RobynE

Those chain ring sizes yoh

You get TA to QR and vice-versa converters/adapters, but I’m not sure if they work for all axle widths. I bought a hub for my bike which was boost and TA - the TA could have been sorted with the adapter (bike is QR) but the length of the axle itself was a problem and would have resulted in brake misalignment if we shortened the axle. My current strategy: realistically to get a new sub 11kg bike that feels SO good and easy to ride would be like a 70k exercise, which I definitely can’t afford. I can buy a lot of good quality “old” parts for that money so I’ll keep mine going as long as I can.

Super cool feature

I’m sure the Capies can suggest the right spot for you to do a fit and find your solution

I think you just need a bike fit and possibly new saddle. Another dropper isn’t going to be an instant fix. Where do you live/travel to?

Is it a different saddle to the one you had with the previous dropper? Is It currently hurting the meat and veg or the pudding? I’d do a bike fit first and see.

It’s a tough one because you’ve got a pretty lekker bike there. I guess it boils down to what you can find within your budget that will give you the same riding joy while removing the parts risk. I ride a ~2014 Giant XTC carbon hardtail and I’m really hard-pressed to find anything new that can compare within my price range. Being a hardtail I don’t have the rear suspension risks but being non-boost is starting to creep in as a problem now - though thankfully you can get non-boost Novatec hubs brand new, which are serviceable, so that negates most of the boost risk. But I still feel like I’d rather fumble on than settle on something new to replace it with.

The kind of woman you want to shake, as a fellow woman and empath. If you look at some of the comments on the old 4x4 posts (the wood fetcher) it seems his charisma extends to men as well. The kind of guy who could do so much good in the world but instead wakes up every day and chooses to be a schemer.

071 005 1907 and he’s good on WA

It depends on what hub, crank etc you have so it’s a bit more complicated than just 2x9.

Income of ~R78 million before sponsorship. For the 60k per person the organisers have R7,500 per participant per day to make sure accommodation (tents!), food and support is provided. I don’t think anyone was expecting Michelin star food, 5* accommodation, pristine routes. But they got *** food (or could buy some from limited options), thorny or muddy campgrounds, insufficient support despite knowing the conditions in advance, limited comms and then got bare-faced lies when raising the issues. That jobs are created by the event is like saying it’s ok to wait in queues at Home Affairs when 8/10 staff are drinking tea and watching memes on their phones because at least they have jobs. The same and more jobs would be created if the organisation was better. Like a job for the guy to double check the camp sites for thorns before pitching the tents. A job for a food QC guy. A job for a person with a phone to send out comms. Jobs for dudes on quads to ferry 25L water cans around with a medic behind them or even sponsored bottles with cold water handed out along the way. Jobs for another 10 medics. I’m sure there was room in the 78mil for more jobs? Yes; it is supposed to be epic. Even epically hard. But it’s not supposed to be dangerous and uncomfortable for fit and prepared people because of poor organisation.

What drivetrain do you currently have?

Waseem in the classifieds can hook you up with a decent road bike for smaller money (if it’s a Liv Avail you were looking at, that’s a road bike). If you are looking for a mountain bike there’s Zarras (Bicycle Yard) and a few other second hand dealers in the WC. Getting into cycling doesn’t have to be too expensive as long as you speak to the right people.

This is a very lekker bike, at my LBS, and I reckon it ticks pretty much all the boxes. 2020 Santa Cruz Blur at Mellow

Heat stroke is a clear and present danger in any species and how each individual descends into it, differs. I might be ***ting myself on the trail, projectile vomiting, someone else might ride themselves off the cliffside in delirium, someone else might have a vicious headache but nothing else, someone else might get violently ill way later after everything is said and done. Fact is, it took 90 minutes for qualified help to arrive. If the patient had fallen off the side of the mountain and was hard to access, fine. But by all accounts he succumbed to it on the track, and was accessible. So where was the help? Helping elsewhere? Why wasn’t there enough help on a day like that? Rather you pay for 20 medics who don’t unzip their bags than have 20 patients and no medics. Imagine Ronny was your child, your brother, your spouse. Would 90 minutes be acceptable then?

