Karakoram

Got mine from Hannes, R850.

Dirtman this is a great idea, especially with winter approaching and light failing quite rapidly to get in a decent ride after work. My feeling is that the biggest challenge to the success of the route is the clear communication of the route information to those nav-challenged and unfamiliar with the area, such as I. Instead of the map image boldly claiming: "You are here", please call a spade a spade and give the starting point a place-name that I can actually locate. My guess it is referring to Middelvlei? Route communication by means of maps and signage on the trail should be frequent and unambiguous. Riders must clearly see and understand which turn to take. A wrong turn and a puncture or two could leave one out in failing light. Maybe a small reflector patch on the route markers could also help riders locate direction signage in failing light. Hopefully the rider is prepared and packs some form of bike light.

Took delivery of my MJ-808E light yesterday and followed the beam along my favourite vineyard trail last night. Must say, I'm super impressed with my new 'tool - for removing darkness'. It was my first 'unintentional night ride' following a call from my brother with an invite for a 'quick' late afternoon ride. After unboxing the light, I noticed that the switch glowed green (aka full battery charge), and I decided to hook the light up onto my handlebars, just in case... Mounting the light was very easy and the o-ring bracket and battery velcro straps secured the all the bits tightly to my bike's handlebar. We were caught in the dark when my boet developed a persistent puncture. The little magic lamp produced enough light to patch the tube and to confidently ride at almost the same pace as during day time. Not bad for a first time. The only down side was that the light attracted all sorts of biting insects which loved the meals on wheels. Have light, use insect repellant.

Suggestion: How about making GPX files of the routes available for download on the website. The routes can then be imported into a GPS or Google Maps on a smart phone. Riders will be able to verify their progress and directions when in doubt. The current set of online maps are images only and not interactive in the sense that they are not zoomable nor provide a track export facility.

We joined the Red Route guided tour at 9am today. It was a fantastic ride, and an absolute privilege to be able to do so. The scenery is breathtaking and depending on which way you're going, there are enough inclines to keep either your granny or callipers really hot. Our group accidently became separated from the main bunch as a result of waiting for a rider feeling unwell and puncture repairs. We somehow missed a direction arrow and were about to do the yellow loop for the second time when Hubber “Mountain Lion” came to our aid and pointed us in the right direction. At this stage we were running out of water (some out energy) and we were about to use the phone's GPS to find our way back to the car park. Thanks a stack again to "Mountain Lion". We kinda interrupted your planned ride for the day. Sorry Yes, we will ride the Bottelary Hills MTB Trails again and the route gets ‘4 stars’ from our group. Some additional directional arrows or colour markers will fetch a 5 star rating. Well done to all involved.

Fantasties! Ek kan nie meer wag om Saterdag so tussen die Bottelary Heuwels se 'brandewyn-bome' deur te ry nie. As julle dieselfde ding later in die Helderberg omgewing wil aanpak, kan jy gerus op my nommer druk. Ek sal met graagte betrokke wil raak. Miskien kan die roetes later aaneen skakel? Tans ry ek feitlik daagligs tussen die wingerde in die Helderberg omgewing, maar sal dit liefs eerder amptelik wil doen.

We are planning on trying out the Red route on Saturday morning. If I understand the web info and maps correctly, the Red route starts at the Only One Restaurant? It would be handy to add titles on the site's maps to help identify the 3 different starting points. Otherwise, great site and thanks for all the hard work to make this a reality.

Hi Capricorn. Thanks, it is a fantastic website. I wasn't aware of it. Maybe it could also be of use to the cycling community.

I am still trying to get my head around the technology. Let's see if I follow your proposal: 1) I post a tweet about a safety related item on TheHub. 2) My mates following me on Twitter will then receive a link to TheHub safety page. 3)My mates will then have to log in to view the page? That is not exactly what I had in mind. I am thinking more of a subscription service fascilitating the posting and reception of tweets/sms in time on a mobile phone of something going down or looking suspicious. It will be a general instant notification to all subscribers to the service.

I love cycling and it is with some concern that I read on these forums of the seeming escalation of bike-jacking and muggings taking place. The problem is that knowledge of hotspots is not readily available, unless one happens to monitor this forum. Warnings are then mostly available only after the fact. It would be great to have a twitter feed, directly to your mobile, as soon as someone tweets a safety warning. Must say, that I am not a user of Twitter yet, but from what I’ve heard, this service could potentially play a great role to provide a safety heads-up to fellow cyclists. To avoid a cacophony of spam-tweets it I think one should be able to subscribe to receive selective tweets, say only from a specific province or region. So, if there are any Twitter whizzes out there, or somebody willing to expand the functionality of TheHub, I would be a sure subscriber to receive cycling safety tweets.

On the Magicshine UK site, I saw a GPS bike tracking device, disguised as a bike tail light, see: http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/GPS-ANTI-THEFT-Tracker-device---FOR-BIKES!/4719-v

Yes I thought so too. I simply could not resist buying it. My LBS mentioned that one of their customers specifically bought a Segma 29er to enter this year's Epic race.

