Bro Derek

2k for a full face helmet vs 200k for dental/facial reconstruction IMHO if you can afford a big boy helmet, get a big boy helmet, especially if your kids are starting to push the envelope with rubber leaving the ground consistently. A lot of young kids have little concept of self preservation and to things/attempt things way beyond their skill level. If being pushed in a crowd (ie BikePark and older/other boys with better skills) then it's game on. Also, using Nino or the DH world cup guys as an example is silly. Your kid isn't those guys. He is learning skills to potentially be 1000th as good as those guys. So now he will try whips and jibes with no skill and less protection. When it comes to safety or protection, don't skimp Your kid has 1 face and 1 brain. If either get smashed it's not only you who has to deal with any long term repercussions.

I'd look at one of these.... https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/dual-suspension-mountain-bike-frames/800339/pyga-tig-dc-frame Says small but it has generous Geo https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/dual-suspension-mountain-bike-frames/791615/forbidden-druid-v1-m-frame Enduro Bro! https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bike-frames/441602/rapide-tigre-29-steel-hardtail Steel do it all bike Dunno... I guess it all depends on what you're looking for in the end

How tall/what size frame do you usually ride?

That is perfect then It will go a long way to stilling the pre race nerves. As others have said, pack, prepare and get as much ready as you can the day before. Again, being unable to find something or unable to do something is stressful, which will be hugely detrimental to the overall experience of the day. Scar from the Lion King hit it out of the park though.... be prepared. The less you leave to chance, the better your experience and memories of the experience will be. Enjoy!

My main advice would be to make peace with where you are in terms of training/prep and realistically level your expectations there. One will only race as well as they have trained, and often worse, as everyone has a bad day every now and then. Being anxious, nervous or uncertain before the race absolutely smashes energy, eats into your serotonin, leads to adrenal spikes, low blood sugar, lack of sleep etc Once you've worked that out, don't think about too much. You should know your optimal pre exercise routine, so just do that. The 'race' part means very little to average joes in reality. It's a mass bike ride with more bodies than you're used to. You won't win, nobody cares how you go other than you, so remove the unrealistic expectation and give it beans! (In a controlled manner..... bonking is horrible)

I'd say that most bike riders don't even set up their suspension properly, don't ride in the sag, hardly service it and think firmer is better because they don't understand that suspension works best filling in holes as well as taking hits, so their suspension feel terrible all the time, no matter what they run So it's really very few who 'need' better suspension to do what they do. It's also a case of you having convinced yourself you need it due to how you think and what you are currently interested in. Curve rates, kinematics etc are appreciated by very few.

Well it all revolves around the level of expectation and whether it aligns with where the bike sits with regards current tech AND which section/intended use it sits in. XC bikes, especially older model steep HT/slack S/T, are worth nothing these days after the industry said you can't possibly ride anything like that. Old model Trail/Enduro bikes are basically heavy Downcountry bikes these days without bottle cage mounts in terms of numbers, which makes them worth the proverbial nothing. Add in the massive sales of last years bikes or 2 year old new to clear warehouses at ridiculous prices and you have a very stagnant market of used, 2nd hand bikes being sold to close to what the same or newer model NEW bike costs with warranty. Then add in the fact that spending power for the majority of the country is way way down, living costs way way more and upgrading things is for those in a position of privilege. The speed and degree of change (pun intended) at which MTB numbers has evolved/changed over the last 7 years is pretty extreme, so not so old bikes are incredibly outdated. Then I'll throw in the fact that those in the same market segment all try and sell their bikes at the same time fairly often as they all want to buy from the same sales at ridiculously low prices. I have seen 3 frames being sold on Bikehub for 2 or 3 years, the price hasn't changed, They have just been listed over and over again while similar whole bikes have sold for a couple of grand more. Sentimentality/expectation for 2nd hand goods pricing is often leading to unrealistic asking prices despite the seller thinking it is 'fair' Take a hit, sell it for less than market value and it will go in a second, but pricing it the same as all the other models in the same bracket at a 'fair' value just floods the market and it becomes a waiting game or a lottery as to which bike is picked from the hundreds to choose from, making sales 'hard' or difficult. Anyway, you asked, hopefully My very humble and I'm sure not complete answer can start a discussion. Basically it's a rubbish time to be trying to make money or recover 'fair' money on used mountain bikes

So is your bike older than 4 or 5 years? If so, it's not worth 30k?

