RobynE

This is a great suggestion (to upgrade with pay in)

So we have the Titan Calypso 26 which has the 24 frame. We bought it new last year in September. I wouldn’t say my kiddo (now 9) is a shredder but she’s pretty capable. She’s not doing jumps or drops (well, not on purpose lol) and is now starting to learn to wheelie. Previous bike was a Mongoose BMX. She is about 135cm tall and weighs 33kg. She’s tall for her age and quite skinny (wiry). Our experience with the bike in stock form: *** (Caveat: we live on dirt roads and she loves riding through puddles - our bikes are cleaned and lubed after every say 3rd ride or right after a particularly gnarly ride. Bike is meticulously maintained by LBS). *** It was perfect getting her confident on a bigger bike, and one with gears. As she started getting the hang of the gears I found it needed a lot of tweaking or it would get clicky. A couple of times we had it where she would not be able to get into 1 (granny gear) which on an 8 speed made quite a difference on hills. This was a recurring issue. The brakes (Tektro cable actuated) were not great, from the beginning. They just didn’t have great bite. They worked for putting around but weren’t great for “sudden dog in front of bike” type stuff. The chain dropped continuously on the chain ring. That really frustrated her and knocked her confidence going down bumpy hills. And it made me need to stop repeatedly to put the chain back. It didn’t do it for the first 6 months unless she whacked a savage bump in the road, but then started doing it more regularly. The stock tyres were decent - not capable of tubeless though. We did tubes with slime - no issues. The BB started grinding last month and needed replacement. The above being said: she loves her bike, and a new bike was simply not on the cards. So, as things broke or needed replacement I upgraded. First replacement was tyres after she gashed a sidewall. Went with Maxxis and did tubeless conversion. Then did brakes - got sorted with a second hand set of Avid Elixir on 160mm rotors. Amazing stoppage! But possibly too much stoppage for an inexperienced kid without a clear display of how and why. She LOVES her brakes and hasn’t ever fallen because of them. They are absolutely WORLDS apart from the stock brakes and honestly I feel they’re the best upgrade to do on any bike (better brakes, I mean). Tried chain replacement but it didn’t really help with chain dropping. Did chain catcher - no real help either. Happened upon a set of DT Swiss wheels with hubs here on the Hub. Totally changed the ride and those Maxxis really popped on the new rims. Now with a decent hub I decided to change the groupset and she got a SRAM GX 1x10 with longer cranks, new BB and narrow-wide oval chainring. Serious game changer on hills - wow. She actually startles me when I look behind and she’s on my tail on a climb lol. And no more chain dropping - not once. The stock 80mm coil fork worked very well, no problems, but well I love the feel of an air fork and a Rockshox SiD 26” fell onto the bike by accident. Oops 🙊 Then a more comfortable seat - just a junior sport seat from Decathlon. The stock seat was a little hard for her mini-bits. So what have we got left of the Calypso - well, we have a frame 😂 But now we have a bike that will last her probably 36 months or so - so I see all the upgrades as being well worth it. And she LOVES her bike, and rides it every day. I feel that the bike in stock form got her going and doing the upgrades along the way has given her a really light, really manoeuvrable, really fun bike that she enjoys. And I haven’t had to tweak anything on any of the upgrades as they are simply better quality components than stock. She’s done a few races and the bike brings her home safely both in stock form and now upgraded. All the upgrades bar the wheels and tyres were done by hubber @Robertwhitehead (he’s a nice guy - chat to him). I rate the range in stock form for riding around the block each day and light trail use, but if you intend on letting the kid grow with the bike some upgrades are necessary in my opinion. Total spent on the bike excluding tyres is probably R5ish K plus the purchase price, so I think R12ish K if memory serves and I don’t think I’ll need to spend any money apart from maintenance for the next couple of years.

Photos do not do it justice 😞 This bike is a weapon! At R23k it feels almost sinful.

The fork is, yes, compared to a Judy Silver. Is the groupset SX or is it partial SX (eg crank arms and shifter)? SX isn’t held in high regard from my learnings on the Hub, based on durability and precise shifting. But you’d still have 2 more gears than the Advent X, sooooo… Your next step up would be NX, then GX, then you start with the electronic stuff. But if you have SX on the bike now you could upgrade to NX without too much fuss (though it will take some bucks). If you wanted to upgrade to GX you’d need to replace the rear hub driver. But I think an upgrade to NX would be straightforward. I think. I also think @droo must chime in here again as I may be getting myself turned around and confused and talking *** to you. But if the bike looks and feels good and everything works I’d put an offer on it. If it’s got the stock Helix rims, Manitou fork, and has been regularly serviced and well cared for, and the warranty is intact, it may be the one to start you off on a decent base at a good price point and allow you room to upgrade as you feel the need.

On the subject of foot pumps - My staff borrowed my old-but-not-cold Ryder foot pump and now my foot pump is suffering from some severe sticktion and is officially old and cold. I have a Lumeo wireless pump but I also just want a good quality foot pump for when I need to give something a couple of squirts. Any recommendations for a slick and smooth foot pump that doesn’t go R800+?

