brussel

Both rides are non technical the only caveat is the descent needs to be taken with caution as there are some holes and washouts but any roady should be able to do it

yip I left early did get the prizes tho! pity I missed the trophy

holy crap that ride was hard. the last 40 km had a strong headwind for a few km and then hills and more hills I thought the finish would never come and I was pretty finished when it did!

you can get all the bearings for the wheels from rushsports.co.za for R250 it does both hubs with good quality enduro bearings. I raced the 100 miler on my hub after my repair that cost me nothing all I did was bend the spring...so far so good

that is exactly what happened with mine Tarmac

weight weenie if you take off the body you will see the spring, look to see if has obvious wear, or on the plate behind it that locates the pawls. Then reassemble, on mine when I reassembled if I pushed the freewheel in tightly against the hub it was OK. but if I pulled it even a 10th of a millimeter away it stopped engaging because the spring was not applying enough pressure to rotate the plate. Hope that is clear enough

bugger that would make more more than pissed what was the issue eventually with it?

having looked at mine now what seems to be the issue is that the end of the spring on the body is flat, like it has worn down from running across the plate. I think it may originally have been round (as if the spring had been cut by a pair of scissors) I think what happened with mine is that it was JUST engaging, one or two non engagements and the wear suddenly becomes enough to create a major issue. I think I might replace the body. 90 minute drive to race + entry + 90 minute drive back makes me more than a little pissed

so I ride the MTN marathon race this morning and 15km in freewheel goes...it had a couple of strange non-engagements earlier in the week. I opened it up and the only thing that seems to be the issue is that the spring that engages the plate does not seem to be engaging well. is this a common issue? I have bend the spring so that it engages with a little more force and it seem to be OK now. but will this be a permanent fix?

should be able to. shifting might suffer a bit. sram also have a system where the chain can sit on both 26 and 39 tooth at same time making shifting very very good....you'll lose that with the 42

I have done exactly the same on my AC rim, the issue is that my ding is so bad there is a noticeable dent in the rim bed as the impact happened exactly on a spoke hole. Also the hollow body of the rim has bulged quite noticeably. I have managed to gently get the dent on the lip of the rim mostly out. but I am concerned about the bend in the bed and sidewall. So when does one consider the rim as toast?

well look at it like this: triple up front with a 32 on the back lowest gears are: 22x32 gives 0.687 22x28 gives 0.785 22x24 gives 0.916 22x21 gives 1.047 with the double and a 36 28x36 gives 0.777 28x32 gives 0.875 28x28 gives 1.000 so effectively you will lose only one gear my problem is that on on a 29er you have to add 10% because of the increased wheel diameter so compared to a triple on a 26er you lose about 2.5 gears with a 28x36 combo as your lowest gear personally I dont like a 36 as the gear ratio's are too broad, too much of a jump with each shift, I prefer 32 most.

The spacing is minimally different..I have a mate (who because of stupidity) is using a 10 speed chain on a 9 speed setup where do you get the TA rings?

running 9 speed but that makes no diffs on a crankset. I run 34 on the back and where I ride I need 26 up front

I am currently riding an xt crank on a 29er and I have a blackspire chain ring giving me a 26 38 combo which is perfect for my needs. The only issue is that the blackspire does not shift all that well. The little steel pins that help the upshift lose their edge and the shifting sux. I have modified the pins and shifting is now better...but ultimately I need something more reliable. I race pretty seriously and I cannot have a drivetrain that does not accurately shift. so what options: x7 10 grams more than the x9 and about R600 cheaper x9 X0 and XX are way outside my pricerange the new 2012 XT only comes out in July and I have no idea on what pricing is going to be like what else is there?

I also rode the 8 day funride down in the Cape on my 29er hardtail and I was surprised at how good I felt at the end of each day. Sure it is harder than the full sus, but heck for 10k cheaper and the lack of maintenance. I rode behind a guy on a Gary Fisher and what I will tell you is that the back end of the bike was all over the show because of the flex in the frame, similar for many other FS 29ers too

as far as I know (and I did ride his bike some weeks back ) Karl Platt is riding the crest rims with racing ralph evo snakeskin tires...

nope it is a blackspire...works OK but not the best

no fixing that I am afraid...carbon splinters in @$$ are pretty uncomfortable as for the body breaking Hephaestus: only if it is less than three months old will they warranty it I had the same issue with a gobi

my baby

cant comment on the XT brakes but the XTR brakes are the best I have used...

I need a new crank....x9 or new XT sigh decisions, decisions

when is it gonna be available?

is this going to be televised?

I'm with velouria about the suffering. I've race road at elite level from single day stuff to 6 day multi stage events. Nothing comes even close to the suffering I put myself through on a MTB! Agree with others on the leg speed and also the 'jumps' that road racing brings about, MTB is more consistent effort over a long period of time road racing often has the stop start of the attacks and MTB riders will not replicate that - but as Velouria says a bit of training solves that!