TyronLab

As a Fluid2 owner just be aware of its limitations regarding Virtual Power. Google "fluid trainer thermal drift" and you'll quickly find what I'm talking about. If you aren't planning on using it in conjunction with a speed and cadence sensor for Zwift/Rouvy/Trainerroad etc. then the Fluid2 is a very decent trainer. Sorry, not answering your question I know, just want to stop anyone else from getting into my predicament.

So for some or other reason simplifying my current bike is appealing to me more and more. Saw that SS conversion kits are pretty cheap, and my Stache has horizontal dropouts built for SS, so I was about to get a kit from Rapide until I realised that I have one of those newfangled XD drivers now. Any advice on how to go about converting to SS? I have the stock Trek hubs the bike came with, so I'm not sure if I can change the freehub to a Shimano type, or how much that would even cost. Any advice?

Out of interest, where'd you source the 29x2.6 tyres and what rim width are you running them on? I'm using your bike as inspiration to make my Stache rigid, so might as well copy pasta your wheels too.

Although other people have expressed concern I've ridden much dodgier routes than that solo before. The only parts where I would have been nervous without our backup vehicle was some of the early road sections. No shoulder on the road and a 100kph speed limit means inevitable close calls (I swear, a black downhill mtb run scares me less than a road like that). As far as geographic safety, I wouldn't have been concerned being solo so although the roads are pretty deserted they don't go through any dodgy areas. Keep in mind most of my family and colleagues say I'm stupid and take too many risks, so do with this info what you will. As far as gearing goes, if you're riding solo and you're very strong it could limit you, but little old me can't maintain 30kph solo for any extended amount of time past 1.5hrs with my bike on the road. Sure, on downward gradients into no wind you might spin out, but there's enough off-road riding and undulations to make this a non-issue.

Nice one! Mind sharing weight, internal width and what it cost you?

Did the SxSE Hustle gravel virtual race yesterday with a buddy. New record for coldest I've ridden in; -10°C. Fingers and toes took turns burning, then going numb, then defrosting and starting the process again. Only got into positive digits after 2.5hrs. Both bottles turned to slush, to the point where I had to open them and shake out the slush to get something in. Great route (albeit with a bit more road riding than I was expecting). Developed a numb pain in both knees after 3.5hrs. Played around with saddle height, but could feel I was overextending with my bum rocking on the saddle. Could be the running. Could be the partner I was riding with being a bit stronger than I was and suddenly tackling a 6hr Z3/Z4 ride after months of 2-3hr jaunts, with him being on a bike that was much better suited to road riding. Still, had a blast, and pushing through the knee pain and constant, long miles of undulating gravel is as good a training for Munga and 'Baviaans as I'm ever gonna get. Think the new bike still needs some fiddling, but it absolutely shone on this ride (well, on the off-road sections at least). I wasn't nearly as beat up as I used to be on my previous bikes, and I tested out the fork in locked out position and actually enjoyed the directness. Methinks there might be a rigid fork in this bike's future...

You're like an enigma dude, are you Kingsley Holgate's rad grandson or something? Who are you and how old are you that you've done so much? Not being funny at all, just seems like you've done a shitton and must evidently be a pretty interesting guy. @OP I somehow doubt any place in GP or surrounding provinces will have anything even remotely similar to train on i.t.o. gnar, variety and technicality (disregarding the obvious massive elevation shortage). If you do find anything like this please share.

Lots of groups ride around Bedfordview due to the elevation available there. I used it and Edenvale/Greenstone for a lot of hill training. Route I always liked: From Efficient Engineering down to Edenvale road. Hang right on Edenvale, across the R24, first robot right thereafter. Up to Greenstone, make a U turn. Back up along Van Riebeeck. Right at the top of van riebeeck. Head down to Linksfield road. Up and down King David (probably the steepest climb in a large radius). Over Sylvia's pass. Down cyrildene. Up sovereign, turn left. Down lover's lane. Here's an activity of mine where I included that route: Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/8frb8Ccb27

Of all the Iron Maiden albums that's the one they chose?!? I am disappoint. Number of the beast, the trooper, their eponymous album, all of which are legendary.

