JJDT

Slightly off topic but still relevant to the aggressiveness of people. Yesterday afternoon I hit a pothole with my car the wheel had a nice cut. Long story short this car does not have a spare only a pump and a bottle of sealant. Was 8km from home and decided to drive home very slowly and came across a few impatient people behind me, while trying to keep off the busy roads. This one guy hooted at me as I went slowly around a corner to turn into a more less busy street and he proceeded to speed off. Seems aggressiveness is al over the place even in not so busy roads. People need to chill and just breathe, no need to vent your frustrations on innocent people.

Frosty...this side of the world is known as the "Wild West"😁

There are a couple of places to park, Bidon, Bru Coffee, Colour Country, Rhino & Lion Park etc. There are more than 2 loops depending on how you ride. The shorter loop is basically the MTB loop which starts and end at Bidon which is about 27km's (you can join at other places to ending at the same place). The longer loops is basically extensions from the short loop where you can add in the cave loop, going past the caves turn off straight to the N14 intersection and back. There is also the section on both the Lanseria roads where you can either just do an out and back or the loop. Depending where you parked you can go towards Muldersdrift and back or through Muldersdrift to the Beyers Naude intersection then heading back to Bidon on Beyers Naude. You can add in all at once or a combination.

That last drag pass Gold Reef City with a headwind will also drain energy especially if you are alone and burnt matches you will need to dig deep.(Had the headwind last year and was alone) Frosty mentioned the first part that is flat and some downhills...careful as this is where most people burn all their matches and then from the Zoo to the finish will be extremely hard.

I'm in the market for new shorts and I was looking at the Ciovita range. I do have a budget of R2k and was looking at Corsa range of Ciovita. I have used the Anotomic bib shorts in the past with no issues and currently after two years using the Platinum shorts of Anatomic, I think it is time for new bib shorts. How does the Anatomic Platinum shorts compare to the Ciovita Corsa shorts apart from price?

Going back to the Tour Durban race. I used to ride this event a couple of times. I entered to do the race just before Covid which we know changed everything. My entry was carried over and then the organisers decided to change the date from a popular date(read long weekend) to a later date (normal weekend), the reason was that the organisers still want to host the event in the year, which was understandable. The new date now which is just a normal weekend will see entries decline in my opinion as it does not justify the costs to do a race 600km away from GP just for one day. The Amashowa race and CTCT is on normal weekends but I think the reason for the return every year despite costs is of the "cult following" most people do it every year. With a fairly new race (comparing number of races of CTCT and Amashowa)you will need something special for the another event on the same format to attract numbers, and I do not think that Tour Durban do have something special now. Durban in my opinion does not have that many cyclists as opposed to WC and GP to hold a race with just local riders and still have a nice number of entrants. The date used to be in the last long weekend in April, nice weather and with a long weekend you could make the most of it to justify costs. With a long weekend at the coast with good weather you will attract more people willing to go down to the coats to do the race. With a MTB event now also in the mix the organisers should re-think the date and move it possibly back to the old long weekend and maybe they will attract more riders for the MTB event and some will do the "double" MTB and road event. This might be just what the organisers need to get numbers for the race again.

Not needed anymore as his bike has been stolen.

I did my application last week as well but opted for the bank branch option. Made the booking appointment at my local ABSA branch which is the list and was confirmed for 9am. Thought that while I do have an appointment date and time I will be there 5minutes prior to the appointment. Arrived at my estimated time just to be greeted with a row of people already in the queue. Waited 45 minutes in the queue as their was only 2 persons on duty, one for new applications and one for collections.

Got this video bit long but a good watch. This is the meaning of self supported and this is most likely the toughest race (they can claim the rights because of the elevation). Also good to have a glimpse of what the riders endure during the Munga.

This was the issue, when the shock was serviced the bracket that bolts onto the shock was not properly tightened, hence the play noticed although not big but just enough to cause the feeling of a shock bottoming out. When removing the shock I removed the bracket attached to the shock because it is of no use if the bracket is removed from the shock. I went to the local Specialized store who diagnosed the problem and while I was there I also asked them to check whether my rebound settings is fine as I can not get it right. While trying to set the rebound they found that the rebound is not working. Shock was removed and sent back to specialized to repair.

Replaced all the pivot bearings about two weeks ago while the rear shock was being serviced. After riding found that going over very rough terrain fast it felt like that the shock was bottoming out strange noise like something is hitting against something. Before the next ride made sure that the sag is correctly setup and adjusted the rebound and also at the brain side adjusted the setting to a firmer ride. The problem was still there. Later I noticed that there is play on the bracket that connects to the rear seat stay when the bike was being washed. Is is possible that those bearings are busted after just two very rough terrain rides?

Maybe try to lift the bikerack slightly before clamping it around the towbar, if that does not solve the problem you will most likely need to fit a spacer to lift the ball.

Agree with David regarding the upgrade from 23 to 28 and beyond that the 2nd step for a smaller chainring in the front. This first option will most probably solve your climbing ability.

