[Help from the experts - Lanseria]

Lots of good comments here, but from my point of view Tracey's value proposition is very simple: secure parking and a safe ride into the Cradle. No more, no less.

 

I've been riding the Cradle for more than 20 years from Fourways (Cedar Lakes) and I've watched the roads around here degenerate into a very dangerous state, from the condition of the tarmac to the driving (and riding!) habits of the people that use them.

 

And while I now prefer driving out there, the parking situation is ridiculous. Tracey's place puts me at the start of the Cradle ride, at a point where the traffic is much less of a concern and the roads are better and quieter.

 

I don't need more than that.

 

I've read elsewhere on this forum about the problems with overcrowded parking and theft from vehicles in the Cradle, and here is an offer that helps to address that. But we're nit-picking about the type of coffee, and asking her to fix trails?

That's hardly a business model for Tracey though, isn't it...! And she's trying to expand, but expand what..? More cars ? 50 x cars x R20 = R1000 before expenses... So surely she's looking for more than just safe parking for a couple of roadies...

[Help from the experts - Lanseria]

Hi Tracey

 

Through all of this, I cannot see what you actually offer to the cyclists and WHY you want them to visit your premises ? Are you a restaurant ? You keep saying that you want to expand but expand what ?

 

Other than safe parking, whats on offer ? There's no trails on your property. 

 

On Facebook you mention "filter coffee" but to be honest, no one wants filter coffee anymore. With Seattle and Hey Bru available in the cradle loop, coffee has advanced to great cappuccinos etc...

 

A couple guys above have mentioned most of what I would add to this discussion :

 

1. You might be en route but you're out of the loop - so you need to come up with a value proposition to attract people.
2. From all I'm reading of your posts, you seem to want to attract the road cyclists (and not necessarily MTB although you have some support here). The roadies either ride from home (longer distance) or drive to cradle and do that loop (shorter distance) so there's not much of a gap here for you and the intersection by you is terrible. Sure some of them park and ride from BA but not many - the huge groups typically ride from bike shops. Lots of MTB riders either ride from home or from BA but we have routes that cut across land in which ever direction we would go so there's not reason for us to park and ride from you. 
3. Chat to Brendon from Copperlake - he knows the area well and actually used to undertake some maintenance and organise fun rides.
4. Speaking of which, we ride (MTB) past your property very often and the trails in your immediate surrounds are currently in terrible condition. As someone said before, fix up, cut the grass and maintain the trails within and around 1km of you and we'll all be most grateful and you'll most likely attract some support.
5. Following on from this, there are many 'beginner' and 'family' cyclists that might not always want to go to Northern Farms and similar. So fix up the trails and make up some proper routes, (more than whats showing on Trail forks), maybe a 5km, 10km,15km & 20km (not difficult to organise). Ensure traversing rights and mark the routes accordingly. Then you will most likely attract people who will come and park, ride (and whatever else you have on offer). If these trails are in tip top condition I would be happy to bring the kids as somewhere different to NF.
6. In general though, it's not a stop for us, as we ride either from home or BA and generally don't stop for anything. BA works fine. But if the trails around you were fixed up and maintained, we'd probably be very happy to support you on social family rides and maybe even a monthly contribution for maintaining the trails. 
7. You are based in a square where there is huge potential and massive MTB traffic - between the river, Lanseria Airport, R552 and R512. If I were you, I would try and tap into that. But a coffee and maybe a breakfast is not going to bring anyone as there's already soo much on offer at more convenient locations (BA / Cradle).
8. We almost always head out or return past your property, on weekends, but there are many groups that ride shorter distances during the week that pretty much include BA to and around Lanseria and back. They've even started to fix up some of the trails themselves at the moment. Fix up the trails and you might get some social groups cycling to you for breakfast and then cycling home.

You're welcome to DM me and I'll give you my number for a chat.

 

Good Luck.

[Tyre choice]

I was running ardent 2.4 front and back, and it felt heavy, especially the rear, then the vittoria special came up, thought id give it a try

What special ? That Vittoria combo works best for me.

[Scammed]

He was selling a scott cr1

He has deleted his account from the hub aswell

I said I will arrange courier but he insisted on him sorting it out

And you paid without seeing the bike and trusting a complete stranger on the other end of WhatsApp..? Was it FB or The Hub..?

[Scammed]

Okay. I would keep myself out of this as I clearly know the least here. Maybe just call the courier and give your address. Then maybe they can trace the package.

