Mr lee

This may have been mentioned before but how did your accident happen? Was it around the Benoni area? would like to know so I can avoid or be more cautious in that particular area... Nice build by the way...where are the progress shots?

Some good info on here

Guys often just go out in their circle of friends or whoever they know but yes cycle lab, Bicycle Line and the guys from Finish Line go out in their respective groups from time to time.

Just a note to those thinking of going to broodblik for some of the Tannies pancakes and a nice cuppa-chino on Sunday morning....don't cause they are not open!!! Ask me how we figured this out

Make sure your derailleur is the long cage(pulley cage) if going bigger than a 42 cassette! From what I understand the medium is alright up to 42...

The Jet Park course next to the runway is run by Cycle lab Boksburg. This along with the forest section on the Emperors side, that also formed part of the Emperors Classic (don't go through here alone either!!!), forms part of the Saturday morning out rides. You can do the runway course twice or three times if you feel energetic . Running both courses will give you a mix of everything a mountain biker could expect considering it is pretty flat! Call the shop to find out more. You didn't mention BRB but I am sure you have been there... Alot of guys usually get together for a ride out to Broodblik (really old farm style bakery on the side of the road), towards bapsfontein, on a Saturday morning as well.

Ryder (fugit - same stuff) and Stan's...no problem! Not mixed together though! One or the other!

As long as you stick with a particular mounting type i.e. I spec B or I spec II, then you can mix and match any shifter and brake lever in Shimano's various model ranges as long as they both have the same mounting spec. Clamp mount is what you want if you are mixing Sram with Shimano or I spec B with I spec II etc.

I must have missed something....why are you against 120TPI?

Been there, done that..... The post with the most accumulative "done's" ever to hit your screens

Must have some other proprietary wizardry to it then

Look to be a knock off of the racing ralph.... very similar tread pattern! Look forward to your feedback Rouxenator

I never knew that Conti made their own sealant.... Must keep an eye out for it. I assume it would be much thicker than stans...

Those little black bits are rubber balls, possibly scrap from a rubber recycler or tyre manufacturer. Very clever idea to add that into the mix to help seal up those small holes! Ryder is also way cheaper than Stan's but I find it does not dry quick enough

I have always been a Maxxis brand whore and have never had a bad thing to say about them but after a recent purchase of the Ardent Race 2.2 it may change... After much research a few years back as to which tyres and brand I wanted to go with when I converted to tubeless, I opted for Maxxis due to the tread reliability, sidewall protection, ease of fitment with a floor pump and fit and forget track record. After a few weeks the sealant started to leak from the sidewalls of the first tyre, on both sides, where the moulded markings are situated. I did the whole leaving it on it's side thing for a few hours (actually more than with other Maxxis models) and this did not help. I found this very strange for a Maxxis tyre and the shop replaced it with another after reporting it to the local agents. Now on the second and the same thing is happening and another report is being filed. Used Stan's sealant! I do hope that this is just a mould batch issue, although the serial numbers seem to be very far apart. It is understandable that problems do creep up from time to time and I am chuffed that the shop and agents are willing to assist in any way that they can. The 2.35 will be too wide for the back. So far no such problems have been noted on this width which is good because I would also like to try one up front some day . I do hope that the 3rd one is right because after trying different configurations on the rear the Ardent Race 2.2 seems to be just perfect for what I want...just enough grip in the corners while not compromising too much in the rolling resistance department.

I never would have thought of that . At least they would be a softer alternative to newspaper or leaves

As long as you keep the tyre off the ground when you remove the core or deflate then you won't need a compressor to inflate as the bead will more than likely be stuck in place due to the dry sealant. Depending on how many times you have topped up, it would be best to remove the tyre and clean out the old and dried sealant. I have heard some stories where bike mechs have found half a KG of dried sealant in tyres before

done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done

That is the one I use

This definitely works and even with no restrictions in Gauteng I still use it. I think it takes 5L to fill and that is all you need for one bike...even when full of mud!!! I also use a soft bristled hand brush to get rid of dirt, helps in those hard to reach area's.

My 96 600....all grown up! Only original parts left are the frame, shocks, hubs and spokes! It now has the full M8000 XT 1x11 groupset (34T/11-42), RT81 180mm ice-tech rotors front and back, Rapide saddle, Merida Carbon 400mm seat post, Ryder "erection-like" 35 degree 100mm stem, Rapide H Rise R 780mm bars and Rapide TR29-25mm rims. Looks a bit weird but they unfortunately do not make an XXL frame so I had to make do with what I could find to sort out the comfort side of things. The XT groupset and wider rims transformed the ride feel immensely

Ouch....! Would love to see a pic

Very nice bar for the price. Left mine at 780 and love how much extra control I now have

I broke one spoke after the other on my original Merida wheel set and after replacing them they seemed to last a good few months....was probably 120-124Kg's at the time...now 117. I recently had my wheels rebuilt using the Rapide 25mm ID rims and they are much stronger now. Tires do not roll off the rim at low pressures and I can corner harder which is always a plus. As the spoke failures seemed a distant issue I decided that I would upgrade the rims (apart from the performance gains) for piece of mind as the wider rim will always be stronger than a narrower one....well in most cases anyway .

I would have said the same but does it not depend on the frame size.... ? I see road bikes have varying sizes depending on the frame size! Oh wait, silly me...I see my wife's medium MTB is also at 175mm