Sid the Sloth

I am very interested to see how it unfolds tactically.

fair, I fall close to the nearly half that side lol

You could also buy a pair of those DT Swiss alloy gravel wheels everyone is flogging when they upgrade to carbon... I have seen some proper bargains. Maybe @Sidekick Raceror @Spookie can help you out

You have options, cheapest would probably be freehub body and sram xg 11spd 10-42 cassette, not sure how easy that is though. Second it new hub and rebuild, most 142x12 (non-boost) rear hubs should do the job with the right spoke count and pull orientation, but maybe I am wrong. Or just an mtb non-boost rear wheel with a gravel tyre slapped on. I would keep an eye out in the classifiieds for a 10-42 cassette in decent condition as that will definitely be required.

Just put some tyre sealant in.

Conversely I am hoping for 56 11-34 for the tt. Should be fun.

What wheels are you running? In my opinion it is definitely worth seeing if you can find a xd freehub body to get the 10t. I would say I am not bad at climbing and I was very happy with my setup on my gravel bike with 38f 10-42 rear... Lots of training around Knysna with steep climbs over 15% in z2 power. I also did PLENTY of road rides and was not getting dropped on the descents or false flat downhill. Now that I have gone back to 11t I basically have the same ratio as 34 / 10 and it is not as nice, the 10t was a lot better. Remember juniors race with elites here on a 3.7 ratio... so 38/10 on gravel wheel diameter should definitely be manageable.

I am still waiting for the day someone just takes a full sus mtb and slaps a drop bar with axs shifters on. That is just about the length okes will go to to make their "gravel" bike more "capable". Interestingly Matt Beers won Race to the Sea last year on full suspension with some gravel adjustments (tyres much narrower than 2.2 I believe), while racing against gravel bikes.

Enough to do some damage me thinks 🤪

I am mentally slow ✊🏼

I am not sure if there is a dedicated thread for SA women competing at international level, but today Frances Janse Van Rensburg came 13th at Mont Ventoux Challenge and Hayley Preen 21st! Our ladies are flying the flag very high, both riding for conti teams. I believe Frances' team will also be riding in Le Tour Femmes later this year. https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/mont-ventoux-denivele-challenges/2022/result

I will be attacking in the feed zone with my camelbak and 600g of carbs in my pockets.

I am looking forward to it. Should be fun. I wonder how the racing will play out.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/racing/primoz-roglic-has-special-and-difficult-day-on-cobbles-as-he-impresses-at-rehearsal-for-tour-de-france I believe both Roglic and Vingegaard were at this race. I see @Jewbaccabeat me to it by a lot!

I think this Titan I have could probably fit more than 33, haha

An oke was disappointed I didn’t want to give him my roll so he could go “find a bush” at Red Hill… mate…

Yeah they are super nice bikes, the newly released aero disc bikes are insane as well, and the gravel bike is crazy light. Very lucky to be on one haha. Seems like they have moved away from the mtb scene a bit though, I know there are some fancy e mtb instead.

I said hello when I rode past in my red kit on the Storck. maybe i should try the road bike on there... Looks pretty fantastic haha. Thanks for all the hard work.

Super impressive, considering he was racing for the win the day before while Ganna sat up, and he is in the yellow non custom skinsuit (check the photos on instagram of the bunching up of that suit on the arms compared to usual)... If I was Ineos I would be worried. But Ganna also does not always sit at top top form before important races. The first TT at TDF is definitely going to be interesting.

Yes the important one 😂😂😂 I’ll be heading back soon though.

So, when is someone going to buy my gravel bike to start training for gravel nationals?

IMO the "spirit of gravel" is race whatever bike you want, work out what will be fastest for you on the course based off what options you have. Not sure if there are uci rules regarding what a legal and illegal gravel bike are (I am fairly sure they exist knowing the UCI but I have not seen them)

Yoh I have some serious fomo. Well done guys for executing what looked like an amazing event with great coverage.

the weightweenie in me hates this but it also hated the idea of the varia rear light and I now love that thing!