Steady Spin

This! Mark the trails with a small sign on trail splits etc and use Trailforks for everything else. Key is that Trailsforks be updated by riders to show closed trails.

Have you paired the OneUp grips with the bar yet? Even more chatter reduction.

But but but but, new is always better. - Barney Stinson

760mm was fine on the old bike. Great bars from Nukeproof as well. Warhead bar paired with a 50mm warhead stem. When I built the new bike I wanted to murder out all the components. Black on black for everything and the OneUp has no branding while the Nukeproof was quite flashy. I also loved 800mm bars the second i put my hands on them.

Went from Nukeproof 31.8mm to OneUp 35mm. Same 20mm rise but up from 760mm to 800mm The OneUp is noticeably stiffer and it took a while to get used to them. Actually ended up tweaking my compression damper on the fork a tiny bit to help. Mayne I had my fork set wrong to begin with but from research all 35mm carbon bars are stiff. The OneUp just the least I’m super happy now. Excellent feeling bars with the perfect up and back sweep.

Bought my first Csixx product in 2012 I think. Had nothing but excellent service from Mark right from the start. Definitely a local company I will always support.

I think I saw the road going through there. Didn't want to plough a field and get shot in the process. We flatted at 18km and hiked 2km back to the car with our tails between our legs.

How much was it with shipping?

Ah man... this breaks my heart.

Oh yes, there is that. I ended up switching inserts like a man possessed. RCs have Nike insoles from a pare of naked running shoes, the Bontragers have Specialized footbeds.

What happened after the accident? I remember reading about it and being heartbroken for him. What a legend of a man. Was he paralyzed?

I think the last time I rode VG with you was in 2013. Good times back in those days with the dogs. I'm heading there again on Saturday. Will keep my eyes open for the signs. It is very well marked at the start though. Can't fault that. I can imagine it being more difficult to maintain it out on the outskirts of the trails.

I have fairly high bridges and I get a lot of pinching on the top of my foot. Also some dead toes about 15km into a ride if I don't move my foot around or stop frequently. I ride with very loose shoes. Yet to have one come off my foot so it works just fine. Loosen the laces. I ride in either Ride Concepts of Bontrager. The RC is a true 10 and I got a 10.5 in the Bontragers. I basically alternate thick and thin socks to get a good fit. Try to use a thinner sock. I find the ones from SOX to be extremely thin and comfortable in the RCs and I have some merino wool socks for the Bontragers.

Post links to these great shoes please?

Reading this freaks me out properly. Having double breaks will really complicate things in life. Eating a burger and wiping comes to me. Speedy recovery my friend. Hope you heal up fast.

If you are in JHB give Linden Cycles a call. I recall a big old crate with old parts that they have available. You used to get an adapter that would convert the old quill stems into a normal modern standard stem. That could be your next option.

Good to know about the Pomphuis loop. We got stranded with 100s of these little buggers in our wheels. Rode as far as we could before hiking the rest of the way next to the tar road. Starting to think that Bufffels might be a good option instead for a good leg stretch. I do have fond memories of previous rides at VG though. Would be great to relive that.

Looks like that comes back on a black route called "Saddle Singletrack" Let me look at the heatmaps quickly. I also downloaded the full map from the Van Gaalens site but it isn't super clear with something called "Ode to Erik" into "Gully" into "Wave Rider" I just couldn't find "Wave Rider" It appeared to be super overgrown.

Good morning. A little help please. VG is not known for excellent trail signage and as a result we got terribly lost just before the concrete strips climb. Thanks to @_David_ I now have a GPX file to help plot the route better. Below is where we went wrong. We tried to skip the "concrete strips" & "tant miems" due to lack of fitness only to get stuck next to the fields on what Trailforks believes is a section called "Edge of the Fields" leading to "Wave Rider". Thanks to an oversight in topping up sealant we both punctured and had to hike back. The booboo is indicated on the map as well as what we thought would be the route to get to the railway and then "Pomphuis Loop" Is there an option to get to Pomphuis without going over Concrete Strips etc? We do have friends that know the route but they insist on the Concrete Strips and apart from fitness we also don't like the super rocky downhills on the other side. My fiance is that confident on technical trails like that. We just want a nice day out to stretch the legs and do a little climbing. My plotted route below

Thank you. We tried to do the loop towards Concrete Strips and then follow the railway to Pomphuis Loop and back to the start. We ended up next to the fields in what can only be described as devil thorn hell. The section of trail we got lost on is called "Next to the fields" and then also "Wave rider"

Most of trail 2 and 3 at Red Barn was bone dry. We actually have dusty bikes after this morning.

Did Van Gaalen yesterday. Sadly we both punctured due to getting lost and had to hike the river trail back. Everything we rode was plenty dry with only the river being proper siff in places. But… wtf is VG’s problem with putting up proper signage on their trails. Jeepers.

Steel for me always. Alu lasts about the same time as a chain at R750 a pop.

Quite a specialized system.

Bedside table humor in this case.