SeanScalpel

Was my 1st Mountain Trophy 75km; it was a proper ride and from 55km things became challenging! Ride time was a 4:17 and total time 4:58 or something (most of the waiting at the river crossing) and tracked 1310m ascent on my Bryton 35. Tomorrow we tackle the 45!

And on the day itself?

I was really chuffed with the overtake zones on the single track - awesome idea!

Looking forward, but damn nervous - in for the marathon I'm just a little confused, the Advendurance Dullstroom page states 1800m ascent for the marathon, but the Endomondo profile states 1354m... So which is it?

Today myself and two friends went to Hakahana for some proper riding, and boy did we get exactly that! We rode the blue, the black, the red and the green; it made for a good 42km and roughly 1000m ascent! As mentioned previously, the black route is definitely not for the unfit and requires a decent level of technical skills. Nothing was unrideable, but a proper challenge for sure! The views from the top are spectacular and the descend is EPIC! The red route, I figured, is red for a reason! The climb back over the mountain starts out not very technical, but 3 flippen steep hills following on each other. When you get to this point, you kinda hope it over, but it's not, you make a left, then a right and then a left again and this is where the party starts! Another proper climb, but this time quite rocky, making momentum key, only thing is, momentum doesn't come with granny gear When we got to the top, we were on 29km and a whopping 825m ascent!!! The green route is a fun, fairly fast, but a tiring 8km (150m ascent) of single track, which took its toll after blue, black and red were already in the legs! Today was a proper test for my 1x9 setup! But I loved every minute! Here's my Bryton profile for anyone interested: http://www.brytonspo...View?id=4732711 Afterwards had a good chat with the owner - Johan. Very friendly guy, a true MTB'er at heart! Big up to him and his team making these routes available to us!

After careful consideration to repair the frame or not, I've decided not to repair it, and take Omnico up on their offer to buy a new Scalpel frame at cost price (like ACM said); I received it yesterday. At least now I have 1st owner warranty on the new frame. I'll post my old frame up for sale, maybe someone on here is keen to make it a "project" and fix the frame and I recover a couple of bucks.

Thanks for all the input guys - I appreciate it a lot! Clearly the warranty topic is indeed an interesting one and we all have our own views about it, but it is what it is My original intention was to determine if this problem of mine is fixable or not? Advisable to fix or not? How to fix?

I have been in contact with the original owner with the hopes of getting the original purchase invoice, but he can't seem to find it. I then asked where he bought the bike from in order to get a copy of the invoice, but nothing as yet.

The warranty on the frame is a lifetime warranty man... but ONLY for the 1st owner, which makes absolutely no sense to me, but that's how bike warranty's work and one can't do anything about it. When I put the claim in with CycleSure, they asked for a damage report, so I contacted Omnico who drafted me an email explaining that the frame separated because the bonding agent has failed. CycleSure declined the claim based on this, because they don't cover wear and tear items, or manufacturing defects for that matter. Irony is, if I rode it until it broke, they would probably have covered it... I can try fight them, but their T&C's are so broad, is it worth all the hassle? And in the meanwhile, I don't have a bike!

Is there any specific resin you'd recommend? What did you end up doing with your Scalpel when this happened? Or were you the 1st owner and got a new frame from Cannondale? Hehe! The Flash is awesome, no doubt, but man, I love this Scalpel!!!

The link you posted is to the 2011 Scalpel, not the 2010. I don't have a pic of my actual bike here, but this is what my bike looks like: http://bikereviews.com/mountain-bikes/cannondale/2010-cannondale/cannondale-scalpel-carbon-1-mountain-bike/

Good point! I can only pull out and fix the left chainstay. However, if it was you, would you only do one and risk the other one pulling out a couple of months later, or just to both?

I see they're in Boksburg? Thanks, I'll contact them!

Technically going this route will secure a claim, but then I might break something as well. Besides, I figured, no damage has yet been done and if a repair is possible, now will be the best time.

Thanks man! If I end up buying a new frame, I'd have to do a complete disassembly in any case, so don't mind doing that. I'm just not sure how exactly I'll get the chainstays off nicely? Also, how would you propose to fix the support brace?

Howdy hubbers! I need some advice from you guys about this unfortunate situation I've ended up in. Bike in question: 2010 Cannondale Scalpel 1 (carbon) Background: I bought the bike 2nd hand in February; read, no more 1st owner warranty on the frame (which I think is absolute BS, but anyway). The problem: After the last ride I did, while cleaning the bike, I noticed the left chainstay seems to be separating from the frame. After closer inspection, also noticed the support brace pulled loose from the right chainsay. Now trust me when I say I've pretty much explored every option there is, including these: - Tried a warranty claim from Cannondale, but I'm not the 1st owner - Tried an insurance claim, but CycleSure reckons this is "wear and tear" damage So the only option I haven't explored yet, and where I'd like you guys input is, if this is repairable or not? Cannondale and Epic Cycles reckons it can't be fixed. Or at least that fixing it will only be a temporary thing. Is there anyone here with some advice? Maybe even someone that owned a 2010 Scalpel which the same thing happened with? Any input will be appreciated.

Awesome! Thanks SLiiick!

Does one need a trail bike to do this event, or will a cross country bike be fine? More specifically I'm thinking: - 2010 Cannondale Scalpel 1 (full carbon) - XTR rims

Today was awesome! My 1st duathlon as well and harder than I thought it would be! Not so much the transitioning, but the climbing was proper! Tracked 695m ascent with my Bryton. Definitely going to give the one a Cornwall a shot as well! How was it for you sdaghers?

Thanks MtbBarbie!

How so Smalltowngirl, did you get off the bike a few times? What distance did you do? Time?

So what did they guys/girls think that rode it for the 1st time?

@RocknRolla - I came 53rd out of 360 finishers.

I did this race in 2011 for the 1st time and I'm back in this year! I thoroughly enjoyed it last year; the combination of climbs, technical bits, scenery and toughness is great in my opinion! A very worthy "testing" ride as MtbBarbie said. For those interested, here's the route and profile I tracked last year: http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/SeanRademeyer/f91roumi194ekksd

Compared to the last two Nissan Tyger Valley races, this one was BY FAR the best one! Well done to the organisers! I was a bit curious about the 9AM start, but it turned out VERY well! I was actually thankful for the later start as it was quite chilli at 7AM The route was also awesome! I much preferred it (in reverse) to the previous years. I also didn't see any obvious places where one could mistakenly make a wrong turn and end up take a "short cut", which was great. As Woolf said, if this is the race to go by for the following Nissan races, I'm very much looking forward!