General Equipment Choice for the Epic - Tires and Pedals

[Newboy]

 

 

Had the same input before, and indeed considering a shoe change - I just tried the Spez Evo MTB Shoe, and although it is really stiff for pedaling, it has a much larger contact patch on the sole and is fully rubberized. I found them much better to walk than the Sidis.

 

Question for those who already did the Epic last year: Are there some stages where you do most of the walking and some where you don't need to walk that much?

 

Tks

 

Last year stage 1 had quite a bit of walking because of the sand. Otherwise there is very few places where you have to walk. Mostly where it is so steep that walking is as fast as riding or everybody else is walking and it is impossible to ride. I walked a little on all stages last year, but really very little except stage 1, which there don't seem to be an equivalent of this year.

[WIPEOUT 1000]

I would stick to the shoes you currently ride with, new shoes are virtually guaranteed to give you problems.

[rmabreu]

I would stick to the shoes you currently ride with, new shoes are virtually guaranteed to give you problems.

 

Did a fair amount of riding last week in the new shoes already, so in a sense they are not new anymore...

[WIPEOUT 1000]

 

 

Did a fair amount of riding last week in the new shoes already, so in a sense they are not new anymore...

 

My experience has been that, especially with stiff soles, the issue is more related to walking with new shoes rather than actually riding. I.e. there's a lot more relative movement between the foot and the shoe while walking and this could easily cause blisters. I would suggest you also do some walking in your new shoes.

[ians H2Sport]

2012 Epic Expert, Fast Track Control's. XT pedals and S-Works shoes - 1st Epic

[sometime]

Had the same input before, and indeed considering a shoe change - I just tried the Spez Evo MTB Shoe, and although it is really stiff for pedaling, it has a much larger contact patch on the sole and is fully rubberized. I found them much better to walk than the Sidis.

 

Question for those who already did the Epic last year: Are there some stages where you do most of the walking and some where you don't need to walk that much?

 

Tks

 

We did 99% of our walking on stage 1, but there was loads of that (even on the downhills & even for the pro's!) and that's what did the damage for the rest of the race. The rest of the race there was essentially no walking (assuming of course you're a good climber and descender).

 

I'm pretty sure the organisers won't repeat that mistake this year.

Edited March 18, 2014 by sometime

[awesme]

Havent ridden anything (MTB or Road) of length, but have heard enough times from people (aka last week/before Argus/ Super Cycling/Andrew Mclean) (and well similar experience in my other sports).

 

DON"t change your shoes this close to the race. Don't change anything MAJOR this close.

 

G

[Tankman]

 

Stiff shoes are great until you have to do loads of walking in them. Then the blisters start as the sole doesn't flex. Hopefully there will be none of the enforced walking we had last year which gave many of us huge heal blisters.

 

We got wind of the amount of sand and walking that awaited us on stage one.

 

We also got a great tip: Get some of that white athletic plaster and strap that around your heel and ankle before putting your socks on!

 

Worked a charm! And you dont even know it is there while riding!

 

No blisters and you know what they say ... prevention is better than cure!

 

 

We did 99% of our walking on stage 1, but there was loads of that (even on the downhills & even for the pro's!) and that's what did the damage for the rest of the race. The rest of the race there was essentially no walking (assuming of course you're a good climber and descender).

 

I'm pretty sure the organisers won't repeat that mistake this year.

 

I am not that sure ... !

[V12man]

We got wind of the amount of sand and walking that awaited us on stage one.

 

We also got a great tip: Get some of that white athletic plaster and strap that around your heel and ankle before putting your socks on!

 

Worked a charm! And you dont even know it is there while riding!

 

No blisters and you know what they say ... prevention is better than cure!

 

 

 

I am not that sure ... !

 

You missed watching Mr P yell at a certain epic organiser just before dinner that day... one who often wears an Italian suit...

 

 

I think looking after your feet is important during the Epic - Mill cream before sock on makes good sense... I suppose chamois cream would work just as well..

[TIIME]

I rode in the middle of the pack and made some observations specifically mechanical incidents. Here are some conclusions:

 

Of the 20 - 30 frantic puncture repair attempts I saw, 90% of the guys rode Schwalbe tires; mosly Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron. I think these are the OEM tires they got with their bikes thus perhaps not the snake skin version? Nevertheless these guys had issues... The other 10% mostly Specialised Fast Track? and 1 continental Mountain king. Didn't spot any Maxxis flats.

