Sephton

Cool thanks guys, that's more or less what I expected

I must agree, the toughest race I've probably ever done. My average HR was 173! It's probably the gradient of that first climb that made the difference, my 26t small chain ring didn't help...

Lets just say that the top XCO racers will do much better in marathon stage racing than any stage racing specialists will ever do in XCO.

Will I be seeing any hubbers here tomorrow? The 50km is a tough one, proper mountain biking, not dirt roading. Check it out here: www.royaldrakmtb.co.za/ If you're on holiday in the berg somewhere, it's a must-do!

I'm entered for both days, but taking it more as a training weekend than a full on race.

Jumping some keyboard buttons like a 27.5!! But praying yes, for sunshine so I can kick those 29er butts on the trails tomorrow!

27.5" Rulz, no go to bed!

So..... if the Scott teams were on Spark 900's would they be better or worse off?

Now I'm also looking for a route profile As long as day 1 has less than 1500m of climbing I should survive...just.

Thanks, looks good.

When is this? Any info please?

If availability is an issue with Spec and Pyga, why not look at a Scott Genius? For R40k you'll be in Genius 920 or even 910 territory if you shop around.

The thing is it's quite difficult to buy a new bike without Fox these days, they're specced on almost all the big brands. My fork is the FIT model so hopefully its not complete rubbish.

I must say, so far I'm loving the CTD on the Giant. Even in descent mode I get less bobbing than my old Spark due to the design of the Maestro suspension. And I can definitely feel the difference between the 3 modes front and back. Lets hope it stays that way...

I recently read to my dismay that the Fox CTD is rather crap. On my previous bike I had a Reba RL fork and the infamous DT Swiss M210 shock. So when time came to upgrade my bike I though something with Fox CTD front and back would be nice. Seems it was the wrong choice by reading all the negativity around it. Anyways, it seems the complaints were mostly around the Evolution series forks and to a lesser extent, the shocks. Luckily for me it seems, I chose the Giant Anthem with the Performance series and not the Scott Spark with the Evolution series, something I didn't even notice beforehand. My question though is, are the issues sorted on the 2014 models or should I start saving for a Monarch and SID so long?

Specialized was quite outspoken about the fact that they don't see the need for another wheel size. But they said the same about 29ers back then. They're already sounding less skeptical...

In my opinion it is of no use to go for 650b wheels if you can't fit a 2.25 tyre at least. My 2.25 R Ralphs measure about 27.5" but the 2.1 would barely be 27".

If I may ask, why SLX hubs specifically? I'm almost in the same boat, having to choose between Crests on Hope hubs or American Classic Race. Considering your weight I think the weight saving of the Crests over the Arch is worth it unless you ride very aggressively and want that extra bit of strength.

Sooo, I have a the PXC-2 on my bike and also looking to upgrade. Would something in the R5500 price range like ZTR Crest, AC Race, or Shimano XT be much lighter? Sorry for the slight high-jack...

How heavy is the XT Edition?

Also replaced my Elixir 5's with SLX and Ice-tech rotors, the difference is huge.