May the chickens finally come home to roost

I have feet that make people believe in the existence of a yeti. I’m female, size 6, and I leave footprints like a gorilla. Super flat footed, super wide feet. I hate shoes but I also hate being barefoot so I have to wear shoes, and obvs have to wear cycling shoes. I cramp in almost all sneaker brands and normally have to take a size or even a size and a half up from my “official” shoe size. My Scott Comp BOA have been very good to me and I have no complaints. Feet don’t feel tired at the end of a long ride, I’ve never cramped, I can walk around in them for a couple of hours, all good. They were fitted for me at my LBS (Mellow Velo) by Ben a couple of years ago and Richard the bike fitter did the SPD setup which Mitch (bike fitter at Mellow) has since checked and all good.

I saw a comment on social media from a Belgian guy whose brother was in ICU, where it said SOS was not responded to and it took something like 1:30 for him to get any help - I’ll try find the comment. Ok found it. Not sure if this is the guy. Edit: it is. Condolences to his family 😞 Emergencies are real. If you are paying this sort of money there is simply no reason to not be able to extract people or at the very least have enough ILS and ALS medics on bikes or quads, hell, even on horseback, who can get to the locations of SOS calls and keep people from circling the drain. A time frame of 1:30 is not it! I really think the organisers need to be changed out completely, and to get someone else in there with a fresh eye and modern approach to high risk sporting event management.

@stephan - not sure which tag is correct - LOVED your write-up, thank you so much. I could feel every crank revolution and slipping foot. Super cool.

How flippen cool to have Saffas on the GC podium both men and women 🇿🇦 💪 😊 You go you good things.

Nice bike! Before upgrading anything I would do a bike fit, and see what needs to be changed to meet your comfort levels. If I were to change anything at all it would be the groupset, to manual SRAM GX for now. If you can afford the outlay of AXS then cool, but if not GX is much smoother than NX. Not sure what brakes are on the bike but just make sure they’re going to give you sufficient stoppage for your needs. This doesn’t necessarily mean stopping on a dime but rather the feel in the levers, the modulation, etc. Make sure your pedals have sufficient grip - I am assuming you are in flats. You don’t have to rush to cleats (clipless). Bouncing off your pedals is a quick way to ruin your day especially if 🥜 get involved. I’m a girl so don’t have 🥜 but a vag-punch is bad enough. Once you’ve done your bike fit spend some time at a bike park where you can get comfortable with the bike. As Lynskey says it’s an aggressive front end which is inclined to bring your centre of gravity forward. You want to be sure you’ve got a handle on the handling. Or you might find yourself going arse over kettle in a split second over something as innocuous as a stone or root or a wayward hand squeezing a front brake a little more than was needed. My own bike is quite aggressive and when it was in for a service I rode my wife’s bike, which has a much slacker head angle, and first ride back on my bike I nearly went over the bars over a rock garden because I forgot what bike I was on. Gotta keep your wits about you on bikes with aggressive front ends.

I’m sure there is an existing thread in this regard but I can’t find it. A platform to share sales/bargains. So I’m sharing the link to Mellow’s current sale - some super prices on popular items eg Vittoria Mezcal, Maxxis Ikon and Forekaster, AXS stuff, Assos, Garmin stuff, kids bikes, fancy bikes and all bikes in between. Mellow Velo Epic Sale

I think that’s the big thing here. Like it’s ridiculously expensive to enter this event. I don’t think that the 120k is babysitting fees, but I do think that 120k should include proactive event management that minimises risk, and I don’t think that happened. If you are undertrained and underprepared it’s one thing. If the conditions are unrideable for the masses and you know you’ve got a water issue, stop the stage. And before 14:36. As a well-meaning ammie, it’s a little upsetting when you’re doing your best and you get to WPs that are being cleared up or the marshalls stop coming by. It feels like you could be forgotten out there. I don’t pay an entry fee to be abandoned on a trail. I’m not expecting babysitting but I am expecting there to be what the organisers say there will be whether I’m podium or last in my category. Conversely people can turn around for a DNF and not notify anyone, meaning that the organisers really don’t know you’re not out there anymore, but I don’t think a person in the Epic simply turns around and goes home, and the promised support should remain whether you’re first or last.

A son to be proud of 🤮

Yeah what I mean is, that they’re somehow managing to keep everyone schtum on saying anything.