What it the opposite of 5"?

This weekend the 5” experiment took a total 180 degree turnaround! On Saturday afternoon I assisted a friend in building up his Niner S.I.R 9 frame. This is a Reynolds 853 steel frame that is designed specifically for singlespeed use. It has regular drop-outs but features an eccentric bottom bracket for tensioning the chain. It was super easy to build up!

The frame is simply beautiful! The welding is perfection and the root beer colour sparkles in the sun! Having said all this, I did think that you would have to be absolutely crazy to ride one of these things! Since I am now a converted big travel, one bike guy, the idea of a fully rigid singlespeed is preposterous!

And then I rode it...

Big wheels really do roll over trail obstacles easier. On my short, but eventful test, I simply loved the bike! I rode it up a steep hill, which proved that you need some serious lung capacity to pilot a machine like this! We fitted a 32 front chainring with 16 teeth at the back. This seemed good ratio for the Groenkloof and your average Pretoria hacking.

Then I got to take it on some cool singletrack. It was a blast! The 29 inch wheels love to keep going once you have them up to speed and you find yourself pushing harder and harder, it is extremely tiring but great fun!

I am hoping to get my hands on the bike for some more extensive testing, but Matt loves his new bike so much, I am not sure it will be really soon. Watch this space!

Induna and Mankele

I am just back from taking the 5” experiment to Mpumalanga. We took a long weekend and did the MTN Big Induna race in Hazyview and then spent 2 days staying and riding at Mankele. South Africa’s own MTB park.

 

The race was a challenge, as usual. Anyone who underestimates the second half of the 75km Marathon is in for some pain and suffering. Some wet weather left slight muddy patches, but nothing that could not be ridden. The Yeti again, performed amazingly well. For the first time I found myself using the pro-pedal on some of the smoother tracks. After the hard riding of Magaliesberg and Rooiberg, the tracks at Hazyview seemed like groomed super tubes! The first 45km is fast and fun and the second 30km will leave you exhausted if you pushed too hard in the beginning. Again, the bike did not disappoint, and I found that I was riding the final quad trails faster than ever before.

 

We spent the next 2 days riding at Mankele. We also stayed in the 3 bedroom chalet, and I must say that this is really awesome accommodation. The facilities are clean and really first class. The establishment also has a bike wash area with hoses. All an MTB’er could ask for.

The riding is unbelievable! We only managed to take in the XC course and the singletrack around the huts. This was all challenging and great fun. I had dialled a bit more sag into the YETI 575 giving it a more supple feel. I then set the pro-pedal to the number 1 setting, giving a firm but comfortable ride when it was on. This allowed me to bomb through the rocky technical sections and still allowed me to climb the 30% inclines with great ease.

 

Be sure to take some spare with you, they don’t have anything that I could see in the shop and I did cut a tyre on the last run on the last day. The Bush Tunnel is one of the greatest pieces of singletrack that I have ever ridden and it begs to be ridden multiple times, so make sure you are fit but the time you make your booking to get the most out of the riding.

 

This weekend, I will be riding a local race in the east of Pretoria. Tygervalley. It is part of a new Nissan series. See you all there!

Mankele Pictures

Rooiberg EcoRide

This weekend saw the continuation of the 5” experiment on the rocky slopes of Rooiberg. The relatively new 2 day stage race is held just outside Warmbaths near the now ghost town of Rooiberg.

I must thank my sponsor; Regent Lighting Solutions for making it possible for me to attend the event.

It seems that my last 2 outings; at the Magalies Monster and now at Rooiberg, the YETI 575 was the perfect bike. Day 1 is a hugely rough ride! There are plenty of rocks in the area, and the route was probably 85% single track, sometimes over some very cool off-camber sections and traversing big rocks and rocky dry river beds. For me it was a blast! The bike performed like I would have expected it to. I never lost momentum no matter how rough the track was. The great thing about the 575 is that you can stay seated and power through the hardest sections on the trail.

The day’s highlight was definitely a section called “Donga” I only wished I could have gone back and ridden it again! For some riders day 1 would be slightly disappointing, as a rather large fire broke out along the route. Meaning that most of the mid to back pack had to get re-routed. I was lucky enough to make it through before the fire became an angry beast, forcing riders to turn away and re-route.

Day 2 is a far more flowing affair. After averaging only 16.6km/h on day 1 the fast jeep track of day 2 was very welcome. Here again the YETI surprised me. On the long flat sections the bike still pedalled extremely well. I was also never aware that I was riding over 12kgs of bike. And when things turned rough again near the end of the day, the 575 simply danced over the rocks and gained me a few positions in the last kilometres, notably over very exhausted looking hard tail riders.

So far the 5” experiment has been a huge success for me. We now move to the Big Induna and some playing at Mankele this weekend.

It would be remiss of me not to mention Grant Usher at this point. While I am moving swiftly towards a 5 inch bike as my bike of choice for all riding along comes Mr. Usher. Cool Heat built his fully rigid Niner single speed on Friday Night before the event. He then proceeded to beat most of the field on what can really only be described as one of the hardest courses in the country over 2 days. So if you feel that the 5” revolution is not for you, have a hat to Grant next time you bump into him. He loves telling you about how happy he is with his new bike!