September 2007
Another 2 weeks and then I would lose the Moonboot and then another 2 weeks (hopefully) and I will be back on my bike. This has been 1 very hectic month nevertheless. Mike has taken a well deserved holiday with the boss lady, Erica, and is in Scotland with our SA team at the world XC champs as I type this. I was on Skype to him just a moment ago... is technology not just unbelievable!
HLLCREST SHOP
The Hillcrest shop move is nearly complete ... If we can only get Telkom to play ball. We will send an invitation to you all for our grand opening soon.
In the meantime we are looking forward to receiving you at Shop1B, Lilies Quarter, Old Main Rd, Hillcrest. It’s behind Oscar, below RJ’s.
Craig Day has joined the team in Hillcrest on a fulltime basis. This allows us to lift our game in terms of service to our most valuable asset – you, our customer. The full team is: The King – Alex, Hit the Trails – Craig, The quiet one – Len and the man with the eina muscles – Ska.
HILTON SHOP
With Craig in Hillcrest, we have had a couple of worried Hilton customers. Please don’t worry. We will still continue to look after your bike well. This is how it’s going to happen. There is a Maverick vehicle going between Hilton and Hillcrest daily, so all tricky suspension and hydraulic stuff will be sent down to Hillcrest for Alex and Craig to look at and will be back in Hilton the next day ... this is the short term solution. From sometime next month, I will be in Hilton and will be responsible for your prized possessions myself. And I can promise you that between Gordon, China and me, we can fix everything that is worth fixing ... and tune everything that is worth tuning.
Herewith our new telephone number: 086 111 2058. Going forward this is the only number you need to remember to speak to any of our shops.
OUTRIDES
086 111 2058 (put it into your phone!!) is also the number you need to phone to find out where we will be riding on the following Saturday. As we have notified you before, we will be changing the format of our outride and from Saturday 15 September we will be hitting the road. Please note that we will be trying to keep the area that we will be travelling to within 60km of either Hillcrest or Hilton and we have some very exiting venues planned.
Those of you who don’t want to travel can continue to ride from the Ark, or from Crossway in Hilton.
PLEASE WATCH YOUR E-MAIL AND CONTACT 086 111 2058 TO FIND OUT WHERE WE WILL BE RIDING FROM SATURDAY 16 SEPTEMBER.
TONGAAT
Let me tell you what is happening with Tongaat. It has been Tongaats’ request that entry onto their land needs to be very well regulated and monitored. In short this is what is going to happen (please note, going to happen. We will let you know when the effective date will be, soon)
1. You will have to join the Ethekweni Mountain Bike Association (EMBA) via a registered club. You won’t be able to join them directly.
2. You will take out an annual “Tongaat license”
3. This “license will allow you to ride on Tongaat property, BUT only certain times of the day and on certain marked routes. (We will let you know the routes and times as soon as it has been finalised). 4. The fee will be approximately R200 and this will give you access until 31 December 2008. Thereafter roughly R150 per annum with special rates for the rest of the family.
5. The biggest issue is how non-compliers will be managed and what the impact of these individuals’ activities will be on how Tongaat will treat the club as a whole. Tongaat land is a very, very sensitive issue and talk is that people who do not comply with the rules of the EMBA will not be allowed back onto Tongaat property again.
6. Visitors will be able to take out a day-license to ride on Tongaat land.
If there are any of you who believe that the Maverick Cycling Club should not associate itself with the EMBA, please drop me an e-mail to
johann@maverickworld.co.za with your concerns so that I can get the EMBA to respond to you.
CYCLING SOUTH AFRICA
The licensing to CSA will also be changing for next year and will be much more simplified. CSA will also be making licensing compulsory. If you want to take part in any cycling event you will have to have at least a cyclosport license going forward.
MAVERICK CYCLING CLUB – LOOKING TOWARDS 2008
So for 2008 you will have the following options:
· MCC membership only (For the person who wants to be part of the family but don’t participate in events at all)
· MCC membership + EMBA membership (This person don’t participate in any events, but want to ride on Tongaat property)
· MCC membership + CSA license (This person wants to participate, but don’t want to ride on Tongaat land)
· MCC membership + EMBA membership + CSA license (this person wants access to events and Tongaat land)
· There will also be other combinations: I.e. MCC + CSA + Mondi ... as an example.
We are waiting for CSA to confirm the cost of the various 2008 licenses and the MCC committee will then confirm all the costs for 2008. Looking at this all, there is going to be a cost increase for most, especially for those of us who want to ride on Tongaat property again. But, I think the total cost will still be very competitive if compared to most other sports.
