Maniac Merv

Yo Yo Sounds like you more into the Enduro / DH / DJ scene which is great cause you don't ever want to be seen with lycra clinging to your body while smuggling budgies at a coffee shop Unfortunately you just missed out on the Hakahana Enduro champs this past weekend @ Hakahana Trails ( its based close to Harties dam / Geroteck) - you can find it on facebook under hakahana trails Its about the best place to ride in Gauteng if you want the thrills of bombing down while hitting some gaps , jumps, railing some berms ect ect - you still got to get to the top of the mountain but no one cares if push / walk and talk sh!t while getting there - really good bunch of guys and always some nice riding to be done This group on assbook is where allot of the guys post / ask who's riding where and also have allot of DH , Enduro and DJ bikes and parts for sale : https://www.facebook.com/groups/24917535701/ Regards Downhill - we have the Dustin Rudman Invitational on the 3rd and 4th dec at graphite road / Helderkrain hill ( Roodepoort side) - shuttle up and pinit down , would be good to come check out the scene and get involved if you want \ you can register on the day with practice Saturday and race day Sunday - awesome vibes and plenty beer !! Regards DJ - cool place is idlewild country estate close to big red barn and then you also have Wolvespruit that has some decent jumps in PTA just off Rigel Ave - im sure there are more but these 2 seem to be the most popular anyways , hope you come right and get shredding asap !! ask any questions on the assbook page as everyone is helpful

Get a medium frame - shorten the stem to 50mm so you don't have to reach that far and put on some 760mm bars for better control and happy days

Hade a Pyga 120 that done everything !! from Mankele stage races to Hakahana enduro's ( and still only wore baggies ) Upgraded to Pyga 140 Pascoe and can still do most rides but do feel it a bit on the climbs but then again I don't like climbing and prefer the tech gnarly downhills A good all-rounder with be a Stage Max - 29 er and long-ish travel you would swear I have shares in Pyga but to be honest you just cant beat local knowledge and service and awesome guys

Get hold of these guys - Gravity Hub https://www.facebook.com/Gravity-Hub-1657766787809484/

Grade 2 tear on my AC shoulder ligament and 3 fractured ribs from overcooking a table jump and coming down hard on my shoulder and head Its only been 3 weeks but feels like 3 months already !! Some say its better to break your collar bone and get it repaired that try sit and wait for ligaments to heal ?? def gonna have to sit this 6 - 8 weeks out ansd let it heal properly

Hence the Intro to Enduro , normally held by Hakahana and the Pyga guys and great way to meet like minded people and do some skillz training and hit the trails think there is one in march actually , otherwise a whole lot of us 'locals' are hitting the trails on Saturday

Spliff is a standard issue in most packs hence why omitted - best taken just before the mad downhills

Yo 1 - anything with 140 - 160 mm travel is more than enough , you do want some decent gearing as you still have to peddle up those hills to get down 2- choose a line and go for it - try stay light on the bike and pop over the rocks instead of trying to go thru them you will also want a dropper post and will end up using this the most !! 3- Tubeless is always best for me and like mentioned, u can run lower pressure which helps to roll over rocks instead of bouncing back and also gives u more grip around corners 4 - I rode with clits for 3 years and have recently changed backed to flats - takes a bit of getting used to especially on technical climbs but flats def out ways clits when u need to stick ur foot out on a berm or landing skew on a jump ect ect - spank spikes are some good flats 5 - try get a decent evoc pack so u can pack ur tools so they spread all over the place instead of all the weight in one place as throws ur momentum over u on drops ect ect - just normal tools is fine with some beer money always 6 - if u can, try get a bell supra so u can take the chin piece off when climbing but they pretty expensive so a normal trail helmet will do - 661 makes some nice trail helmets and as well as knee pads and elbows but knees def way more important Welcome to what mountain biking is all about - make sure you got your baggies and T shirt on so u don't look like a lycra snake in the mirror and have fun , hit jumps , do drops. drink beer and talk *** on the trails! There is a intro to endure at hakahana on the 19 March in Gauteng if u wanna check out the vibe

Still baffles my mind how guys buy 60 K bikes then buy a helmet worth 200 zars !! I have 3 helmets which I rotate depending on riding conditions - Bell Supra II for Enduro Races / 661 full face for more the downhill type riding and then a 661 trail helmet for the weekend rides

Had the Pyga 120 for 2 years and handled everything I threw at it including Mankele 3 Towers , Hakahana enduros and race snake races in between !! Recently upgraded to the Pascoe as I needed more bike as love going downhill as fast as I can and doing more enduro type races , Pascoe still climbs well but not as good as the 120 so in my opinion , the best all rounder for the ups and downs and stage races is the 120 but you have the fun and excitement on the downs which makes it all worth it for that price you can get a pike ,mix of X0 and X1 components , dropper post and spank rims and a bike ready to be thrashed about

