kennyg

I have a pair of white ZTR crests than need a home. Looking for R1500 for both of them. They came from a wheel set I converted to tubular.. They in good working order.

HTFU... Or a compact cranks Or the Sram Wifi Or change your rear derailer to an MTB and go all the way to 36.

my 2c. Check your chan rings are bolted in straight, take a link out and check the drop out is straight. You can also swop the rear spacers around, thus moving the rear cog.

I would go enve or reynolds if I went name brand, I have had good results with some chinese rims but they do tend to deform if they hit too hard. Although, a well built set of crests, will put you way ahead. in my view, for similar weight and 95% of the stiffness and half the price, not such a heart sort if you do pringle them. Carbon clinchers come in more or less at the same weight of good alu, rims, in total wheel build, they double the price. They also a lot stiffer, and take some getting used to. Tubulars, alu - rim and wheel builds are the same cost, about 100g less per wheel than alu. Tubulars, carbon - 180g to 200g lighter than alu clincher. Tyres - decent clinchers, with suitable sidewalls, tubeless ready. 600-700g Tyres- tubular, same side wall, 500g. Tyres- clincher protection- 650 -800g Tyres- tubular protection - 550g. so it depends on your previous build, you can save between 1.0kg and 1.8kg. Yes the tyres are expensive, yes they not for everyone. yes they fast, yes there is no subsitute for training,

Compare cycling to any sport, if you take them on as regular lifetime activities they are super pricey. I always cycled for fitness from MX, at one point the cost of running a decent race bike and training and gear + the doctors bills, the game became ridiculous. So I went across to Free ride jet ski's. A few motors later and a couple broken hulls. The game is the same.( event costs are about the same for all sports), big cycle races, horse shows, MX rides all cost about the same. My wife came from horse riding, my sis is a full time dancer ( cost of those doc bills are huge + travel time). These are lifestyle activites and yeah. Be prepared to cough, to enjoy at higher levels.

You will have to pry my SS from my arthritic old hands, I think most guys will sell a family member before they consider the SS. She is one of four frame, specifically designed by me, Ti, mtb tubbies, niner carbon fork, old XT( 9 speed ) cranks, half link chain. Second hand XX brakes, 8.3kg of pure cycle pleasure. Took a few weeks to look at the frame before actually building it up.

I have been running tubbies on mine... A tufo XC4 on the front and an XC2 on the rear. I run alu rims, so I can bottom them with no fuss. The pressures are super low, 1.4 f and 1.5 r. Tyres roll well, dont pinch flat or snake bike, so really enjoy them.

Your numbers are way out ito travel vs force required to get those numbers. I have been on a niner rigid for 3 years, its a great rigid fork and has some natural damping against chatter.but really not much else. Your tyre plays a critical role in your comfort, thats true. The problem there is the travel is greatly under damped adding to the pogo stick feel. Climbing the rigid is awesome, decending smooth fast gradients you wont notice you missing a front shock. However, the biggest difference is small bump compliance in the corners, you develop a feel for riding the "unsettled" bike and the skill you develop saving your life and your face improve you overall cycling experience. I agree with Eldron, the difference is not that great, between the rigid and the squishy bike, after 60km of rocky ridges and grass tufts I do tend to have a sense of humour failure, where as the squishy you can still be smiling.

I run my hopes with 15mm Thru and 9mm QR adapters, no issues there, its as quick as taking out the wheel, popping the plugs, beware the dust seal o-rings, they fragile.

Set up an early 2012 SID dual air, the week before the monster. Rider was 85 kg, flood gate ran a quarter of the total travel off full, rebound 2 click faster from mid-way, normal setting 2 slower. Fork ran 115 psi and 90 psi. Not a top rider, but he was happy with the feel, apparently unlocking is not a strong point.

I really dont miss any of these problems.... Tubbies are great...

Thats a tough one... there are few things that can be done to save the seat post. If you prepared to write it off, there are some good places to start on the thread. As for freezer, ask your local spaar, butcher, or convinience store. They have those large walk in freezers....

It does happen, must have something to do with inductance. My wifes 26er used to shock her on the index finger on the shifter. That was an alu bike, the carbon 29er zaps her on the ankle...

