Danger Dassie

I shot a small fund raiser MTB event there a month or so back. There was talk from some regulars in the area about trying to get trails and access formalised again. Using the country club as a base away from the main prison complex. Apparently they'd been in talks with the minister of justice/correctional services and Co, who were pretty receptive to the idea. Would love it to come off, such an invaluable resource.

Within easy driving or riding distance - Taroko (Modderfontein), Thaba Trails in Alberton, PWC Brynston and Northern Farms if riding from Broadacres. Cradle has Avianto, Cradle Loop and Cradle Moon. Also within riding distance from Broadacres. Braamfontein Spruit, although best to practice caution currently and ride with a group. Ideally though the majority of the Spruit is closed under level three. Unless you're accessing parks like Emmerentia. In the future hopefully, Leeuwkop.

As above.... RBC

He and his brother were racing for the Carabinieri, Italian police. In return they performed policing duties, albeit to a relaxed schedule. Not that uncommon a practice, in a few European countries. https://business.facebook.com/TheBraidotTwins/

Always get the one. There's a chap in Pretoria who thought he was a meneer by wearing his with a Swastika emblem, during level 5/4. Was outed though and management of the store barred the thing. Apparently.

Valve extenders, best option.

Yip, posted on his FB and Instagram accounts. Strange move letting them go, unless they've lined up other signings. Getting Florian Vogel on board as team manager is a good move.

Hatherly moving on from Specialized.

So thats a maybe?

Not sure the groups part is accurate. From what I remember small groups of 4/6 are ok, provided masks are on and distancing is applied.

Never received one of the patch roundels in the post, even after enquiring. Anyway, this year is restive500 for me. Will make my own vokn roundel!

People referring to full suspension as softails.

Dismal failures for me have been the hyped up, Finish Line and Squirt 'bead blocker' Now stick with; Pyga seal Bat Seal Ryder Stans occasionally, but as mentioned it is pricey. I was fortunate to get a bottle when I got the Stans Dart plugs, those I swear by. Wouldn't mind getting hold of some Orange Seal as I've heard good things from mates across the pond.

Inner tube sealant. Cheap as chips and will last a lifetime of seating tyres. Nip the tip off the nozzle, trace a light amount around the tyre bead and presto. Wipe off excess after (or don't) and go ride.

That's pretty high, you more on the buffalo side or gazelle side of 'unique physique' ?

Been running the same tyres for a while, not my favourite but not my worst either. Find they're pretty unpredictable on loose over hard terrain. Great on hard pack, roots and rocky stuff though (like Thaba) In mud they fair pretty well and shed dirt quickly. Rolling speed is ok. For some reason I picked up a lot of pinch cuts to the rear tyre, swopped it over to the front wheel and no problems since.

No reason it can't do both, even if it's predominately focussed on one. The two activities may be different, but often there is crossover as a user. Especially now as racer types are looking at other dirt options.

Communication can scupper any service/business. No matter how good the work is. Also to be fair it's often not intentionally rude as people get caught up in the job itself or various pressure points from management etc. On top of that I've noticed in general just how bad communication is in every day life and business across various industries, for whatever reason. But the 'ghosting' thing truly annoys the crap out of me, it's downright disrespectful and unprofessional in the extreme. Anyway, in Cogents case it seems to be comms issue more than anything. Having dealt with them both in the industry side and as a consumer, on balance I've found them to be pretty consistent and their standard of work above average. RBC have referred stuff them on occasion. Shame that it had to come down to this for the OP. Depending on what yourself and Cogent agree on, maybe it's not a bad idea to at least have a spare shock on hand, through all of this?

Ja, and it's all compounded by stringent pandemic protocols. One postive in a factory and CCP shut it down for full clean out and disinfection. Or like what happened on a shipment that arrived recently. During a crew transit one of the sailor crew tested positive. So upon arrival the ship and crew are quarantined at port. Another two week delay.

Resurrected single spoed project, was originally an Axis A10 that managed to complete Cape Epic in 2012. Stock standard nogal. Now a commuter and general errands ride.... https://www.instagram.com/p/CHfNOBYgeCc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Don't expect anything spectacular Black Friday deals in cycling/general outdoors stuff overall. Besides taking as much, if not more strain as other industries through lockdown. There has been a worldwide boom in outdoor activities, especially cycling. With manufacturing taking a knock and scaling back on labour/resources, it's led to a global shortage in a lot of stuff and manufacturers are only talking about catching up to demand by 2022. One brand I spoke to have revised their stock down and had the factories readjust down again, upto 20% They literally cannot tool up and meet demand.

Own the Elite myself, we'll have to have a Cypher gathering at some point. Spoke with the designer when I got mine, one of the things we discussed was the fork. Pretty much agreed that a 'racy' trail/enduro build a 34 stanchion 130mm fork would be ideal. 140mm at the absolute max. I have a trail/enduro build in mind with one of the alloy models. Budget friendly, fast and fun.

Sounds like an N+1 itch to me .....

I dare you to hug him. He was into physical distancing before it was cool.