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SS SA at Thaba - what gear ?


Iron

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Right!

 

Rode on Saturday morning with BoostedGP he was on 32/18 I was on 33/18 we did the ( yellow route with black arrows ended on 30km /700 odd meters climbing ).

 

so to sum up , the first section which seems to be the outer edge with some tech climbs was easy ( looks like the normal yellow loop ) then you return to the start and head into the middle ridge and this is where **** got nasty !! did a bit of walking on about 6 odd little climbs that I could not get over towards the end.

 

Even with a 20 on the back you going to walk and if you have traffic you going to walk .

 

All in All , Thaba is friggen awesome , the trail prep is top class and I'm so looking forward to the weekends joll.

Edited by Iron
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Tensioners...... Did my first SS ride at VG on sat. Learnt my chain was too long and was slipping on the rear sprocket up the first big hill. Fixed that on route with 2 chain links out, but then 5km later the chain snapped (8sp sram brand new) which got caught in the tensioner and broke the jockey wheel and bent the rear hanger.... Too much oats in the morning = too much power :whistling: ha ha. Anyway bumbled along for another 10km with make shift SS but chain was half a link too long and kept coming off. Met some guys halway up the greek church, and was told try cable ties which I had. After that things went well. Cable ties lasted longer than the original tensioner ha ha (and the old spare 9sp sram chain I packed also lasted longer)........

 

So the question is what tensioners are you guys using? and where do you get them from?

 

Enjoyed the ride a lot. Got to adjust a few things like how one rides but other wise very cool. Nice old Style Gary Fisher Paragon 200 model with V-brakes...

Edited by Swift01
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Hey all,

 

As Iron said,

 

i am running a 32/18 and will keep that gearing as I feel the places where a 20 could/might work there will be bottlenecks and walking anyway.

 

a 20 is too low for the rest of the course besides 6 x20m climbs

 

Mike

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I will run the current 32/18 with a new tensioner and chain :thumbup:

What is the norm for a 26inch SS. Most people seem to have the 29er's and run 32/16 or 32/18 in Gauteng.

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I have 33/18 and will engage the "walk" ratio whenever necessary.

 

BTW : Wendall had an off at Mankele on Saturday and dislocated his good shoulder. He seemed to be in good spirits when I spoke to him afterwards

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I will run the current 32/18 with a new tensioner and chain :thumbup:

What is the norm for a 26inch SS. Most people seem to have the 29er's and run 32/16 or 32/18 in Gauteng.

 

32/18 is fine, if thats what works for you . if you had a 29er you would feel the same ridding a 32/20 it beacuase of the bigger wheel , you would need to ease up on the gear to get it spinning .

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I have 33/18 and will engage the "walk" ratio whenever necessary.

 

BTW : Wendall had an off at Mankele on Saturday and dislocated his good shoulder. He seemed to be in good spirits when I spoke to him afterwards

 

People forget that a SS is in fact a 3 speed , sit, stand , walk :clap:

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I have 33/18 and will engage the "walk" ratio whenever necessary.

 

BTW : Wendall had an off at Mankele on Saturday and dislocated his good shoulder. He seemed to be in good spirits when I spoke to him afterwards

 

Wendall , get better, hope he heals up well and fast.

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Big up to you SS riders! I rode that single loop 20k's Friday and Saturday with lots of gears and it aint easy :whistling: - seems you'll be having a jol though :thumbup:

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WOW 3 gears I thought there was just Sit and Stand although I had to engage the 3rd option on Sat up the concrete strips due to the chain slipping on the rear sprocket (before i shortened the chain). I still beat all my mates except for 1 and I walked from nearly the bottom..... May be they need to chain to SS :clap: Seems you can get a fair pace waking 5.5km/hr

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Flippa added an extra gear yesterday - wheezing :w00t:

 

thats the secret gear for extreme use only.

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People forget that a SS is in fact a 3 speed , sit, stand , walk :clap:

 

I have one gear and 4 speeds: sit, stand, walk and "aero-tuck"

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Flippa added an extra gear yesterday - wheezing :w00t:

 

Oi! That was supposed to be my secret weapon for Saturday!

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