madmarc

Haha - I heard the same story from some mates that were in front of us. They actually challenged Vikus on this exact point and he admitted they were trying to cut costs. I don't wanna come out as a TB veteran - I am after all a DNFer - But with so many Ultra Endurance events on offer - TB gonna have to up their game if they want to stay relevant.

Back in the office - I'll keep it brief. Departure 8:20 - too late Weather up to CP1 was insane - every km i wanted to turn back, thinking that i would have to ride back through that weather was the only thing that kept me going. CP1 - CP3 - we rode strong - weather & conditions were lekka - k@k but lekka CP3 - CP4 - Bergplaass cement strips broke my mentally I was done (Did i mention i suck at climbing) - When they told me i would wait 2.5 hrs for the sweeper i dragged my sorry ass back on the bike. CP4 - CP5 - We hammered it - all downhill, nearly crashed a number of times in the dark. When i saw a buffalo 5m in front of me i stopped because i was clearly hallucinating, until he sauntered off into the bush. CP5 - I was properly broken and called it - got into our support vehicle, wrapped up in a blanket, hating life at that moment My teammate joined another 2 man team and did the last 55km in 5hrs 45min. When i saw him at the finish and the condition of his bike it kind of justified my decision. We were kitted properly - probably over did the layers Food - we probably had too much The rain jackets and pants were a winner Nitrile gloves and waterproof 2 finger mittens worked better than expected Neoprene booties, Army socks was an excellent choice Can't say i ever got cold and stayed 90% dry. Our moving time ave speed was 16.2 km/hr up to CP5 - Target was 16 - Moving time 10:50 - Elapsed time 15:49 - We clearly spent too much time at the CP's - We planned 15 min at each CP with 2 min at CP6, that plan flew out the window at some point. Disappointments A DNF is always disappointing. The CP's catering was under par for a race of this stature, they were clearly running out of the famous foods on offer for the back markers or late starters - Even our support driver was denied any food or drink at CP5 & CP7, which I thought kind of sucked seen he was not only there for us but any other rider that may have needed help according to the support rules Other than that its a great event and respect to all those that finished. The monkey on my shoulder i left at CP5 - hope he never finds me again.

Most of my clicking creaking faults were found with the rear wheel skewer - remove the wheel, inspect the dropouts, check the through axle, clean it all lekka, mount the wheel and make sure the through axel is tight.

I got these at Declathon supposed to be wind and waterproof - we will see ?? - no padding they slide over my fairly thick glove setup and your thumb 2 fingers are still there to work the brakes and gears

What to the experienced guys do about keeping upper legs and midrift dry & layered up - I've seen the suggestion of 2 bib shorts - which is gonna make you look like you have a nappy on and i would imagine you ass will be very mobile on the seat while pedaling. I've layered up upper body and have keep dry solution - proper rain jacket + plastic Poncho + (space blanket poncho + normal space blanket in my backpack) for if the k$k hits the fan Hands & arms sorted Feet sorted. I'm now actually thinking of making up plastic legs to go under my leg warmers - My wife says I've lost my sh%t and need therapy

`I have the same problem with my carbon Ride Farr bars, the flat edges next to the stem where you can pose like a TT guy are very slippy and even more so when wet. So - go to builders or take a Lot or somewhere and get some Alcolin silicon stretch tape and wrap the levers - You can thank me later

First i must say thanks to all of you who did the race irrespective of finishing or bailing, coming on here and telling us your war stories, this is my first and made me re-evaluate my kit preparation. Now i have neoprene gloves with waterproof 2 finger mitten over gloves (will include some of those blue nitrile gloves from my workshop as well) and a proper rain jacket - best i could find on short notice = 3000mm from Declathon - will also take my outer North Face jacket and decide on the day which to use. Neoprene booties from Sportsmans WH - and even chucked in some of those "Little Hotties" hand and toe warmers - Found my last pair of army socks from diensplig in the early 80's my layers will be thin thermal underwear pants and longsleeve top Knee warmers + full leg warmers over the top Bibs Under Armour top Cycling jersey - Don't know why but i need pockets CIOVITA jacket - that black one with the padded front Either - Declathon rain jacket or North Face jacket outer - If its not raining at the start the Declathon will be with me somewhere on the bike. Anotomic balaclava + a looser fitting one as a buff. And then we will start the ride and it will be 12deg overcast day with a 40km/hr tailwind all the way to J/Bay 😲

Okay so onto next weekend for the repeat Anyone have any weather predictions that have some semblance of accuracy. Reading all these war stories I'm getting afraid, very afraid !

Well done for finishing - Nothing like a positive post to get their thread back on track

So after checking out all the race reports, photos and videos from yesterday event i I unpacked my winter cycling kit and think i found the right mix for next weekends repeat. Still need to find 1 glove though.