Awesome - Thanks for response and much appreciated

So my thoughts ... I've basically done the KK , St Ives , Cascades, Howick and all the Hakahana enduro's this year so got a good idea in my opinion what I enjoy and like. All have been super rad with the Howick one pretty high up there and was awesome with more of a natural trail feel and flowy sections. The climb was really nothing to moan about and as always the vibe and banter makes time go by My favourite was stage 2 but all 3 stages were perfect , I would even try make 1 and 2 a bit longer like stage 3 to be honest - I travelled from Jhb and love riding so the more / longer I can ride the better and makes it all worth it in the end. We actually came down on Tuesday and rode Holla on wed , Giba on Thursday , Karkloof on Friday and then Howick on Saturday. legs were fooked but would rather have that than just one day of riding in Kzn The timing system worked well I think Anyways - only complaint I have was for the spectators , the wife came down and could not watch / enjoy as had no idea where to go or how to get there , and had to go to town to buy us beers and food for after the ride. Hakahana do very well with after the race vibe ,the guys/girls have beers , get lunch , talk about the trails ect ect and have a jol waiting for prize giving think it will be even better with the 2 day even that will have in November Anyways - was super rad , just need to fine tune a few more things and I would def be back for more !!!

Thanks Guys - by seizing I meant the levers as initially thought it was the pistons they did have a full bleed at my LBS brakes are about 2 years old but never had the problem before the bleed

So I’ve done a couple of enduro's where I’m hard on the brakes ect ect and never had a problem what so ever , but last weekend on Day 3 of Mankele 3 towers when it was F*$% hot , my front and rear brakes seized up so bad that you could not even spin the wheel for the last 5 km. Got home and washed the bike next day and took out pads and brakes to check out whats going on and they were loose , then when transporting my bike to the shop for a check up, they seized up again while on the back of the bike rack Is this a shimano fault or a heat problem or fluid expanding or pistons ? XT with ICE rotors

Strava on the phone always ends up with a higher elevation, longer distance and quicker times thru segments than the Garmin

Bam !!

1 condition tho - NO LYCRA !!!

How can someone charge you VAT when they are not VAT registered and not paying VAT to SARS ? is that not illegal ? just asking ?? its like making 14 % profit on top of the price already

was running the Canis on the rear with a HRII upfront on subrossa rims - always felt that the rear didn't grip that well under braking and jumped around allot as well as felt that the sidewall was never strong enough and eventually a rock ate my sidewall at Hakahana but makes sense now as was running very low pressures ( around 1.4 bar) keen to try a Ibex upfront tho one day

Only because I love Maxxis ! 2.25 Ardent on the rear and 2.4 High roller II up front but saying that - lately been rolling the WTB trail boss on rear and Conti Trail king up front and just as good but what I really wanted to say was.... spokesman - what a **** u are !

spot on !!

My 2 cents worth Also have a Pyga 120 650 B Bought a set of Spank Subrossa rims with hope hubs and stuck Maxxis 2.4 High Roller II upfront and 2.25 Ardent on the rear for my enduro / trail set up Then took my old Stan Crest with Hope hubs and stuck 'lighter tyres' for my XC set up if I wanted to do race ect ect Also stuck some Spank 50 mm stem on and 672mm wide Spank spoon bars on The outcome of all of this - no matter if I ride enduro or a 50 km race I stick with what I know and end up using my spank rims every time cause i trust my set up and I honestly don't feel a difference compared to the 'XC' rims I even do Mankele 3 towers with the spank set up and climb perfect but fly down even faster - I do take the spare rims as back up but never end up using them My advise - use 1 ltr in your camelback instead of 3 lts

That's the beautiful part - you don't need to You don't get timed going up and its a good chat and laugh all the way , then only on the down run do the times start and the extra weight sure does help you to go faster ! lol

Nice Article and welcome back Have been following the KZN and Gauteng Endure scene this year and isn't that what Mtbing is all about !! the awesome views from the top and the Radness factor of fun going down as quick as you can but still trying to stay alive while hitting gap jumps ! Had a lycra newbie try one of the enduro days out and the day before during practice I was explaining to him the rules and etiquette about if a guy/girl has caught you , you already 30 sec behind them so might aswell move over - by the end of the conversation he was actually shocked by how rad all the guys are and said so you enduro guys actually like each other and its all about having fun together unlike the usual racing snakes he is used to that wont track or get out the way . I must add - he did come to race day in baggies

Dave - Any idea why I didn't get timed on stage 3 ? . completed the run and the lady even took my timer off the fork when finished . number 45