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If you can get a set of 26er wheels I can provide the rest

Many great responses here already. If your goal is to lose weight and keep it off, consider tracking calories consumed vs. calories burned. For consumed, get an app like "Lose It" or "MyFitnessPal" and track your calories. For burned, get an apple or garmin watch and track your activities. If you cannot afford the above, use a free version of a calorie tracker and monitor your weight vs your calorie intake from week to week (assuming your exercise stays more or less consistent). All the experts agree that it is easier to fix your food consumption (intake) than increase your exercise (burn). GOOD LUCK

I have one of these. Fine for a quick release, but not meant for a through axle .... at least I have not figured out how to use with a through axle.

Search for the Gazetted "Community Fire Safety By-Law" as amended for the applicable district. This is typically further tweaked per municipality for the types of events in the area. LOTS of red tape to get these off the ground, especially the first time round. Once you have a track record with the Local Authority it is much easier the second time round. ByLaw_-_Community_Fire_Safety[1].pdf

I also had my smeg kettle and toaster nicked! It must be a plot against Spurs... mxm 🙄

My biggeest issue for events was getting police clearance (coupled with fire approval, medical support in place, designated parking zones, will local roads be affected by the ride and if so, what are the alternative routes etc) Its a standard form you get from the local cop shop, and will list the things you need to get in place. Its do-able, but it does take time You could also omit this step as Im sure many do. But there's nothing worse than a power driven Fed shutting your show down on the morning of...

We have ridden from Knysna to Cape Town on the road plenty of times and a few times on the dirt. your biggest challenge would be to satisfy everyone's diet and their expectations of a good sleep. We never had an issue finding value for money on the 'road' but our 'gravel travel' was a challenge

The idea i have is to make a race along the old makadas railway line between Laingsburg and ladismith in th Klein Karoo. If you did the whole line it would have to be a 2 day stage race but i was thinking to start a 1 day would be best.

@Frosty he can tell you everything. My take on it - prepare yourself for a lot of red tape, and that no one will be pleased with everything. Location, location, location.

So I've been thinking of starting an event in my area for a while and I'm just curious as to how it would get started. Would I first have to plan everything then ask an event organizer to organize it, or do I ask them first? How would they make their money? How would you get sponsors involved? If anyone has any feedback I'd really appreciate it.

Sam I think you are way overthinking it. Lets break the whole 8 days into sectors. Start - WP1 WP1- Wp2 WP2- WP3 WP3-WP4 (sometimes) WP3/4 to Finish The distance between these sectors is roughly 30-35km. Your primary concern is hydration and nutrition. To finish the event you need to ensure your body does not start breaking down and that means you need to drink enough, eat the right foods and and be heat acclimatized. Your bike needs to be in a good working order but some bush mechanics might come in handy so carry the necessary to effect repairs or temp repairs that will get you to the next WP where repairs can be effected by mechanics there. Chose the bike that is the least complicated and tech support and parts are available. The the weight is the next consideration as you will have to pedal the darn thing for 8 days. Your Stratos is going be a few kilos lighter than an ALLOY Trance so take the Stratos but make sure you have spare main pivot bearings and any other spare part tat is proprietary to the bike. Right so that narrows your choice. Next, try not to through weight at the problem. Carbon wheel may save a few grams but will they be as serviceable as your current wheels that you likely have spokes for and rims are more easily attainable in the event of a failure? Personally I don't think you will gain much from carbon wheel but they will look bling covered in dust and mud after 1km from the start . I'd also keep the alloy wheels as they're not as tiff as carbon and therefore more comfortable. In terms of handling, your Stratos handles well enough. The Trance will be better on the down but a seriously liability on the ups over 8 days. Rather spend the money on good tyres and spare. Lot of guys opt for expensive race rubber then end up pending days plugging tyres and eventually have a youtube channel dedicated to telling you about their experiences of many ways to plug a tyre. Rather find an old rim and tyre and practice fixing punctures. If you cash to burn and the extra (expensive) wheelset was in the budget anyways then go for it. Your main focus should be comfort. Get your saddle choice decided NOW. There's 7 weeks to go, times is few. Handle bar grips are another area of consideration. For the next 7 weeks you should be focussed on dropping a few Kg off your body, getting the bike a comfy a possible and having the legs to get through those 3000m vertical ascent days. They will bite

Shot in the dark.....if anyone has a used but not being used at the moment old bike they want to get rid of. Please let me know. I would like to replace my garden engineers stolen bike. Any condition would be gratefully accepted. He now has serious transportation challenges and to be honest is getting a bit 'chunky', now that his source of transportation/ exercise has been cruelly taken off him.