My vote, electric 1 x 11..

The DIY route is the obvious answer... R1400 for your labour component is a major rip off. 3hrs to strip a replace a few parts. If all the parts are on hand, disassemble, clean, re-assemble, take less than 50 mins. Sound like 20 mins work, 3 phone calls, wait 1 day, 35mins work. Worst case scenario. DIY is not for all, I do prefer to service all my own stuff, MTB, dirt bikes, jet skis etc.

I have 2 up starts, the non-ccycling related took off and runs comfortably. My wife stocks a few minor stores and the world is a better place. The cycling side is "FROT" with tension, everything is a discussion, I leave samples with stores, I courier them, I even courier the stuffback and its amazing how little actually gets done. The website gets plenty feedback, its not user friendly at the moment but it works. From my side, the cycling business is circling the drain in its current business model, distributors should be volume based and cover a loyalty portion, that should not interfere with the number of shops in an area or the relavent store brands. The worst case for the LBS is customer education, once customers start fixing their own stuff, and online is a given for parts, where is the LBS going to find its business. The local distributors can ask themselves the same question. . I personally only deal with a couple of stores for parts and special items that cost a lot more to import from CRC than purchase locally, or if time is a factor. The industry is delicately balanced and is probably close to saturation, it is healthy with a fairly competitive base but with 95% of the stuff imported the prices get set before distributor level, winning and loosing market share relates to a little luck and the brands that you have.. The case in point is interesting but the consumer will never really see any benefit.

sub 5, only a hand full of guys can do that. It limits your training partners to full time athletes and hardcore age groupers... It seems your Garmin might become your training partner...

I have a set of arch and crests, and for a rigid I prefer the crests, a little more flex makes the ride more forgiving. I am also 74kg.

Yep, ever had that hole that is just too big for a folded snollie...glue the ****er in, you can glue gussets in, and all sorts of garbage, the tube is so light, its worth it.

On the tubbies, I carry a pump, some snollies, and some sealant... carry super glue too, for stage racing.

its 73mm

It depends on your personal weight. A 65 kg whippet, will be fine on a 1350g wheel set. However, once the rider weight gets to 85 Kg, a 1600g wheelset is light. At a 100kg, 1850g is a light wheelset to carry the loads normal XC and marathon.

Ride a 55-60km MTB race, if you can finish that well, you can ride 94.7. Being a beginner, take it easy, ride your bike a little more, as discomfort is a certainty. If you dont get more comfortable, go for a fit.

I am not into the knobbly layout... for me the grip derived from the knobbly pattern relates more to the intended style of riding and the self cleaning action of the tyre. The arrow knobbly is more for a rider approach turns aggresively, with little lean. We find the tyres generally have low cut knobbly patterns and are more common in hard pack, South African condition. The rubber compounds are generally harder and thus reducing rolling resistance and creating the sketchy feel, with less mechanical grip. Riding Europe and the Uk, most guys ride a deeper nobbly in the straighter pattern layout, this enhances the cleaning pattern of the tread, this are also generally softer compound rubber to allow the knobblies room to move. This adds to rolling resistance but also improves the mechanical grip of the tyre. In the recent past, we have seen a generation of soft compound low knobbly tyres, low TPI counts, these are ultra light weight and grip is extremely good but the longevity of the tyre is poor. So a recipe for a good turning tyre, low volume, soft case, with a soft rubber compound, the tread layout accounts for an estimated 10% of the grip and the depth of the knobbly 25%. Hard pack short knob, loose over hard and soft a longer knob. XCO tyre. A good rolling tyre, high volume, stiffer case, hard rubber compound, short knob. - This XCM tyre, most of us our riding something like that. I have been working on a tyre with TUFO, High Volume , Soft Case, partially protected side wall, short knob, soft, but tough rubber compound. I had the proto-type for 2 weeks and its and amazing, 560g, marathon tyre than has a tendance to over steer, turn sharper than you expect.

I was tested twice last year in triathlon... never in cycling. I consider myself a fun athlete, that keeps some lazy full time athletes on their toes. Two full time athlete's were tested at both events too, with the top 10 being tested at one event and the top 5 ladies.