Article : Hardtail or Soft?

Since the dawn of time, mountain bikers have been debating the merits of hardtails versus full - sussers.Well, since the dawn of useful rear suspension, anyway, which was the mid -1990's. Ask around and you won’t find any fence- sitters on this one– you are either a rigid rigid follower, or a suspensions of tie .No middle ground.

So why do manufacturers still pour thousands of research and design bucks into new hardtails for their ranges? If full suspension was the way to go, surely it is time to trash the moulds and focus purely on plush? Fortunately,we are not quite there yet.There is still plenty of room in the market for the hardtail – it has two areas where it clobbers the full-suspension brigade hands-down: race performance and price. Full-suspension bikes are still, as a rule, between one and two kilograms heavier than similarly-specced hardtails.

This weight difference grows when you compare by price rather than spec – a R15 000 hardtail will boast race-winning componentry, yet a full-susser for the same price will be a boat anchor, by comparison. Yes, it is possible to buy a sub-9kg full-suspension bike, but it will cost you as much as a small car. For the purpose of this article, let’s concentrate on affordable bikes!

More, from the Bicycling website......

Ride Reports : Fish Eagle forest trail

2 reports by email, after rides on the newly-created Fish Eagle Trail....


Report #1 by Stef

I died 3 times. I almost killed Adriano on the narrow bridge and ate Vincent’s gel. Through the loose sand Adriano and Vincent were riding in front of me when a sand monster came out, grabbed me and sucked me into the sand. Luckily I was able to poke him in the eye with my pump and I could escape. This is the only reason Adriano and Vince had to wait for me. It had nothing to do with my 97kg digging my tyres into the sand.

Later that day Vincent fell asleep while we were talking to him, and I had the best beer(s) of the whole week.


Report #2 by Indi


Hi All,
I went out on the Saturday trip and had a good walkout. Just that after a quarter of the cycle I lost the team, either due to my pace or lack thereof. Needless to say it was then just me against the elements. I ended up taking the 16km loop as I was clueless where the 25km loop was (relying solely on my instinct given we did this at night!). It was a bit uncomfortable at times going through the isolated areas. Overall though I was content with my workout.

My appeal is that we should maintain the ‘Broke Chain Gang’ approach doing these trips together. At least 2 should be available for these cycles.

Looking forward to the next trip.
PS. I am still trying to get my bike out off reverse gear

A duo of Ride Reports : ILLOVO-ESTON

A trio of Team Flying Jellies, just before the start of the

18K race; we were joined at the event by Tee Jelly who

breezed thru the 40K, and Martijn, who stopped along the

way to assist an eplileptic rider (!)

Tennis Jelly and Capn Jelly, at the finish, just before

collecting our free frosties (no kidding!)

Report #1 by Aroon
Dabz, Bear and Yours Truly decided to make the trip up to the Mtidlands to ride ILLOVO-ESTON 18K event, once we got informed that our preferred race, the Dolphin Surf Mile Series event had been cancelled again, due to continued "sardine activity"....

Bear hired a GIANT Escaper from Cyclesphere in Winderemere Rd, and was very content with his ride and their service - it was his first offroad event, and he'll definitely be back for more! I sensed that the knuckle-whitening descents had something to do with that :)

Dabz is becoming somewhat of a veteran, riding in his 3rd offroad event this year, on Heidi's trusty Silverback. I had serviced the bike after the Big5 Mtunzini event, during which the chain had jumped off 8 times! This time round, there were no mechanical problems experienced at all, making for an enjoyable, hassle-free ride....

My CALOI, purchased from De Jesus, shaped very nicely, leaving me especially pleased with the level of confidence afforded by the downhill performance of the disc brakes.

The event was a WHOPPER in terms of attendance, which was probably around 3 thousand riders (!) and should be an auto-include into anyone's race schedule, except that you should pre-enter so that you might get into an early race batch.....







Report #2 by Tertius
This past weekend I attended the Illovo Eston MTB day and what an event! A mass turnout close to 3400 saw cyclists battle it out over 60km, 40km, 18km and 10km. A wise man told me to stick to the 18km race - which I found very challenging with lots of ‘walkout’ hills and fast descends. A couple of ‘comrades’ managed to flatten some parts of the bumpy track in the event meeting with mother earth (“koop ‘n plaas”). The 18km route took us through the Tala game reserve where I saw a few ‘Rooi bokke’ along the way with one daring Ostrich charging past in a race to the finish line – I’m convinced she took short cut..!

All in all, this event was well organized with good support from locals and suppliers of needy refreshments etc. A race I will definitely add to my MTB race calendar for next year.