esCape-ist

Case in point: For around R75k you can get either an Allu SC Tallboy or a Carbon Epic Evo. With the SC you get a 16kg bike, with a spindly RS Recon fork, and a SRAM SX/NX Combo drivetrain. On the specialised, you get a 13kg bike, with an SLX drivetrain and a Reba fork. Neither of these bikes are cheap, but compared with the rest of the market, which is overpriced?

Based on the opinions here, I'm amazed woolworths is doing so well financially. Yes, they are taking a knock the past few years from Checkers who upped their game dramatically, and now PnP doing the same. But they still posting solid earnings. So since the general consensus is Woolies is expensive and only for the wealthy, there must be a lot of really wealthy people in the middle class suburbs. Reality is, like mentioned above, woolworths doesn't offer an entry level or budget price option. They only cover the middle of the market, and do that really well, and then have a range of premium products that are actually really good quality, but you need to pay a premium for them. If you actually do a proper price comparison, an compare the same type of products between checkers, pnp and woolworths, everything costs about the same, give or take 5-10% either way. But you can't compare the cheapest pnp no name brand baked beans, with a can imported borlotti beans from woolworths. That silly. Meat used to be a lot more expensive at woolworths, but now days the price is pretty much the same between checkers/pnp/woolies, but the quality of woolworths and checkers is way above pnp. Woolworths chicken is expensive, but you get what you pay for. Much much lower saline content than the others, which means almost no shrinkage when you cook it. The free range chicken at woolworths also tastes a damn side better than others, and whether it's on brand strength alone, I trust the rBST and growth hormone free sticker on the woolies chicken, because it tastes so much more “natural”. Same can be said about the eggs. The woolworths free range eggs are a much deeper yellow, and a lot closer to that of my own free range eggs from my garden variety chickens at home. Bread/milk/cheese/rusks/coffee/tea/eggs/cereal etc there is almost nothing between the stores on price. Granted you compare the same products. Milk might be a exception, but the woolworths milk is a step above, with faircape from pnp or checkers being the closest comparison, but then the price is close again. But to get back to the point, love them or hate them, specialised delivers a good product at a market related price, in every sector of the market. Yes, s-works is insanely expensive, but at the comp, elite and pro levels, their bikes often provide better value compared to similar offerings from competitors. If you want to hate on a brand for “overpricing” I think Santa Cruz and Yeti are better targets - granted they do not offer any entry level options, you still pay a hefty sticker price for the badge there, specifically on their “entry level” stuff.

So, since you know that the track is “on very private once off areas”, and you are clearly technically adept enough to find check the metadata on the file on OSM, why not rather flag the data so it can be marked as private, or removed completely. Open sourced data is only as good as the input given by the community. 1. Were GPS devices ever banned? I can't recall that they were, or how it would have been practical to do so. Participants were just asked not to share the route files. 2. If I am making a mistake in assuming you have an agreement with the event organiser, may I then enquire as to how you have come into possession of the route data without an agreement with the event organiser? There are only a handful of scenarios I can think of. Either you rode the race, meaning you do have an agreement with them no to share the data, or you didn't ride the race, but were involved in some way with the route planning - if this was in an official capacity, you would also have signed some kind of data sharing agreement, I know I did. Or you were unofficially asked to tag along on recces, in which case, the people asking you along would probably have asked you not to share the gpx files publically, and even if they hadn't, you clearly understand that you weren't supposed to. Or lastly, the files were shared to you by a third party, most likely for your private use, and this party assumed at least that you know better than to trespass on private property and would use the files with discretion. Or you got them from a third party that couldn't be bothered with the rules, which makes you wanting to share them no different to illegally sharing torrents on pirate bay. If I am still mistaken, please feel free to correct me.

Exactly, most people if approached and asked nicely wouldn’t have an issue. It only takes a handful of “hooligans” to ruin this though. The other problem is that unfortunately most people are decent law abiding citizens until they leave their front gate. So unfortunately, most normal people are hooligans. Unfortunately, most upper middle class South Africans are “min gewoond”.

