RobynE 🚵‍♀️

I reckon this would give you great joy, and if you still have the itch for the Ibis, it would be pretty much a straight build-over. Merida One Twenty 600 (Mellow is my LBS and if you were keen Wes would sort you out - also a great point of contact for you down the line)

I would avoid anything Microsoft or SRAM SX. SX I’d avoid in general and Microshift I’d avoid based on your access to bike stuff. If you can find something you like with Deore, or GX, then yes!

I have one that’s missing the first two cogs and the lock ring - so if you could get those you’d be good.

In terms of the rider’s budget, Rapide will be good bang for buck.

Link to the wheelset. @Kiwi is Rapide. Oh and Rapide can sort your cockpit and dropper as well. Also your BB. Basically everything.

I imagine you don’t have ready access to a mechanic, so tried n tested, reliable is the way. I agree with thebob but: I would do a complete Rapide wheelset with Vittoria tyres. Should come in at under 7k for the full wheelset with rim tape and valves already installed. That’s rims, hubs, spokes, etc. You will just need tyres and sealant. Shimano Deore is very reasonably priced and pretty bulletproof. You’d need a Microspline freehub body with your wheelset. You could choose to run an aftermarket cassette using a HG or XD freehub body. I’d stick with a full Shimano setup myself. I have a Marzocchi Z2 and it’s awesome. It’s essentially a Fox 34 and is maintained in the same way with the same service kit. Brakes I would do Magura. That’s my personal preference in brakes, I just love their feel and have absolute faith in them. But brakes are very much a case of personal opinion and you won’t find anyone agreeing on any brake topics lol.

What are your goals? Where does your dream see you riding?

I hated just about every second except for the dry parts and the animals 😂 It was wetter than last year for sure, but the water table is sitting so high with this late rain that I’m surprised it wasn’t worse. If you look at the times of the front runners it was all still very rideable, but it (the mud) always gets worse once the masses start to pass through. I am surprised that my bike behaved extremely well, mud and all. I didn’t have any squeaking or grinding and everything worked flawlessly. What didn’t work however was keeping my feet on my pedals. I could not for love or money keep traction on my pedals and I was in flats due to an ankle injury. I did not love it overall.

I understand about the illegal issue, but in terms of relevance to this thread, I still don’t understand. Alcohol, cellphones and dooring have contributed to the most accidents on this thread and afaik most if not all the drivers have been locals. I don’t think drivers are more likely to drive into cyclists because they’re illegal. But anyone is more likely to drive into cyclists because they’re drunk or distracted. Cellphone usage behind the wheel is an absolute scourge, as is drinking and driving. I live fairly close to a more well-to-do RDP settlement. Everyone drives/walks/sits around with a beer in their hand. Sometimes with a phone in the other hand. I also live fairly close to two of the most affluent residential estates in Johannesburg. Everyone drives around with a phone in their hand. Some have a Stanley cup of wine in their cup holder. None of these machine pilots in the RDP area or the affluent estates are illegals.

Here is a review.

The Zini is brilliantly specced for the price. The fork is in essence a Fox 34 (Fox owns Marzocchi) and uses the same service kit. The brakes will suit nicely. The WTB components all very reliable, though you might enjoy slightly narrower tyres - your preference. Deore is Shimano’s entry-level 12s offering but it slaps SX and is well-respected. All in all much better value and worth the price tag as a new bike.

Oh yes!