Thanks for the inputs so far guys. Agree that one can't go too short on stem as the 55mm offset on the Lefty Ocho does sharpen up the steering already. I owned a 2019 Scalpel Si in Large with the Ocho and a 60mm Stem (445mm reach, 604mm stack and 624 ETT) felt pretty good so a Large 2021 can only feel better...

Hi Chris This should work for your needs https://www.facebook.com/share/12MRw8Caczc/

Cold morning ride…frozen fingers cos I wore the wrong gloves, my bad. lovely morning though, with extra dollops of mud. As daveno7 mentions.

Get the Large. The Roscoe has a long top tube so a stumpy stem and wide bar works with it. Scalpel doesn't work well with such short stems. If you go for the XL you will have to run a very short stem and wide bar which is not a good thing on marathon bike as the wide arm position place more pressure on the shoulders

FS sorry.

Scalpel hardtail or Scalpel full suspension?

During my ride this morning I was certain I was about to witness a car completely broadside a cyclist who decided to cross over the road without stopping. This lady, riding a fairly upmarket road bike but dressed casually, complete with flip flops and no helmet, decided to roll up to the stop and without looking to see if there was traffic approaching from her right just proceeded to pedal straight into the path of an oncoming car. I shouted at her to stop but she just waved her hand at the car and told me "ek het hom nie gesien nie". Sometimes I wonder if these people are intentionally living in lala land or if they are competing for a Darwin award. Either way, this antie doesn't realise how close she came to finding out what happens when the lights are forever switched off.

That’s what I thought (and what everyone thought 10 years ago), but look at reach / ETT numbers on the latest crop of XC bikes 🥴

One thing I've always wondered is what do they intend to do if they see a car coming? A lot of roads have no shoulders and high kerbs, so there's no room to go. Do they intend to try and hop onto the kerb? How is that safer than just riding with traffic? Not to mention you have so much less reaction time and cars aren't expecting people to be coming from that direction, so many won't even bother to look there before pulling into the road.

there is NO way you would need an XL Scalpel with your measurements 😉

Hi Team Hope that you're all well (nerd alert on the below 😆). Looking at a new previous generation (2021 - 2023) Cannondale Scalpel (full suspension) as my LBS can build one up for a great price. I plan on keeping this bike for a good while (3 years min) so want to get it right. Use case will be XC marathon / stage races, gravel and non competitive trails. I am 177cm tall, but with a long upper body so about a 180cm wingspan. 40 years old, reasonably fit and flexible / strong. 1) My current bike (Roscoe 7) is a Large with a Reach of 470mm, 770mm 25mm Rise Bars and 42.5mm Stem (effectively 512.5mm reach to bars yes?). Effective Top Tube is 646mm and Stack is 644mm. My saddle is probably 2/3rds forward on the rails. I am finding that I have pressure on my hands when seated to the point that some of my fingers go numb after a few hours. I have also (for the first time) ever, found that my hands want to "blow off" the tops of my bars in the rough downhill stuff. It feels like the bike is too short for me, but surely it can't be. If you look at any manufacturer's recommended sizing I should be a Large. Brake lever angle, grips etc are all similar to what I've used in the past. 2) The "2021" Scalpel in a Large has a Reach of 455mm and I would fit a 60 / 70mm stem (effectively 515 / 520mm reach to bars?). ETT is 622mm and Stack is 601mm. Lower stack should increase my seated reach which should help with hand numbness (if my lower back can keep the weight off my hands with more "waist" bend. This is a very "traditional" sizing / cockpit build (relatively long stem etc). 2021 Scalpel in XL has a Reach of 475mm and I could fit a 40 / 50mm stem (effectively 525 / 535mm reach to bars?). ETT is 644mm and Stack is 610mm. 3) The brand new 2024 Scalpel in Large has a Reach of 475mm and looks like it comes with a very short (40mm?) stem (effectively 515 mm reach to bars?). ETT is 625mm and Stack is 607mm. Comparing the 2021 XL and the 2024 L, apart from ETT on the 2021 being an inch longer, the old XL and the new L are very similar. Seat angle on the old bike is slacker than the new, so I would likely move my saddle forward of the midpoint anyway which would shorten my ETT for pedaling. If I buy the 2021 XL, it may also allow me to fit a -1 degree angleset to slacken the head angle to a very modern 67 degrees (2024 bike has gone from 68 to 66.6 degrees). Am I oversimplifying things or is there something to be said for going for the larger bike. Lachlan Morton went from a medium Scalpel at the last Leadville 100 to an XL on the new 2024 Scalpel and was very happy with being more "in the bike" and the stability it brings. Nerd rant off - any ideas?