RallyRob

I am fortunate to have owned a Camber (the model with RS1 fork) which was replaced with the Stumpjumper ST and now the Epic Evo. I absolutely loved my Camber and thought the new Stumpjumper ST would pretty much be a direct replacment. Although the Stumpjumper was definitely a good bike (especially in technical terrain) it felt a bit too “lazy” in comparison to the Camber….I’m definitely not a race snake but in Pretoria one needs a bike which can perform on the flats which doesn’t really suit the Stumpjumper (even the ST version) Just over a year ago I was fortunate to move onto the latest Epic Evo model and immediately it felt like I had my Camber back…..in fact my new bike felt even more racey than the Camber but was still good enough to handle the rough and technical sections with ease. In my mind the Epic Evo is definitely the best of the 3 models and I have definitely not been disappointed by this bike….bike is definitely better than the rider. One thing to bear in mind however (and without trying to sound pretentious) is that I was fortunate enough to have owned the SWorks version of all 3 bikes so I’m not really sure how the other models in each range might compare…..with the same geometry as the SWorks models I would think my experience of the 3 bikes would still be relevant regardless of the model.

My baby.......????

I have fairly wide feet with a high arch and presently using a carbon sole Garne shoe, which I largely chose because of its supple upper which allowed my toes to move around during the ride......I have been especially struggling with my right foot after breaking the leg badly a couple of years ago and requiring surgery. i am now looking at getting some new shoes and was considering the S-Works Recon as this appears to be a great shoe.. I previously had a pair of S-Works shoes around 5 years ago which were great, but when I replaced these with a newer version a couple of years ago these were too narrow and game me endless problems with my feet.....hence I eventually settled on the Garne option. i am now again considering the S-Works option as I’m told the latest models are far more user friendly and able to accommodate wider feet, but after my previous experience I am obviously a bit nervous of wasting money on these shoes only to find they are uncomfortable. Hence I was wondering if Hubbers could perhaps give me their impressions on the S-Works Recon from a comfort perspective, or suggest alternative shoe brands and models which may be worth considering?? for instance the Shimano XC9 X-Phyre seems to be highly rated from a comfort perspective (especially for wider feet) yet still offer great performance.

Hi everyone (especially Pall who helped me out last year) I am heading for Dullstrooom this coming weekend (seems to have become an annual trip) and this year will be staying at the Highland Gate estate which I assume is linked fk the golf course. The Highland Gate website mentioned a 43km route from the gate house but doesn’t make five any further directions, so was wondering if anyone else had any interesting MTB routes (40-50km or around 3 hours) starting from Highland Gate?? Many thanks

Does anyone know if there are perhaps luxury tent accomodation options available on Sani2C (as with many other events nowadays) or just the standard 2-man tents and the B&B option??

Been using the S-Works Evade helmet for a number of years and always been very happy with the comfort and overall performance of this model range......although the lower profile of my latest Evade II took a bit of getting used to. A friend recently escaped serious head injury because of the more trail orientated helmet he was wearing, and without the added protection at the back of the head he would have taken a direct blow from a rock and judging by the damage to his helmet the injury would have been severe. Although I typically prefer to use products which are aimed at providing out-and-out performance (this is unfortunately not evident from my actual performance) I am not a youngster and need to consider safety as my main priority....hence I think it’s time to move to a more trail orientated helmet with added coverage at the back of the head. I have been doing some research online and cannot seem to get a clear indication as to which product offers the best combination of performance, comfort and protection. Having been very happy with my previous Specialized helmets my initial thought is to go with the Ambush model, however the more I look the more options I come across and every helmet seems to have a good write-up somewhere. Would appreciate your comments and recommendations to try and narrow down the number of options.

Probably not the cheapest solution, but to get things working without any drama I simply bought the Wahoo HR and cadence monitors which were paired easily with my iPad. Using this setup together with a sufferfest works great without any compatibility or linking issues.

