 On
the whole our bikes performed superbly. We had no mechanical
brake downs to speak of and didn't need to replace anything
major.
We were very impressed with
the all round performance of the Maxxis crossmark UST
tubeless tyres. They provided grip in the wet and the dry
and rolled very well on all the hard pack roads. Cornering
was brilliant and we felt confident on all the descents on
various surfaces, wet, dry, loose and hard. The side walls
never even got a scratch and we didn't even have one single
puncture.
Day 1 of the Cape Epic 2006
was any bikes worst nightmare. As bad as it was for the
riders it was 10 times worse for the bikes. Brake pads were
the biggest losers on day 1 as grit got stuck between the
pads and the rotors and quickly wore away even the sintered
metal brake pads. It took 40km of wet riding to completely
wear away the pads. A lot of the day was spent braking with
metal on metal. Although we carried extra pads for an
emergency we didn't carry full spare sets. A big
lesson learned, if you ride in the rain especially on sandy
wet roads, then carry a full set of extra pads.
We both started with brand
new drive trains (chain, cassette, chainrings) this meant
that we had virtually no chain suck on day one, and managed
to complete the whole race without major replacements. Just
a new chain for Big Al. Both our freewheel bodies took a
beating though, with Alberts playing up on day 1 and Alans
on day 3. Albert left his as it is not serviceable, and it
seemed to work itself out. But Alan could service the Mavic
freewheel, all it required was a clean out and a fresh bit
of lube.
Big Al did a post epic bike
service:
The Epic has come and gone
and I could no longer avoid looking at my bike. I didn't get
a chance to clean it after the last stage so it has been
hanging in the garage looking a very sorry sight. So last
night I tackled the issue. Here is what I did, to get my
bike sorted out, and some of you may find it handy as a
check list of what you should maybe be looking at.
1. Cleaned the bike
thoroughly. Cried over all the scratches picked up from the
George mud! My Raleigh looks really used now.
2. Serviced the headset. The
Raleigh RDS9 has an integrated headset with sealed cartridge
bearings, so this is a very easy task. Just take out all the
bearings, clean them up and re-fit with lots of
grease.
3. Crank and BB service.
Hollowtech II cranks are really the business! They are so
easy to service. I took off the cranks and removed the
external bearings to reveal about 3 litres of water and 4 kg
of mud hiding in the frame. If there is only one thing that
you do after the Epic, it should be this. There is a stack
of muck that hides behind the bearings and the sheath, so
strip it down and clean it out. It only takes 15
minutes.
4. I then also removed the
rear shock and greased all the bolts and spacers.
5. I removed the swing-arm.
And greased the main pivot.
6. The rear hub was stripped
down and serviced. To my shock I discovered that the front
wheel has a different size bolt, so I have to go to the shop
today to get a 13 cone spanner then I will service the front
hub too. This just involves stripping it down, taking out
all the bearings, greasing them up and putting them back in.
I am running an XTR wheel set, so I had to service the hubs,
those of you with Mavic Crossmax will not have to worry
about this as you have sealed cartridge bearings.
7. I had to replace the cable
on my Reba's pop lock, as it wasn't so snappy any more.
That was all. My gear cables
were still perfect. It takes a lot to get the Nokon cables
to deteriorate. So they were fine. I hope that this gives
you all something to work from. Do it sooner than later, you
have to be riding again this weekend!
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