Scott roy

P19 for Luke, awesome

Moir currently in 8th, high hopes for him.

And a friend of mine says his staylive also seems to have it.

Agreed, this should it have been successful would have been me shot off my bike without even encountering someone, no weapon would be have been able to help me. I have done advanced and tactical handgun training and I recon I would need to be significantly better before carrying a firearm on the bike. Carrying while cycling is something I am in support of if done properly but it’s risky. 70% of the time I recon it will be completely useless to the cyclist with how sudden the attacks are, in those attacks no matter if you’re armed or not things are going south. The remaining 30% you could probably save yourself and your bike if you have the correct training for your weapon. The biggest issue is that the criminals wind up with another weapon in the majority of times in my hypothetical scenario here, not that they can’t get elsewhere easily enough I guess. When still in SA I cycled in “safe” areas and mostly with other riders.

There is no doubt about it, cycling is rapidly becoming very unsafe in SA. In November I was riding to wolvespruit at about 6:30 am, I turned off of Atterbury onto January masilela and slowed down for the first robot after the dip. Luckily it went green because as I accelerated again I heard a gunshot in close proximity as well as the bullet flying right past me. Gave me a proper fright and I sprinted away rapidly while looking around, there wasn’t any cars or people in sight so it must have come from the uncut grass on the left. This is a civilised residential area right by Menlyn main and not where you’d think you should worry.

My thaughts exactly

I’ve sold a fork to the owner, dealt with him a bit on WhatsApp but he seemed to be a solid guy

On a side note, most people haven’t a clue how a circle works. But some are from countries (like where I now live) where circles work opposite and you give way to incoming traffic. Again most people are just morons but some do battle with adapting (like me here)

I’m aware, merely more irritated by the disdain for the forums

I was referring to dealers or users making use of the platform to make a living rather than the actual bikehub owners.

All of what you say is true, however it’s not related to what you originally said.

In my opinion bikehub is for the good of the cycling community and not for making a living off of… (again, my opinion) I have no trouble with people picking up a good deal (without lowballing) and then reselling it at a fair price though.

You should come see it in person

Thanks, Georgia is roughly in line with SA pricing in terms of living costs (except accommodation which is crazy) The issue I have with that is as you mentioned above, you then have trouble with people who battle with dietary requirements and preferences. The flights I am on the fence about but I can get them cheaper and then I also have everyone arriving on the same flight rather than each doing his own thing which would make logistics more tricky

@michaelbiker you have experience with these type of excursions, is the pricing above out of line? That is merely cost, no profit.

Valid points, thank a lot. There’s definitely a lot to think about but I for sure want to give it a try, even if it fails I can at least say I tried. Another big point I forgot to mention is South Africans don’t need visa’s here.

I recall reading this a while back, it’s definitely stunning here and I would really love to get more South Africans out here

If the backup vehicle drives at the back of the group could that not do away with a second guide?

Thanks I’d like to do it as a fun project for the fun of it and if it gets to a point that there’s a demand and I feel it’s up to standard then I’ll maybe try make it a small enterprise of its own.

The duller photos were taken in winter

Thanks a lot for your input Having a backup vehicle won’t be an issue, I have a 4x4 vito that I’d be willing to send off road so that will work fine, I also have driver working for me so that won’t be a problem. I’m curious as to why you suggest two guides, would that be one to lead and one to bring up the rear of the group? Reading what you say I think maybe a group of 6 would be ideal as I can get racks for 6 bikes for the one vehicle (I’m not willing to send a second vehicle out on those roads). Regarding knowing the area and language, I live here full time now so I actively ride some of the roads I have in mind and I would ride all planned routes beforehand. Each rider in the group would also get the routes for their headunits. As for language, I am learning but I do think we could get by, I could also invite a Georgian cyclist I have met along for that purpose. Keeping people happy is one of my larger concerns, as specially with weather I feel. It rains plenty here so its bat would be tricky. Meals wouldn’t be included in the package, I think suggesting restaurants and each has their own order and bill is the way to go. I am somewhat connected/in business with a company that does winter (ski) trips here so I can do accommodation and travel arrangements through them, that would work out better for the station one place option and then drive out from there. I think staying in two places would probably be for the best though. Medical problems is a very valid point, were any of your guides trained to some degree? As far as mechanical issues go, I am a certified bicycle mechanic and I could put together a emergency parts bin Lastly, what kind of distance/elevation did you guys do per day and how many days was your trip?

Bump

I recently moved to the tiny and country of Georgia in Eastern Europe. Since my first visit here I was struck by how beautiful the country is, its very mountainous, green (in summer), is steeped in history with many old forts and monasteries and has loads of Jeep track style roads through the mountains. Additionally the food here is excellent and the beer fantastic, they also claim to be the origin point of wine for the world. I’ve been contemplating the idea of doing MTB/gravel tour style trips for South Africans (simply because I know them), this has been spurred on by friends and friends of friends saying they want to come tour and cycle here. I’m looking for some insight on a few points, mainly: Would South Africans be willing to fly half way round the world to come cycle around for a week. Obviously this would be a fairly small target market. How many days would they want to ride? I’m thinking something like a week here with maybe 1 rest day, maybe an extra day before flying back home to explore the capital for instance. What would you guys want to do? What kind of distance and elevation would be most suitable? Due to all the mountains it’s not hard to do 3 000m vertical ascent in 80km, I would think maybe one day like that, followed by a shorter day of maybe 40km with under a thousand metres ascent and the remainder of the days around 70km with varying elevation. Would it be better to stay at one location and do all the riding from there, one would definitely need to then drive to some places and ride from there then drive back (not an issue as I have a couple of Vito’s). Or stay at a different town or place each evening and move around like that, logistically that could be tricky. Or a mix of both, stay one or two nights in 3 separate locations. Regarding the above point, having family along would make the staying at one location rather nice as the wife and kids or whoever can do there thing and you could come back to them each afternoon/evening. Backup vehicles, do people want one or not? I feel it’s very nice to have in some regards but in others it seems to take some of the thrill out of it, additionally routes would have to be doable by car which will definitely be more limiting. Group size, I think groups of no more than 12, but maybe people want more? What to do if it rains? Push through and ride or rather rest up, explore, eat and drink beer? But if it rains for a couple of days people are going to be cheesed off at having payed for a trip that’s not lekker. Lastly, what are people willing to pay? I’m not looking to make money out of this but rather do it for the love of cycling and sharing the experience. My idea is a package that has air tickets, transport and accommodation. However even (just covering costs) prices will be from about 22k (best case scenario) to 35k per person depending on group size, ticket pricing and how busy it is (accommodation wise). This is a lot of money for anyone. The trips would be in early and late summer so as to not be too hot or too cold (think June and late September) I would greatly appreciate any input, advice, suggestions or anything else.

The pull on an 11 speed shifter/rd is different to that of a 12 speed, however you should be able to make a workable system.