Rolf Hansen

Mechanical discs, Tourney rear derailleur and Suntour XCE coil fork...

Others might disagree with me but I found that a 3 bike carrier realistically only really carries 2 bicycles comfortably. If you load three be sure to have a couple of pool noodles, yoga mats or similar and nerves of steel close at hand to prevent the bikes damaging each other. I did however load 3 bikes on more than one occasion - One Large 27.5 MTB and 2 BMX bicycles. For obvious reasons loading the heaviest bike first/closest to the car makes the most sense. I always wrapped some padding around the closest bike's pedal and also used bungee cords of various lengths in order to limit wheel and pedal movement.

I think what Mars1967 touched on is actually quite important: buying 2nd hand is much "safer" if you know what to look for and have the ability to work on your bike yourself. If you have to take your bike to your LBS to have most things done MTBiking can become very expensive but much more so if you buy a 2nd hand bike that needs a little bit of work.

It is a tough one. It really depends an where and how you are planning to ride. The Tourney groupset is not intended to be used on serious trails I believe. My wife is content with hers but I believe it is fine for casual road use and not much more. Buying 2nd hand is risky because you might pay R7k for the bike and then might have to pay R5k for a new groupset 1 month down the line. If you intend on riding more serious trails get a bike with an air and not a coil fork. If it has an air fork chances are the brakes and the groupset will be decent. I bought a new Silverback similarly specced to the Titans you are looking at and then bought a higher spec 2nd hand bike 3 months later as the Silverback could not handle the trails I was riding.

I have the same problem.

Agreed. The small will be too small. The both seem to have Deore XT gearing and RockShox Tora forks. Both pretty decent and will handle most trails without problem. Price seems VERY good.

Ok.

I might also have one for you. I will check tonight.

Exactly the reason for my question. Even proper dusty trails like we have in Gauteng now I would not want to attempt with rim brakes. I would not dare do Hennops with rim brakes but have done it with mechanical discs without issue. 1 x 12 is not a requirement but it looks neater, has less moving parts and makes getting to the correct gear exponentially easier. On a cheaper or older bike you might still find a 3 x 7 (21 speed). While this sounds like you have 21 gears you only have around 11 distinct gears if the duplicates are ignored. For clarity the 1st number refers to the number of chain rings on the front and the 2nd number to the number of rings at the back. I run a 1 x 9 setup which is a little limiting but still works great. You don't need hydraulic brakes but you do need disc brakes

Did I read that right, you say that v-brakes are better than mechanical disc brakes?

Good question. That photo looks strangely European.

I ride a Cannondale and am a pretty big Cannondale fan but there are much better options than the f600 for that money. Something like a older Silverback, Trek or Schwinn with rim brakes and a basic coil fork.

From what I can see they look very similar in terms of specs. Not sure which year model you are looking at but from what I can tell the Silverback has a Suntour XCR Air fork and the Titan has a Raidon Air fork. The Raidon is a better fork. The XCR Air is the most entry level air fork in the Suntour range. Don't trust what it says on paper as these lower-end bikes change specs all the time. I suggest find the models you are interested in and comparing the physical components they are equipped with. The Acera and Altus will do fine for casual riding but I agree; stay away from the Tourney group sets.

Went to Hedianga Farms for the first time this morning. The standard cycle trail is closed and we were told to follow the hiking trail. Hectic stuff! We managed just over 3km before we decided to call it and headed to Rosemary Hill. Beautiful place for a hike. Unfortunately I did not take my phone with me to capture the amazing view from the top of the hill.

I obviously have some deeply rooted problems I do realise when I read this. I have two water bottles that I use. One was a freebie Planet Fitness bottle. Granted this one is actually quite horrible but it holds water, doesn't leak and I can drink from it. My other bottle is branded with the logo of my LBS and is the semi-translucent type. This one I really like but it was way more expensive than the Planet Fitness one at R35.

Island Style in Durban manufacture their own and are the best priced of all. They might be able to help. I am still waiting for a response to my email from 6 months ago but you might have better luck. I have owned 3 tailgate pads with my current one being modified for my needs. Contact me if you need some pointers when getting one made.

Couple of weeks back when we went riding at Cradle Moon a couple of muppets sat on their mountain bikes in the middle of the road in the parking area and looked at us like we were crazy when we wanted to pass. The one guy moved probably about 30cm so I could just get past with the bakkie. The other damn idiots just sat there looking at us and refused to move. I managed to just squeeze through without hitting one of them. When we got to an open parking spot on the grass section our friends were already there. Guess what; they had exactly the same experience with the same guys a couple of minutes prior. These clowns are everywhere.

OK looks like we will be doing Wolwespruit at 12

Sounds like a plan. I just have to gauge the level of interest from my family in tomorrow's cycling. If they are keen I would not be able to join you as my kids are 8 and 12 so we would do the 12Km route #3. If they are not to keen I will gladly join you. Any other possible takers?

I would want to suggest a 26er for an average sized 12 year old but many on here believe that I have lost my mind and that anything less than a 29er is sacrilege. With that said I bought my 12 year old son a decent spec 26er. Coincidently I also ride a 26er, tubeless with decent tyres...

I saw the Viper Pit holes were significant yesterday. I took it at relative speed but was clenching all the way through. Who was the rider that went down? There weren't many riders yesterday: the group of 2 ladies and the girl, two gents what that I believe were on route #3, one guy on a grey/black bike with orange/red top that I kept on passing on the same trail (not sure how that worked) and then a guy that looked like a new rider on a new Silverback Stratos - I saw him right at the start of the trail but nowhere out on the trail and wondered what happened to him. The one specific bridge/wooden path that is in really poor condition is quite close to the river, believe close to the climb right before the infrequently ridden black diamond rock(boulder) garden. There are small sections of the plywood missing and it moves a lot when you cross it.

I am keen. If I am solo I do route #2 as I am not keen on getting stranded out in the bundus on my own after a crash - better chances of getting seen/found by another rider on route #2. If I ride with friends we try and do most of the fun parts of route #1. I did however find on Saturday that one or two of the bridges on #1 are nearing the point where they would be unsafe to cross.

The Decathlon one is not a plastic jacket. The entire back part is also a breathable mesh panel.

I have seen this at Decathlon but cannot comment on it's effectiveness. It folds rediculousy small into it's own pocket. https://www.decathlon.co.za/men-road-windstopper/304050-5542-rcr-ultralight-packable-windproof-jacket-yellow.html#/demodelcolor-8517063/demodelsize-200xl?queryID=4c849334e06deb477cc99b11a2b75757&objectID=2605205

Surely encountering snakes is a big possibility at most of our trails?