Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Epic Month for MTB in South Africa

The MTB spotlight is still clearly on South Africa as it should be. Last week saw the UCI MTB World Cup in Pietermaritzburg. The organisers put on a world class event attracting all of the worlds best riders. Greg Minnaar won the the downhill, Burry Stander came second in the XCO and the womans downhill was won on a Morewood downhill bike made in Pietermaritzburg, all South African. 

This weekend is the Cape Epic, the most prestigious MTB stage race is the world, once again the worlds best will be on the start line in Cape Town along with hundreds of amateurs taking up the challenge for various reasons. Many teams take up charity entries and ride for a cause. More average guys trying to make a difference on their MTBs. Team Trojans is just such a team, Their Wheels4wheels cause is aimed at raising funds to purchase wheelchairs or other mobility equipment for under privileged brain damaged people. You can find out more or support them via their website www.wheels4wheels.co.za 

MtbOnline will be there riding as Team OFM Radio, if you listen to OFM then make sure you tune in in the afternoons from Sunday 25 March to get live updates from Absa Cape Epic 2012. You can also follow us on twitter @live2ridemtb or @mtbaverageguy . Or else check out our dedicated Absa Cape Epic page on the website.


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Thursday, March 15, 2012

An Epic Tale - The Movie

Cinemas around the country have been a buzz with mountain bikers as the feature film "An Epic Tale" from Sinamatella productions had premier screenings. The full length feature film starts two of South Africas most successful cyclists, Kevin Evans and David George from Team360life. 

No South African team has ever won the Cape Epic, nor has any South African mountain biker worn the coveted World Marathon Champion's Rainbow Jersey. In 2011, David George and Kevin Evans of Nedbank Team 360Life set out to remedy this. In their quest to compete with the very best, they would have to overcome obstacles and setbacks more daunting than they ever imagined. This is their story.

1 Season
2 Pro bike riders
3 Operating Theatres
67 Days of racing
112 Stitches
54,105 km's of training

There are two trailers Teaser#1 and Teaser#2 of the movie that show the quality of this production. This movie gives you insight into the dedication, hard work, sacrifice and commitment that goes into being a world class mountain biker. If you haven't made it to the premiers then look out for the the screening on DSTV Supersport 20 March at 20h00 on SS5.

 
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Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Right tyre for right conditions

Mountain bike tyre choice or preferance is always a topic for robust discussion between mountain bikers. It is very difficult to say that one tyre is better than the other because there are so many different criteria that influence this selection. Tyres are designed for different riding conditions, so essentially you need to match the tyre requirements to your conditions.
 
It depends on what your main requirements are from the tyre. The main criteria are weight, traction in wet or dry, rolling resistance, puncture resistance and cornering ability. To get an idea of what your most important criteria are you need to understand what your riding conditions are typically. Take for example the choice to be made for 3 very different events 1. Absa Cape Epic, 2 Sani2C or 3 Cross country race in the Midlands.
 
At the epic you expect dry, rocky, sandy conditions with long distances. While at Sani2C you may expect mostly dry but possibly wet, firm relatively smooth trails with very few rocks and long distances. At at a cross country race on purpose built smooth trails you could expect wet conditions, smooth trails lots of corners on a relatively short route. So your requirements at the Epic would be mainly protection and rolling resistance possibly at a weight penalty. At Sani2C you would be looking for low rolling resistance with good grip and maybe a bit of a weight saving. While at the cross country championships you would be looking for excellent traction as low weight as possible and no real need for sidewall protection.
 
So the two extremes are for epic choose the strongest tyre with the lowest rolling resistance and ok grip and don't worry about the weight. On the other end of the scale choose the lightest soft compound, traction orientated tyre that you can find for the cross country race.
 
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