Not really. It’s still a fork with 32mm stanchions, still SRAM SX. You ideally want something with at least 34mm stanchions and a better groupset than SX. Both of these things matter. You’re a big guy and when you get onto the bars or put down power, cheap groupsets (incl. cranks) and noodle forks won’t stand a chance. These are expensive parts and upgrading them on “cheap” bikes doesn’t make sense. Rather buy a bike specced ideally for you from the offset. Being that you’ll be looking for an XL frame, you have something of a bargaining chip in your corner if you’re wanting to buy new. Also bear in mind that if you want to sell it down the line, your new purchase bargaining chip becomes a ball and chain lol. Why not chat to Wesley at Mellow Velo and see what he can do for you? I see XL bikes on special there fairly often. But you’ll need to tweak your budget, or massacre it really, to get a bike that will serve you well long term. If meeting the outlay (probably ~60-70k) now is a challenge and you really want to buy new, then prepare to do a fork, brake and full drivetrain upgrade down the line. This will cost around ~30-40k if using new parts. Nothing wrong with taking this route of course, lots of people do, but there comes a point where it becomes throwing good money after bad.

I love the Titans but the specs on that bike aren’t really going to help you a huge amount. The Judy is an entry-level fork, heavier than a better fork, and not very forgiving. SRAM SX is entry-level again, also not very forgiving, and doesn’t really allow for upgrading (as the bike will come with a HG freehub body). If I were you I would speak to @RobertWhitehead, he’s also an XL frame guy and he knows how to put a lekker bike together. Don’t feel too bad about your Cradle outing though - it’s not an easy.

I really don’t understand the relevance of illegals to this thread 🤔 Shall we move on? It’s weekend, and I’m sure there will be a new instalment of Cyclist vs Machine Operator in no time.

And just for info sake, we still have the FD and outer ring on because we haven’t given it a proper test yet since changing the drive train. The chain line isn’t bad but we won’t really know until we head out on some rough stuff. But I think we’ll be able to remove those bits. Inner ring there is an absoluteblack oval narrow wide. Oh and the fork is Toseek. I think the same thing is around R1500 or so on Temu (Toseek, Kocevlo, I think they’re the same thing).

We did up two Peugeot tandem frames as gravel bikes. So not exactly what you’re asking but I learnt a lot! If you change the fork to something beefier you will be able to run a decent size 700c tyre at the front. Obvs depending on rim width. Our rims only have a 19mm ID and we run a 45 on the front. We have a carbon rigid fork and there’s still plenty room at the front to go bigger or wider. The rear is your bigger issue because of the height of the tyre. We spread our frames to fit wider hubs. On the ex-road tandem (which had 700c rims as standard) we could run a 45 with V brakes at the back. So 45 front and back. The frame didn’t take a disc so we ran it disc up front and rim behind for a while (DT 535 dual rim/disc wheels). We ran the blue one in this format and didn’t have any mechanical or stoppage issues doing Race To The Sun, 50km of Crater Cruise, and some training rides. I used cheap and cheerful LBS calipers (as naturally the stock Tektros didn’t fit over a bigger tyre) but I used nice tri-zone pads for my piece of mind. Then I decided to get one of those rim-to-disc adaptors off Temu, and we now successfully run a disc at the back as well. The adapter makes things a bit bulky and busy-looking but it does the job perfectly. Note it’s the plate type adapter and not the clamp style one. We ran it like this at 947 and again, no mechanical or stoppage issues at all. This is a very heavy bike (the frame alone weighs about the same as my actual built MTB), and we’re a combined rider weight of 135kg. If you’ve ever done 947 and come into Braamfontein at top speed - if you know, you know. The brakes work 😂 And they’re cheap Chinese calipers. The front is regular mechanical disc and the rear is hydraulic actuated mechanical. They will soon change to hydraulic Maguras as my mate gave me some. Here are some pics. Note: this is a 26” MTB steel frame. The road frame was done exactly the same way, but that frame was too big for us. In summary, everything fitted and worked as shown on 26” frame and 700c “racing tandem” frame. We changed it to flat bar 1x12 last week which is why the bike looks different between the photos.