We are also working very hard to simplify the process of renewing your club membership and CSA license as much as possible. Watch this space; we should have the whole story by the time the next edition of the fabulously exciting glamorous world famous Maverick Post hits your pc.
HILL2HILL
The 2007 Hill2Hill route has changed quite a bit. There are less open roads and more single and jeep track. We have more than 700 entries for the 105 km race and more than 400 for the 40 km race. The 105 km races will start at Worldsview again, but the short race is starting at the Cato Ridge Golf club. PLEASE NOTE THAT BOTH THE 105KM RAE AND THE 40KM RACE STARTS AT 6H00!! AND THERE WILL BE NO REGISTRATION ON THE DAY. We had to do this to stop the front-end of the long race catching the back-end of the short race. And the reason for starting so early is to get the race through PMB before everyone wakes up.
For the 105km entrants we have a nice surprise waiting for you at Vriesland hill ...
We have eliminated the dangerous road crossing at Eston Rd, we will be going underneath this road and the same applies to the railroad after Cato. Then we have also met with all the relevant traffic departments this week and they have assured us of a large traffic presence at all major road crossings. We have also moved the road crossings to saver areas where we can see further up the road. For those of you who suffered big-time going through Manfred’s Playground last year towards the end, we have taken this out and the last 7km is now mostly downhill, except for 6-pack hill. Last year the Hill2Hill was voted as one of the best events for 2006 and we plan on taking that title this year.
If you think 105 km is too far, enter the 40km event. We have really tried our best to make the 40km event great ... there is lots of great single-track. When you get to Bartlett’s, you will still have the Bull and Woodcutters has been extended. The hill up to Hammersdale is not as steep as last year and once you cross the Hammersdale Road you will have even more single track ... and for the novices, it’s not scary single track ... So go to www.hill2hill.co.za and enter now!!
Enough of the serious stuff, let’s get back to the 2008 hardware story
The 2008 stock is slowly but surely finds their way onto our shop floors and there are some beauties. 
MAVERICK AMERICAN
Paul Turner's company showed up with a big surprise at Eurobike- a new 36mm stanchion fork. The final specifications of the new DUC 36 remain uncertain, but it will definitely feature 36mm alloy lowers and a carbon-fibre upper assembly. The upper is rumoured to be three times strong as the alloy version. The larger chassis allows for more travel, and Maverick has plans to provide three models with 165, 180 and 200mm of travel. The weight of the fork is targeted at around 4 pounds. The company has yet to establish a price or a release date.
Do you guys and girls know what this mean? A 200mm travel fork at 1,8kg!!! There are very few 100mm travel forks that weigh this little. We will have the pricing of these super forks soon, but don’t expect it to cost much more than the existing DUC’s and expect them to be available around April 2008.
This is what it looks like: Ma!!! Ek wil een hê!!
KONA
Hopefully our first batch of Kona’s will be in our shops by the time you read this Post. If not it will be in-store with 2 days of you reading this Post. The 1st batch of Kona’s will be hardtails and the 2nd batch, towards the end of September will be mostly dualies.
Some of the highlights include the Kona HOSS. This is the bike for the larger rider. Jip the guys who weighs more than 90 kg and want to ride a MTB for what it was intended for. This bike has a Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 4, 100mm Travel Fork this means you won’t be thrown over the handlebar when you go down a small drop-off. The Kona HOSS will have the new Hayes Stroker hydraulic brakes and stronger wheels. If you are big and want to ride like a much smaller guy, this is the bike for you. Estimated retail R9 990.
Next month I will tell you about the very exciting Coilair with the new “Magic 6+1” rear suspension and about the Four Lisa … a Kona lady specific dual-suspension for less than R14000!!!!
MERIDA
Merida came to show me their 2008 goodies today and their range is also very spectacular. Feast your eyes on this:
AM800: Retail at R14000
For 2008 Merida will also have a Mission 500 retailing at R10 000!! ... and this for a proper dualsus.
And for the lady who wants to start riding and want to look good and be comfortable, the Juliet 100V @ R3799 is a great buy and beautiful.
As I say cheers, let’s give a huge shout-out to Shawna who came 5th at the World Master Champs!!! WELL- DONE SHAWNA, YOU ROCK!!!
Next month a full race report of the achievements of all the MCC riders who have been competing overseas this month.
See you here soon: 
This is Tim’s version of fun ... the Pure Adventure Wear Trail at Giba Gorge!!!
Ride hard!
Johann
Go to: www.maverickchick.blogspot.com or www.maverickcycles.blogspot.com
ers, kids toys, play centers, etc. TEL: 031 569 2717. SPONSOR of water drums and wheely bins.
