Danger Dassie

They look at the same weather reports as you and are consistently in comms. At the end of the day, if disaster management makes the call, it's out of the organiser's hands. What do you expect them to do? This is an outdoor sport and entirely part of the risk. Chill and enjoy a weekend away for what it is.

This, not that I do road events, but I know the challenges organisers face. Gravel and MTB are more my focus when I can get to events. This year Ride Jourg seems the only option, we've run an informal support station on Jan Smuts for the last few years. Unrelated to the topic, but, for next year I seriously doubt that I'll take out a full race licence and just stick with the normal membership. Really didn't take advantage of it as planned this year and also some recent concerns leave much to be desired.

Money, everything else is secondary, including safety it seems. Things like mixing MTB and foot traffic on the same trail in section that can have dangerous consequences. Ie the return descent from red route to the waterfall. Was raised previously with a promise to sort some out and nothing happened. Not sure if it’s still the case. At the end of the day, it’s their property and their prerogative on where to focus. Unfortunate because the riding has good potential alongside the running/walking trails.

Road conditions. Event organisers cant keep patching hundreds of kilometres of roads.

Well done, well thought out bike that with plenty room for upgrades further on. Wheels are spot on. Gears would probably be the first thing, Altus works well but as it wears look at Deore when replacing. Also the bottom bracket should last a lifetime being a sealed unit, just be sure that the cranks are properly and carefully tightened. They look like square taper axles, which are fine but should be checked now and then for tightness. Keep an 8mm allen key with your toolkit. Other than that, awesome decision and happy riding!

All this talk of moist conditions and rain certainly has dampened my fomo … 😋

This is actually asked and answered within the last posts from Shebeen. Also there is NO relevance to transgenderism.

Legit and relatively normal crew, they're based in Cape Town near the CBD

Ciovita and Enjoy I'm sure?

Early days but Ashleigh is competing incredibly well, 3rd on GC and wearing the green jersey. Astounding how asleep at the wheel we are on our local coverage, easily one of the highest-performing riders from SA.

More importantly Tucker is also at pains to emphasise that Caster’s case shouldn’t be conflated with doping and/or trans. All completely different issues on their own.

Ok so going on this, mostly open roads/paths not so gnarly rocky trails? As far as camping goes, overnight rides upto two three days? If this is what you’re looking at, most entry level hardtails will be sufficient. Really depends on the style/terrain you expect to be riding. Given your size, key areas to keep an eye on would be the fork (I’d recommend a coil fork) and wheels, even a basic wheel can be good enough if properly built and run with larger tyres. Helmet, nothing wrong with an R800- R1000 lid, plenty good options around. Decathlon do some decent trail helmets that are well priced. As far as frame weight limits go, don’t get too caught up in that. Practically all brands have a similar ‘rating’ since the factories have to have an ISO standard to work within. So, partly marketing.

@dasilvarsa seems a bit stuck somewhere, it will be ok tjom 🤌

What on a earth are you talking about?

Nope, used to be across categories and disciplines, relatively consistently. The last few years seem to be case of ‘let’s not air laundry’ attitude.

Nice Johann, stoked for you. Many happy, safe and memorable moments!

Suppose CSA no longer publish these when notified by SAIDS.

Word. Long before the gravel curve (2015 or so) I had a CoticX built up and used it for road and everything else. It was an absolute whip on smooth flowy single track and techy bits. With oodles of acceleration. Totally in line with CX demands, which is far from the broader gravel feels by design. Despite what people think/say. On longer rides and fast road winding road descents, that thing wanted you to be D E D dead. Definitely not the ‘steel is real’ compliance that everyone bangs on about. And tbh the welds were more abstract than contemporary. Loved the bike and it was everything I wanted at the time, but it was a very specific to purpose. Rode a Curve Kevin for a period and that is way more ‘steel is real’ … similar Columbus tubing to what Mercer goes for.

Blood tests are normally used as markers on the bio passport, not so much as an in-competition revelation as a PR exercise, since any real doping would be out of competition. That said, such testing is not indicative of doping or suspicion thereof. Standard practice at the sharp end of a global sporting event.

OP another option to consider is a Merida Silex. Heavily underrated and under appreciated bike, plus there’s a model in your range. I’ve just made the move onto a Silex 4000 and am super impressed thus far, the only limitation is the naff rim/tyre combo. 17mm rim with a 38c Rambler, but that’s easily sorted with a change of tyres, and rims later on. I’m putting it down to those Germans getting distracted by techno. Geometry is very MTB drive with a long wheelbase and tall head tube, so stack height is relatively high. Pared with a short stem and gravel bars it feels a sweet spot for a variety of riding.

Friend rides a Switch with 650b MTB tyres, they’re at least 2.0 wide.

Supacaz and Lizzard Skins, various thicknesses as well. Not the cheapest, but I’ve had good experiences with both. Also the Ride Farr bartape is pretty hardy and sits well, not sure if it’s still available though.

About as legit as a politician’s election promise….

Not really, this is intended as more of an all-rounder and more suitable to more general trail riding than full on marathon/stage events. Keeping in mind that it is all relative to rider ability as well. Also for marathon riding one does not need to be on a "very light carbon everything"

Think he means the UDH hangar which can take SRAM’s new T-Type derailleur.