Swinging in as Devil’s Advocate again. We really are our worst enemy. Last weekend I turned right off Cedar Road onto Runnymead Avenue. Before I turned, I saw a group, maybe 10 or so riders, had stopped on the left side of Runnymead. My guess is they’d just climbed the Cedar Road hill from Lanseria side. They were busy hydrating, eating, etc. with some riders off their bikes. They were 2-3 abreast as they stood there about 30m from the corner. Walking around, chatting, as if they were somewhere with full road closure. Bikes were in the road. Now - I had seen them, so was prepared to give them a wide berth (while shaking my head because it’s a dumb AF place to stop - that corner is absolutely lethal due to the lack of visibility and weird camber usually taken at speed, plus, an extremely narrow yellow line)… … when their tail rider, clearly exhausted, suddenly cut from the right side of the road and veered in front of me while unclipping as she went to join the back of the group. She clearly hadn’t seen me, clearly wasn’t expecting a car, and thankfully I wasn’t one of the taxis/maniacs who take that corner like a chicane, because she would have at best been bumped off her bike; at worst she would have been one of the fatalities added to this thread. Seriously. Do better. Don’t stop on what is effectively a blind corner. Don’t park 2-3 abreast. And for heaven’s sake check before crossing from one side of the road to the other. If you were that group - ride another 800m on the false flat down Runnymead and stop at the road closure gate. Or, keep riding on Cedar for another 30m and stop on the huge verge with the big ass sign that says Caution Cyclists - so your group doesn’t get mowed down. If someone had hit your group you would have only had yourselves to blame.

Ah that’s a bugger. I’m guessing it’s full then. Subsequently a bunch of posts on FB with people desperately looking for entries.

If you mail them they may be able to help you out.

Long post warning! You will need: Bottom bracket (not sure what size that bike takes) Crankset Right side shifter Rear derailleur Cassette Chain New cabling The above will give you a 1x setup. So single chain ring at the front and more gears at the back. Only one shifter. Good used parts will probably set you back around 4k. New parts around 8k (minimum). And you must add labour. In terms of parts you will be looking for 11 or 12 speed. If 12 speed you will have to go with SRAM NX, or Shimano Deore/SLX/XT (but with Shimano your cassette will have to be aftermarket and not original as your freehub (which is HG) won’t take original Shimano 12 speed (which is Microspline). Your freehub also won’t take SRAM GX - only NX. To run original Shimano or GX you will need to change your freehub body, which your hub (if still original) won’t allow. Which would mean a new hub and freehub body, and wheel build. NB: there may already be an issue with your freehub body so don’t rule this extra cost out. Nothing wrong with SRAM NX especially if you’d been enjoying yourself with that Mezzo until it started slipping. You could get the parts yourself and have someone fit them, but the suggestion of having a bike shop assist is a good one. Also bear in mind that this upgrade, while cheaper than buying a new bike with better specs, doesn’t make financial sense on your current bike and won’t add any value to it. It will just make your current bike rideable, and you’ll probably get many happy years out of it. If your freehub body is stuffed though, and cannot be replaced, it’s a whole wheel build etc etc and absolutely not worth it to do. Changing your drivetrain and a wheel build will be more than buying a different bike with a 1x SRAM or Shimano setup already. First port of call if I was you would be to go to a shop and have them check and advise, and if new is not attainable then ask them to give you a list of parts to buy so you can keep a look out for them being advertised second hand.

And how I wooooonder 🎵

Robert is also a big boy so I’d go with his recommendation on this.

Congrats on the bike! It sounds like it is too big for you. You’re reaching. Even if you’re out of shape, you should feel at ease on the bike. The right fit feels like you’re “in” the bike, not “on” the bike, if that makes sense. XL bikes are very big things and Trek tends to run large - how tall are you and are you long in the leg or long in the torso?

Yes! They were just renamed skinny-tekkied hardtails really. Though in serious our 27.5 is so much easier to ride than the 29ers. I feel very much “in” the bike. And the 29ers have their merits and downsides. I actually quite enjoy a 26er if I’m honest. But I’m 166cm and slow, so there’s that.