Use them often (online and collect plus in-store) and no issue overall. Their online simply pulls stock from their different branches to a central DC and then ships from there. You can track your order online. They email you updates along the way. If your stock item is low you may run into challenges, so for your own piece of mind have a look at stock at a couple of branches before committing. If something is Low Stock at a few places you might have a delay being that someone can literally walk in and buy the item once you’ve hit Check Out. Your basket doesn’t reserve the stock (same as Takealot). All that being said I’ve only ever had one delay and that was quite some time ago - and they did keep me in the loop.

Where was this? I don’t have any info about your bike but I’d like to know to avoid places where bikes get stolen as we always take our bikes with us and have never had a problem. Sorry about your bike 😞

All my Decathlon bike stuff works like a bomb and is very reasonably priced

PS here is the sale ad **** hot Pyga

I’m bumping this because I took this bike for a spin today and it is a BEAST. It deserves a home where it will get thoroughly abused, because it will love every second and so will its rider! This bike will give someone amazing confidence. I’d dare say it’s bulletproof. (and its also flippen good looking!)

And another lol https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bikes/688664/merida-big-9-xt

And another, this time in KZN, but has a slightly better spec. Would need to know what the definition of “Used: Fair” is. https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bikes/682289/2021-titan-rogue-sport

Here’s another - it’s in Joburg but you could probably negotiate and get a decent bike for pretty close to what you were originally thinking of spending. It’s a fairly upright ride but gets the job done and it’s a new-ish bike. You could probably get back more or less what you pay for it if you choose to upgrade (and sell privately). Again, no idea of the bike or legitimacy. https://www.facebook.com/share/P5RqUBWZAZtCo8z5/?mibextid=2JQ9oc

I cannot confirm the legitimacy of this ad or anything else. Titan Drone 29er. It’s a 2x but if it’s in decent nick and the seller is legit it may be worth a look. https://www.facebook.com/share/eP2xGUvcUYEW29Wa/?mibextid=2JQ9oc

Sure thing. I felt very overwhelmed, as back when I was a kid there was a corner shop that sold bicycles and you kinda just picked the colour and whether you wanted road or MTB. If you go into a bike shop now you’ll be SHOOK. The options are basically endless and you can spend as much as your budget will allow. Like, there are bikes upwards of 200k, and bikes that are 5k, and you need to find your sweet spot. The thing is, if you buy a bike and it’s *** or uncomfortable or complicated or you don’t trust it, you won’t ride it, and you won’t necessarily chuck it and buy another. You might just think that cycling is not for you. Hills are hard, descents are sketchy, but hills are less hard with decent kit and you’ll fall off less (or work harder to fall off) on descents with a decent bike. And you can go faster in general 😁 No bike is going to make you a champion off the bat but coming back into this and spending a lot of time reading and learning, I realise that I could have bought a LOT of crap, and I lucked out with my first bike (which I still have, and seemed SO expensive as a brand new purchase at 13k) - I fairly quickly realised I really enjoy cycling but my bike didn’t have enough mountain in it - tried out some new bikes, felt underwhelmed and really quite disappointed, spoke to Robert, and got a cool second bike. I still have my first bike and I still love it, but it’s not the one I chuck down loose, rocky descents or attempt loose, rocky climbs. But the first bike was the right bike for me because it made me excited to get on a bike every day and by the time I started looking for a second bike I’d already done almost 2000km on the first in a year - and that was with major spine surgery in the middle of it all. You need to have a sit on whatever you are interested in, because no two bikes feel or ride the same, and the exact same components on a different frame can give such a vastly different ride. I’d sat on quite a few bikes before I sat on “the one” and when I sat on it I just knew. It’s served me well and will continue to do so for a good long time (e.g I’m doing Race To The Sun and other road and gravel races on bike #1 this year, as well as commuting to the shops etc, and the MTB is picked for Trailseeker and other MTB events). If you could manage to save say R15k, you’ll have a really decent hardtail (front suspension only) that won’t need upgrading for a good long while. And then you might decide to get a full/dual suspension bike instead, or upgrade your existing components, etc. There are no rules, but start with something that you like to ride 😊 Oh! And good brakes. You’ll really appreciate good quality disc brakes (preferably hydraulic) as you get to grips with cycling again. The only thing more annoying for me than clicky, unreliable gears, is brakes that don’t work properly, or squeal. It’s so off-putting.

