Nico van Loggerenberg

I've gone through maybe 6 of these tyres and they have all been difficult to install. The best trick I've found is using one of the smaller Parktool tyre levers (1.2 model) to pull the bead into the right position all the way along the edge. This felt like a magic hack. A second way is to install with a tube and let it sit then remove later and add sealant.

Weird. They should definitely teach this at school or something!

Wait wait - there's a speed limit for cars in South Africa? I certainly haven't seen much evidence for it.

You can hit 80kmh pretty easy on the hills in Gauteng. Good luck if there's a pothole though.

most roads in johannesburg are gravel roads. That's who it's for!

A society that can't even protect its children at the cost of its ego. Truly tragic. Plenty of sad stats out there about how many children are being killed by the new crop of huge cars. Saw one out in the wild today, parked outside a primary school no less. 1.5 metres into the road because it's too big for the sidewalk parking.

I wouldn't worry too much about safety in the rural areas of the WC - your biggest danger zones are in and just outside of major cities. For bike transport, if you want to take a bus, speak to Shaun - Shaun Smeda - shaun@intercape.co.za / 072 190 0345

There are as many opinions on tyres as there are on politics and they are generally equally as wrong and poorly researched. Pretty much every brand offers competitive XC sets these days. Pick a brand and be a dick about it. Bontrager and Pirelli offer great value for money locally and in my opinion look good too. (look at specials on takealot or cheap take-offs on bikehub) Schwalbe and Continental are unbeatable for speed but some feature very light casings and are not cheap locally. (check out bicyclerollingresistance.com for proof) Maxxis, in my opinion, lags behind with XC tyres but they are still completely rideable for 99% of what the average mtb'er wants and you can get them everywhere. (google Nino Schurter Epic 2022 or MVDP Glasgow XCO)

Good idea, can't believe I didn't think of that

Rating system means nothing. Many accounts here with very concerning 1 star ratings that never get flagged.

You do occasionally see high end parts for sale in dodgy Facebook ads. But almost never frames. What happens to those? In many years of scouring dark parts of the online classifieds I have never seen a top end, new mtb frame for sale that looked dodgy, but loads of tyres, brakes, groupsets etc.

They could not care less. Stolen phones, obvious scams, duplicated profiles, zero fs given.

Tip - check in with truecaller on any number you receive. These are marked as scammer.

Loads of riding very close to where you are. Most clubs start either in Rosebank or in Tyrone avenue, Parkview. You can ride out to the south, ride some gravel and back for a nice 100km loop. ICG is probably an easy group to start out with and will show you most of the commonly used routes. You can also take a gravel bike up and down the spruit which is an easy 40km off road depending on your fear level.

The term eco-friendly doesn't mean anything to me. Metrics are endless. I'd still rather have a more natural fibre that lasts a long time and was sourced from well-paid farmers if all other variables are the same.