Headshot

Distance to race and cost of entry are issues for me. I used to do many of the old style PPA fun rides which now can't happen in the southern peninsula. If its a choice between driving 75km to do a road race or stay home and ride on the mountain or road, the latter prevails. The CTCT entry increases which are way over inflation every year means I may just miss out this year. I wish my income went up by the same margin.

As long as you're not the guy breaking rocks and dumbing down MTB tracks to make them gravel worthy? 😞 #spiritofenduro

I suggest you check the manufacturers website for your dropper. Specialized command post droppers rely on the stanchion to be in perfect condition in order to keep the airs pring sealed and they therefore recommend that you keep the seat in the down position to prevent it being damaged in storage or while racked on your car. That said, I recall reading that droppers with sealed cartridges should be stored with the post extended. I can't really understand why as the cartridges are much like the gas struts that hold your boot or bonnet up and spend almost 100% of their lives compressed.

You can add big wheels to that equation as well. My 27.5 Enduro is easier to chuck through consecutive corners than the equivalent 29er but loses its advantage when it gets chunky and steep.

You said it #endurancebro 🙂 Just having some fun - I'm sure they work well. I still have some Ergons with palm pads and shorty bar ends I used on a 3 day event just 3 years ago...

For sure, but its horses for courses. If you want controllable speed on steep rough terrain then a longer wheelbase is safer and faster. Not always needed in SA of course.

You see, nobody wants them 🙂

I don't think short stems introduce twitchiness, rather too wide bars on a longish stem. As the review states its not short stems but slack HTA's that lead to a tendency for the steering to be ponderous and "floppy" at low speed. Not an issue for experienced riders of course. I sometimes ride a 26er HT with a 70mm stem and 785mm bars and I call the twitchiness, "responsive,playfull handling" 🙂 . In fact its great fun to ride on the right trails. I was forced to run a longer than ideal stem to increase the reach a bit on a slightly too small frame but have kept the bars full width. Also the bikes fitted with this device are not your average SA marathon bike - MTB is a different sport in Europe where the focus is on bike parks and descending, rather than masochistic stage races.

1995 called and asked for their bar ends back 🙂

The Pinkbike reviewer said he found the sensation odd but could get used to it. That said, he wasn't converted. I can understand the thinking but I hate the thought of more complexity on my bike. The PB comments mention slack eBikes and unskilled riders who might need some help form a system like this. Most of us don't.

Ya, it should be low-ball v High-Ball surely?

R135k and all it can do is go down a gravel road under human power. Makes an EBike look cheap. Or a motorbike. Everytime I see a gravel bike on my local I wonder if it was him who came and smashed rocks to pieces to make the only rock garden on that section easier to navigate on drop bars....

Has he really gone? (I was too busy watching Rampage, fixing cars and even riding a bit to look on BH) The way I avoid being a low baller is only buying stuff that's priced to sell IMO. Bargains in other words - like the dropper post for R800 I bought a while back.

Serious lack of maintenance there and use in very dirty conditions without being cleaned? Those haven't even been out that long. The only dropper I have seen with that kind of damage was a crumby Giant version I had - the design and execution was so weak it wore no mater what you did. It carried on working to a point even with the drag inducing wear at the back of the stanchion. As someone else pointed out this isn't a sealing surface - unlike some such as the Specialized droppers - so it should still work for a while.

Depends on what you deem hi-tech - a brushless motor that sucks less juice for more krag and controlled electronically as are found in EBikes, sure used to be uber hi-tech.

Ludicrous looks and price. The push bike industry is worse than just about any other for overcharging for very dubious performance gains. No doubt a few CEO's will take the bait though. At least for a R250k ebike you're getting a motor and other real hi tech bits. I learned early on that fancy road bikes get you very limited gains for the money. Especially when you're roaring along in the peleton. I rode a 11kg steel road bike with badly warped wheels to a sub three many years ago on the CTCT.

He thought you were referring to the ratio of PEDs to creatine he was on?

I can see why there may be problems - Red Barn has so many tracks stuffed into a relatively small area. Good use of the terrain but no doubt a bit of a maze too. Down here in CT we just take our bearings off the 'Berg and never bother with signs or maps. Same on our roads 🙂 Edit: I also note that the TF trail descriptions are basically non-existent and I suspect this applies to most of the Gauteng bike parks. Perhaps its time for you okes to approach them to get their Trailforks admin done and provide proper descriptions and access info.

Esels isn't really the same. You pitch for all three days, you camp, there is a village with stalls selling meat to braai, booze and food plus a kids play area and chilled vibe but still a race and an event. Piket open day didn't seem the same at all - just a ticket to ride route(s) on the day you'd booked, no timing, race or prize money. Not an event as such IOW but still great. Another option at Piket is to stay at one of the farms for the weekend. if you select wisely you will have access to some of the lekker trails on that farm.

Yeah, Eselfontein is perfect and good value. Should have done it this year. Crashing is part of the game and an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and upskill yourself. I rode some of Paul Cluver this weekend on a small private event - always touted as some of the best tracks on W2W. They were busy fixing the trails which are in a bit of a state due to lack of maintenance. That said despite this they were so smooth my 26er HT loved them and so very very boring to ride. Not one rock garden, no fun features and some bridges... Built to cater for the marathon racing industry and that's about it. Ugh.

Not sure about the low BB height issue. Trail bikes have notoriously low BB's especially the modern ones - 345-350mm) Could not find any Xc bike specs with a quick search. The trails really aren't very technical but do make use of the terrain and require technical climbing skills. The descents can be as fast or slow as you like. That said, its all tiring and if its hot...

They needed to appeal to normal people, not the rich perhaps? That would have been a new market. I'm waiting for the next trail open day.

So, I heard this weekend that the U 2022 never happened and that only a few people entered. At R9500 pp for 2.5 days it was as elitist as they come, but I still find it surprising because I think there are still enough punters out there with deep pockets. I think the real reason it was under subscribed is because the trails are too proper and require bike handling skills that other events like the W2W simply do not require. Thoughts?

Wow, this has lasted until Friday.

Yes, pretty much but specific to my bike model which is a Suzuki DR 750.