About 12.5kg (Large frame)

Recently took delivery of a Silverback Segma 29er. I was considering upgrading to a GT Zaskar Expert 29er (from my current GT Karakoram 1.0 29er), but was blown away by the value for money offering of Silverback. Our LBS ordered about 15 units with the intention of stripping the frames for parts, but sold most of the cycles outright when folks saw the cycle in the metal so to speak. The image on the Silverback site is a little misleading; the bike’s frame is actually polished aluminium, not grey. The frames of one or two of the bikes which were cannibalised for parts, soon found new owners. It is well-made and light. I was also told that it is unlikely to buy the parts cheaper than the complete bike. Specs of the Segma 29er http://www.silverbacklab.com/2011/segma.jpg Fork: Rock Shox Reba RL 29" Dual Air 80mm Rims & Hubs: Stans ZTR 29er Wheel set (tubeless) Tires: Schwalbe Racing Ralph 29" x 2.45 Drive train and shifters: Full Shimano XT 30 speed Brakes: Shimano M665 Hydraulic Disc All this for R15,000! The ride is great. The slickness of the better components is immediately noticeable, the wheels much lighter than my previous bike and there is nothing wrong with the geometry of the bike. My lasting impression is that you are able to forget about the bike and just get on with the riding.

I've been shopping around to find replacement rubber for my 29er and found replacement tyres still to be scarce and expensive in SA. So, I did some Internet research and noted a good selection at chainreactioncycles.com. If you order a few bits and bobs together with your tyre order, the transport costs don't work out all that much. At least you will have a wide selection of touring tyres to choose from, which will be hard to match locally. I was also interested in trying out less expensive touring or cyclocross tyres for my 29er and had to solve the tyre sizing issue. Not sure if I got this absolutely right, but the term "29er" is only marketing speak for a standard 700c or ISO 622mm (aka 28 incher)rim, but with allowance to fit a wider tyre. The "29x2.1" of your current tyres means that it is a 700C tyre, 2.1 inches wide, which converts to 53mm. Normally tyre widths narrower than 2" are considered cyclocross or touring bike tyres. So, the Schwalbes you are considering will fit the rim diameter, but will probably be too narrow. Most rim manufacturers provide a table of the range of tyre widths which can safely be fitted. I have a hunch that you should not select a tyre width narrower than 42mm. (Probably in the 42 to 47mm range). I am waiting for delivery of my shipment of a pair of inexpensive Continental Cyclo X - 700 x 42c Tyres which I want to fit to my 29er rims. They get a decent review on BikeRadar (http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/tyres/road) (Most other tyres have also been reviewed by bikeradar - check it out)

The rolling ability of the bigger wheels is only part of the debate, but there are other atmospheric conditions to consider as well. Nobody seems to have mentioned the influence of side gusts of strong wind on the bigger diameter wheels. I'm not trying to stir the pot here, but speak from real experience. The past few weeks have been especially blustery in the Cape. On my regular training route I really noticed that my bike gets deflected much more than I could ever remember on my old (26 inch) bike (which I still ride). Strong gusts resulted in quite severe deflections and caused me to loose my line on several occasions on a single track, having to drastically compensate when taking a sip from my water bottle with only one and on the bar and generally being busier in the cockpit. So, if you are planning to do a race on a 29er in the Cape, it may be prudent to check out the windguru.com site for a prediction and then decide if it wouldn’t be better to tackle the event on a 26er.

Started cycling again last year after a number of years lying off. Unhooked my dusty fully rigid 1995 steel Gary Fisher (21 speed) from the garage ceiling, had it serviced and regained some level of cycling fitness again. Then got hooked by the 16 years of "bicycle progress" and bought a GT 29er Karakoram 1.0 (29 speed) as a second bike. Both bikes are entry-level machines, but the GT has front suspension. During the past few months I’ve ridden both bikes over my normal practice route, which is a mixture of some tar and mostly dirt service roads amongst our local vineyards. The service roads are rocky and sandy in patches and also offer a good deal of corrugations. I ride for the enjoyment of cycling and mainly for the exercise and have no intention of entering races. I've been tracking my training times on SportsTracker on my phone and noticed that my average speed, when riding my 29er is marginally faster, compared to my 26er. (about 0.3km/h faster) The 29er is a much more comfortable bike to ride, probably because of a combination of the front shock, bigger wheels and different gear ratios. The big wheels definitely feel more secure in the sandy patches. I still like to ride my old bike on occasion though; it feels more compact and in direct contact with the buzz of the trail but is a little twitchier than the 29er. The ride becomes quite harsh over corrugated patches.

I mostly ride dirt tracks in our local vineyards as well as rutty jeep tracks out at Struisbaai, and some single track riding near Stellenbosch. My LBS recommended bringing the bike in for a check-up after a month or so and one of the snags I listed was the spokes felt like they were busy loosening. The technical guy at the shop confirmed my prognosis and re-tweaked the spokes plus added some 'nipple freeze' (don't ask) stuff to prevent a re-occurrence. While riding out at Struisbaai one of the rear spokes simply snapped. I took the wheel to another LBS (somebody that understands bicycle wheels) for a spoke replacement and when I collected the wheel the chap mentioned that the spokes were much too tight. During the service he eased off the tension and also trued the wheel. I've since done two rides with the repaired wheel and have had no trouble yet. The front wheels has been okay all along. Time will tell.

Hi Nomad978 I've also got one of these 'brommer groen' bikes and like it a lot. Not too mad about the colour, but for the price its something I quickly got used to. Bought mine late in August 2010 and have done quite a bit of riding since then without much trouble developing: snapped a rear spoke and had to replace a fraying rear derailleur cable. Customisations done: replaced the standard saddle with a Brooks B17 leather saddle and fitted a riser bar. This helped a lot to make the riding position more comfortable. I'm based in Somerset West and the LBS mentioned that they have sold all their early stock of this 29er.