Zebra

Trying HARD to get the picture out of my mind; you bending over double, and your Wife checking for ‘crack visibility’….🤣

I will ‘bite’, since it’s become fashionable to ‘hate’ on the Brain (and Spez generally…) 😙 I rode 2005/2006/2007 Cape Epics, 2 of which on a brain-equipped 26”er, which I could ONLY afford since Willie Engelbrecht broke his collarbone, and sold it to me at a VERY fair price. The brain- equipped Spez Epic really assisted me, 8 fairly brutal days in the saddle (admittedly easier courses than today, but Groenlandberg…) and as a less-experienced MTBer (Tri background), front & rear Brains were 2 less things to think about, when hammering from a long/tiring/high-speed dirt section into single track, etc. In my case, I really DO think it made a difference. Am a mid-pack rider, managed 106th and 107th 2 years running, early (less-technical) CE’s were more suited to my riding style, being big-ring, dirt road stuff, then I needed to THINK LESS hitting a tech section! So, ONE vote for the Brain, back then!🥰 Chris

…you have a WAY with words, I had a GOOD chuckle, could almost HEAR the frustration in your words! Re-read it twice, yes, a good chuckle. And informative, too! Cheers Chris

Most every morning, driving Camps Bay /Clifton route, en-route to Paarden Eiland, I pass a rider with a ‘purposefully exaggerated’ one-legged cycling style, almost as if he is doing an exercise ‘drill’, using one leg only, and massive upper-body movement. Since I don’t feel he is a disabled rider, anyone she’d any light on who he is, and if he is indeed doing a drill, or is maybe disabled? Cheers, Chris

Import duties removed/being removed on motorcycle helmets… https://www.news24.com/life/motoring/bikes/good-news-for-sa-bikers-duty-tax-on-selective-gear-like-helmets-reduced-to-0-20210515-2 important to NOTE that much stock PRESENTLY in the system came in at 25% duty….

Yes, he is my tenant; somebody pulled an unsafe move, causing a rider to go down; Bianchi rider then went OTB over fallen rider, AFAIK. Chris

Chris F on this forum probably way more experienced to answer your questions than myself: but here goes: I have a Chilled Squirrel KIT on my bike, never experienced that surge, or go/no go in 6-odd years, so that DOES sound unusual; if I were you, I would ride a DIFFERENT eBike - new or 2nd hand, to compare…. what you describe sounds most unusual/not normal… come in, @chris f

…any update for us, JayLow? Cheers Chris

I agree with Chris on many points; 250W for your trip would be plenty. in the race to ‘bigger is better’ (not), MANY e-bike manufacturers now offer bigger (more powerful) motors, 500w and 750w are fairly commonplace… by way of example, I bought a 2nd hand, 500w Chilled Squirrel six YEARS back, since owner of said unit heard that 750w had been launched, and he HAD to have the latest unit - my (discounted) win! 6 years back, I was unaware of any max power ‘rules’, and I do not FEEL I ride an illegal bike, since I don’t ride it like a tool! Mid-drive better than hub drive for MOST applications; in YOUR case, 9km, flattish (?), hub drive could work, and save you moolah. Chilled Squirrel get the ODD 2nd hand unit, and that can save money, if, like me, you fit it on an EXISTING MTB, if you have one? Whilst my bike does not have a ‘throttle’, it does have a thumb-assist, which is UP TO 10-seconds of boost - I live up a mountain with an 18+ degrees ‘kicker’ in it, boost helps! With 9 power settings (11% increments), I mostly ride, and commute in the lower 4 settings. But I dig the workout, I knock 18 minutes off my Hout Bay to Paarden Eiland commute time, but then need to shower! But just 9km, using a high setting? You should not break a sweat, whereas I have Suikerbossie on way in, and 12 Apostles pull on the way home, + a long, STEEP road up to my place. So, hub drive (cheaper) could work for you, and I do think some off-the-shelf eBike as mentioned n earlier posts would work well for you, if you have no existing bike to convert. Cheers Chris

…maybe UN-slam the stem a little, and put some SQ Labs inner bar ends on (yes, seriously…), sort of replicates ‘hoods’ of a road bike, on an MTB…., replicating MORE of a road-bike feel on an MTB… At around 60 grams per set, best single ‘road bike’ mod one can make to an MTB - my opinion/experience of course - and obviously J Wakefield makes some seriously good suggestions about your ‘compactness/ position’ on the MTB… !go!

