bike shop and I picked it up for a very good price. So what if it doesn't have the latest decals... Climbing: nothing beats a full floating suspension for grip and batting above its level. Many others have done a Porsch 911 and gone the route of trying to fix a rubbish suspension design with expensive tricks and wizardry.. 110: amazing bike, and I was a reluctant seller. If I was to get another, I'd spec it with a 140 Pike and 2x11or wait to see what the pricing is going to be on the Shimano 46-11 cluster (I am useless uphill). Stage: done just over 1000 kays on it in the last month. Amazing bike! Using the same build spec as my 110, except gone 2x instead of 3x. Front end is much more playful and easier to lift than on the 110. Haven't bottomed it out yet, but do use all the travel. Under the right person it will climb like a goat (i.e. someone around 45kgs lighter!).

Max frame is around R38k. With the Rand being all over the place it might have changed a bit... Rest of build is up to you, but you're looking at somewhere between R75k and R100k in total. A 110 build shouldn't be more than R40k if you shop around for parts. Tom

You might also want to Google Talac B2 Dual Bottle Cage. They are a Yankee company that over-under cages instead of side by side. Tom

Just put the second bottle in one of your shirt pockets. Much cheaper.. And also allows you to still use your dropper post.. Having said this, there was a dude on Tankwa last weekend with a side by side bottle holder. Not sure if it messed with his peddling. Tom

Annoyed... Mucked up my plans of taking a casual cycle across to UCT for the prologue. Tom

Flippin scary stuff.. It begs the question then why do the Epic's official medics then have banned medicines with them, and if they are handing them out at waterpoints shouldn't they be alerting the user or initiating the TUE? By the way, I'd never heard of Advil before, and definitely wasn't going to spend anytime Googling it! And yes I know, I shouldn't have carried on riding, but there was not a hope in hell I was going to give up.. Tom

Was going to ask this question, but from a slightly different point of view. .. Did the Epic a few years ago, and got myself a very decent cold by the Wednesday. . Was given panado by the medics to bring down the fever. On the Thursday at the waterpoint medic tents I was given Advil. So the question is what is the legality of this? If I had been tested would I have been banned? And no, it didn't help my performance as we came 515th out of 520 something finishers! Tom

Helicopter tape on the Max..... My first carbon bike, so learning slowly. Have noticed a few chips in the paint from stones on the rear of the seat post, so I'm guessing a line of Helicopter tape will stop this. Other than that, done around 700 great km's on my bike! Tom

Got side entry Specialized on mine. Works very well, except for the cheap bottles you get in goodie bags.

Upgraded from a Revelation to a Pike 3 weeks ago. It is amazing, and yes I got stung almost R17k for it.. Tom

Second the above - 130 is the minimum you should be running. Tom

Buy her a new kitchen, it worked for me! Tom

Will be riding from PMB to Cape Town at Xmas in 2 years time - have two volunteers who will be joining me.. Will be heading to Notties Himeville over the hill into Lesotho and out the other side. We will be prebooking some BnB's, but also have some family enroute. Would love to do it sooner, but its my 50th present to myself and we only do KZN every other Xmas.. Tom