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1 hour ago, iRide said:One thing that nobody has mentioned here. The expense of signage. It's probably the sole reason for inadequate route marking. After building a trail network (it aint cheap!). Adding signage into the mix afterwards is often a thought that hasn't crossed the landowners mind and the expense and effort in erecting signage and keeping it maintained is a big one!
That is exactly correct. As I mentioned earlier, trail marking materials should ideally not have any re-sell value in order to discourage pilfering. Anything on metal gets stolen very quickly. Vandalism and deterioration due to harsh environmental conditions is another consideration.
25 minutes ago, KarlT said:At the start there should be signs with the various routes with their distances, difficulty level and elevation. Each route should be colour coded. A map is nice, a lot of people are into maps, but most wont remember it once they are on the trail.
Out on the trail, coloured arrows from start to finish should be used to indicate to a rider where to go. If certain section is used by different trails (e.g. the 35km and the 50km) then both colour coded arrows should be shown, not just one of the two and expect people to figure out which route they are now actually on.
The best I have seen (so far) are the signs at the Buffelsdrift trail head.
Where the trail splits, they have the following:
This is nice signage. It has good stuff going for it. Would work well where the trail network is like a set-course dinner, but probably not as well where the trail network offering is more of a buffet-style (you can ride what you like - your choice of how you want to make up your route). It certainly has features that could be carried over when renewing the sign-posting of a trail network.
"Well marked" trails is common theme. The follow-on question is, what would the attributes of good trail markings be? Perhaps the following:
55 minutes ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:This is something I have spent an embarrassing amount of mental energy on myself.
So many great trails, even brand new ones, are poorly marked, with poor maps, poor wayfinding, and very little information on what you're actually getting yourself into. MTO forests are in my opinion the biggest offenders, but even flashy new private trails get it so very wrong sometimes - I was very surprised to see one in the Cape with South pointing to the top of the page. I heard the ghosts of my university lecturers cry out in unison.
In my mind there are 2 main kinds of trails:
- Ones where you follow a set loop, with potentially some extra loops coming off those that return to the main loop (most trail parks)
- Trails where you can string together many different sections into whatever format you like, using a base jeep track or starting point (think Jonkershoek and all other MTO trails I've ridden)
The first type is easy. You should have a clear indication of what kind of trail you are one (length, elevation, technicality) and then crucially, very clear wayfinding at each split as others have alluded to. Where there are extra loops that are tougher or more technical, that should be made very clear. Great example: Cairnbroghie farm. Very happy taking first time riders there, because I can see exactly what we are going to deal with. Also makes it great for a mixed group, because you can choose how technical you want to ride and meet back up very quickly. Thaba trails also has this feature.
The second type of trail poses a bigger challenge for mapmakers and users, but should allow for certain preset routes. Trailforks does this very well, but personally I don't want to constantly stop to check my phone at every intersection - the whole goal is to get away from technology. So again, wayfinding at each intersection, with a clear colour or name would really help. It's great if you're a local and stringing together your favourite course from memory, but Jonkershoek, Sabie, and Concordia were all absolute mazes to me the first time, and only constant GPS checking got me onto the best singletrack where I wanted to be.
At the end of the day, if the goals is to be welcoming to younger or less experienced riders, the goal has to be very clear understanding of the trails on offer, and very clear wayfinding once you're there, otherwise things quickly become frustrating, especially once thirst and tiredness sets in. On that note, marking water points also helps!
Thanks for the great feedback. It certainly is a challenging exercise to find the right balance of presenting useful information to trail users (of different skill levels) at an affordable level of effort to the trail owner. At the same time material used for trail signage shouldn't have any intrinsic value in order to discourage vandalism and pilfering - a very real problem in my experience.
Hi Hubbers. Theoretically, if you were to visit a new riding area for the first time, what kind of trail-head map would you find useful/useless . My interest in the topic is from a map/signage maintainer's point of view. This is biased towards having a minimum level of detail that would remain current for a good deal of time (e.g. the metro map-style map below). This would be the best value for money option for the trail owner, but may be in conflict with what users/riders actually prefer. The more detail a trail-head map contains, the quicker it becomes outdated. Also bear in mind that map information diminishes in value as familiarity with the trail network builds.
Assumptions: It is assumed that the actual trails are well marked, colour coded (e.g. Red Route), and altered quite frequently as new sections are added or changed due to land-owner requests. All trail changes are regularly uploaded to a comprehensive record of the trail network on Google Maps.
In my opinion, there are about three trail-head map-style options available, what would you prefer? (Please mention it if there are other options).
