kennyg

My flash carbon is a medium, and weighs in a 9.4kg with xtr pedals, 9.8kg with bottles and cages and pedals and marathon set up. I am 1.78m tall, the medium is a perfect fit, with the 100mm stem. The cannondale headset forms part of the lefty, so it doesn't change. I imagine it will be precey. 29er is a very different ride from 26er. Just finished Sani on mine and it was the perfect bike for the trails.

I broke an ally frame in a similar way in 2005, came off a drop only about 5 bricks high, at speed, the back wheel got caught on something and I landed with my full weight going forward on a front wheel that was going no where... The frame popped, with a ping, and I kissed the front wheel as I went over the bars, with the cabling holding me back. I was lucky to have a few big grazes, bruised knees/shins and a little whiplash.

Tumble weed is right... Use the rear wheel... I do... or run your garmin off the satelite. Ken

My wife loves mine... Busy saving for the second for her to ride... its a little big for her, but with a stubby stem it will be fine.She is 1.64m tall, riding my medium frame. She is a lot more confident, prefers the way it rolls, as she can't bunny hop, so popping the front a little is all she needs. She has always battled in the tight but is doing better on the 29er, climbing with a 27-36 and 29er is not her thing, but on the 24/36 crankset she is fine, if not under geared.

I was on a medium Sworks epic 26er - Am 1.79m. Bars were riser, 2 thin spacers, seat post on the minimum mark or 5mm extra in, I have ridden the medium Epic 29er, its a tight fit... I ride a medium c-dale at the moment. If you have a long upper body, you might prefer the large.

swopped to 29er ht from a dual fs... Actually prefer the 29er...

It was my second tri ever.... That mud was pretty mad... even managed my first big off on a 29er... hee hee... I really am no runner... seems like a fun sport...

10 speed is a little different... from Martin's comment My advice: 1. Walk into the bike shop, and ask them if they have common sense. 2. I do...Big ring front, Big cog at the back plus 4 links. A long cage mech should be able to take all the slack, a mid cage may need or dual sus may require an extra link short/extra depending on the setup. Small ring and small cog, should have the cage close to full retraction, big ring and big cog at the back should give you quite a good pull forward on the cage.

29er has been legal in xterra for a while now... Good one - Big wheel envy...

My answer would be no... The triathlon is already disadvantaging the strong swimmer. Normally the pecentage of time gained in the entire swim can be covered reasonably quickly. The race style benefits strong bikers and runners. On a normal split say 10-12% of the total race time is swim, 50 - 55% cycle, and 35-40 % of the race is the run. So if you swim 10% quicker than the next guy you only make 1% of the total race time better, so you can work the rest out from there.

38 16 or similar

I run mine at 110 Psi, the setup guide works on sag, with a 50/50 weight distribution you must have 30mm sag, or something like that.. its in the bike manual...

I went 2 x 10 on my 29er... DAM, I got a 27/40 crankset, let me tell you its fine here on the highveld, but no good for vicious climbs, its on an 11-36 cassette, the closest to granny this bike has is the 22(f)-28® of a 26 inch bike. I am looking at the second crankset option of 24/36, for Sabie, Sabie X, and the like... For now I just suffer...or push..

I suggest after honeymoon and wedding, a detailed weight control program will need to be implemented. Save the additional equipment money for the next full upgrade. The guys mentioning power to weight ratio are all correct: Look at the little sample: 80 kg and 320 w is your 4 watts per kg. 75 kg and 320 w say 4.25 watts per kg. With no extra leg power you are looking a 5.89 % improvement, in personal power output, maybe 5 kg is a lot for your frame, but losing a few kgs and gaining a few watts will have a similar effect. The advice of riding hills, that always works, but is not always possible, so look into develop/strengthening exercises for quads/hamstrings/calves/glutes will all improve climbing.

I rode both... The Flash is a lot lighter, more compliant, and a lot more on the price... I bought the flash... Nothing wrong X9, you aint earning your living from riding, the lefty is awesome...

I love my ZTR wheels, I had a 26 inch olympic set, they did 9000km and they still running strong, obviously, a few bearing sets have been through them, but they work. My 29er Arch wheels have been great, they built(tensioned) a little light for me, so they flex a little more than they should but tighten them up they won't go wrong.Currently, running schwalbe evo but going to swop to protection casings. I think the weight is coming from your tyres more than the rim setup. You won't be sorry, look at Kevin in the Epic, cost them huge, there is no way the 300g more would accumulate and equal time lost by carrying the weight. Think about it like this... 80 kg system - 320 watts... 4 watts per kg... 80.5kg system - 322 watts ... 4 watts per kg.. 2 watts translates to 0.00005 km/h delta in average speed, on your 80 kg system, which in an 3 hrs of riding, might be noticable...

Got to agree with Mampara... Carbon, is like 6 - 12 times stiffer than mild steel and in the region of 3-6 that of our best Aluminium. Thats based on equivalent weights. The carbon shell if layered correctly, in a BB 30 style will provide a really stiff light weight setup. In my opinion, the lay up of the integrated system is stronger and less likely to fail, than the inserted BB. I am not up to speed on who is doing what at the moment ito manufacturing, but Scott has a reputation for pushing the envelope weight vs reliabilty being my question, however, a company like Niner, will sacrifice a few grams and lean on reliability, as they are smaller and far more in a niche, where reliability could hurt there market share.

I run the Rock N roll extreme on my MTB and Road bikes... I deal with the dirt as it last well in a wide range of conditions. The other lube I run is the green goop of finish line wet, MTB in the wet...It lasts...

Get a lefty... stiff and light... The new conversion packs mean they can fit on more bikes...

I would go giant... I went hardtail, and tossed between the giant and the cannondale ht...went for the c dale... I think the giant dual is a great handling bike, was just 3 kg more than c dale.

I wouldn't go near the dams in JHB... Now imagine this.... all the sewage leaking in Northcliff, Melville,Bergbron, etc, eventually ends up there. May as well train in Harties if you ask me. Sure the high rainfall is great for washing it out, but it washes more stuff in. I use Buffels, or the vaal.

26 or 29 26 just gonna push a few sections, 29 a few more..

I got the racing ralphs, 2.25, about R550 from CWC and the work great. No problems, with punctures, yet, they super light, roll well, and grip great, on hardpack, they work for me.

Just VAT

I am riding 29er Arches... They haven't given any issues. My 26 inch olympics, have been pretty much bullet proof for me.