RobynE 🚵‍♀️

Just reading this - did you and your kids get mugged?!

I don't think we will know what the victims of the incidents were wearing or if they were using lights. It would also be a flawed statistic anyway as we could say, on those days, x amount of cyclists weren’t hit, regardless of what they were wearing/using. To me it’s not about who was hit. It’s about me trying not to get hit and using whatever tools I have available to me to increase my chances of being seen. The cheapest tool I have is my mindset, because it’s free. So I use it to look like a flashing beach ball and I hope for the best but never assume that someone has seen me. And I know I personally see fellow beach balls (or the more physically gifted candy canes) better than I see anyone or anything in black. It’s because it’s how vision works.

@Mamil before becoming a cyclist I found those Stay Wider shirts to be arrogant and obtuse - especially when the one you’re looking at is part of a 3-4 abreast situation. I get it now - the idea behind the shirts/gillets/jerseys/stickers. But I used to think, “check this **** who thinks he owns the road”.

Some interesting comments. - @MORNE , when you said you felt safer, do you mean from sticky/spiky hands, or vehicles? - @Mamil I don’t know about you, but I tend to try and avoid road hazards like bollards, so if I’m seen as an enormous, moving bollard, I’ll take it. - In general; I don’t think anyone is speaking specifically about neon. But to say black is not more visible than bright colours (red, yellow, green, whatever) is scientifically flawed. Reflectors mean fokkolie without light reflecting off them. Relying on reflectors is like believing the green man at the traffic lights and just stepping off the pavement because green man says Yes, or a visually impaired person relying on a guide dog that’s off leash/not in a harness, because it’s a certified guide dog. I look like a beached whale in white or red or orange or whatever and I’d much rather clip in wearing black. But if I’m wearing a bright jersey and orange helmet, and have my lights on, I feel I’m giving myself the best chance to be seen by vehicles as I wheeze and gasp along. To be clear, I’m speaking about daytime riding which as far as I can see is proving to be the most dangerous when it comes to MVA if we look at the incidents we’re aware of.

Then let’s tie black rags to 6m lengths of conduit on bakkies - it will draw as much attention to it as red rags do. 🫤 Of course brighter colours are more visible. I mean, they literally are. There’s a reason PPE isn’t black. There’s also a reason tactical teams wear black.

In the shade or at dusk or dawn, if you’re wearing dark clothing on a dark bike - I’m highly less likely to see you than if you were wearing bright colours. Black is slimming but unfortunately that’s just a trick of the mind - it doesn’t make you slimmer or more avoidable 😗 It pretty much camouflages you against the backdrop of shade/tar/rock faces/grey clouds/rain. Lights - no brainer. Though that’s a silly way to say it as lights will probably give you a better chance of still having a brain.

AFAIK they were selling Cyclami before the days of Temu. Not that it matters, as it’s swings and roundabouts in terms of profit margins. You might get 100% margin on one thing and 7% on another. Whatever it takes to keep the lights on. Nothing nefarious about it.

Agreed, but in this instance the part is Cyclami and not being sold as a big name part. The same Cyclami mini pump at Solomon’s for I think R1500 is R350 on Temu. They sell a Cyclami light for R499 that is like R180 on Temu. Not everyone wants to go through the Temu/import process and some people want the thing NOW, so if it works for them, they can have at it IMO. While there are occasionally bargains to be had on big name brands on the Hub, anyone paying 50% of the retail price for a “brand new” big name part should be suspicious. Some things are really too good to be true. I’d rather see misleading advertisers be taken down - like things being “Used - Good” and when you receive them they’re just about scrap (ie I received non-functional items - a fork that had been spray pained over the uppers, lowers, adjusters, and a watch that died immediately when it got wet the same day I bought it). In both cases the sellers shrugged it off. School fees for me. So now I have to subject sellers to the Spanish Inquisition for me to believe that what they’re selling is accurately advertised. And likewise I will put myself through the same inquisition for anything I’m selling. And actually just the way people describe things in general. “Plenty of life left” - what does that even mean. But I digress.

And just to be clear - it’s not like the seller is trying to offload a counterfeit part. It is what the ad says it is. Not like it’s a fake/counterfeit/pirate Csixx or KCNC or SRAM etc.

