FlandersZA

Mine is the entry level 960. I got it new for going on a year now - love it, no issues. Uses the X-Fusion E1 in the rear and front fork is Rock Shox XC 30.

Ah yes, thanks. The bridge is after the bombhole if you're headed north. Now I remember.

This bomb-hole you okes speak of, that's the one on the left of the river headed north with concrete bridge on the right and optional route to the left? I haven't done spruit since Jan and normally when I head back north these days I go over the bridge for that fun, windy stuff leading to the river crossing so I think I miss it most of the time? But if I'm thinking of the right thing, and I'm not sure how it looks now, the bad bit about that was at the exit - on the left there is/was something hard or concrete there IIRC. Basically if you hit it you'd be launched off to the left with possible dire consequences. I found if I took a line to the right I'd pop out the bottom at some pace, more or less intact. That's my noob advice to anyone finding themselves hurtling down there thinking they were on the path to the left. For me, one of the most dangerous parts of spruit, aside from the aforementioned Jan Smuts trench and the crazy jumps is near the scout hall where you have a large, flat piece of exposed bedrock in the trail. During summertime that rock is constantly wet and gets VERY slick with algae. On my way back one day late last year I saw a guy break his leg or hip on that and he was being stretchered out. I went cleated OTB there one morning when I hit it from the northern side. Some genius had removed the stepping stone between the slippery rock and the higher trail lip on the northern edge. Hurt like a beeatch. I think it has been cemented there now if memory serves, which is good. I'm not the bravest guy around when it comes to challenging obstacles but Sat I had a heart-stopping moment when I decided to go all gutsy. I was riding northern farm and decided to hit the 1m or so drop off where red splits left and black goes straight. As I launched, time slowed to a crawl as I watched every youtube fail video play through my mind of guys going OTB and crunching themselves on bikes. I wondered if I was about to become a statistic. I managed to land it but I think it could've been prettier. As a relative noob to riding again, I find now on the dual sus mtb that jumps/drops etc. feel very different to how they were as a laaitie on the bmx. Can be a bit unnerving at times.

Thanks guys - that's good to hear. Hopefully with a good bike he'll stick with it. Looking forward to getting him on the trails.

Hey guys, Anyone know anything about Carrera? I have a friend who has been keenly awaiting the arrival of his first MTB from the UK - due to arrive with his brother-in-law next weekend I believe. I've been dying to get him involved and while he's out here the English brother-in-law will want to ride too I'm sure. I asked what bike it was and he said it's a Carrera - no other details except hardtail in 650b (he let the bro-in-law choose for him based on his greater experience). Thing is that the alarm bells rang slightly when he told me the cost - in the region of 200-300 pounds. Now I'm curious to know whether we get ripped on our bikes the same way as cars in SA or are we dealing with an entry level bike likely to give him a lot of troubles? Looking to take them to N Farm to deflower his new ride.

Thing is I've been trying to get some mates into MTB and they ask me if a bike like this will suffice. On my first attempt to get back into MTB in 2011 I borrowed a mate's brother's Game special and was promptly whisked off for a weekend to a lekka place for riding they called....Mankele. I had zero clue about modern bike tech (not that this thing was modern), I had never worn cleats and my biggest ride at that point was from the front door to the end of the driveway and back. Well, matey hopped on his steed never to be seen again while I tried to figure this lot out. I think I would have been ok were it not for the gear troubles every ten metres and the feeling of pedalling a railway sleeper up the hills, down the hills and anywhere in between. Terrible experience but it inspired me to save for something decent which I did and love to this day.

Amusing how my post has been completely swept under the rug. Only reason I posted at all was because I thought hey, I saw that on Saturday too!

Wow, that was great! I've been considering getting a GoPro. I would use it for the mtb and and sea kayaking but yeah, price is always a factor. I do graphics work so I have the horse power in my machine to deal with the editing requirements and patience-wise I reckon I'm a decent candidate.

And then there was a time when that happening was basically unheard of. Omg, omg, it's...it's OFF! whatdoido...whatdoido...whatdoido?! These days, if you're outside of the WC, there's bound to be at least one on any average commute.

Your strava average speed makes you look like a **** if you stop at reds.

I hate to say it but I saw it as well on Saturday morning. I was waiting for my riding buddy at the bottom of Leslie and Troupant right near Cycle Lab - whole bunch of 'em blasted the red as they stared down their noses at me on my mtb.

Hey guys, I'm sure this has been discussed and I have been searching the forum for this but can't seem to find anything about it. I started riding at Northern Farm recently and I noticed something odd happening on Strava. There is a 500m segment at the start called N14 Climb. It's literally from the car park, through the tunnel and to the start of the trail. Well, turns out this segment earns you a 150m elevation gain when in fact it's all mildly down hill. Seems that Strava's elevation data is messed up here, at this exact spot, where every weekend warrior and his dog funnels through the tunnel. What's also strange is that there is a segment on the N14 also called N14 Climb and this segment follows that section of the N14 over the tunnel. Definitely no way there's 150m elevation difference between the two but maybe the exact naming and co-incidental location causes an issue? I'm wondering if there's a way we can let 'em know so they can fix it seeing as how I now have a few weekends of 150m freebies under my belt... Alternatively, if you do a Northern ride, take your ele gain and subtract 150m to get a more accurate measurement.

Well done! Yeah, I was working and catching the race on TV at the time. Were you in red/black? They made mention of a Norwegian rider in the bunch with Cherise. It was on Supersport 8. Maybe there's a youtube channel or some repeated highlights.