Dude...

 

Did you actually read the original post..? Or are you just a TROLL looking for attention here..?

[Progressive XC Geometry]

Hey Furbz - good point and good post...

 

Some comments though :

 

The EPIC EVO is not really marketed as the pure bread XC racer - that's the standard EPIC which also has extreme HTA of 67.5°.

 

I have the 2020 geometry with 69.5° which was only 1° off the previous 70.5° model (unless you include the silly WC editions at 71.5°). But now a jump of another 2°... I'm also thinking "gone too far", but the guys riding them love them...

 

I think there's more to it - shorter chain stays, longer reach, lower BB for lower CoG, etc, etc... Maybe innovation, maybe marketing hype to sell new bikes...

 

Scott actually started way back on their 2013 - 2016 range with a "flip chip" pivot that could adjust HTA from 70.5° to 69.5° & lower BB height - so they were playing with this context then already...

 

I assume you're referring to the Scott RC range as this is their XC racer set. Note that their 2021 range is a new frame and now standard with 110mm travel instead of 100mm on the fork... seems they've adjusted the frame to keep the same HTA but with the extra travel... other manufacturers adding more travel forks land up reducing HTA further (like EPIC EVO range)... So this is actually new geometry and new thinking / innovation...

 

Tough to be in the market these days for a new bike... It should be exciting but its actually damn stressful... I know as I've bought new bikes for me and the wife in the past 12 months...

 

End of the day you have to ride them and see how they feel for you...

[Bike washing...]

Order placed. Thanks for the tip. 

 

I also forgot to use the coupon code.... grrrrr. I'm totally ok with that. I don't need to take 10% out of the pocket of hard working people. Especially not in this economic climate. Thank you for the kind offer though. 

 

 

You're a Super Star - your order has already been dispatched and will be delivered to you this afternoon. DM me if you have any questions about anything.

[Bike washing...]

So lemme jump in on this... Having been involved with the industrial cleaning chemical industry for the last decade.

 

There is a difference between neutral PH, and neutral chemical. Unfortunately, even chemical companies dont properly use this is marketing materials, hell, even reps who are seasoned get this wrong.

 

Neutral pH is neutral pH. Distilled water. No worries. What we are concerned with is neutral chemical. That means, if the surface you're cleaning wont be harmed by water, then it wont be harmed by the product. However, even if its classed as neutral, it doesn't mean it can't do other damage unintentionally.

 

A neutral degreaser is still a degreaser. So it will remove grease but not damage the surface youre cleaning. On a stove? Amazing. On a bike? Well, unless you can rinse it off quickly and completely, it'll break down the grease in bearings. May be quick, may be over time. But it'll do it.

 

The salt in dishwasher is correct. However, its mostly paint damage you're worried about as the salt will attack the clear coat. Underdiluted, it may take a LOT longer, but when you're chucking 50ml into 500ml water, you're asking for trouble.

 

Then we have to ask the question - why do you need ANYTHING in the wash liquor? Your bike will have picked up dust, dirt, and mud. Technically, the only thing a degreaser will do is move the dust faster, but it wont make a difference to the end result.

 

Best thing to do its wash the bike with clean water. Treat nicks and scratches with a spot polish. Greasy parts, ideally, are bettee cleaned by removing and wiping them clean with a rag. If you're not using chemistry, you're not stripping the grease each wash so relubing will have much longer intervals with better peace of mind.

 

A polish or paint finish is fine to make it shine. But really, you dont need to wash with soap!

 

Take it, leave it, do what you want. But just cause one application requires soap, doesn't mean it applies to everything.

 

 

Agreed...

 

And to be clear...

 

• Use at very low concentrations for general washing - rinse, wash, rinse, dry do not leave to stand in between. 
• Use at mild concentrations for drivetrain - spray on cassette and chain whilst turning crank - enough to cover, don't drench such that it will settle into bearings - leave for a few minutes then clean with a small brush (I use a nail brush), rinse, done, dry, apply lube.
• You should never leave your bike standing with any cleaning agent applied
• Use also at mild concentrations to remove mud stains from your riding kit
• Use also at mild concentrations to clean and disinfect cycling shoes (with a soft brush). Once dry, spray with Viromist to freshen, fragrance and keep germ free.

[JHB Pollution]

JBK , sorry I see no picture just numbers. Can you repost or give a name please.

