 Alan's
2 year old Scott comp Racing hard tail came through with
flying colours. I replaced all cables, chain, chain rings
and cassette before the race. Albert had a new Raleigh RDS9.
Neither of us had any breakages or had to replace anything
on the race. We degreased chains, washed bikes and did full
bike checks everyday, then lubed up the chain with squirt
the night before and again in the morning. On some bad days
we lubed at water points again.
For tyres Alan ran Schwalbe
racing ralphs with tubes and tyre liners at 3 bar and had
only one puncture on day 7. Albert ran tubeless Schwalbe
with stans and he had no flats. Our tyres took a few cuts on
day from day 4 onwards but nothing serious. We mad a special
effort through all the technical sections to ride carefully
to avoid cuts and pinch flats if possible.
Alan rode V brakes with cool
stop pads, they took serious strain on day 1 and 2 with all
the mud and water, but did hold out towards the end. However
I could feel the braking efficiency decreasing. On the long
technical descents my hands also took quite a bit of strain
from having to pull so hard, so discs would definitely have
been a better option. All the pro bikes that I say were
running discs. My partner had discs with wet weather pads on
and he was very happy.
Alan rode a hard tail and
managed just fine. Although I did all my training on the hard tail
so was really used to the hard ride. It was on the flatter
faster sections and the technical descents that I really
could have used a FS. I could feel it taking it out of me.
Although I felt good on my hard tail, I think I would have
felt even better on a FS. Albert had done all his training
on a hard tail and got the FS at the last minute, and he was
very happy and would not have wanted to be on the hard tail.
If at all possible I think the FS is the bike of choice, but
you need a top end bike to get the weight and performance
benefit.
Both of us rode Shimano and
we had no problems at all. We also noticed that the top
teams were all riding Shimano as well. Talking to the
Cannondale Siemens wrench we asked what maintenance he does
on the bikes. Turns out that he strips the whole bike down
each day to check that nothing is broken or badly worn. He
then re-assembles it all again and lubes it all up. He only
replaces broken or worn parts. By the end of day4 he had
just had to replace a broken bolt in the rear shock of
Sausers bike. The only real replacement part was the chain
which he replaced after day 4. And was then going to put a
new one on again for the last day.
In terms of shocks Alan used
a Marzhocci Comp Mx. I had just done a oil change before the
race so the fork was nice and smooth. During the race I just
had to keep the pressure up and by the 4 day it had lost
quite a bit. Other than that there was no problem with it
and it worked fine. Albert had a Fox that didn't need any
adjusting at all, not even pressure.
Albert's Review on his
Raleigh RDS 9.0
I have just completed the
Cape Epic on my Raleigh, and for those of you out there who are
still saying 'But it's a Raleigh.' with that rather sour
look on
your face, take note: this is South Africa's best kept MTB
Secret!!! Also
Note: this bike was raced to victory in the Mixed Category
of the Epic. I
am dying to track Nic White down to hear what he thinks of
it!
Let's start with the spec.
I have the standard spec as
seen on the website www.raleigh.co.za
. The bike came with a Woodman
carbon fiber seat post this is not stated on the website,
they have it
listed as a Ritchey WCS seat post. I
am not going through the spec, go to the site and check it
out!
What I changed
from standard spec.
* I bought a Thompson Elite
seat post just before the epic, only because
I don't think an 86 kg rider should be riding carbon fiber.
* Wheels - I did not take the Mavic CrossMax SL wheels as I
was advised
that they are not suitable for riders over 80kgs. I have
Mavic 717 Disc
Rims on XTR hubs with good 'ol Stans taking care of
punctures (Not one for
the whole Cape Epic!)
* I put on Nokon gear cables, this is a worthwhile
investment, as I had
a trouble free epic with these cables and they are still
100% now!
General Handling.
I have set up the bike's rear
shock rather conservatively, what I mean is, that
I have only dialed in a small amount of sag, which
ultimately means that
I am not using all the travel on the rear. But, having come
from a hard tail,
it still feels awesome to me. There is no bob from the rear
shock. The bike
is fitted with a Fox RP3 Shock and this really works well.
For those of you
that don't know, the RP3 has 3 settings;
* Full Pro-Pedal, this
eliminates all pedal induced bob. I use this setting
most of the time as the shock still smoothes out bumps and
the pedaling
is efficient
* Medium Pro-Pedal, this makes the shock a little more
active but still
eliminates most pedal induced bob. I started using this
setting at the epic,
especially on the really rocky climbs. I found it easier to
climb if the
shock was a bit more active!
* Plush, this setting switches off the Pro-Pedal. I use this
only for technical
downhills.
I like the fact that I am in
control of the suspension, I get no surprises from
it! I know some bikes think they can do this for you, but it
is not very
brainy!!
The bike handles like a
dream. The fork is so plush that you sometimes wonder if you are
actually off road. Also it tracks perfectly. I have had no wash outs or the
like! The
shifting from the XTR shifters is perfect. Sometimes, a
little too perfect.
Coming from XT dual control, I often found myself double
shifting, but
I am used to it now. The only slight hitches that I have had
in the shifting
department, is when the suspension is very active, the down
shift is
sometimes not smooth, but this only lasts about a second,
then everything is
back to normal.
The XTR chainrings appear to
last longer than my XT ones used to, I am on my
second Chain,
without a chainring change, so that is already better than
XT.
This bike is super fast! I
think that this has a lot to do with the fact that
the wheel set is actually incredibly light. But acceleration
is rapid and
I find myself riding the big chainring a lot more than
before.
What I really like about this
bike is that the suspension is so simple! There
is only one pivot point, and thus far I have had no
problems. It is still
as stiff and stiction free as the day I got the bike. I
believe that the
secret is in the shock, this enables this rather simple
suspension design
to shine! I was always reluctant to move from a hard tail,
as I was scared
of maintaining today's complicated suspensions with all the
bushings and
bearings, this bike eliminates that worry for me, and that
is great!
If you are looking at a
suspension bike to buy, check out the Raleigh, and speak to Fritz
Pienaar Cycles, their service is top notch, as I have said before. I think
in time people will be saying, 'It is a Raleigh!!' with envy and pride in
their eyes! |
