Headshot

The voice note is a joke guys... apparently similar to a surfer v SUP clip that did the rounds...

Thanks for that Lance. Are the vandals people who have arrived recently to the area or long standing residents who have been waiting for some form of security of tenure or housing for years and years? I wonder how local businesses are affected? The Ride Inn must lose business and possibly employees as a result...

Where has the "heart" of the argument been expounded? I'd like to try and understand what the issues are. Right now I have little sympathy for people who break and vandalize SA's limited resources and infrastructure to make a point that perhaps isn't even valid...

Ardents in 2.4 and some more enduro worthy treads also in 26" available at Stoke Suspension for rather tasty prices (all things considered) Picked up a pair of Ardents for use on my wife's Zula and my hardtail.

Basically he was a P#%s

And judging by a recent report in the Uk Mail on Sunday, eBikes are a danger to pedestrians and their riders too...got to love the media in the nanny state UK.

Maybe Makro can take over all the major bike brands in SA. Imagine the savings for us!

My poor beast is going to get turned into a marathon bike in a few months - longer stem, lower bar and lighter tyres. Scary stuff but I have to survive a rather long 3 day "tour" on it.

Its the same weekend as the Ezel 3 day stage race which I'm booked for, so won't be making this one...

Wow, sound like you need to rocket up some hills on your E MotoBike and klap some opinionated old farts on 26ers. Its a real mood enhancer for the young and otherwise able too I hear.

Bwah ha ha. Where do I take this "hard line" you complain of? Did you miss the part where I said I'd love a Kenevo ( Thats a non 29er emotorBike by the way) No you see I think people are embarrassed about their motorized bikes and try and down play it by calling it "pedal assist" not an eBike and saying silly things like its turned down I'm not getting any help at all - while zooming up a hill humming...

I thought you just gazed at your 650b and rolling didn't really happen?

52 and half injured is the real problem... I caught them up at the exit to the forest again - you know where its rocky. The eBike lady was doing okay. She did profess to like the eBike so she could enjoy the downs and have enough energy left to get home. I agree with this sentiment. I am keen on a Kenevo, but not keen on the price of it or any of the other eBikes. On the subject of pricing - a rather nice KTM 390 naked bike is R75k brand new. That's about R25k less than a Kenevo.

So I break out my 26" HT and head up and along the Neck to Newlands forest traverse yesterday. A couple catch me up. First hill after a descent I see the woman is on my tail. Strange I think, I reckon I dropped them on the last descent. They ride behind me and I notice the barely audible hum - ah, are those eBikes I ask. No, not eBikes - "pedal assist" bikes she says. In her mind an eBike has a throttle. I say, but they are called eBikes on every website I have read. She says, its set on 15%, it makes no difference at all. ( Okay, then why ride one?) If I switch it off on the downs it goes even faster because its so heavy. I switch it on to stay in control. I kid not, this really did happen.

In case you missed it. I smaak my 170/180 dhduro bike. It makes me seek out lekker trails to ride. So I think if you have one of these you'll naturally ride the rougher steeper stuff more often. If it's just a short hop in the belts I have bike 2. On the subject of JH I felt the trails had got a bit Tygerbermified. Thoughts?

That safety blanket also allows you to try stuff and progress a bit more easily than on a shorter bike. My HT also makes me appreciate all that travel when I compare the same trails on the two different bikes....

The Torque should be quite a bit cheaper - the Ransom top tier build must be pretty pricey.

I think its not usually the travel that's the issue but rather the overall package. My 170mm bike now has a 180 fork and it is great, especially if you want to ride jumps and steeps every now and then. It gives me a margin for error which i desperately need. Overall the package is rather heavy but it pedals well and if I'm fit isn't a problem on longer rides. The Ransom takes things to a new level of efficiency and light weight, so I reckon it would be ideal for around here if you like to do a bit of DH and enduroing.

That sounds like the perfect solution to a a cracked TT. Outa sight outa mind. Supertuck everywhere.

Ya, Goose Bay is the place. Hard riding though. no manicured single track, herds of wildish horses, bar grabbing proteas and the odd sand patch.

That is flippin aero. We'll be seeing this in the Vuelta I bet.

TT tells the best joke. Barman says "you crack me up" Fastrack feels deflated?

This has been interesting. i had an idea the Hub had lost its zing, but it hasn't The place is still frequented by super duper tjops. I'm looking forward to Friday.

Oh, okay, so despite costing a small fortune and being made out of a material touted as the next best thing to the Fifth Element, a "Race Bike" is a fragile piece of poop that needs to be treated with kid gloves? I thought the whole idea was that carbon was super strong and light. Not just light. Ok, seriously, what about all the other bikes, carbon and otherwise that have those kiddy seats stuck on them either TT or as a carrier out back? And then there are also people like me and my wife who carried out baba on our back all over the trails without breaking him or our bikes? The point is that nearly every bike gets used beyond its design criteria at some point and suffers no ill effects. This bike gets used like Canyon's own pro's do and cracks. It should carry a big warning label. As I pointed out though, they won't do this because $$

And they sell these things in different guises for kids to ride with their parents. No doubt that voids the warranty on any bike that its used on, but in 99% of cases, nothing ever goes wrong. I have a trailer bike for my kid - adds some nice loads to the seat tube of my steel hard tail. I recall as a kid lifting friends on the TT of old steel racers. Real boat anchor bikes but they never broke there. So bikes get used outside of their strict design parameters all the time, no? To my mind, Canyon have stuffed up here. This issue must be well documented by now. Their documentation should be far clearer than it is and explicitly state that the super tuck is not allowed. They wont do that though because it suits them not to. It could lose them sales and diminish the mystique of the wonder material the bikes is made of. Statistically, it probably works out better financially for them to accept the failures periodically and then jump on the warranty issue if they can establish top tube riding occurred. Makes you think how many bikes they sell and the cost price of each frame they replace. Big money being made I suspect.