Robrider

Wow, nice pics. Wish I could have been there... In Max configuration (all economy class) it holds 850. But typicly it holds around 550.

I ride with shimano shoes. No problems so far, I find them nice and comfy. But in all fairness, my last and only other pair of shoes were the bottom of the range Olympics. So I havn't tried too many shoes to compare. Never the less, I'm happy

I ride from Weltevredenpark to Braamfontien... Over Northcliff hill cross over milner on to john adams, On to bayers naude This ones the trick.. Left on to 7th in melville (it turns into a one way in the opposite direction, and never has a car on it) Left on to the bridge that goes OVER Barry hertzog, towards west cliff (dont know its name) Down the embankment onto the pavement on the far side of barry hertzog onto empire. and at work Depending on the road, I sometimes ride on the road as a "car" and sometimes on the pavement as a "pedestrian" also a good route cos i sometimes do emmerentia and some of the spruit on the way home...

I got a Specialized Phenom when I got my bike, and it was so hard I thought I'd die. My butt was actually bruised after the first ride on it. But after a week it got used to it and is now a super comfy saddle. and this is all on a hard tail mtb, no problem. I tried my old saddle (lots of padding) again the other day and after an hour my legs started tingling and going numb, and my ass was dead. Moral of the story is that the harder was definately more comfortable. Presure in all the right places. If i had to buy a new saddle I would definately look at the selle italia slr. My brother has one and its like butter.

Hey, I ride in that sort of area. In general I have not had a problem and have felt safe, but that doesn't mean I'm complacent. Traffic can be a bit crazy, so plan a good route. Took me a while to find a route that didnt go around the "S" bends on Barry Hertzog, cos ppl drive badly and there are no pavements. Now I have a good route, and really enjoy the training, time saving, reduced stress, and petrol saving. Some advice: Rather take a cheap bike (I have a training bike which I use) Take pepper spray, but dont expect it to save you... If they have a gun, dont be stupid and reach for the pepper... Possibly avoiding routine is also good. If you on the same bike at the same place at the same time on the same day of the week, you become and easy target. Hope that helps.

I would second the GT avalanche. I bought the gt avelanche 1.0 as a first bike. the frame is bomb proof and I still use it as a training bike. Comes in different models to cater for your budget (3.0, 2.0, 1.0 and pro), which is just different components. You want a bike thats cheap, but good enough that it will keep you happy until you get something you REALLY like. If you go too cheap, you will have problems too. I would say try keep it cheap. even borrow a helmet ect for a while. Once the bug has bitten you will be able to justify buying decent equipment.

Thanks Nancy!! Was a good ride Rob and Candy