kandui

Send me the contact of your preferred bike shops so I can make contact with them. If any of you guys facilitate a sale (money in the bank constitutes a successful sale), I will pay a commission.

The 5 patches with the paper backing weigh 4g. Probably 2g once applied to the bike.

Force Field is now available at Revolution Cycles and Olympic Cycles in Cape Town.

Give me your list of expenses up to date. I would love to compare to mine this year.

R8000 is flipping crazy money. Unless you have a major accident (most likely you are out of the race anyway), you will have no need for a mechanic package. I bought for peace of mind,that's all. If your bike is well looked after , you won't have a problem. Take a chain,spokes,spare tyre,Stans,magic links,duct tape,cable ties, tubes and you're pretty much sorted. That all fits into your tog bag.JP used to send a guy back to his shop in Belleville to pick up spares,so there is plenty available. Just remember that the Epic refunds nada, so anything you purchase via their site is money gone forever. Book a Massage, that's far more important.

You get a bit nervous before one of these big stage races that your bike will not handle it mechanically. I made sure my bike was in good nick before the event (and I still took the Mech package), but I hardly had use for it. At Pioneer last year, like I said, I need to replace one gear cable (dirt inside) and at the Epic this year i only had a noisy free-wheel hub , because there was some dirt could somewhere. Nothing else, no punctures or broken chains. What I can recommend highly, if you don't have it already. Get Gore cables. They are fully enclosed and keep the dust out. Brilliant investment for R800 odd. There will always be someone who can fix your bike at the Epic. JP, Olympic, Cyclelab and others. Speak to them before the event to see what their deal is. Don't waste your money on the Mech package, I won't do it again. By the way. At the Transalp the service is free, you just pay for your parts.

I used JP at the Epic this year. R3000 for the package (includes a pre and post race service), but I wasn't happy. I had used him at Pioneer last year and had no major mechanicals for him to fix (1 cable) He is a nice guy and makes an effort, but I think he takes on too many package customers already and then takes on "walk in" customers during the race as well. I contend that the quality of his team's work suffers. Case in point was my partner who had major stuff with his bike which cost us a lot of time. Had JP attended to the work properly (ie less clients, better attention to detail) we would not have had to come back again and again. My partner stood at the start with me at Saronsberg and had to rush back to JP as the gun went to fix a job JP was supposed to have done overnight. That cost us 30 minutes. In fairness I will say that he did not bill us for the the parts. But then again, he replaced my 2011 XTR brake pads using pads he bought from the Shimano tent, even though he knew I had 2 spare sets with me, just in case. If all the mechanics are accepting "walk-in" customers during the race (which I as a priority, prepaid client don't particularly like to see), then I suggest you save yourself some money and do the same. Next year JP will charge R3300-3500 for the package and if your bike is in good nick before the Epic, you will have very little work required.

Does anybody know where I can find a second hand (or new) bike repair stand? Park Tool, Pedros etc. Can't seem to find them for sale in the Classifieds, or am not looking properly.

My wife (Physio of 18 years experience) is coming along to the Pioneer Trek and will be doing the massage for my partner and I. She is making some time available for "walk-ins",if you require a massage.Come and find the white Nissan Patrol with the roof tent and Table Mountain Bikers wheel cover in the race village.If you have mates doing the race, please pass this on.

Sample packs have been sent out and I look forward to your feedback. I am special of a SPECIAL Hub price of R 35 per pack and R30 per pack for orders of 10 or more. Postage included. I have patches of 250mmx40mm which are sold individually for R 50 each,postage included. Ideal for the down tube and BB. A similar Bike Shield patch costs R130.

Price per pack of 5 patches: R 39 (includes postage).

20th of November. Scott Demo bikes at the 200 Mountain Bikers awareness ride.

Anyone interested in Scott bikes. Come to the 200 Mountain Bikers awareness ride on the slopes of Table Mountain. Scott will have demo bikes available. 20 November. 9-11am.

Sorry, edited your post by mistake. Don't know whether that is a tongue in cheek question, but if I can get more off-cuts and the demand is there, I will certainly try to sell 1000's.

I have got some longer pieces too , ideal for the down tube. 255x45mm. These are sold individually. I will have a price for the packs and individual pieces within the hour.

I am sorry for not giving you the price yesterday. I had the idea for these patches when I found some off-cuts which I used to cover my own bike. I have let the project lie for almost a year, but approached Altacare 3 weeks ago to see whether they could cut the patches by hand. Being intellectually challenged, the workers are not able to cut the patches as precise as a machine, but I would like to think they have done a good job under the circumstances.Once the patches are applied, they are virtually invisible and most of us will probably cut the longer patches into smaller pieces anyway. I will send all of you who responded to this thread (behind my reply) a free pack to test them and give me your feedback. PM me or contact me on zulurob@iafrica.com and give me your postal address. If you are in Cape Town you can also come past my office and collect a pack. Altacare don't know what to charge me for their cutting work and have asked me to make them an offer. So what I thought would be best is to work out my cost on the pack and then give them a % of each pack sold. My aim is to put this patch kit into the market at a MUCH lower price than the imported stuff and hopefully sell loads through all the bike shops.