Look for the "SexyGorilla" contact on your mom's phone if you ever want to connect. I had either an unknown evil twin or a your-mom joke lined up... and I couldn't resist

So further to this, I ended up buying a Stache. Loving it so far, but I'm considering giving a rigid for a whirl. Unfortunately not many examples to be found floating around in the classifieds and forking out (tee-hee!) R4700 for a Carver carbon fork is a bit steep for something I don't know if I'll like or not. Any recommendations of alternative supply of rigid forks?

I'm looking at getting some black kit due to staining all my current kit (99% of which is sponsored and contains a lot of white) with mud and looking grotty. That image makes me nervous for two reasons: I am of the hairy variety, so whomsoever should experience the misfortune of being stuck behind me may end up perma-vomiting to the point of dehydration and subsequent expiry should my shorts ever lose their opaqueness.Maybe I should worry about other types of stains showing if I get black lycra stuck behind that image again.... (yes, I totally just went there)

Does 29x3.0 count? If so, then yes, I ride one (Trek Stache). Actually considering giving a rigid for a try too (less weight, more simplicity), to make it even closer to the traditional fat bikes. Bought the Stache as I wanted more grip and more comfort than a standard 29er, but didn't want the added fuss and maintenance of a dual sus bike. Also bought it because its different, and seeing as almost every review mentioned that its fun, seemed to suit me.

This seems awesome! I'd be keen to give it a go on Sunday morning with an early start (finishing at 11:00, averaging 20kph...). How safe is the route to do solo?

Yup, Bicycle Line has daily rides (except Mondays), road, with average speeds ranging from 23kph to 32kph+ depending on group. Start at 04:40 in the mornings, usually at the very least a 20-strong group, but peaks in the summer close to 94.7 and through december with 40 guys. I have been dropped and left behind on one or two occasions, but never in the slowest group as they'll always wait for everyone.

I'm part of an MTB WhatsApp group that's Based in Parkrand / Sunward Park in Boksburg. Very accommodating, all skill and fitness levels welcome. Think this is a great initiative as lots of guys are nervous about taking their first mtb steps solo.

First time venturing into this thread as I've very recently started running as the universe coalesced it into my life more than me actually wanting to start doing it. Up until a week ago I firmly maintained "why run when humanity has figured out a much more efficient mode of transport called riding a bike?!?". I had tried running for a handful of weeks 6 years ago to lose some weight, but that initiative died a quick and silent death. Somehow within the last two weeks I was given an old disused Maxed treadmill and bought a Garmin 735XT, which is primarily a running watch (even though I bought it as the cheapest sturdy navigation watch I could find for MTB). With it being two new toys that complimented each other I tried a 5K on the treadmill and ran for ~32 min. My buddy that runs at work told me that's a fair time, but I should try an outdoor run to get the watch calibrated and improve its accuracy. So I went out this morning for an outdoor 5K in my complex and did a 28:54. I used my cycling HR gauge to manage my pace and ran consistently in my lower Z4 range, increasing it to upper Z4 at the end of the run. Now, quite surprisingly, I actually enjoyed that a lot more than I thought I would. Its a lot quicker and a lot less schlep than going out for a ride (in winter at least), and seems to give me a pretty decent workout in a much shorter time than a ride would. While I don't see it becoming my primary activity, I'm excited by the prospect of its shorter duration allowing me to get more than two or three activities a week in. Now that I have more of an appreciation for it, if you've completed a Comrades, I consider you a ******* beast.

