Lance Stephenson

Phone Marc Fourie 0837795879, he Is a great guy and qualified coach

As a wheel builder, my advice to you is to buy well, don't buy on weight but on ride quality/intended use and longevity. Wheels that I have built for customers have lasted them years, they all started wanting the lightest wheels but I instead convinced them to add 50g here and there for brass nipples and a stronger wider rim for better quality of ride. ALL of these riders still have these wheels, never had to true them and enjoy a better riding experience. Stan's make a great race day product for experience lighter riders, but still doesn't make them a"great" product. If you ride this one bike only, Don't spec your "race day " setup for everyday use, that's just like wearing a condom all the time for in case you have sex today.....I don't mean to be ugly here. I'm just saying spec the bike for what you do everyday and you will enjoy an amazing ride. I'd rather have slightly stronger wheels and the best quality tyres, than ultra light flimsy rims and average tyres. tyres ARE the only thing touching the ground so you want that to be the best you can buy and replace often for best performance, NOT the rim.

I'm going to agree with Andrew here. My only caveat would be that SRAM Eagle is notorious for the B tension alignment issue going out. So Occam's razor approach would be to establish that the height is correct first. Even if the others are out and you correct them, If the b tension is out you will still be having issues both up or down. So my process would be: Measure and adjust (if necessary ) the B tension screw to establish the correct height Then remove derailleur and check the hanger alignment with Hangar Gauge and adjust if necessary (or replace hangar) THEN I'd run through the gears using my hand to push the derailleur and (not the shifting ) to isolate the cable and it's potential friction issue. I'd do this to check the range it gets and to see if the limit screws need adjusting and to see if the return spring (where the derailleur returns down to the hardest gear) is still allowing the derailleur to return nicely. If this seems fine, I will go ahead and starting using the shifter and see what the result is. If I'm having lazy shifts to the easy gears, I will adjust cable tension higher (a little bit at a time) and retest from the bottom up again. I repeat the process until I have crisp shifting, then if I have crisp shifting to the easy gears, I will test the done shift (to the harder gears) if this is lazy after all that, it means the cable friction is to difficult for the derailleur return spring to over come, so I then know that replacing the housing and cable is the reason.

The 2 year wait is a bugger for sure, but also gives you lots of time to forget the pain.......oops I did again, last time I promise

We've heard this retirement argument too many times now, not even you believe yourself anymore HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

relevant and irrelevant point. I worked my pressure down slowly over time until I found the lowest possible pressure I could run without faults such as: tyre rolling off the rim and tyre squirm. Once I found the right pressures I have fantastic mechanical grip.

1.2 and 1.1bar (70kgs)

Maxxis have a harder rubber compound (higher carbon content) which gives them life span. That said, Schwalbe use a softer compound that is faster wearing (2000 -3000km is plenty) but the tyre gives you plenty of grip and a cloud like ride quality. I used to get upset with the wear being quicker on the Schwalbe, but my Strava times are better on them than maxxis.

I am working on the route, we have done alot to make sure we don't overlap at all. However, Land access and land owners play a massive role in this, and we are constantly working on those relationships to ensure that we can use their land so we don't end up overlapping. Anything can change though. What I can say, is the stuff on Wilderkrans is amazing, and the views on the whole race will be well worth the effort

mine is 284 at 66.4kg but my threshold for 2 hours is 8% lower than that. Meaning my FTP is low or my 2 hour power is high. the only way to answer that question is to know what kind of training i am doing and what event. Long Endurance stuff. If i was doing XCO my FTP should be 15% higher maybe. Its about relevance

Your FTP is a marker number - it measures potential. Its still the only number you should compare to yourself not others, because its a number that should be increasing with structured training. (only compare yourself because your weight and phenotype determine your potential {Phenotype = TTer, Sprinter, Climber and so on}) Your structured training programme should allow for progression to allow for load and recovery phases so you are fresh to do a test again to actually see the increased FTP. So don't see the number after 4 weeks as not being increased, all it means is you are not fresh enough to do the test and also not in the right phase of your training to allow your potential to come out in the test. UCI standard test procedures are now overlooking a single FtP test protocol, and are now using a protocol that ramps up and down your power phases to see where your lactate and power thresholds lie, but more importantly to see where your actual strenghts lie. Ie. a sprinters 5/10/30/60s wattage will read far higher than that of a sprinter, and a sprinters 30min wattage will outrank the sprinter. Phenotyping is smarter, as you can then train to your strengths but also know your weakness! Everyone should work to improve their weakness but knowing your potential limit in this weakness is important.