SeanGrey

Yea thats what i'm seeing one or two different ones in store. Will order from CWC if I cant find one I like, shot

awesome will take a look thanks

Anyone know a store that sells a variety of 50mm stems in Cape Town? Or better off Chain Reaction?

Been adding to my collection for a week or so and trying loads of stuff from Maxxis. Fast xc sort of rides the Ardent Race 2.35 on the front and ikon 2.35 rear is GREAT. Then I swap out the rear for more hectic terrain. I'm riding a trail bike not really xc so like the bigger volume tyres for xc stuff too.

Yea looking at the hope hubs, mine are the stock ones and engagement is shocking. Do lots of slow technical uphills and wouldn't mind better engagement for sure! Awesome will look at those spanks and arc30s too cheers

ok awesome thanks! will most def add those to my list and have a look at them

Thanks for all the replies! Think flows the way to go

Ok awesome thanks then I suppose they won't last too long smashing down rocky stuff on the FS

Cheers for the reply that's what I was wondering. Do the odd marathon for fun on the bike so lighter is great for that. Just never seen or known anyone with a set before.

Hey Guys, Saving up to upgrade my giant trance 2016 wheels to either of the above. (650b) I'm 81kg fully kitted. Want to ride Enduro style events and DH lines in Tokai as well as XC stuff. The flow mk3 or the Wide Lightnings? 29/30 internal. Know about the hub engagement but compared to my ones now it will still be an improvement. Will the WL stand up to daily riding, Enduro events, Rocks? Thanks

Going to check out the maps & trailforks, heard only good things !

Thats a great idea actually cheers, just 10 min down the road from where I will be so would work perfectly.

Would do but just around 25 min drive from where i'm at will take a bit too long. thanks for the reply! Going to do that route soon enjoyed it when i did rectron!

Hey everyone, I will be in Stellenbosch on Sunday morning for a few hours from 8:30am or so till around 12. I'm helping my GF truck to a horse show. Thinking about taking the MTB with and heading for a 2:30 - 3h ride. I stay in the Southern Suburbs and have only ridden that side last year during the FEDHEALTH mtb challenge 78km (Durbanville) and the Rectron Mtb 40 ish km near Franschhoek. Any ideas on where to ride? Will be by myself unless I join a group. Read Jonkershoek is great but not too sure about time and solo.. I've been riding for around 2 years. Ride a Giant Trance. Kirstenbosch trails (25km/850elevation) takes me around 1h45. So decent fitness but not an xc racer. Ridden Tokai trails (DH123) so can manage some technical terrain just drops and jumps need work and if solo probably not a great idea. Cheers

Awesome going to order one and give it a try, thanks

Cheers for the reply. Going to take a look at the forekaster or maybe the Ardent 2.4. Will be using the ardent race 2.35 and ikon 2.35 for xc races and stuff just need a front for the winter to go with the ikon on the rear for casual long distance rides.

Awesome thanks for the reply. Going to have a look at either the Forekaster for the front or Ardent 2.4 perhaps.

Has anyone here used the FOREKASTER? I'm looking at the 2.35 (27.5) one thats comes in at 690? Been having a blast changing tyres around and testing all of them. Did a 30km (700m elevation) XC ride this morning and ran the DHF 2.3 and the Ikon 2.35 rear. Ikon aired down to 22psi (weight with kit is 81kg) and it's perfect even after the small amount of rain we had. Thing is I want to run the 2.35 Ardent Race up front for XC which i'm loving in dry conditions but today it would have been a bit hectic up front in the wet. The DHF comes in at 870 and although i'm not counting each gram i'm not sure i'd want to take it on a ride say twice as long as today. Does need more power to run at the same speed as my last Ibex but wanting to try Maxxis for a change. Forekaster looks like it would be awesome up front in 2.35 just want to know how it is compared to the Ardent Race on one side and the DHF on the other. DHF being my fav so far. Also hard to find somewhere that sells that Forekaster even overseas....

Good luck with it! 1x 11 is cool then he will be sorted for gears. I had a 2x 10 changed it to 1x 10 and working well for me. 32 up front and a 42 one up rear. Cheers

Did i make a mistake ordering IXS Flow knee pads? First set of pads i've ever needed/ordered.. Never seen them in person. Wont use them for XC stuff at all but if I do enduro events or ride more hectic trails with jumps and drops. Perhaps maybe should have gone for something with a bit more protection? Anyone seen/used them? Opinion on not going for a hardshell? Good reviews online but perhaps from people wanting a bit of protection on more mellow trails..,

Add: reading the fact he does multiday stage races and such obv leaning more towards XC than I was. Should then look at in my opinion aggressive xc sort of bike. Comfort/riding type will sort the rest out. Know it's not about brand and didn't mention my bike for that reason. But when I ended up with a giant trance perhaps if i was doing those races I would have gone for an Anthem if shopping at the same store. Each brand has bikes for xc/trail/gravity and so on so should just shop around and test ride a lot.

I was looking for a bike 2 years ago when I started riding and went through all of this before I purchased one. Few things I picked up, may differ for others. It was my first full suspension bike so started from a beginner. I myself ride a 1x (10 speed) 32 front oval and 42 one up rear and it works and worked when I first started for all the local Mtb rides including 70+ km marathon events which were my first too. I changed a family member back to a 2x 10 due to the lack of gears when riding their Mtb on road. They couldn't keep up with the others and kept spinning out down hills. In that case 2x 10 was perfect. I have had a medium and large frame (moved up a size) and you get Topeak spacers or I made my own to lower the bottle cage mount so I could fit a 750l bottle in. Keep in mind a dropper post (nice for trail and xc too at least I have found) will not play too nice with a bottle mounted to it or to the seat. I use a camelbak 2 litre if need be or run a cable tie second cage on my top tube. Trail or Xc this for me was a huge decision. Depending on the riding i have 140mm of travel front and rear which works for Dh stuff in Tokai and for those long xc up hill races. Tyre choice can change the bike a lot. For trail I run a more aggressive setup and for marathons a faster rolling lighter setup. Works really well! Keeping in mind a don't race for top positions (I would then get a more xc orientated bike) and I'm getting better at going faster downhill but don't do massive 2m drops and jumps either. So depends what is more important. I went for slightly more trail than xc but manage just fine doing races. Good value is key once he knows what he wants to ride. Great tyre choices for wider width rims for trail use. I upgraded to XT brakes which made me faster knowing I could rely on them. Slx crankset has been good and shadow + rear derailleur is great don't drop chains ever and don't need a chain guide. Dropper post adds weight but made the most difference. XT shifter has been way better than the stock deore one for me. Biggest thing is what the bike will be used for I think. If I wanted to race marathons up front and speed around 90 percent of the time I would get a bit irritated with my current bike. On the other hand if I wanted to ride what i do now and had a more xc orientated bike holding me back that wouldn't be great either. Always a slight compromise if looking for both I would think. Anyways long comment but that's just what I have learnt along the way. My opinion only others will differ. Good luck

Thanks for the reply, both would probably do great either way but as advice suggests wider the better and even if I was concerned about weight there is a small difference

Thanks, I have the same Ikon in the rear, ran it round 22 psi the other day with the DHF and it felt great, today trying it at 25 ( I'm 80kg full kit) it slipped out on everything. Going to go down to 22 psi (1.5bar) and see should be much better! Was really impressed at lower pressure!

Cheers will go back down and experiment