People love backslaps and high fives, that is why they share there rides on strava for kudos, and will keep doing so. It’s become pretty much the norm, and I can understand event organisers giving up on policing this. There is also not really anything wrong with sharing your rides on strava, be it a private training ride, or an event or on public or private property. You are 100% correct, the onus does lie with the rider to do the right thing when it comes to downloading gpx files and gaining permission for access across private prop, but the OP specifically asked if it is now okay for him to share his route files from previous epics publically, and that is the reason for me asking why? 1. You agreed to terms and conditions when you entered the event, specifically requesting you not to. 2. There is a very reasonable “for the public good” reason not to share these publicly. What is the drive behind wanting to share these now? also, the simple answer would be to contact Epic and ask them what gives.

It’s a bit of a stretch to compare the principle here to gun control (and not that it matters, but I am a gun owner). Most people, even the really stupid ones, know that guns are controlled and require licenses. Excluding outright criminals, most people would not take a gun from their fathers safe just because they know the combination, drive out to the first open field they find and start target practice. For that matter, they wouldn’t even do it with their own, licensed firearm. They would go to a shooting range, pay range fees, and enjoy themselves. Or they would legally access a farm, and with the land owners permission choose a suitable site to set up targets/go hunting whatever, all within the bounds of the law. But, you don’t need a license to ride a bike (thankfully), and the average cyclist assumes that because their gps says they should turn left, they can turn left, even if that means crossing a fence, opening a gate etc, without any consideration of whether they need permission to access that property. so I ask again, why the intense desire to publicly share GPX files you were explicitly asked not to?

Even if that is the case, the question of why it is so important to share the routes, when the intention was for the riders not to share the route files, and was done for good reason. believe it or not, not all cyclists are considerate towards landowners, or know how to behave when given the priveledge to traverse someone else private property. I have family with a farm north of Pretoria. They have a historic right of way that traverses their property, so legally they can’t restrict access here, and they have built appropriate stiles here to cross the boundary. It is used by pedestrians making thier way to the bus stop or accessing the nearby school, and is also popular with mtbers. Surprisingly the bulk of the litter dropped along this route is by cyclists, and not by the schoolchildren or farm workers. Gel sachets, used bombs etc, and this in an area where there horses and cattle graze, and worst of all flattening the fence next to the stiles, because they too lazy to lift their ultralight carbon bikes over the stile. My uncle does not like cyclists on his property especially because of this, but has allowed access across his property for organised MTB races, trail runs and horse endurance races. beyond the public right of way, that they have to leave open, they often have to deal with gates left open by cyclists that are following gps routes and assume just because a track file exists, it means they can access private property, and leave gates opened and so on. It is a huge problem. So why do you feel so strongly the need to share the track files that you have basically been asked not to share? you can still load it to strava, just set the privacy accordingly.

So glad to hear all the good news from Modderfontien. Used to be my go to trails, then everything went a bit pear shaped and I stopped riding there. But glad that has changed. Will give it a go when I am in GP again

Why is it important to do so? They are definitely not being as strict about the sharing of the route anymore, but it is still in the rules, and for good reason. It is about protecting the relationship with landowners allowing once off access across private property. People are inherently stupid, and will go out and ride trails just because they see the route on strava. If they are apprehended by irate landowners, they turn around and say , “I found this in the public domain blah blah blah” and slowly but surely create negative connotations towards MTBing in general. if you have routes files on your database, that you know cut across private property, and want to share them amongst your friends, go for it, but why insist on sharing them publicly? Who benefits? Also, because it’s in the rules, just because they aren’t so strict in enforcing it on strava anymore, doesn’t mean you aren’t opening yourself to trouble for sharing old route files. You agreed to the rules when you entered the event.

Looks like a great event. I am definitely doing this next year

The last 5 riders at MSA on Saturday gave a lot of excitement. I must admit I’m glad the wacky overall is still in the mix, and wasn’t tied up this past weekend already. Keeps things exciting.