I once sorted a guys bike - But i will admit it was pretty shot. I took the wheels to a proper wheel builder and had them straightened and tightened up, there actually nothing wrong with the quality for the intended purpose, problem is they are loose when you buy them. New Chinese tires and tubes Re-cabled and sorted the brakes - He had none was using his foot against the rear tire. Reset the gears - new cheepy chain - rebuilt the BB with new bearings from the Chinese bike shop New helmet, reflective vest red taillight and a pump saddle bag with puncture repair & spare tube with a small bottle of lube. You should have seen the smile when he collected the bike - He was doing 30km round trip to work each day. He was saving 55 ronds / day on taxi fair that's nearly 1500 ronds a month which is huge money for a gardener

haha - I went to the launch event at some fancy hotel near Rosebank - We all got a bottle of wine and a Munga buff - when they presented the prize money USD 1.0 mill we were all like really ! WTF ! seeing is believing ! its probably a conn ! - One point most of us picked up on was, there was no sponsors at the event, only the wine estate that sponsored the free wine. After some big names from overseas had already entered and paid the entry fee, the rattling's started in the corridors and the event never happened - Never found out why, but I assume their anchor sponsor never came up with the money they promised and they pulled the launch trigger too quickly. Then it morphed into what it is today - With all due respect to those that have done it or even attempted to do it - I don't see the value in the entry fee. Personally i see these multistage events busy pricing themselves to failure - remember when there was a 3 year waiting list for Sani2C and even 1 day events when ARGUS was sold out within 24 hrs of online entries opening. Today you could probably still enter up to a week before the event starts. And then you see events like the upcoming GARMIN MTB Classic at modders on 10th Sept - entry fee is 60 ronds which is basically what you pay to ride there anyway - so why can GARMIN do it but 947 MTB event is over 300 ronds with even bigger sponsors

So AccuWeather for Baviaans Community - Willowmore - Humansdorp - J Bay at night 13th Race Temp 12deg real feel - Willowmore 10deg - Humansdorp 13deg - J Bay 4deg UV index 3 = moderate - Willowmore 4 - Humansdorp 4 Ave wind = W16km/hr Max gusts 30 km/hr - Willowmore W30km/hr gust 48km/hr - Humansdorp WNW20km/hr - J/ Bay W 46km/hr Rain probability 82% - Willowmore 65% - Humansdorp 71% - J Bay 25% Rain amount 2.6mm - Willowmore 1.9mm - Humansdorp 3.7mm Ave cloud cover 78% - Willowmore 56% - Humansdorp 56% 20th Repeat Temp 15deg real feel - Willowmore 16deg - Humansdorp 16deg - J bay 7deg UV index 1 = Low - Willowmore 1 - Humansdorp 2 Ave Wind - WSW 17km/hr Max gusts 50 km/hr - Willowmore WSW19km/hr gust 46 km/hr - Humansdorp WSW33km/hr gusts 61km/hr - J Bay WNW22km/hr Rain probability - 58% - Willowmore 55% - Humansdorp 56% - J Bay 41% Rain amount 1.2 mm - Willowmore 0.8mm - Humansdorp 1.2mm - J Bay 0.3mm ( How do they even predict this amount ?) Ave Cloud cover 90% - Willomore 91% - Humansdorp 69% I suppose i should have started with Willowmore first 😁 So in my opinion Repeat will have better weather and both should be perfectly rideable but i've never done it so maybe some veterans can comment.

I'm waiting for Gravel Bike lube to hit the shelves then i pull the trigger - I'm sure it will be awsome

My wife was quoted 350 ronds at Hyundai - got a pack of 4 from Dikskem for 60 ronds and it took less then 5 minutes.

Going from 46 - 42 = a shorter chain by at least 1 full link

Go have a look at Sportmans Warehouse - First Accent jackets - the ones that you can remove the arms and it turns into a Gillet - It also folds up into the rear pocket had when you need to remove it mid ride - had one for years and the best bit of kit i ever bought

You need to provide more info What group set you running ? SRAM or SHITMANO Chainring size and is it a standard or Narrow wide - Is it round or oval chainring ? Chainring mounted position relative to chain angle when in your climbing gear. Does the RD have a clutch ? Is the chain length sized correctly ?

Modders is becoming proper again - Everytime i go down that trail I sooooo wanna jump that ramp, and have to remind myself of my age and skill level. What they should do is build 3 ramps at different heights so us nubes can upskill to the big boy

This is the 4th time I've entered - previous 3 times neve made it to he start for one or other reason. Come hell or high water I'm doing it this time, if I don't I'll never get it done and the monkey will sit on my shoulder until the end of time

Pity you in Somerset West - I got the taps and thread inserts but as MTBRIDER1234 says take it to the guy in Cape Town its worth the money and this type of repair is solid - But needs to be lined up properly or you be riding with a cleft foot

latest news & weather forecast from TB Race weekend https://newsletters.computicket-mails.com/public/messages/view-online/uARA1bWkSn6luUlf/juX8aydj9POgtI3l/e2d102bb5ba9e820 I hope it improves for Repeat Weekend 🥺

I have a Standard Bank Shyft account with a USD forex virtual card linked to Zwift once a year i buy a couple hundred dollar and put it in the card - Then I don't have to worry about these wild forex swings on a local cc - sometimes i forget to top it up and i go onto 25km free - top up and off i go again

Aaah the creaking bike - I love this challenge, its become a kind of fetish for me, nothing more satisfying than fixing a creak that you spent a couple of hours looking for. I have yet to find a bike that has beaten me, but i'm sure its out there somewhere.

You need to adjust your chain length and B screw. On a std setup which has a 14 tooth lower pulley. Hard tail = wrap the chain around the largest cassette sprocket and the chainring without looping through the RD pulleys - over lap 2 links FS = Do the same with suspension fully sagged and overlap 1 link - I remove the shock pressure and while sitting on the bike to get suspension at full sag i put strap through the wheel and round the seatpost to keep it at full sag while measuring. Once you have installed the chain you need to use the plastic gauge to set the b screw - this is critical on GX Eagle for perfect shifting. Many skip this and then complain all day how crappy the Eagle shifts. So in your case you have installed a 16 tooth lower pulley, which I have never done, but in my opinion means you need to increase your chain length by at least 1 full link to compensate for the extra 2 teeth and then readjust the B screw setting. The B screw must be periodically set as your drive train wears and when you replace anything new on your drive train.