1) Full colour Satellite image with the most trails marked out, directions and distances.
2) Simplified map background image with main trails, directions and distances.
3) Metro map style image showing main trails with distances, directions and elevation.
Do people actually read maps? It doesn't appear so, judging by the number of riders found off route and going in the wrong direction...
I attended the launch of the re-branding of the Wannabees Cycling club in Somerset West, now known as the Winelands Cycling Club. Significantly, the event also included the launch of a regional permit allowing access to 9 ride areas, namely:
Sounds like other ride-areas in the greater winelands district are also keen to participate (2023).
The cost of the Winelands Regional Permit is:
Adult R 1500-00
Senior (> 65 years) R 1250-00
Youth (<18 years> R 1250-00
Each of the local trail networks will retain and sell their own local membership / permit offers for those that only want to ride a local network.
The regional permits will attract riders from all over the winelands region, which requires that the boards must be available for collection at collection points closer to a rider's home-base. The participating ride areas have set up a variety of collection point for the regional boards. No need to ride all the way to Somerset West to collect your board from elsewhere. Riders will be able to select a preferred collection point whilst completing an on-line registration and payment.
The new Winelands Cycling Club website is available at the following URL: https://www.winelandscyclingclub.co.za/
Cycling on the cheap - back to equipment. Who has considered an e-bike due to health problems, but have balked at the cost of these machines? I know of a few cyclist that haven't regained full lung capacity after Covid-19 and have switched to an e-bike to still enjoy cycling.
My wife only has 50% lung capacity, loves cycling and cycle-touring but cannot keep up when we do distance. We decided to look at e-bikes, but we have a few very specific requirements. First of all, low cost, a step-thru frame would be great, the ability to fit racks and a good range.
We found a South African supplier that had a product that perfectly matched our requirements. See https://pedego.co.za/. We settled on one of the Smart-e bikes at under R30,000 (https://pedego.co.za/product/smart-dais-e-mountain-bike/). It doesn't have the coolness factor of some mainstream e-bikes, but this bike ticked all of our requirement boxes.
In July we rode our own version of the cancelled Around the Pot event, from Swellendam to Buffeljagsrivier, via the Malgas Pont. She could easily do the gravel travel distance of 85km, 1400m climbing, using pedal assist level 1 only (there are 5 levels altogether). After we stopped at Buffeljagsrivier, she had only used a quarter of the available battery capacity. (She is very light, which helps, but also put in a good deal of cycling effort to make the battery last the distance). We didn't know what the actual range of the bike would be, but we are now confident that it could easily do 95 to 100km with loaded panniers.
The image below is the display of the bike after 85km distance:
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What about
53 minutes ago, Martin PJ said:Use Arborio or Basmasti rice, don't wash it before you cook it.
I think I am going to try this recipe. Sound wholesome and good. Another favourite power snack I take along on longer rides are some dates. (Not the blind kind ????).
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On 7/14/2021 at 9:45 AM, Steady Spin said:The K-Way Edge 2 should work with the Vibram sole. Good price as well. I'm not crazy about the shape of the sole with the inset part in the key middle area of the sole but if you aren't an enduro bro then it should work just fine.
That sealant looks interesting.
Yes, the soles are okay. Good when dry, but not as grippy when wet, overall not bad at all. The uppers of the K-Way shoes are water repellent which is way better than my aging Five Tens. They really soak up water from wet overgrown single track vegetation.
Speed agnostic MTB shifters. Shifts anything. (3 x 10, 2 x 9 etc). Sunrace SLM 10 MTB friction shifters. R155 for a pair including cables. (Shipping excluded). I've been using these shifters on two of my bicycles and they are bomb-proof, work extremely well and require no indexing setup. URL: https://www.ebay.com/itm/363462396584?hash=item54a00c0aa8:g:UIoAAOSwjVhfpm1W
On 5/28/2021 at 12:29 PM, Monark said:My little gravel build - 50c tyres and thin gorgeous ti tubing
Just love the suspension forks.
Cycling is not cheap. In these trying times, it is always great to find cheaper alternatives that will work equally or nearly as well as the expensive main-stream items.
Here are some of the my finds, perhaps you could add to the list to help other cash-strapped cyclists out there:
On 5/11/2021 at 9:14 AM, PhilipV said:With modern bikepacking bags one doesn't really need braze-on mounts. Or racks for that matter.
Yes you are correct, these bags are great. My own preference is to have any weight on my bike as low as possible. It helps a great deal with stability. The other thing I find puzzling (looking at pictures of fully loaded bikepacking bags) is how on earth are you supposed to swing your leg over that tower sticking up from behind your saddle? At my age, my kickboxing days are over. ????