I don’t think it needs to be disclosed, no more than any other thing from any other place needs its origins disclosed. Alibaba and Ali Express parts have been traded for years without disclosure. Do you buy something from LBS or a local online store and ask them to show you their supplier invoice for it? If you see something and you think it’s from Temu it’s your choice to buy it or not 🤷‍♀️ At the end of the day any transaction is “Buyer beware”.

If you’d just like a bike to ride around on the roads and a bit of easy trails, a hybrid bike (sometimes called a commuter) would probably be the best idea. I think the wheels are probably what we consider to be gravel tyres these days, versus road tyres. The hybrid bikes have a more upright riding position which is very comfortable and gives you a good field of vision. Whereabouts are you based? And what is your budget? Then we can put some ideas forward 😁 And it certainly doesn’t sound crazy to want to ride a bike!

This article explains geometry and the image is what it explains. All those red lines have different lengths and angles depending on make, model and frame size. These angles are further impacted by the seat, crank arm length, stem and tyres and further impacted again by the type of riding you do (road, jeep track, single trail, downhill, etc) and also by your own physicality including limitations due to surgery etc.

It’s a very subjective question as it depends on the type of riding you’ll do, as well as the geometry of the bike. All bikes have geometry, plain or exotic 😊 And then there’s your own feelings about how it feels, regardless of size. Then there are things like stem and crank length, saddle position, tyre width - all influence the feel on the bike. On paper you’ll be between a M and and L (I’m talking about a mountain bike) but it doesn’t mean too much based on the rest of the stuff that influences fit.

Also picked up a good-used Z2 at a bargain here on the hub, it’s such a lekker fork!

Rather don’t. It’s really, really entry level. Something Suntour or Marzocchi would serve you much better without the Rockshox/Fox price tag.

They would just get the ads from FB Marketplace, most people selling on BH advertise on FB as well.

Me too, Chris. I had a medium to well done chop while I was driving today. Headed to Fourways Mall I looked up Cedar Road and saw traffic was backed up way past the hospital. So I decided to take the back roads through Kengies/Fourways Gardens. An oomie in an older model (maar nogsteeds puik) Hilux was behind me as I turned off Cedar. Oomie looked like the type who you might find with a nice (nogsteeds puik) 90s Jurgens, spending retirement years in caravan parks across Southern Africa, throwing bird seed down while voetsekking monkeys. My first clue that oomie was a braai item was when I realised I could continually see oomie’s facial features in my rear view mirror. Oomie nearly rear-ended me twice, because oomie was watching me only, and not the road ahead. So, when I had to brake fairly abruptly for a recycler suddenly pushing his cart off the kerb into the road (and there was an oncoming car, so I couldn’t veer) I just about saw oomie’s teeth. I raised my hand to apologise to oomie as I thought my actions had been a bit sudden. A few hundred metres on I saw oomie’s nose hairs because oomie didn’t realise there was a speed bump that I was slowing down for. Oomie wasn’t slowing down. Oomie ramped the speed bump and his nudge bar nearly landed on my roof rack. On turning the corner towards Fourways Gardens, I noticed someone was reversing off the pavement. I slowed down. Oomie wanted to overtake me, but, oncoming traffic, so oomie elected to re-acquaint his nudge bar with my roof rack. At the circle, there were two cars already in the circle to my right, so I yielded. Oomie thought a Hilux/Jimny union was a good idea but thankfully changed his mind at the last second. I watched oomie’s ear hairs for a good long while until we got to the lights at Leroy Merlin. I was in the straight ahead lane and the lights changed to orange as I got to within 10m of them. I stopped. Oomie swung around and flew past me on the right (turning lane) with the revs of his Hilux sounding good and strong, but continued on straight, veering left out the way of an oncoming car turning right on the orange. I watched oomie head up the Fourways Mall ramp and turn into the parkade. So oomie also needed to go to the mall - not to a hospital or toilet as I may have thought based on his driving behaviour. If oomie can’t look ahead and see (or care about) recycling trolleys, speed bumps, reversing white cars and orange traffic lights, then I doubt oomie would see (or care about) a cyclist. Maybe oomie did need the toilet. But even so, oomie was a proper mutton chop today.

Yeah, there’s talk of the bakkie overtaking on the left in the yellow line. The owner of Cradle Moon says that they have video and the reckless driver should be prosecuted. There’s also comments from others about how her dad arrived on the scene in a car. I really doubt the “she turned in front of the bakkie” story. Doesn’t mean the bakkie driver isn’t massively traumatised and remorseful, but I don’t think it played out the way some people are saying. I suspect people are mixing bits of the motorbike and Kerry story together based on what “someone” heard from “someone”.

