i have Ocean to Ocean in Thailand run from beach faces Pacific ocean to beach faces Hindi ocean -  waiting (in waiting list) or else Penang 28km trail running.

y la all events packs into 1 weekend.

They dont allow shipping to aussie. any alternative ?

anyone is up for Genting Perez ride & Trail hike and running @ G. Nuang??

because multiple champions rode it... contador for 2010 tour and 2011 giro which he both defaulted and even schleck when he won his 2010 tour by default... schleck brothers also rode a spez to podium in 2009 along with young rider classification...spez took top 2 placing at le tour in 2010, 2nd and 3rd in 2009, 2nd in 2011...

in 2010, 2 teams uses spez bikes... astana and csc.. remained the same in 2011... in 2012 increased to 3 worldtour teams with inclusion of omega pharma... only bike manufacturer ridden by more than 1 team in the grand tours if i am not wrong...

...then there is tom boonen for classics...cancellara as UCI world TT champion for 2009 and 2010, tour de suisse overall in 2010, multiple stage and ITT wins...among other wins...

basically... it's a bike that is seen winning quite a lot of high publicity races..

it's a psychological thing... what wins more must always be good..haha.. whether it is true or not, it's up to you to find out..

you don't see repeated wins or repeated streaks from recent winners in pinarello, bmc, willier and cannondale do you??? with the exception of trek which won like 9 out of the 11 tours they took part in with 7 now striked off the winners list thanks to the doper..

naturally... spez is the next best thing... and they have a complete lineup of climbing, aero, classics, TT bikes that is lacking in one way or the other from their rivals...

jus my heavily skewed 2 cents...

with an ad like this...who can resist

who is joining me on Sunday with P2K ride?

tell me more about it.

you are into endurance sport like tri and run-bike-run rite?

of course reducing weight to the absolute minimal is an important thing...but, i think weight doesn't matter that much in general context... reducing 1kg of mass of course will reduce the overall effort you need to ride the bike over a distance...

but, the main temptation to weight reduction is because you get improved acceleration where you need less energy to propel the bike forward especially on climbs which is why you see climbers run on lightest possible bike components and even lighter wheels, mostly low profile (rotational weight plays an even heavier factor than general sprung mass on acceleration)...

a very good example... a set of Zipp 202 weighs in at 1000 grams and a set of Zipp 808 weighs in at a tad over 1500 grams for example... triathletes will take the 808 because the effects of aero efficiencies on the 808 overcomes the 202's weight savings...they will only see the 202 during off the ramp starts where they might feel the acceleration rates or when launching out of corners...

for the 808, once it gets up to speed, the aerodynamic properties coupled with the momentum it can carry saves more wattages over the distance...

i doubt you will need constant cases of getting the bike up to speed in any of those endurance courses or attack off a bunch of riders on a climb... which is my basis for aero over weight reduction... weight reduction still needs to be done, but aero will most likely become a bigger priority...

ohh... i thought you meant road based endurance events...

on MTB... weight has another factor as MTB trails (i am not sure about xterra) is going to be more technical comparing it to road courses... not sure if you need to be chucking your bike about on the xterra trail as a heavier bike is going to be tougher to get past very technical sections...not to mention wearing yourself out doing so...

you might already have the endurance and power to ride the trails from your road training, just need to develop a feel for a different bike setup and terrain... but having to maneuver a heavier bike on the trails is considerably harder especially if the trail is a technical course...

you are thinking of the hardtail stumpjumper right? not the all mountain?...i think the new xtc are all 29ers as well...

might as well stick with the giant XTC (i assume not the composite one?) if the price is right and upgrade from there...maybe a lighter wheel, a remote lockout fork, upgrade to the new shimano shadow drivetrain or SRAM XX1... (jus jokin on the last one, the price is a killer)..

no point buying a bike just for parts and then getting another frame... spez stumpjumper frame doesn't come cheap if you buy a standalone frame.. buying entire bike package is much better option in my opinion...

as a rider, body weight is important to be kept at a minimal low if possible... but on a competitive mentality... everyone is on the same playing field.. meaning the person next to you having the same body weight, height and practically similar attributes...having a better bike might enable you to climb that incline faster or shave time off the upcoming technical section and stuff like that....not to mention, you don't need to be wrangling with your roadie on road rides while you will have to fight with your bike all the way through trails, having a lighter bike lets you assume more control over it and less spent at the end of the day...

if i were to say, go out with a leisure ride with you.. it makes no sense for me to have the best equipment as i am not racing to win...it'll be preferable to reduce body weight though as that doesn't cause much to do so...

just to add on, don't need to mention about aero but, tiffness plays a role in MTB but not as important as road bikes as MTBs will always be flexing around from the front or the rear fork... hence, the need for a lockout or even better, a remote lockout so you can HTFU (harden the fork up)... i meant lock up   the fork if you need to power up a climb out of saddle and things like that... rear shocks also has many ways to reduce bobbing... used to be GT i-drive and proflex's has their own ways... now, i think they achieve it via a series of complex pivoting systems...

my mtb knowledge is outdated... you can ask tge mtb guys on the other thread for their opinion