Eddie Stafford

Three years ago I was on holiday in Witsand in the Western Cape. One morning I went for a ride on the main road leading to the N2 and about 7 km outside of Witsand I heard this swooosh sound and a guy on a three wheeler passing me as if I was standing still. I thought to myself there is no way that this guy can maintain that speed and I should soon catch up with him. When he disappeared over the horizon I gave up. I then did not want to turn around, thinking he might come back and overtake me again. I kept going and about 15 km later he came from the front still going at the same speed! Turn out it was Ernst van Dyk on a training ride. The distance and speed that he can cover is phenomenal and I think few riders can complete 49km in 1 hour 49. Hats off to him and well done to a true champ!

Is that a light on the downtube of the test bike? Why?

I recently build up a titanium 1 x 10 hardtail and managed to keep the weight down to 10.35 kg including pedals and tyre sealant. I went for what I think is affordable parts good value for money parts and kept the stem and seat post aluminum. The frame was heavy at 1.9 kg, but if you use a light carbon frame then you can drop the bike’s weight to below 10 kg. Attached is a spreadsheet of the cost and weight of the difference parts. The frame, fork, wheelset and tires represents 60% of the weight. 29er Bike Build.pdf

We managed to reach Rhodes in 90 hours starting on 13 June and reaching Rhodes at 12:00 am on 16th June. I took a few photos along the way posted at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8jqgmkowt0y7j14/AAAvsQeOuNpgUtJapjtS6AgZa Eddie

Three of us from Mauritius also starting R2R on 13 June. Looks like we won't need to bring our board shorts and flip flops!

I thought this is worth a read. http://imgur.com/a/YOAR8

There are three of us from Mauritius doing the Race to Rhodes this year. Our batch starts on 13 June. We are looking for transport on 12 June from Durban airport to our hotel in Pietermaritzburg (Aintree Lodge in Scottsville) and on 17 June from Rhodes back to Durban airport. Can anyone suggest a shuttle company that we can approach or know of someone preferably with a double cab that can transport us around. We are happy to pay for the transport. Thank you Eddie

There are three of us from Mauritius doing the Race to Rhodes this year. Our batch starts on 13 June. We are looking for transport on 12 June from Durban airport to our hotel in Pietermaritzburg (Aintree Lodge in Scottsville) and on 17 June from Rhodes back to Durban airport. Can anyone suggest a shuttle company that we can approach or know of someone preferably with a double cab that can transport us around. We are happy to pay for the transport. Thank you Eddie

Skott5, from Oct to Apr the tracks, mostly sugarcane fields can get very wet, but once you know the routes it is not a problem. This time of the year is the best for cycling off road. Unfortunately the best areas are fenced off and belong to private people, mostly hunting farms (they should about 3000 deer a year) and you can’t get access to them. We have about 10 local off road races a year and there is normally a turn-out of up to 60 riders. Our weekly ride (Black River) consists of between 5 and 20 riders. I think road cycling is a bit bigger, there is the Tour of Mauritius every year and also the Deutsche Bank challenge (100 km), which is the “Argus” of Mauritius every October. The biggest international race is the Omnicane Southern Tropical Challenge held at the end of October every year (about 100 teams). I have done it the last two years and it is a fantastic 4 day stage race. Highly recommended and land owners opens their farms so you get access to areas you don’t otherwise see. The last day run along the sea in the south coast and finishes on the beach. See for details and photos. http://www.mtb-mauritius.com/en . I see you are in KZN, if you paddle surfskis then there is also the fantastic Mauritius Ocean Classic, the first weekend in July. http://www.mauritiusoceanclassic.com/

Thank you, this has now been resolved. After the comments I phoned the bike shop and it turned out that the DT Swiss service was R 950 and the shop’s mark up was 35% (R 500)! I told them that it was ridiculous and the guy then spoke to his boss and they reduced their mark up to R 100. So I just received their new invoice for a total of R 1,050. All well!

I had a work colleague drop it off at the bike shop in Pretoria that is close to our SA office.

The Invoice from the bike shop simply reads Service - R1,450. So I have no idea of what other cost is included. I have asked for the DT Swiss invoice as well, but it has been 4 days and still no reply.

I recently needed to get the DT Swiss NUDE shock of my Scott Spark (2013) serviced. I rang a bike shop in Pretoria and the confirmed that they can send it to DT Swiss to get it serviced and that the cost will be between R650 and R750. I arranged for the shock to be dropped off at the shop and about a week later I was informed by the shop that the shock is back and the cost for the service is R1,450. I believe some seals were replaced. Is this the normal cost for a service of for a DT Swiss NUDE back shock? Is there any way to find out what DT Swiss actually charged for the service?

Thank you very much for the reply. Where did you ordered it from?

I want to change the SCOTT DT Nude2 rear shock on my 2013 model Scott Spark 940 to a FOX. I understand that I need a shock that is 165 mm long, but apparantly I also need a secial size washers to make the shock fit. Has anyone done this change or can anyone offer some advice? Thank you. Eddie