I suffer from the same. It seems to come on with colder air, and or after hard training . I have been off the bike for three weeks.after a very good streak in Dec. Very frustrating.

KOFLET by Himalaya

[Bike washing...]

Come on guys...

 

Seriously, why the hard headed approach for "Dishwashing Liquid for everything"..? I get it that we're all annoyed with Marketing mumbo jumbo, especially suppliers selling the same thing with different names for different pricing. But Dishwashing Liquid is exactly that.! Dish Washing Liquid.! That's what they call it and that's the purpose for which they market and sell it. They don't advertise it as a general purpose cleaner, do they.? So why use it as such.? 

 

We've moved on as a civilisation and have specific products that are better for some things than other things.

 

I also get the "I don't need to wash my bike" story but I don't really understand it.! Why have only an 80% clean bike.?

 

I confess that when I do a relatively short (mid week) ride where my bike gets only a bit dusty and one or two splashes of mud, I will come home and just gently spray it off with a gentle hose whilst rubbing the frame, rims, etc gently with the soft inside of my riding gloves. But I will always give the drivetrain a either a wipe down or a clean - with the cost of chains and 12 speed cassette's these days, you don't want to cause dirt to reduce your product lifespan by 50%.!

 

But this doesn't leave my pride and joy looking like it did when it was new.! Hence a proper wash after the weekend riding or at most every second week. Drive train gets wiped down with a diluted degreaser sprayed onto a cloth or when cleaned, sprayed directly onto the drivetrain.

 

I use ECOLOGIC and have been doing so for a few years already. It's cheap as chips, non-toxic, non-corrosive, non-abrasive and works a charm on everything bike, car and in and around the house.

 

Let's look at the numbers : ecoLogic is R230 for a very concentrated 5L bottle - I use a ratio of 1:100 for washing bikes, cars and floors in the house. So 30ml to 3L water in a bucket - so R 1.38 per wash cycle. I also premix into a spray bottle at a ratio of 1:6.5 (100ml to 650ml Water into a 750ml spray bottle), so R 4.60 and about 30-40ml of this to spray the drivetrain, so 25c per wash. With a total of R 1.63 to wash by bike and make it look like new. Is it really worth holding fast to dishwashing liquid.?

 

I do agree that other 'pre diluted' bike wash brands on the shelf are absurdly priced where the cost per wash will be about R30 - R40.

 

It works so well and is so cost effective and a registered disinfectant that ecoLogic has now replaced 90% of all other cleaning products in our home and we're saving a fortune.! Yes, we do still use dishwashing liquid for the dishes and Stasoft / Omo etc for the clothes but a tiny bit of ecoLogic also works wonders to clean soap-sud grime out the pipes of washing machines.

 

I've spoken to the guys at Stealth Health (my wife) who are a distributors of, amongst other things, ecoLogic and asked her to arrange free samples but this is too costly if she has to also cover delivery.

 

So she's agreed to offer 10% discount voucher to this group (& friends thereof) for all orders including 5L ecoLogic placed between now and the end of FEB.

 

She will also throw into each order the following (with a value of R124 - FREE) :

• 2 x sachets of Herbal Iceman to massage your aching muscles after a workout (as used by Chiro's),
• 2 x 15ml spray wands of Viromist+70 sanitiser that has 70% Alcohol, Chlorhexidene and Aloe Vera 
• 2 x 15ml spray wands of Viropet (with Chlorhexidene and Aloe Vera) but only 10% alcohol - ideal for allergies and skin irritations for pets and humans - helps immensely with the current grass allergies when mountain biking and to spray on cuts and scratches after a ride as an antiseptic. Also available as Viromist (Standard) at same pricing.

 

Visit www.stealthhealth.co.za and use coupon code BikehubFEB21 at checkout to get R50 voucher and the free goodies (you don't need to add these to your cart - they will be included with the delivery).

 

Enjoy.!

[Bike washing...]

And silicone spray is the best thing to put almost everywhere but the chain and brakes obviously. Besides that it help dirt and water to flow off instead of stick to the bike. I use it on my cassette too, will work wonders!

 

Oh No... Not the Silicon Spray... This is like a magnet to dust that not only attracts it but makes it stick to your bike... It might very well cause water to run off, like a ducks back, but hey, who really worries about a bit of water... We all thought this was the best thing since 2x10 (yes that's how long ago we debunked this one) and all went out and bought Silicon Spray... We used it twice and never again... I've got a tin for you if you want - 98% full...