? Rule Number 5? No poofta’s? If so, I have not thought about that sketch for 30-odd years!

..rather not take the road up past the right-hand edge of Ocean View, but rather keep going straight ahead for Kommetjie, and up Slangkop… there have been a good few incidents on the Ocean view-to-4-way stop, and I avoid it myself, I know 2 people personally who have had their bike and/or cellphone taken… Cheers Chris

…for long rides on a MTB, I cannot speak highly enough of INNER bar ends, SQ Labs in particular, they weigh under 100 gams/pair, and give a couple of different hand positions, useful when pulling serious distance. SORT of like ‘riding on the hoods’ on a road bike, but on a MTB. ….brakes/gears all within reach. A nice S. suburbs long loop is Hout Bay to Cape Point, then back to Black Hill, over Black Hill (Glencairn Expressway), then turn LEFT, and do the route in reverse, round Cape Point and back to Hout Bay. 122km, and much (not all) of it on quiet-ish roads. And consider slicks!

Yes, you would ‘feel’ the additional weight, obviously, and then some older motors (mine) have a small motor ‘load’ in addition (but less than 5% resistance) given how (some) motors work…. Debate on wether resistance actually exists, but turning a non eBike and eBike upside dow, with chains off to measure, some small extra resistance exists. But I switch mine down occasionally to zero; very do-able. Chris

Would you mind copying me in, please? (I’ve ridden 3; might be nice for me to ‘give back’, as it were…) Cheers Chris

…well, to AVOID spraying yourself, you get TWO TYPES of pepper spray, one is just that, a dispersed SPRAY pattern, the preferred one for YOUR scenario is a jet/stream pepper ‘spray’, a 6-foot to 10-foot JET of pepper, that does not disperse, but rather is FOCUSSED, way less chance of you getting any in your face. Chris

…after 3 Cape Epics on this bike, even though an S-Works Spez with a good group set, brain front AND rear, SEEMED to be worth about R5K on the 2nd hand market, laughable - to me - since it gave me so much pleasure…So I slapped a 500W motor/ 500W batter on it, and have never looked back… 6 years ago… Heaps. Of. Fun. Heaps! Chris

…and what plans do you have for a water-bottle mount? Clamp-on style, or how? Cheers Chris

Is it just me, or does your saddle look a little odd on an otherwise-beautiful bike? I get that it is better than the ‘green-machine’ saddle you replaced it with, but I don’t think it does ‘justice’ to your brilliant bike! my 5c, leaker project!!! Chris

Just a question so long; is the battery cover CRITICAL (enables the battery to WORK) or is the cover FUNCTIONAL, meaning something else could keep it in place, as an interim measure? Chris

Unsure what airline you are flying, but Qatar Air presently has 23kg + 23kg as STANDARD Domestic luggage, a very innovative program… Chris

I am 99% certain Meezo posted his comments tongue-firmly-in cheek. Maybe re-read his post. Cheers Chris

@Chadvdw67 great questions, subscribed!

An 8-day stage race IS tiring, but very do-able, if fit, since you usually ride at the weaker (read slower) of the 2 riders; it’s the keeping HEALTHY/UNINJURED that is more impactful, for me anyway, than fatigue. Backside health (saddle sores/soreness) even on a well setup bike, is often more of a problem than simple fatigue…on the 8-day races… Epics (8 days) take way more ‘consciously riding’ within your limits, than say a relatively quicker 3-day Sani2C, or similar. The 3rd day, on a 3 day stage race, is often a half-distance affair, to allow people to travel back home, so really 2.5 days, very do-able without fatigue. Tiring? Not so much, staying uninjured/‘healthy’, that for me is the self- management goal. Cheers Chris