Stark

@fanievd and sniffie thanks guys, sorry about the duplicates not sure what went wrong there now, just got to get my rim straightened..

sorry, duplicate post, admins please delete.

sorry, duplicate post, admins please delete.

Hi Guys Just before I waste more time or money I thought I ask here for some advice. I'm still relatively new to cycling, having had my bike for only about a year, the first 6 months of which I had an endless number of punctures with the tubes and the Schwalbe RR which I subsequently replaced with the Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.4 (with snakeskin) up front and Continental XKing 2.2 (with protection) on the rear when I went tubeless. Since then it's been pretty much hassle free cycling, except for this last weekend during the Summer Fast one. I managed to get two holes in the rear tyre. So this being my first tubeless repair with the plugs I want to know how long this will last, should I hold thumbs and go out on my next ride or is it time to get a new tyre? this ones in the tread http://members.audiclubsa.org.za/d/25291-1/puncture.JPG but to be honest I'm more worried about this one as it's in the sidewall... so much for the Protection :-( http://members.audiclubsa.org.za/d/25289-1/sidewall+puncture.JPG

I attempted the 50km yesterday.. how difficult could that be? I'd asked myself. Weil I almost died. It was a well organised event, loads of single track and lots of technical stuff and at my level of fitness I probably should have stuck to the 25km.... or even the 6km anyway I finally finished in ~4:40, my longest day in the saddle yet, but what i'd really like to know is if anyone managed to get an elevation map of the 50km. I have Strava on my phone but only managed to record the first 6 seconds of the ride If you have the map please could you post it, or if you know where I might find it please point me in the right direction, thanks.

Thanks found the results http://results.racetec.co.za/results.aspx I organized the chips for myself and two friends, both their times have been recoded but not mine :-(. Hopefully they can still fix it, will contact them tomorrow.

It was a great day out, the sand traps were a bit of a missions and they could have had another water point around the 15km mark, but I still loved it. Where can we get the results?

Hi Hubbers, thanks for the advice, just thought I'd not be rude and let you all know that I finally decided on the Merida Big 7 XT Edition I picked it up on Saturday, now just looking forward to having some fun in the sun. http://members.audiclubsa.org.za/d/24986-1/IMG_0723_1_.JPG

thanks, that looks like a nice option, if I can get it for under R15k. I had a look at the Titan 650b Pro Alu, but it seems quite heavy, never considered the Carbon... will definitely take a closer look.

A decent starter full suspension bike seems considerably more expensive than a decent starter starter hard tail... My max limit is R15k

Thanks, wouldn't mind getting something proudly South African however, I had a look at the AL655, it's heavier and lower spec'd than the Merida XT which is only a little (~R800) more expensive. The next momsen up from that is the dual sus Vipa which is quite a bit more expensive. PS - thanks for the suggestions, please keep them coming.

Awesome, thanks official time 2:10, still glad I finished :-)

Would love to see the official results... But kind of chuffed with my initial timing of 2:07 (35km)... We'll maybe not so much with the timing but rather that in actually managed to finish :-). The first bit was really slow with regular stops as the crowd got into single file for some crossings and single track. After that I just took it easy, didn't want to tire myself out, but as it turned out my legs were still feeling quite strong after the race, my bottom on the other hand, that's a different story. There were apparently over 1000 entrants on the day. I really enjoyed it, will definitely be doing that again.

We'll if this mornings weather is anything to go by out here in the south ( about 5km from the Lido), it's going to be a hot dry race. Not a cloud in the sky and no rain forecast.

oh carp, i'd better make an effort then ... I guess I'll also wait and register on the day then. By the sounds of it I don't think I'd be able to cope with muddy conditions in my current state of fitness.