You either love or hate Magura. Mine are rock solid and by far the best brakes out of all the brakes in our family. Best modulation, best stoppage, haven’t needed an ounce of work since fitted 3 years ago except one set of new pads. I’m not enduro fast but I won’t turn away from a good downhill at pace. I’m a two-finger (sometimes one-finger) front/rear balancer using my brakes to balance my momentum with light touches. They work absolutely flawlessly, and I’ve never locked up or gone OTB because of my brakes. So I think appreciation of brakes is relative. I am not a fan of XT brakes for example. And on our one bike we have Formula C1 on the rear which is very close to my Magura for me, where most people hate them. If it modulates well and stops exactly when and how I ask, I’m game. No spongy levers, no dead spot feel, no pulling to the bar, no screaming.

As an addendum to the above, I was much more of a chop until I turned 30. I was probably a Senior Chop in my mid-20s driving a very modified Subaru WRX like I stole it every day. I think back now on our Scooby club breakfast runs down Satellite Road (a very popular cycling route now) and I shudder. There was never an incident, but, wow. What fools we were. At the time it was the sound of the 20+ cars, driving that road like we were on rails, the feeling of power and speed, the notion of absolute control. Now it feels almost embarrassing that I ever did that. Young, dumb, full of er fun.

For me, while on the road, “the law” doesn’t enter my mind for a moment. I do everything because I try to reduce risk to myself. It’s a purely selfish stance. It just so happens (and I say this without sarcasm) that my behaviour out there lines up with “the law”. Stopping at a red light? Driving at x max speed on x road? Riding single file? Only overtaking on the right? Many examples all with the same answer: it’s safer. Of course there are times where I have something on my mind/I’m in a rush/daydreaming, and I unconsciously step outside the realm of “safer”. We are human after all. I’m not ready to leave this realm. I also don’t want to spend time in this realm feeling that I was the reason someone left it prematurely. My own selfishness wants me to mitigate my own risk in every way. I can still be a chop from time to time but I’m way too selfish to be a full time chop.

The thing is, whether driving or cycling, one must do so defensively. Always expect the worst. Expect a car to appear from every driveway, or every corner. Expect them to drift or overtake in the left lane. Expect them to pass by you with 20cm to spare. Expect them to hit you because they’re on their phone. Expect them to jump a light. Expect them to open a door or stop abruptly in front of you. Expect them not to see you because they’re mentally preoccupied. Expect them not to see you because the sun is in their eyes. Expect them to assume road conditions. Expect them to swerve to avoid a pedestrian/dog/obstruction. Expect them to lose control around a bend. And then turn it all around when you’re behind the wheel because you are “them” even if you’re consciously trying not to be. While I’m not sure of any relevance to the Chappies incident, this thing of riding abreast HAS to stop. It HAS TO. I know some people like to talk to their mates as they ride, but it has to stop. For our safety and for our reputation as road users. Please use bright flashing lights at both ends and if you want to talk or suffer together do it somewhere that cars aren’t approaching you at 60-100km/h. I live very close to Cedar Road and the 2-4 abreast without a safety car and usually dressed in black from head to toe is constant challenge whether climbing or descending, especially on the weekends. I, who does not look at my phone while driving and normally don’t even have the radio on, and always have my lights on, have had riders swing out in front of me chatting to their mates even in my white (noisy diesel) or blue cars. Like some really, really narrow, heart-thumping misses. Please don’t think it won’t happen to you regardless of whether you’re on or in the vehicle.

Yoh. PFP masterclass for a solo victory. Daaaaamn girl. Gigante 2nd, Vollering 4th. Kim still on her way in after a mammoth effort. Chapeaux to all; what a flippen climb.

PFP and Gigante digging deep and hunting down the leaders of Kastelign and Fisher-Black who have a 45” advantage with 9.4km to go

Somehow Kim’s still hanging on at the front of the yellow jersey group 1.51 behind the leader with 12.7km to go. Vollering hard on her tail in the group as well as P-P. Squiban was in the front group but now caught by yellow jersey group. Leading group is Fisher-Black, Muzic, Kastelijn