MORNE

Forgot about the 12speed HG option. more options

Much of a muchness. Xd casettes cost more, but arguably last longer. I guess you get zitto or sunrace versions for cheaper…so more options. If you shop right you can get slx casettes for way less than half a gx one…and they defo arent half as sh!t. Look nicer for longer too. The black sram cassettes look secondhand after 2 or 3 rides. The black comes off pretty fast. Microspline has you pretty much locked in with Shimano cassettes though. 11speed xd wont be that much cheaper eiher. You can get 12spd slx mechs for cheap, deore even less. I wouldnt bother with NX. Not even in the same league as deore for the same money. Do sram even still make them outside of OEM? I have all three the free hubs for my hopes too( HG, MS, XD)….puts you in a position be the heretic and mix-n-match your drivetrain components as as you please. You could also get 11-51 11speed and keep your hg freehub. Think thats the deore 5100 set. Another cheap option. Or the 11-51 casette with 11speed XT and a goatlink. I generally use my HG freehub for SS things as thats the only freehub that will easily take SS cogs available locally. Anyway, many options to mix and match.

I don't care for any of this…sram or shimano….And it doesn't matter because i’m not the target market. Someone out there will love it. I watched a youtube vid the other day of a drool worthy, boutique brand mountain bike and one of the first comments on the video were: ”why would anyone still buy a normal bicycle, total waste of time and money” There are people/kids/fat guys out there who feel this strongly about e-bikes, and they are allowed to, they are wasting their own time and money imo😜

I literally watched a video on the related topic last night how it is expected over the next few years for the swelled bike industry to basically self implode and course correct after the ‘greed’ that was the post covid boom. They are/were expecting many smaller brands to fold.

Are you talking about A: Or B: MOST carbon anything on bikes look like B under the paint. Painting over A should carry the death sentence.

Well now you do haha. And im sure im not the only one out there. I generally just do what I want and i dont self validate my purchases because the marketing tells me its supposed to be better. I use and make up my own mind how i feel about my things. I got AXS, used it for a full year, then put together another ‘budget’ SLX build recently and it was just a revelation to me how much i preferred the shift feel on that after riding the tv remote button for a year. The tactility and the mechanical feel just speaks to me in the same way a manual gearbox in a car does. I prefer it. Hey, I have indexed dura ace bar end shifters for my gravel bike🤷🏻‍♂️ the forceful snap/click they make is so satisfying. I never got on with how axs felt overall. It worked fine, I hated the shifter in particular, and they are waaaaay to sensitive to b-scew adjustment in my opinion, especially on longer travel (rear) bikes. im weird right? nah, i just know what i like.

Or the banshee🤷🏻‍♂️😊 ….or whatever I got up to by then? haha no, after my cotic comes back from mr Jared, im probably done for the foreseeable future - or I at least like to tell myself that.

I should just fall less. I’ve found that i tend to build bikes if i cant ride them haha

Ive done it on a size large 26’er? Technically that counts as a kids bike fir me?😜

I literally sold my axs last week for mechanical shifting. Batteries on bicycles…No thanks😅

I still need to do it on my vintage road bike too…but to be honest, 100km on that thing is painful….so I thought i’ll rather ride 100km in one gear instead🤣

Why not?😅 im continuing my trend of either riding it on something new or different every year. SS or enduro rig this year☺️

Watch that survey disappear soon too🤣🤣

I rode 2019 K2C. My wife too - who even back then was a casual rider at most. It was a proper challengein the conditions, but i never felt like we were in danger. But hey, we also camp rough and unsupported. It was just cold and wet….like around the pot last year, like CTCT last year. No doubt the happenings on the beaches in the area had everyone on high alert already. BUT…to the hardcores, man….its K2C, find something else if you want to prove your toughness. K2C is a watered down mtb version of the Argus, where more than half the people who ride it…have probably never done more than a 50km event. The 6-8s seeders. Its a plonkers event. Simple as that, and plonkers go home in space blankets in the back of recovery vehicles when the weather is crap. That helped their decision for sure.

Also, Hambini doesnt wash his bikes either 😅 5 year olds know best! im not talking about maintaining your drivetrain, but washing your bike and getting water and degreasers and soap and chemicals on and into places they shouldn't really be. I try to minimise that. Thats also why my pivot bearings, headsets, bb’s ets seem to last forever imo.

Not everyone will agree, but I feel there is such a thing as over washing. I always make sure my suspension and seals are wiped clean…and if they look particularly dry…give them some brunnox once in a while, cycle, wipe excess. I lower service once or twice a year depending on how much I rode a particular bike. Major service after 2 lowers. My stuff looks and works perfect. I dont wash the paint off my bikes after every single ride. I dont use cleaners either. I wipe my chain, re-lube. Getting water in everything once or twice every week causes just as much poef imo. Why? It’s just dust…or a muddy speck here or there. It wont fall apart or stop working☺️

And this makes me feel not so bad about my 16kg size XL steel one haha! It even has a 1kg coil shock on it, with heavy AF hope fortus wheelset. Im convinced if i cared i could get it down to 14.5kg

Well there it is then. Ill be doing this one on a SS bike. Entered.

Handy trick this

They are pink? And look amazing?🤣 isnt that all that matters? Ok yes they fit nice, work amazing and come with all the extra bits, even extra caps with valve tools. I made an order from Merlin in the uk for some bits and they were on special so got a pink set to match the grips, saddle and stuff. Decided to run my bike in SS and flat bar mode for around the neighbourhood, Went all miami camo on it. Made it s bit less business looking and a bit more fun. Bike is a nice poppy blue btw. This with the tan pirelli’s….mintsauce. I like the way it turned out. Ps: no im not sharing a pic of it. I dont share my bikes on here any more…too many skelms around.

If i recall @NickGM couldn’t even get a pair onto his wheels, as in they wouldn't even go over the bead or something. edit: i replaced mine with some pirelli gravel H’s after i ran the panas bold. A prettier tire imo, i never liked the nasty white branding on the pana’s, especially on the tanwall one…reminds me of how ugly maxxis tire sidewalls are.

January feels like 9 years ago…. …and a few enduro’s ago too. All of which we have done. And to be fair to the organisers…they have improved throughout the year in this regard. hope we get some fun-duro’s agsin at the end of the year. Right @BikeGenie? A nice paarl or conties one in 40*C?

They are the worst! Especially on anything with a deeper centre channel. They were so hard to get right on a set of hope 20Five’s that i didnt even bother ever riding with a tube. If they flatted and the tubeless didnt to it’s thing….then you are screwed anyway haha.