 

Maybe if you're going to be doing a wet muddy race - then apply before but not for anything even remotely dry...

[Bike washing...]

Been giving your bike a nice matt finish even before it became popular.

[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

[Bike washing...]

Happy Friday [emoji23]

Is it 1st April already ?

[Bike washing...]

Do it yourself.

 

Sunlight liquid and high pressure hose. I focus on spraying it on the chain, bearings and derailleurs.

Careful - some might agree and follow your lead...

[Bike washing...]

Really ... dishwashing liquid have NaCl in it? Sorry for not taking your word for it, I need to go check on that one.

 

Edit: Just checked, there is a lot of Sodium (Natrium - Na) in it but no Chlorine (Cl).

Hence there is no salt in there. Checked for Sunlight only though.

https://avalonking.com/blog/breaking-down-the-car-wash-soap-vs-dish-soap-debate/

 

Keep using dishwashing liquid buddy... Enjoy...

 

I simply cannot understand this philosophy of "i can and will use dishwashing liquid for everything"... You're not doing yourself any favours not are your even saving money...

[Bike washing...]

Dish washing liquid is as close to a neutral pH, so it won't do much damage.

Just requires some warm water and lots of scrubbing.

Dishwashing liquid is FULL of salt - that's what makes it so thick - salt is not good for your bike.

[Bike washing...]

Agree with Eddie - unless I need to take my bike to the shop for something I wash myself - best way to find loose spokes, cable wear, slightly noisy bearings, etc...

 

On the subject, please don't use dishwashing liquid...

 

I changed to this stuff a year or two ago and now we use it for the cars, floors and kitchen / bathroom counters - it's brilliant :

 

https://stealthhealth.co.za/product/ecologic-bulk-5l-with-750ml-trigger-pop-top/

 

Home mix into different dilutions for drivetrain and general bike / wheels.

[Thule VeloCompact 2 / 3 - who has some advice]

TBH these carriers are designed for road bikes and not mountain bikes - I carry 2xMTB (mine & the wife's - both boost) and battle to fit them comfortably on the 2 bike velocompact - doubt i could fit them both on a 2 bike - then off course there's the kids bikes...

 

On a side note - BEWARE of carbon rims and thule bike racks - there's far more carbon rims out there now than in 2015 and if your car exhaust blows out onto the rim it'll be toast within 15 minutes.

[Where to ride your MTB in the Sandton area?]

Within easy driving or riding distance - Taroko (Modderfontein), Thaba Trails in Alberton, PWC Brynston and Northern Farms if riding from Broadacres.

Cradle has Avianto, Cradle Loop and Cradle Moon. Also within riding distance from Broadacres.

Braamfontein Spruit, although best to practice caution currently and ride with a group. Ideally though the majority of the Spruit is closed under level three. Unless you're accessing parks like Emmerentia.

In the future hopefully, Leeuwkop.

@Danger Dassie - What chatter have you heard about leeuwkop? They're currently not very inviting...

[Piet skiet?]

Back in the day when we used to ride through there, e.g. from Midrand to harties and back, shots were fired into the air with a shotgun or something to scare us off, so the name for that area/valley was called Piet skiet.

And in more recent times, a lady moved in and sat at the entrance to the 'link' with her shotgun on her lap telling that she'll start shooting if we don't do riding through 'her' land...

[Piet skiet?]

This is one of those "if you know, then you know"... Yes, you can go through again... The old hag with her shotgun has 'apparently' moved out... But please be respectful none the less...

[Beware Marg & Barend Kian]

Here we go!

 

"After careful considerations. I had suggest we make use of PayPal for both our sake, it's secure and protects every transactions done through them. Do you have an account with PayPal? So I can make payment."

Also DOUBLE your price quickly... it confirm that it USD$ 11,500 not ZAR...

[Beware Marg & Barend Kian]

Here we go!

 

"After careful considerations. I had suggest we make use of PayPal for both our sake, it's secure and protects every transactions done through them. Do you have an account with PayPal? So I can make payment."

You can use my paypal account "ekisniefokkendomnie"

[Beware Marg & Barend Kian]

I always ask them to confirm the item they enquired about as I have many adverts. They can't answer this as they've responded to hundreds.

[Beware Marg & Barend Kian]

Have fun... Keep increasing your price...