Oops.......double post as didn’t realize the original had already been posted

I cannot recall this being such a big problem in the past, but recently I notice that the total ascent recorded by my Garmin Fenix 5X watch differs by as much as 20% from the ascent recorded on my Garmin Edge 1000. I know what to expect in terms of ascent on my normal weekend rides and the Edge 1000 GPS is definitely much more realistic that the Fenix 5X watch. For instance this morning the Edge 1000 GPS recorded 560m climbing in 43km whereas the Fenix 5X recorded just 370m of climbing over the same distance.....I know from last experience using other devices that this route is definitely more than 500m climbing. I have checked that the watch software is up-to-date and even double checked the watch settings, but cannot find anything obvious which would explain the discrepancy is total ascent. Any thoughts or ideas......has anyone else experiences a similar problem with their Fenix 5X??

I cannot recall this being such a big problem in the past, but recently I notice that the total ascent recorded by my Garmin Fenix 5X watch differs by as much as 20% from the ascent recorded on my Garmin Edge 1000. I know what to expect in terms of ascent on my normal weekend rides and the Edge 1000 GPS is definitely much more realistic that the Fenix 5X watch. For instance this morning the Edge 1000 GPS recorded 560m climbing in 43km whereas the Fenix 5X recorded just 370m of climbing over the same distance.....I know from last experience using other devices that this route is definitely more than 500m climbing. I have checked that the watch software is up-to-date and even double checked the watch settings, but cannot find anything obvious which would explain the discrepancy is total ascent. Any thoughts or ideas......has anyone else experiences a similar problem with their Fenix 5X??

Seems part of my post got cut off...... Hi Pall....rode the first of your proposed options today and had a great ride. With the extra bit from the Walkersons reception it ended up being a solid 45km loop. After yesterday’s heavy rain there was a fair amount of mud and standing water, but everything was still rideable even though the bike needed a PROPER clean afterwards. I thoroughly enjoyed the route you put together and the bit along the railway line included a few technical surprises so one had to stay away. The not so pleasant surprise was that th first 20km was pretty much flat or downhill (<100m ascent) whilst most of the 2nd half was very uphill with some long sections hitch punished the legs You did warn about the 2nd half being uphill, but the length of the climb and steepness still came as a shock. If anyone is coming to Dullstroom I can strongly recommend Pall”s routes and can definitely say that Dullstroom is underrated as a mountain bike venue. Thanks for all the effort Pall, as finding my way around without your assistance would definitely have been a challenge and I would not have experienced such a great riding experience.

Hi Pall....rode the first of your proposed options today and had a great ride. With the extra bit from the Walkersons reception it ended up being a solid 45km loop. After yesterday’s heavy rain there was a fair amount of mud and standing water, but everything was still rideable even though the bike needed a PROPER clean afterwards. I thoroughly enjoyed the route you put together and the bit along the railway line included a few technical surprises so one had to stay away. The not so pleasant surprise was that th first 20km was pretty much flat or downhill (

Thanks for all the help.....really great to come across someone prepared to share his passion for the sport but helping people enjoy their riding in a new location.

Looking 40 to 50km ride......probably something in the region of 3 hours. Any thoughts??

Hi guys.......staying at Walkersons next weekend and was wondering what route you’d recommend for MTB?? Ideally want to ride from the resort without having to load up the bike. Thanks

Any thoughts on Outsurance?? I am fortunate to have 2 top-class mountain bikes with a combined replacement value in excess of R200K. I presently have these bikes insured as a specified item on my household insurance, but am concerned as to the amount being charged and what is actually covered by the policy. My reason for insuring is primarily theft or some sort of total loss scenario, as I consider repair from a crash as my responsibility and not that of the insurer. I am particularly concerned about damage which might occur whilst one of the bikes is being transported on my Thule rack behind the car.....such as someone driving into the back of me or the bike somehow falling off whilst driving. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated, as it’s obviosly pointless spending money insuring my bikes if it’s not actually going to put me in the same position when something goes wrong.