 

Groupsets: Rear deraileur issues SRAM

Cranks that came off (I saw 2x) Shimano XT

 

Anyone else riding with a notepad?

[Squier]

Would love to see some stats of who struggled with puncture issues with what tyres.

[rmabreu]

I also rode in the middle of the pack (we finished 308 in GC), and had ZERO mechanicals or flats. I used the Ra/Ra - Ro/Ro combination in the SnakeSkin version and had no issues at all with the tires, barely needed to calibrate them after each stage (rode with 25PSI). My partner rode Maxxis Crossmarks UST and also had no issues at all. Honestly I believe that a lot has to do with the tires but also a lot has to do with the way you ride them, the lines you select in rocky downhills, etc.

[Mr LOOK]

The Cape Epic this year proved to be a huge success for the LOOK S Track Pedal!! We achieved great results!!

 

Men

 

1^st Topeak Ergon Racing - Robert Mennen & Kristian Hynek both on LOOK S Tracks.

2^nd Songo Specialized - Christoph Sauser & Frantisek Rabon both on LOOK S Tracks.

 

Women

 

1^st RECM 2 - Ariane Kleinhans & Annika Langvad both on LOOK S Tracks.

 

African Jersey

1^st Scott Factory Racing - Matthys Beukes on LOOK S Tracks.

2^nd RECM - Erik Kleinhans & Nico Bell both on LOOK S Tracks.

3^rd RED E Blend - Charles Keey on LOOK S Tracks.

4^th Asrin - Louis Knipe on LOOK S Tracks.

[Eldron]

I rode in the middle of the pack and made some observations specifically mechanical incidents. Here are some conclusions:

 

Of the 20 - 30 frantic puncture repair attempts I saw, 90% of the guys rode Schwalbe tires; mosly Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron. I think these are the OEM tires they got with their bikes thus perhaps not the snake skin version? Nevertheless these guys had issues... The other 10% mostly Specialised Fast Track? and 1 continental Mountain king. Didn't spot any Maxxis flats.

 

Groupsets: Rear deraileur issues SRAM

Cranks that came off (I saw 2x) Shimano XT

 

Anyone else riding with a notepad?

 

My and my partner's unofficial survey was:

Most punctures were either Shwalbe Ralphs or Rons - to be fair they seemed to be the most common tyre too. Would be interesting to see % of Ralphs/Rons punctured versus other tyres.... I was on Crossmark LUSTS and with my partner on Ikons and neither of us had any punctures (despite Boosted descending like a scalded cat and me having to chase after him like a mad man!!!).

Most unseated or broken chains seemed to SRAM 1x11 systems (interesting to see the Scott boys using a little chain guide on their 1x11 that sat above the front chain ring - clever idea!).

Most worn out brake pads - resin. People people resin is great for 1 day races - ALWAYS use metal for stage racing.

[openmind]

I rode in the middle of the pack and made some observations specifically mechanical incidents. Here are some conclusions:

 

Of the 20 - 30 frantic puncture repair attempts I saw, 90% of the guys rode Schwalbe tires; mosly Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron. I think these are the OEM tires they got with their bikes thus perhaps not the snake skin version? Nevertheless these guys had issues... The other 10% mostly Specialised Fast Track? and 1 continental Mountain king. Didn't spot any Maxxis flats.

 

Groupsets: Rear deraileur issues SRAM

Cranks that came off (I saw 2x) Shimano XT

 

Anyone else riding with a notepad?

Your observations are anecdotal - if 90% of the field were riding Schwalbe (which is probably not far off) and you saw 90% of people with flats riding Schwalbe then those tyres did as well as any others. Same for the derailleurs and cranks.

[GoLefty!!]

The Cape Epic this year proved to be a huge success for the LOOK S Track Pedal!! We achieved great results!!

 

Men

 

1^st Topeak Ergon Racing - Robert Mennen & Kristian Hynek both on LOOK S Tracks.

2^nd Songo Specialized - Christoph Sauser & Frantisek Rabon both on LOOK S Tracks.

 

Women

 

1^st RECM 2 - Ariane Kleinhans & Annika Langvad both on LOOK S Tracks.

 

African Jersey

 

1^st Scott Factory Racing - Matthys Beukes on LOOK S Tracks.

2^nd RECM - Erik Kleinhans & Nico Bell both on LOOK S Tracks.

3^rd RED E Blend - Charles Keey on LOOK S Tracks.

4^th Asrin - Louis Knipe on LOOK S Tracks.

 

 

Standard, race or Ti versions?