I have a little product I am putting into the market called Force Field. It's a packet of clear vinyl patches which you stick to your frame to protect against stones and other debris, cable chafe and general wear. Won't discolour, very strong and easy to apply. I have had them on my carbon bike for well over a year and when you pull the patch off, the frame looks brand new. The patches are hand cut by a group of adults with intellectual disability in Cape Town and part of the proceeds of each pack sold will go Altasorg (021 913 2410). Each pack contains: 2 circular (25mm diameter), 2 rectangular (70x30mm), 1 rectangular (120x40mm). This is enough for all main areas. Anyone interested ,please let me know.

Something else to think about. A race is not like training. Once the gun goes the adrenalin is pushing you along at a much faster pace than you initially planned with your partner. Sort of a herd mentality sets in. Look at your speed and dial it down a little and ride in your comfort zone. If you ride at your pace for the first couple of days, you will feel that you have energy left in the tank and might be able to crank it up a few notches over the last 2 days. You will be surprised how many guys are hanging on for dear life at this stage and how many places you can move up with very little extra effort.

Don't know how fit you are now, but I started from an average fitness base. It took about 2 Months to notice a real difference, but once you get there, you don't want to relapse. Boredom does set in from time to time, but once I forced myself out on the bike, I was happy I did it. My goal was to average 15hours/week. Some weeks you can get in about 20 hours and some weeks only 8. I don't own a road bike so all my training was on the Mtb. I am not an early morning person, so my weekday rides happen after 4pm. 60-90 minutes on Table Mountain is easy to do and if the wind is too strong, it's off to the gym and a spinning bike for 90 minutes. That's flipping dull!! For variety I would take a drive out to Grabouw and spend most of the day out there riding for 6-9 hours at a time, which really stood me in good stead for the times in a race where you think you can't carry on. I hate running, so I never contemplate that as an alternative. Once you can handle back to back rides of 6 hours with ease, it stays in your legs and you need to work on the dreaded intervals. I hate those , but my excuse is that Table Mountain is all about climbing and I try to improve my own times on the regular loops I do. Or a sprint ride to Hout BAy and back along the coast road with a finish up the Glen.

A mate of mine will be selling his Large Kona Hei Hei FS 29er, if you want to spend a bit more.

One day races make no money, hence the proliferation of Multi-Day events. The trick is to get the balance right, Money vs Offering. Some get the balance right and have to add a third event and entries are like hen's teeth. Others reach a tipping point, where riders are simply not prepared to pay more and the event runs the risk of closing down. I have a feeling the Epic is close to that point. I believe the owner is overseas a lot to set up a type of Epic franchise. Makes sense to keep the business going. Epic will launch a new logo this month, probably part of the global strategy.

At the current rate of increases (Rate of Inflation is ignored) the Epic will cost R40000 in 2013. Who is left to pay that kind of money? I would say that even the Sandton/Constantia Land Cruiser 200 brigade will think twice.Overseas entrants still have to cough up for an airfare on top. This year was bad enough , next year is a big ask too. I paid R1950 for B&B rooms during this year's Epic and those rooms were all 1000 times better than a tent. I missed the "vibe". Perhaps, but let's face it. The Epic is not a race where we sit and have beers till the wee hours. You want to shower, eat and sleep. I think the Epic is great to ride, but it is overrated and I believe the organisers are pricing it out of the market. Next year is an Olympic year, so a lot of the Pro's won't be coming to avoid injury and focus on their short course training. If you want to get a good Epic result, 2012 is your year. Best value Stage rage is still the Pioneer Trek, if I had to choose a race which comes close to the Epic. If Henco and the guys don't get greedy and have done their maths, they can attract a following which will make this a "must ride" event and make entries tough to secure. It has the potential to replace the Epic. The route is far better (and as tough) as the Epic. I am baling out of the Epic next year and handing back my entry. R36k is too much. I am going to enter the Transalp instead. I will keep training and see whether I can pick up an Epic entry a few days before the event for a song.

My Edge 500 is having problems picking up the satellites. No problem a week a ago, but all of a sudden my speed is 0 and when it comes on intermittently, I am going downhill at a relatively high speed and the Edge is showing 7km/h, then 3,5km/h and then back to zero. I have reset it, switched it on and off and my software is up to date. Any ideas?

Here you go. I think it looks quite cool.

I have also committed to............the Niner Jet 9. Have the frame sitting opposite me in my office. Black and looks cool. Am not that confident in my own mechanical abilities, am getting it built up tomorrow.