MORNE

They don't need help…DSTV will be the end of DSTV. Complacency, greed and a lack of vision got them here. Cant wait to talk about them in past tense.

@Bira now the proud owner of these ‘vintage’ pre-corporate sell-out babies. Enjoy!

Happens when you have friends you dont message….

Almost everything that comes on cookie cutter bikes is 7 - 9* backsweep. 12* and 16* (or more) bars make a HUGE difference to long ride comfort. Your wrists are just in a more natural position. take two pens or sticks or dowels, sit on the sofa in an upright position like you would be sitting on your bike more or less. Close your eyes and hold them in your hands like you imagine you were holding a bar. Open your eyes and look at the angle they are pointing. If they are as straight as a modern flatbar you are drunk or likely horrendously disfigured. That will give you an idea of where your wrists are neutral. Obviously, as @Jewbacca up here mentions, there are other factors that impact your hand position too. Mainstream, you are likely only looking at SQ labs bars. They have a few offerings with more backsweep exactly for this reason. They are Pricey though. There are more boutique branded ones around too. I bet you most back yard bike fitters dont even know what bar sweep is or where to get more options so they just don’t bother taking it into consideration or making recommendations. Its a quite overlooked setup parameter imo. Easier to say cut your bars, get a shorter stem or buy a smaller bike I guess lol. https://sq-lab.co.za/Handlebars/

PM me, i have a set i can let go for R300ish, Havent used them since getting a platform rack. Think i used them less than 5 times to be honest. Just need to find them in storage first.

Chris, all those pics are hand picked though and are also in low lying areas and we all know what most of those farm roads look like even in mild rain. Not all the trails are in these spots though. We also did a 70km gravel ride yesterday and less than 2km looked like this. My bike isnt even dirty…. Anyway, for the rest of us🤘

What does it look like there when mildly moist though? Will it be worth getting out my passport to go there? @BikeGenie?

Poor Uk trail builders must have a tough life… to be fair though, at least in the WC, the rain is like this maybe for a month. We could probably suck it up and do bunny hops in the driveway. But maybe…since we DO have a wet winter here…there could be scope for one or two trails dedicated to sloppy winter fun. Natural trails. It will focus the mess in one place and provide a new challenge. Maybe there is a purpose for upper Majik afterall👀

Had another random thought on this thread while sitting in traffic for 2 hours between N-burbs and town yesterday… Even ignoring raw unadulterated skill/talent…you also have to realise that the top 20 riders/teams etc ride prototype equipment, suspension that hasn't even seen the light of day. That alone puts even a normal ‘sponsored’ rider that just gets given a MY2024 bike up against it. Its like taking your yamaha R1 and entering a motoGP race and expecting to finish on the same lap, or Its pitching up Lemans 24h as a wildcard entry and expecting you will compete with Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche factory teams. You wont, even with Elon’s credit card in your pocket and Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso in the car. It wont happen. You will plonk around at the back and finish 15 laps off the lead. BUT, you will gain invaluable race experience you can build on every year. DH is widely considered the formula 1 of mtb racing purely for this reason. Its basically a manufacturers testing ground. ‘Win on sunday, sell on monday’. The amount of prototyping voodoo happening at the front on any given weekend means if you pitch up even on a current year retail version of a bike, your kit is likely already 2 years out of date lol. Have a look at whats happening on the Bruni’s handlebars, suspension or how Greg starts a weekend with telemetry kit attached to almost everything, or how Amoury’s Magic Mary looks nothing like the one you and I can buy in the shop lol. There are drivetrains that dont exist in any retail catalogue… It all makes a difference and also means that breaking into that field on your vanilla kit from the ass end of the world is so much harder and more of an achievement if you can do so.

….’when your sarcasm is so advanced, people think you are stupid’…. @Shebeen 😉

Pretty low imo. suspect stellenbosch is likely to be the only place where some riding might be possible this weekend, if any.

Can we just stop referring to some of these riders as dimwits or also rans haha? If you see what some of these people can do on a bike you will likely re-asses why you even try to turn a crank. They are that good. You and I get better trying our best by taking their advice on weekends, riding their lines to go faster etc. And progress, but still be a minute slower down a 3minute track lol. Similarly, they need exposure to faster people than themselves to progress. Competition is fierce…especially in something like DH where the difference between qualifying or not can be counted on one hand. Top ten in milliseconds over a 2min run. EVEN the GOAT has fallen short on many occasions due to how close it can be. Anyway, it doesn't effect me really, but I wont call these guys ‘lower management’ being sent to ‘directors’ conferences. They are associates looking to make the step but are being held back because of the ‘oldboys club and nepotism’. (To play the comparison) Anyway, they’ll figure it out. They care enough and have the potential/talent.

This. My STEEL cotic rocketmax was a kg lighter than my carbon forbidden dreadnaught😅 mostly same components too. Edit: OP, if it were me..id probably be shopping Trek. Purely because personally feel they make better looking bikes. I also think at that price point the specs on both brands, like for like, would be close enough not to matter. NX/GX/SLX…ish. Id compare brakes and suspension options more than anything. The wheels will be round and the frames will have colours… You’d also be silly to scoff at some at the deals to be had at places like specialized at the moment with stumpjumpers or the new Chisel duel suspension. Lots of bike to be had in your price range that used to cost 50% more.

Gatekeeper syndrome, like the Karen on the body corporate… it gives them great satisfaction being the enforcers. Its the case with almost any ‘national committee’ in any hobby/sport. They take your money for a license and pitch up to an event to tell you not to swear and to wear your helmet while on the bike or else, then you never see them again. Cushy gig…

Slik grafix (sweden) are are a licensed ‘factory’ option if you want. They DHL to SA. They can do almost anything your heart desires and their quality is amazing. They use proper 3M too. have used them a few times. Pricey though. https://www.slikgraphics.com

They are fine but comparing them side by side with other options/factory ones, they are not as ‘crisp’. It’s a print quality/resolution issue imo. Almost like 150dpi vs 1200dpi. Might just be the ones i saw. I’ll admit that not everyone sees or cares about this. I do lol😅.

I had plenty of deathgrips on various bikes…still have many of them in my parts bin. Then one day bought some burgtec bartenders because I liked the colour. They are now my favourite. Feel nicer in hand than the DG’s to me. Cheaper too. The only thing that i prefer about the DG’s is…they go on and stay tighter on the bars. SQ labs 70X is a nice grip too if you want more squish. Expensive though.

https://www.cogentindustries.co.za/?s=Fox+decal&post_type=product

HY! What is this? Amateur-hour? here:

Wont lie, Pretty bike

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9P5NRPsJDv/?igsh=MWU5Z2d2ZmkydDRzeA==

Customary meme