Had the same Avalanche last year - nope - not if you want to enjoy your return to biking. Horrible gears and brakes and so heavy too. And not worth upgrading components on it. If you could get yourself to between 6 and 8k you’ll pick up something like a Signal 1x (one-by, meaning a single chain ring up front, much less complicated gearing) S930 model which is a decent bike for the price and will definitely set you off on the right track. We have one and it’s really not bad for a reintroduction to cycling. A bit heavy but everything works and when I used it the other day to bang around the red trail at Northern Farm it didn’t let me down. It’s not my carbon fibre Giant, but it gets the job done and will bring you home. Stretch your budget a bit further and you’d possibly pick up a Titan Racing 1x or a Norco. Something heavy with multiple chain rings is going to put you off pretty quickly. Even if you’re comfortable with shifting front and back the tech is mostly very old and clumsy and you’ll be tweaking and fiddling and it will be irritating. Better drivetrains have better resilience and ease of use (something as simple as the setup’s ability to shed muck and sand etc and not retain gloop) but on the Signal for example the LTwoo isn’t bad for the price. Needing to constantly fiddle with a bike just to ride around the block is super annoying unless you enjoy that kind of thing (I do not). As Robert says, the size of the bike is probably the first consideration. But bikes do ride a little differently between manufacturers, so if you’re a Medium in one you may be a Small in another based on the geometry of the bike and your comfort levels. And you want a 29”. Don’t bother with 26”. You’ll halve your “investment” when you try sell it and it’s getting increasingly difficult to find good quality 26” components that haven’t been yanked through a bush backwards. Maintaining a 26” in race-ready condition is basically setting money on fire. Finally - a bike fit is great to ensure you’re positioned as best you can be. You won’t always have to do a fit but do one and listen and learn. It totally changed my approach to cycling and I’m super thankful I did it. Above written as someone who re-entered this realm at 41 years old, 2 years back, having last ridden a bike in high school. PS Robert can build you a bike. I talk about my Giant like it’s fancy and expensive - it wasn’t - Robert just built me a really cool bike for the money I paid and I couldn’t be happier with it almost one year down the line of having it (and bonus is it weighs less than 10kg).

Thread resurrection! I’d like to set up an indoor vibe for two people to use. We both get very bored very easily so something with automatic resistance and access to some sort of interesting visuals etc will be critical. I don’t think the stats matter as much as the “feeling like we’re doing this outdoors in new places”. How do we go about doing this cheaply (haha) in 2023? Would ideally not like to remove wheels so either a dedicated bike setup or something that doesn’t require wheel removal.

I hear you. Are there any older frames that you’d still give a thumbs up to for XC/Marathon?

@droo would you rate the Cypher frame over an older model Trek/Giant/Spez frame?

Not really, if I’m honest. I still think there’s better bang for buck out there and you’ll pick up an 11 or 12 speed with Fox or Rockshox for the same price. Fox and Rockshox are very serviceable, which helps. But if you’re really set on Titan, then you’d need to try both bikes out and see which one feels better.

I have Microshift Advent 1 x 10 on my hybrid bike and while I do enjoy it and it is reliable, it is definitely not as precise and low maintenance as the SRAM GX 1x11 I have on my MTB particularly on the climbs and where you need to rapidly shift on the fly. I would definitely look for something that has SRAM or Shimano 1 x 11 or 1 x 12 components with good quality shifters and other parts. Also, the Judy Silver fork is a bit meh. Within your budget there are a couple of good quality dualsus L bikes advertised on the Hub with better components. Eg. There is a Ghost Lector (Ghost is such a great brand and really underrated), a Momsen Vipa, a Specialized Epic Comp and a few others all under R18k. They will also retain their value for when you feel you want to upgrade again down the line.

I think the tension is fine so I think it is a buckle or flat spot. @RobertWhitehead in fairness it’s not a cm (feels like it lol) but measuring the gap between tyre tread and mudguard now as I rotate the wheel, the variance is between 1 and 3.5mm. It stays true for probably 95% of the rotation and then dips for a period.

Thread revival! I have AM Classic MTBRace rims and the front had superficial dents from when I bought the bike. I recently changed tyres and had the wheel trued, and in doing so hoped that the wheel would run more straight. It does, marginally, but it’s still not straight. I feel it on tar but not on hard pack or trails. But the feeling on tar is really irritating me 😂 It probably shouldn’t, but it does. I feel like it slows my roll. Smooth-bump-smooth-bump and the bump is enough that my handlebars bump too. My other bike doesn’t have any bumps at all so it’s super noticeable for me on my MTB. When I have the bike in the service stand I can see how much it moves. It also has a recurring “mouse” in the rotor as it moves quite a bit between the caliper. I’d say the movement is probably close to 1cm though I haven’t measured exactly. I know the wheels are very light so while I am looking for one new one, I am wondering if maybe I should change rims to something else. But I really love the look and feel of these rims so I guess my question is: Would you do the best you can with the rims, or look at changing, and if changing from AM Classic MTBRace, what would be a sturdier but similar rim that won’t be super expensive? Or is there someone who can really straighten out the existing rim so that it runs true without bumps and I get to keep it?

I know nothing about road bikes but this seems too good to be true for a CF bike, even an older one. Fourways, GP. https://www.facebook.com/share/MPNKXiqQu9dj75LK/?mibextid=2JQ9oc

I would like at a second hand German/Taiwanese/American bike before either of the two mentioned. They retain their value better and are just better bikes in general. Norco, Giant, Titan Racing, Momsen etc. and preferably something with hydraulic brakes and a SRAM or Shimano 1x drivetrain for reliability. Momsen’s new junior bike looks like excellent bang for buck.