Okay, my mistake. I thought only the road bike “Overdrive” was a proprietary sizing, and that the mountain bikes were regular 1 1/2 tapered headsets. Guess you learn something every day.

well clearly the cost of cycling is not only an issue in RSA

Overdrive is just Giant lingo for tapered head tube, so any fork with a 1.5inch tapered stem (1 1/2 bottom with 1 1/8th top) should work. but the bigger question is why? If your fork is poked, there a lots of options on the classifieds for decent, light XC forks that will cost you less than a good carbon fork, and give you some comfort. You could probably use a road bike fork with an adaptor for the lower bearing to size it down to 1 1/4 inch

I never said I can clear any jump at 32km/h, but that 32km/h limiter on an ebike shouldn’t be a deciding factor. you clearly say you have built Moto jumps. So why are you trying to clear them with a bicycle…. Why not build bicycle jumps for your bicycle

Yes, but my point is if you are hitting features of that size/nature, the 32km/h limit of the ebike should not be what is holding you back. You can still pedal like normal once you hit the limiter, and someone hitting jumps that size is definitely able bodied enough to handle that level of exertion for a few pedal strokes to get your speed up for the jump.

To add into my previous post, I would love to know what sort of jumps you are trying to clear where the 32km/h restriction on your e-bike becomes a limiting factor? Surely this would have to be some pretty big feature on a flow line or something, and being able to “flow” should allow you to carry enough speed, with very little pedalling needed.

I am firmly in the analogue bike camp when it comes to trails, so I might be wrong, but this idea that de-restricting the e-bikes makes them dangerous on the trails is a step to far for me to fathom. Unless you are suggesting some “rich old man” is posing a danger to himself and others by going too fast up hill over some slightly techy stuff, and I find that hard to buy. The “dangerous” parts of trails tends to be on the downhill pointing bits generally, where gravity will allow you to accelerate an analogue or digital bike way beyond your abilities, regardless of wether the e-bike is chipped. The speed restrictions on ebikes is to do with road safety in congested cities where pathways are shared with pedestrians and so on.

Nothing against them and I am all for supporting local, but I am specifically looking at slightly older used bikes in the classifieds, and it is not like there are a lot of options there from Titan. Also, the older titans, from what I recall, and especially the full suspension models, were always quite a bit heavier like for like with similar specced alternatives. The cypher is an incredible bike, and if I was looking to buy new, would definitely be on the list.

Thanks for the responses so far. Will definitely keep both in mind. I will have a bit of a deeper delve into the classifieds and see what looks best. Yes, 120mm trail/down country is probably what I should be looking for. on that note, which of the rockshocks fork are easily upgradable from 100 to 120mm? Or more importantly, which ones aren’t. I know I did this on a previous fork on my old Scott spark (think it was a 2013 model, and had a Reba fork). I think if I do end up getting her something with a 100mm travel, but could easily “upgrade” to 120 up front, that will also be a good option.

Hi forum. I’m hoping you can point me in the right direction here, or rather save me from wasting money. My wife is an avid roadie, and despite my best efforts over the past few years, I have never been able to get her to join me on the MTB. Yesterday, out of the blue she tells me she has been offered a sponsored entry for W2W through her company, and wants us to ride it together, and I need to get her a MTB. Budget is somewhat limited at the moment, and I also don’t know yet if the MTB bug is going to bite yet. So my thinking is to look at getting her something sort of well used in the classifieds, like this: https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/dual-suspension-bikes/574358/scott-spark-elite-m-29 and then spend some money on worthwhile upgrades like a dropper and 1x12 XT or GX, and maybe better/wider wheels on decent hubs. my thinking being she would then be on a really decent bike for around 25k, if she decides mountain biking really isn’t her thing, I can put the old parts back on and sell the bike for close to what I paid, and keep the upgrade parts for myself. If she decides she loves MTB, we can then just look for a newer modern geo frame, and build the other parts over to the new frame. The down side is I would be spending money on non-boost hubs, and an external routed dropper. is this a smart approach, or am I just wasting money in the long run. I don’t believe in financing toys, but should I rather look at financing a new bike here? An 80k cash buy right now is just not viable.

It comes with a nozzle that allows you to direct it straight onto the inside of your chain. If your getting overspray onto your brakes using that, then you have no place doing any sort of maintenance or DIY work. bike lubes are not high tech or made from unobtanium. It’s just very well marketed.

https://farmability.co.za/products/spanjaard-graphite-spray-400ml-aerosol/ better than any of the overpriced chain lubes from the bike shop, and a can will last you years

Okay, I must have gotten confused somewhere, I always thought the RC was the more XC race focused version with 100mm and the regular/non-RC Spark had the 120mm travel. My bad

Will definitely be doing so. Already decided I will sign up for an annual membership as well, even though I’m only gonna be there for 10 days. You guys seem to be doing amazing things