Racer X

yes I wrote that earlier, the poor bloke was not in a good way.

tell me about, try to portage with one hand not fun

I was coming 4th but had a crash, pinched nerve, ribs etc. finished very badly in 83 in a world of pain. The guy who collapsed was an MTN 101 rider called gavin. He rode with flu and had a heart attack on the last climb. He is stable but will be off the bike for a long time.

Great idea Ipeens, only prob is that your fork was an RS and Rod's is a White Brothers. He'll have to have it sent off to the White agency, if there is one in SA. This is the expensive option more often than not most LBS's will be happy to do it at half the price.

Hi Rod, looks like you may have blown a seal. What you can as a temp measure ,or maybe even a fix, is to slide the seal up buy using a flat bladed screw driver do this by gently inserting it between the seal and the fork. Pry it off. See how much crud is actually in the fork. Wipe as much out as you can with toilet paper and shub some shock grease, manitou do one you can buy, in the hole. Re-apply seal and see what happens if it continues to givr you hassles, send it to your LBS.

Please can you explain your last sentence to me Commencal, it makes no sense.

Hey, if it worked for Henry Ford....

The new R7's are candy red, suits very few paint jobs. Just go Rockshox - Cheaper, lighter, stronger:-)

Fair enough, I have had one and only one pair and hated every second of them. Were all different though.

Manitou claim that their new R7 to be the lightest on the market at just under 1260 grams. Fox's F80 RLC tips the scales at around the 1500 gram mark. The Manitou also uses its patented reverse arc technology, its plush but also as Rock put it, tempremental. The Fox is shiny white, super plush and bomb proof, its also super pricey. Check out the new RockShox SId, its similar to the Reba and has an acclaimed weight of around 1450 grams for the Race model.

Larsens are great when its dry, when its wet though.... hmmm, no comment. Try the Larsen Mimo in a 1.9 at the rear and a 2.0 at the the front. My 2c.

Dragson: Any good bike shop will be willing to take your money for this stuff

I agree with you rod, definatley better than terralogic. When it comes down to it though I would prefer a slightly heavier, Reba, fork that is going to give me no hassles opposed to some super light one, Spinner, that is going to need an overhaul every ten hours. Best forks out there for the money is the Reba, light, plush and well priced

Only with a bungee rope attached to my feet

I reckon that Kenda's Klimax lite Tubeless is the best way to go, light at 550 grams a tyre, tubeless, so nice and thick and super fast rolling. A pair of Maxxis Larsen Mimo's, 1.95, are also a good idea to take if the heavens suddenly open up.

The lightest fork currently on the market is made by Spinner USA, it looks fugly but is the lighest. Its called the Aeris, 1253 g, http://www.spinner-usa.com/e/xc-race-aeris01.htm If money were no object I would go for Dt Swiss's XRC 80 RL at 1350 grams, looks wicked but also has a 12 grand price tag.

What you actually are trying to do is upload, mail me the pics and I'll do it.

Both, only have one grandmother so will proably go for the MTB.

Well one can argue that, beacuse of the 1 piece construction the setup will be stiffer, it also has aerodynamic advantages and looks pretty sweet. The weight factor is also big, no one makes a 90 gram seatpost, so you do save a few grams this way. Great if you have the doh but I don't reckon that it will make you any faster.

Whoop tee doo so I was a whole 100 grams off so what. What the hell am I saying I would sell my grandmother to save 100 grams on my bike

Come on Hayley, get out that camera splash the hub with pics of your merida

Yours is 9 though is it not?

Thats like asking your neighbour if your wife is any good in bed. Saddles are a personal thing, what might be comfortable for me, (in my case Selle Italia's SLR or Fizik's Arione), may be super uncomfortable for you. I am not a huge fan of the Gobi but its seems to work for the majority so it is probably your'e best bet. I know that some guys also take a few makes along with them so that they can get a change in, when, their initial saddles have chaffed them raw.

When they do it will be a sad day...sigh... So why do they, UCI, put a weight restriction on road bikes, so they don't break?

I reckon that the best way is to go, if money is not an issue that is, is to go for UST rims, (Mavic XM 819's or the Stans Olympic ZTR) simply because you do not have to battle with rims strips and your tyre of choice. Other wise just go the conversion route, both work well. I must admit that I use tubeless Slim, the green stuff, as I find that Stan's/Joe's sealent causes the sidewalls of ordinary tyres to stick together when you deflate them, just my 2c.