Mattman

All of the riders are likely doping, he is just the unlucky one to get caught/ not hide it as well as the others.

In addition to the bike parks, most clubs would have an outride on a Saturday. There are lots of gravel roads towards Pretoria east where big loops can be strung together. Cycle lab, Lynnwood and midstream should all have these rides.

The point is, little girls bikes, like the ones you find at Game, typically have lots of pink and shiny silver. It looks like this guys has combined those aesthetics with a traditionally upper end bike, with a primarily black frame, and in my opinion, it makes it look tacky and detracts from what is clearly an awesome machine. And I would probably say the same thing if it was another shocking colour instead of pink.

Riding with those aesthetics...people may think he borrowed parts from a little girl's bike...I'm sure it rides well though

If the real issue comes down to carrying more water on the bike, have you tried the holy rail? I had this same issue for 2 years on my 2018 Scott Spark - I carried 1 bottle on the bike and after some tinkering and help from the local bike shop, I can now get 2 bottles (a 700ml and 600ml) on the bike using holy rail. No more water bottles in jersey pouch which also creates space for packing more bars and light jacket in the jersey pocket if needed.

I was doing some reading online and it seems that Sidi is generally a narrow shoe, which won't work for someone like me with broad feet, even though apparently the mtb/ gravel version is apparently a more "forgiving" design in terms of comfort. So its back to the drawing board. I hear that Shimano and Lake are the best options for a specifically wider shoe in a given size, so will look into those as well.

What are your other bibs to make the comparison more meaningful?

I vey seldom walk around in any riding shoes. When riding, I try to stay clipped in at all times but there is the odd occasion where you may have to walk. And besides that, maybe walking 10 metres into the coffee shop after a good ride Although thinking about it now, W2W may be on the list for this year and apparently the Gantouw portage is back into the route for 2022, so clippety cloppety will be needed!

That's about right. I currently use First Ascent Domestique shoes, which probably don't offer the best power transfer (but have honestly been very comfortable over many long rides over 3 years) so the Sidi will surely be an upgrade with at least carbon reinforced. When you used the nylon shoes for training, did you see any decrease in performance - lower speed/ power or having to put more effort relatively?

Most rides will be between 30km and 80km and I mix it up between bike parks (Wolwespruit, Red Barn, Northern Farms etc) and then so group rides out towards Pretoria East which is a lot more gravel/ non technical trails. I do race a bit, did Berg and Bush recently, do single day races when I can like trailseekers, usually place in top 20% so relatively competitive but far from the podium 😅 apparently these shoes weigh around 450g each, don’t have carbon soles. But going carbon soles usually doubles the price and does it really make that much difference??

I ride MTB, mainly XC, and am in the market for some new shoes. I came across the Sidi MTB/Gravel shoes, which are pretty comfortable and seem a lot more MTB focused than Gravel. The shop consultant couldn’t tell me what qualifies them as gravel - maybe just the suede effect of the side material but surely that’s ok for XC too? Does anyone know if there would be any compromise to XC performance using a shoe like this that also caters for gravel? Has anyone had experience with this shoe? Couldn’t find a single decent online review by the way.

I agree that there needs to be measures to separate ebikes in races. I had a similar experience riding Amohela recently where a lady on an ebike passed most people on the hills and then doesn't have the skill or balls to ride the technical descent or small drop, causing every to go down at snails pace which is VERY dangerous. Nothing wrong with ebikes, just keep them completely separate to those that want to use their legs only, which is the vast majority of riders.

You can solve this problem by getting the holy rail. I have a 2018 Spark 920, size Large, and with a bit of manoeuvring and the right size bottles, I can get in 2 decent size bottles (a 700ml and 600ml). Rather give it a try before you eliminate many good bike options.

I rode day 1 of the "big mountain" which was very challenging. What was more challenging was the intense stomach pain and nausea felt later that evening. I couldn't ride day 2 and noticed that only 116 results were loaded for day 2 compared to 350 odd on day 1. Seems very suspicious - could there have been a bug in the water at the water point? 3 people I know on strava who rode day 1 also didn't upload for day 2...suspicious. Anyone else that rode have similar issues?

I run the Maxiss Forekaster 2.35 in the front and Ikon 2.35 in the back. Forekaster is a chunkier tyre but as a heavier rider (90kg) the extra grip gives me a lot of confidence on the trails/ technical terrain, plus I manage to keep up with group training rides on the road averaging 26 - 28kmh. I must say that the 3C compound is a must on Maxxis - I recently ran a non 3C maxxis tyre at the back and road riding tore it up - only lasted about 2 months - also got several punctures on the trails. The Forekaster just lasts forever and has never given me an issue with punctures. I would way rather have that peace of mind when doing a race, especially Sani, knowing that it’s only your legs that may fail you and not your tyres. Plus, I would argue that having more grip would save you time on single track.

Thinking about it again, the board collection process can be improved significantly. There was no verification of name against board number - you simply gave your number and they handed you the board. It would have been really easy for someone who hadn’t entered the race to pick up a number and not be challenged or checked. They relied heavily on people being honest in the process, and not accidentally taking the wrong board. Doesn’t seem like there were any issues though, luckily.

I enjoyed the race. Although in B group on the 65km, someone in the front stopped the bunch on the single track saying we had taken a wrong turn. This caused major congestion and turns out we were on the right path. Maybe dodgy tactics from the group leaders??? Otherwise really enjoyed it. Anyone know when results are ready?

I find the Levitate bike racks very handy. They make it easy to overlap bikes and they don’t dangle in the way and take up extra space - the tyres sit against the wall

I will probably do the self camping option that Berg and Bush offers. If the wife decides to join for the trip then will stay at a place nearby. There seem to be many good accommodation options close to the start.

Thanks for all of the feedback. I have decided to go for B&B this year and Sani next year. Maybe throw in a Wines to Whales at the end of this year as well...

I would be interested to hear views from those that have ridden Sani and/ or Berg & Bush. I’m looking to do one of these this year and given the similar event dates, cost, distances etc. I’m torn between the 2. Appreciate that it’s difficult to compare without being specific on criteria, but keeping opinions as broad as possible 👌🏻