Droo thanks for this information, especially for the tools needed and the associated costs. If I knew the history behind the servicing and the specific tools required I would've never created this topic.

I recently acquired a Specialized Epic Comp, which I bought from my son. Although I mostly paid for the service and repairs on the bike and know the history of the bike since my son bought it in 2015. The rear brain shock was serviced in Dec 2019 and after that my son did very little riding on the bike as he bought himself a gravel bike in Jan 2020 and occasionally ride the MTB. I sold my own MTB and bought his MTB because it was just standing and his bike is just better compared to my bike. I decided that I will do a service again which includes both shocks as I noticed that the seal on the rear shock is not sealing properly. My issue - the bike is a 2014 model and after 8 years there is no mechanic in the Spez store that can service the brain shock(this is what I found at the local Spez store). The shock is send to the Cape for a service as it is the only place that may service these shocks. Surely after 8 years and the first generation of brain shocks surely there should've been trained mechanics at the stores to service these shocks instead of shipping it to a single service center. Are there any other professionals that can do services on these shocks going forward, as I do not want to wait two weeks for just a shock service in order to ride my bike again? I can understand if I was informed of possible part shortages and I need to wait, but a single service center who needs to service about every brain shock in the country is a single point of failure, looking from a business continuity perspective.

Monaco maybe iconic but it is more like a parade of cars passing by for xxx laps. Nowhere to overtake with drivers relying on their pit crew to bump them up a place. Don't think that they will axe the Monaco Grand Prix.

This is so old managed to resolve the issue.

We are now in the final sprint and it seems that some e-bike batteries died and some able bodied riders burned all their matches...now it is a race to the finish...who will it be....😂😂😂 It is Friday after all....😁

Easy solution seed the riders...and not this honest seeding. We all know that everybody wants to start at the front and with honest seeding there will be trouble e-bike or not. The absence of proper seeding and start batches seems like it was a problem at the Sani. Fix the seeding system and have a racing e-bike category based on time and then let them start just after the Pro's or after the A Batch. As for the rest of the e-bikes do have a separate start time after the last batch about 30 minutes. This is not foolproof as you will get some chops riding like idiots (not limited to e-bikes), but it will eliminate most of the issues. If you catch a e-bike in the racing category later just carry because somewhere the seeding system failed.

I also think that "fixing" e-bikes is the way to go. Cyclelab sells e-bikes but when they need more technical assistance for e-bikes they get some of the guys from E-Bike Tec to assist. I follow them on Instagram and they regularly post about motor service kits, batteries etc. Maybe there is a market for e-bike related stuff.

This how I view the debate of guys charging to the front and then get caught on descents. This is not new and not limited to e-bikes. I remember a few races where I had to stop because of a "technical section" meaning it is ok to ride with a skill set but some riders prefer to walk. While waiting for the line to move some guys force their way to the front in order not to wait. After a few km's you pass them again. The same ignorance from riders who does not want to wait in the single track shouting track but there is no space to move for them to pass and then a few seconds later they pass you with no regard of safety. We have just found new guys to blame, but nothing did actually change.

On the subject of entry fees, the only fees that we as parents paid is when the school was in the top 10 and kids were then chosen to participate in the national finals. This was way back in 2016. A lot may have changed between then and now.

Thanks for the clarification. Just on a side thought I know that timing, medics, safety officer etc. costs money. I presume that these costs were all part of the sponsorship of Spur or were these costs "donated" by the timing company/individuals? Like I mentioned in my post I do have no interest in this event anymore but just comparing these events from face value.

What happened to these events? I saw recently that Cyclelab is hosting the schools MTB events and that there is a entry fee attached to these events now. It is not that I do have any interest in this event anymore but more of a curious question. I remember when my son did the schools series it was aimed at mass participation, where every rider earned a point for the school. I saw some bikes that were not actually suited for this type of events (Makro...Game bikes)and also some bikes that were at end of life but these kids wanted to ride and also enjoyed the day. The Spur series also had some negative rules in the sense that Home School Riders could not participate, but I feel that the new series with entry fees are going to exclude many more kids who simply can not afford the entry fees.

For me after 1/2 way things got hectic. The first 1/2 I rode with a bunch which was easy not using to much energy also while doing some work in the front it did not feel like burning matches. Stopped at the 1/2 way water point for a few minutes eating and topping up on the energy drinks. Got going and tried to maintain the pace of the first 1/2 but riding solo meant that I was going to burn a lot more matches. Most of the people riding just after 1/2 way was some single riders with one or two partner teams. Once we turned of the gravel road onto the jeep track with that loose sand was the last straw for me, energy was gone. Caught up with a few guys later and rode together but just as I thought that we will stay together to the finish they stopped at the 2nd last water point which meant riding solo again. Then it was a struggle to the finish with a sore a$$ and my feet was killing me. Was my first attempt and will be back next year again.