Have to unfortunately withdraw from this year's Sani2C Adventure from the 10th to the 12th of May Have a team entry available for a total of R13,000 which is a saving of R1550 on the standard entry (R13,950) and substitution (R600) fees. Condition is that the entry be returned after this year's event as I would very much like to compete in the 2018 (next year) event. Only other potential issue is that I understand the clothing sizes are now fixed for the event so you're stuck with M and XL sizing PM me if you're interested so we can sort out the nitty-gritty. Robin

A fair bit of the old trails are still rideable and typically feature in most of the "local" events, but the actual bike park hasn't been around for a number of years. You'll probably need to join a group ride to figure out how to get to the Boschkop trails, but definitely worthwhile as you can then add some nice single track on your way to Rosemary Hill from Cow House. Not worthwhile as a destination but a nice linking route if you like to get away from the dirt roads of the area.

My LBS did the original build with the shock upside down and apparently that's the way they've always built up the TB......even double checked when I first collected the bike to make sure someone hadn't been having an off day during final assembly. Kept having hassles with the shock requiring new seals and loosing pressure unexpectedly until eventually (after get another rebuild) to turn the shock "right way" up and no further problems.

This was my first Santa Cruz TB.......damn I loved this bike. Recently got the new TB2 and really enjoying the added stiffness (most likely also helped by changing to Mavic wheels to accommodate the rear thru axle) and will post a pic shortly. Got some mates with SWorks Epics and they just cannot seem to understand why I stay with Santa Cruz, as there bikes are clearly lighter and faster yet having ridden their bikes I would not change my Santa Cruz for anything.

More interested in the possible new trail just off the N1 (Rigel) as I live in the area and it would certainly make a pleasant change to have a fairly technical route close to home.

Anyone got further information as to when this new trail will be opened? Are they looking to just provide a riding trail or will there be other facilities on site?

How’s this for scary. On my way to work on Friday morning of last week I collected my bike from the bike shop where it had been serviced and continued to the office…..my Nissan Navara is fitted with a 3-bike Thule EuroWay towbar mounted rack. Imagine my surprise when on Tuesday of this week I received a “Class Discrepancy Notification” from SANRAL advising that their records indicate a discrepancy between the class registered on my e-toll account and that recorded during a transaction. Basically because of my bike rack the system re-classified my vehicle as class B which meant an increase of nearly 300% in the applicable toll fees. Now the interesting part…..the aforementioned document includes a statement which basically means that if I don’t sort this matter out then my vehicle will be permanently reclassified under class B with significantly higher toll fees applicable. “Should this matter not be resolved your registered vehicle class will be changed to the vehicle class detected by our system” Did you know…..some research into this matter revealed the following: “Vehicles making use of the Gauteng e-road are classified in accordance with a combination of the length and / or height of the vehicle, while vehicles making use of other toll roads are classified in terms of the vehicle axles and / or number of wheels” Based on this statement one must wonder about the implications for cyclists in general as not only could a towbar mounted bike rack have an impact on your e-toll account, but even a roof mounted carrier as this will greatly increase the calculated height of your vehicle (especially if there is an actual bike mounted thereon) and in so doing affect the overall size.

I was on holiday in Salt Rock for the Father's Day long weekend and enjoyed 3 fantastic rides at Holla and always felt completely safe........certainly felt far safer when riding alone in comparison to my solo rides in Gauteng. Red route is only around 28km but some fantastic riding - did the same route twice as the 2nd run was even more enjoyable knowing what to expect and being able to attack the track (route marking is not perfect so you tend to spend much of the 1st run looking for markers instead of enjoying the actual riding) By the way.......hopefully this has now been corrected by now but I discovered that the online GPS route was not the same as the marked route which caused quite a bit of frustration (ended up doing 32km on my first ride instead of 28km as marked)

Had my setup done by Richard Baxter a couple of weeks ago and can honestly say my MTB has been transformed.......always thought I had a reasonable setup so was amazed that some of the changes ended up being cm's rather than the mm's I had expected. My first ride with the new setup clearly showed a significant performance benefit and for the first time in quite some time there were no aches and pains after a couple of hours in the saddle. Without a doubt the best R550 I've spent on cycling.