You just gave yourself the best advice there is! Until you've reached a median fitness level (i.e. you can do a 100km road ride in under 5 hours relatively comfortably), the best thing you can do is just ride, ride, ride, and ride some more. By just consistently going out and riding you'll gain fitness, I guarantee you (small disclaimer being that it doesn't really help if you only go out for 30min at a very slow pace every time). To give you context, I bought my bike in July of 2018 coming off literally a zero fitness base (I only broke the 20km distance barrier after my fifth ride, two weeks after my first one). No HRM, no interval training plan, nothing, just going out and riding and trying to ride hard a few times a week and riding with a group that was slightly faster than me saw me get to a 4h06m 94.7 in November that same year. Enjoying it will keep you coming back for more, which is more valuable than any training plan can ever be at the beginning.

Echoing what's been said above. Sounds like your saddle may be too low or that you're grinding and not spinning. Work on perceived effort more than HR too in the beginning. Especially in the beginning, rather spin slightly faster than you're comfortable with in a too-easy gear than grind in a hard gear. That'll work your lungs more than your legs. To check yourself, count how many pedal revolutions you're doing in 10s. If its less than 13 you're spinning too slowly. Also, 20km is solid if you're coming off of a nonexistent base. Don't be too hard on yourself, in the beginning your fitness ramps up quickly and you'll soon find yourself feeling much stronger and enjoying it more.

Glad I wasn't the only one grinding it out this weekend. I painstaking drew up a route based on Pikey's gravel grind and my need to conquer Camaro road, spent hours double checking Komoot against the 3D view of Google Maps... So obviously this ride entailed hiking-a-bike, bundu bashing, triple checking the GPS, backtracking and all other manners of "exploration". Coldest I've ever been on the bike, by far. So cold on Klipriver that the outer 3mm layer of water in my bottles, and the nozzle, froze. Managed to grind it up Camaro, although I also found out at that moment that my rear deraileur's adjustment wasn't correct, so it kept on jumping out of the 42 tooth granny. So I slogged it up there in 30/36 with the fat takkies. At least rode all the way up, until I got to the little dirt turn-off at the top which takes you onto the grass mound between the last row of houses and the highway. Needless to say, I had to push up there, but was rewarded with this: Unfortunately i found that some of the dirt tracks I had planned to ride were enclosed within enormous nature estates. Overall still a great ride, and great to finally conquer Camaro and get a 5 hour spin in.

Not at all. It's the Makro close to Carnival City. Pretty basic non-technical dirt roads. You can use this as reference (that ride). Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/Nk3eSq75Q7

With 36/11 gearing you should be able to stick with a 30kph average roadie group (I've done it with 34/11). Wind and rolling resistance is the issue, not gearing. Faster than that and a road bike will be a much better bet. Doing that solo needs a hell of a lot of power, not just gearing.

What the **** is that thing?!? It's ******* amazing!

I'm kinda stuck in the moral dilemma at the moment regarding the whole curfew thing. I see a lot (the majority) of my strava pals out riding at 05:00, sometimes in large groups, which to me is a selfish move on their behalf (the large group part). But... I'm seriously keen for a proper (100km+) dirt ride this weekend. Pre-all-of-this I was usually out on the bike by 04:15 and could do a century and be back just as my fam was getting up and ready for the day, essentially not missing any time with them. Added benefit was that the roads (when I use them) were very quiet. Now, I've been following the rules pretty closely as I'm just trying not to be a shitty person and give my newborn-with-a-lung-problem a fighting chance at at least getting a bit stronger before we all get it (pretty likely at this stage). The 06:00 starting time for exercise is the part I'm struggling with. That means: I'm basically spending half the day riding then, missing a lot of time with my family.I have to contend with a LOT more traffic, and the danger that brings.I have to contend with a LOT more people out exercising and coughing and sneezing with little regard for social distancing. If I head out at 04:30 tomorrow morning I'm technically breaking the rules, but there are obvious benefits to this. I've considered doing 04:15 to 06:00 on the IDT and then going out for a ride, maar dis darm maar nie dieselfde nie...

I keep expecting a horde of zombies to slowly appear through the fog. Whenever I see a patch of fog like that on a ride I automatically clench up as I know the temp is instantaneously going to drop by a few degrees.