The "purists" may ask what you are doing touring with a gravel bike .... some say a gravel bike may ONLY be a road bike with slightly wider tires ....
When you are a pensioner like me, it is just too expensive to be a "purist". Multi functional gadgets rule. But you have a point, the gravel category is an enigma.
Is it just me or a gravel bike with flat bars is a rigid hardtail MTB?
Is it therefore easier to change bar+brakes+shifter etc on the gravel bike, or get a Hardtail MTB and put a fixed fork on?
Yes, pretty much. My bike looks like an 80's style mountain bike, but with the difference that it has disc brakes and plenty of braze-ons for mounting water bottles and bike racks for touring. There are no less than 5 sets of bosses to mount water bottle-cages. In addition, rack mounting points are provided over both the front and rear wheels. The frame even has a special kink near the head tube to accommodate a full size bottle. In my opinion, a gravel bike without sufficient braze-ons is not very useful.
I am using friction shifters with Thumbies on a Jones Bar and and is the best gear changing I have ever experienced. I used the same setup on a Mary Bar witch was also good. The Mary Bar is now up for sale if anybody is interested. Nothing beats a Jones bar for touring in my opinion.
It is great to hear that you concur with my finding on Thumbies.
I've got a Mary Bar on one of my other bikes and it is virtually identical to the FSA Metropolis. The sweep back geometry eliminated the pins and needles sensation my hands developed on longer rides, especially when fitting ergo grips as well. Agree about the Jones Bar. My bike has a front rack as well, but if it didn't, I would certainly have considered a Jones Bar too.
..David; both you and to a similar extent Karakoram, praise the CHANGED POSITION of shifters as leading to greater smoothness/efficiencies...
With a million and one road bikes, therefore drop bars, having breake and shifters on the curve on the bar, and cables USUALLY under bar tape, are you meaning that flat bar shifting is ‘crisper’ than drop-bar shifting?
I can possibly understand your preference for flat bar over drop bar, but not shifting efficiencies?
Thanks for clarification: happy to learn here!
Chris
Hi Zebra. I can only speak from my experience. I've never owned a drop-bar bike till I bought my Trek 920 tour bike. I felt stretched out with drop bars, in spite of fitting a shorter stem. My bike's STI shifters were not very slick from to get go. I took it back to the bike shop and they made some adjustments which improved shifting, but it didn't last. Downshifting was especially lazy and I was forever busy tinkering with the barrel adjusters. The bike's brakes were particularly problematic. I experienced bad binding problems on a super hot day (41 degrees C), gravel road dusty conditions and 30km from home, having already done 45km. Afterwards, I tried out all the suggested remedies, but did not not do a full brake bleed. It is a new bike and maybe there was air in the system which expanded during the hot conditions. This would probably have cured the brake binding issue, but I had had enough.
So, I cannot comment on the shifting drop bar setups on other bikes I am sure that these work perfectly.
I can however compare friction lever shifting to all the other flat bar shifters I've experienced, and I would say that it is the slickest shifting I've experienced to date. I wouldn't hesitate to change to friction shifters on my other bikes when the index shifters eventually fail. Friction shifters are super cheap and there is hardly anything that can go wrong with them. The additional advantage is that they shift anything and don't require any setup, besides adjusting the limit screws on your derailleurs.
Considering doing the same. Need to locate a Ragley Carnegies Bar and a friction shifter.
My Cotic will be very snazzy with that.
Doubt if you will find either locally. Shop on Amazon. My shopping experience has been a pleasure and delivery slick. You will know exactly what the tracking status of your goods are. They have very similar bars on offer.
Thing is the shifting is so good - far better than my road bike with under bar tape cables - that I wont go to the expense and hassle of changing.
Exactly. I am not sure why gravel/touring bikes need to have drop bars. If it is for the odd occasion when a rider wants to assume an aero position, it certainly isn't worth while. It was the least comfortable position for me and I spent most of my time with hands on the hoods. There is not much aero advantage when you have loaded panniers and water bottles. Great shifting, reliability and comfort outweighs everything on the long haul. It is amazing how well the friction shifters work and the Tektro brakes are really good. Haven't had a single squeal from them.
Trek 920 converted to flat bar and friction shifters. Story here: https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/188856-conversion-of-gravel-bike-to-flat-bar-and-friction-shifters/
bikepacking - cool routes
in Routes & Trails
Posted
Thanks for sharing. It really is a monumental route. Hopefully one day I'd be able to do some of it.