Vaultboy

Its not a flaw. You're just not the target market. Vitality isn't aimed at rewarding 'real athletes'. Its designed to reduce Discovery's potential payouts by getting their members to be reasonably healthy and reasonably fit. .

My typical trainer rides are around 60-90 mins. I use Rouvy, so I tend to listen to audiobooks or podcasts while I ride, given that I often have nice scenery to look at. I have done a few 100km rides on the trainer. I prefer to just watch youtube or netflix for long rides.

1x11 probably meets 90% of all use cases, but it really depends on how much climbing you do and how often you carry extra weight (bikepacking, or just long days out riding). You might need a few higher gears. Also conversely if you race you might need a few lower gears. I have a 1x8, 38-34 max gearing so I get the worst of both scenarios. As much as I prefer a 1x, I think 2x10 is probably going to be the sweet spot for me.

I agree fully. My gravel bike runs 47mm, which I really like the feel of. I think Dylan Johnson was on to something when he said that the ideal tyre for gravel bikes are thin casing 2.2 MTB tyres.

Nino's so bored at the back he has time to fool around while Fini is struggling, shem.

Mona looks absolutely shattered already.

I'm also in this boat. I hit my goals pretty much every week, and cap out my 30 000 points for the year, but its only good enough for Silver. At Silver, you only get 25% off flights etc, which isn't bad, but I've found similar discounts elsewhere. I reckon spouses need to earn at least 15 000 out of the available 30 000 for the year to make it into Gold, which is where the benefits get good; plus they at least need to do the annual health assessments. I even struggled to get my wife to do that, but she did in the end. that said, even at Silver I get at least R1500 a month back for my R465 monthly vitality fee, so its still worthwhile to jump through the hoops.

You are correct. You have to use your Discovery account to make payment, so you need to preload it with the balance (after subtracting your miles).

I've got a free account. No banking fees. Its a virtual VISA 'transaction' account; its not a credit card, i.e. it always has to have a positive balance, but I can enter the card details into any credit card payment facility. So its like a prepaid credit card. You also get a free savings account bundled with it, with a 5.9ish interest rate. Its just Discovery wanting you to give them more money to pool.

Yup. They are all slowly but sure migrating to Discovery's structure. I used to be with Bonitas, who offered superior cover, for far less. But now its pretty much the same as Discovery, without the benefit of Vitality. So it was a no-brainer to move. (I did the math on Vitality long before I joined). Bestmed still looks like a good alternative, but they're also offering less cover for more fees than last year. They will get to parity with Discovery soon enough.

Genuine interest: For how much of that time do you feel like you're on the verge of puking and how do you deal with it?

@Titan Racing Bikes when will the 2024 alloy Switch models be available?

Your initial post below indicated you were thinking of buying two bikes - either Gravel+Hardtail; or Road+Hardtail. I expected you would keep that nice Titan Cypher you built, so I suggested only buying one bike instead of two - a gravel bike, with an extra set of roadwheels. If you need to sell your Cypher to fund the purchases, then I would suggest a get a trail hardtail and a roadbike. I imagine you want to be able to do XC, gravel and road riding, so I was thinking of two bikes that cover all three disciplines.

Honestly, if you go to the south of Italy, you would think you're somewhere in South Africa. Potholes; faded road markings; trash on the side of the streets. No working public trains. I felt right at home.

You've already got a very nice dualsus, so instead of getting two new bikes, I would recommend getting a really good gravel bike, with an extra road wheelset. Then you're set for XC, gravel and road.