Marc Hirschi, Benoot, Campanaerts, Woods and Mohoric all rode the ITT at over 41 minutes yesterday. You would think today's stage suits them, tomorrow too. So they must see something in it to have been so 'off the gas' yesterday while the big GC boys went toe to toe

https://eastcitycycles.com/collections/gravel-tyres?gf_559347=650b These guys have a few options

To be fair, the original droppers we used that had a pin and spring system, zero lubrication etc are likely MUCH worse than what you get off Temu now I'd say buy one, or just buy a used Lyne dropper off the classifieds and a rebuild kid for a few hundy if needed.

Hijack on I'm interested to know how this relates to cancel culture? ... Cancel culture is a term that describes the public shaming and ostracization of individuals or groups, often by withdrawing support for them after they have said or done something considered objectionable or offensive. This practice frequently occurs on social media and can involve boycotts, public shaming, and attempts to damage their reputation or career. Regarding the above issue though, if you don't measure it's definitely no sale, if you do it just increases the chance slightly. People engage differently, we need to be able to adapt or lose out. I'm currently busy evolving both of my businesses to better relate to the new market while not leaving behind the old ways. It's complex but it definitely makes me realise what a stuck in the mud old person I am

I'll tell my current tubeless setup like this it doesn't work.....

What does work pretty well is an undersized tube cut into a single layer and then stretched over the rim and topped off with old school insulation tape. You get a valve and a cheap tape system that really works Not quite as easy but it's good

There are a few high end ones... The manitou J-Unit seems to be the spec fork of choice. https://www.commencal.com/en/commencal-clash-20-pure-white/22CLASH20WH.html https://www.norco.com/bikes/youth/youth-trail/fluid-fs-youth/2023-fluid-1-fs-20/ https://www.propain-bikes.com/en/product/bikes/kids/frechdax/ https://eu.earlyrider.com/en-de/products/hellion-x20 Most are way too much bike for a tiny kid and are outlandishly expensive for what will be a short use period, but if you don't have the coolest bike in the car park, are you even Enduro bro?

I think he means us, as in those sitting thousands of KM away passing judgement and gossiping with no real connection the the families, case or after effects. Those directly involved have a long road ahead, but 'we' can let it go now that the sentencing has been passed and the whole debacle is essentially now concluded for the masses. Anything added from here is just opinion and gossip on something we really aren't wholly privy to. Like when your dad gets sick and everyone offers help and then he dies and everyone fusses but then you almost hear nothing from anyone after the memorial because it's done for them. The family will still grieve, those closest will still miss him, but the masses who just dipped their heads in when appropriate can move on.

So everyone still banging on at me about Tokai when I have clearly - CLEARLY - stated I am talking about the wider area of closures? Right...... You guys read really well I see. Kind of proves my point about reading to reply as opposed to reading to understand. Those taking it personally also need to chill. I'm not pointing fingers at you unless you work for Parks in the Webpage or PR division. I use the mountain daily when allowed. I ride in Tokai when allowed and being up there is and has been a huge part of my life for years. I am missing it dearly and am also angry and annoyed it is in the state it is in. But the fact is that parts of the mountain are 'closed', are being used daily and these people genuinely don't know. As stated many times, not tokai for those who can't read so good.....

Or they aren't looking because they just don't know. The discussion went far beyond the Tokai MTB trails ages ago. You are just seeing what you want to see so you can respond the way you want to respond. I will stand by this, no sign of burnt vegetation, no sign of trails being closed means people will use those trails. I'll also ask, wasn't there a huge drive to initiate and train more rangers to assist with mountain safety? If so, wouldn't these rangers be a fantastic roving use of resource to educate and monitor the problem areas as the chief concern for people not being there is safety? It's just easier to complain that people are bad and won't do what they are told than it is to actually tell them in channels that people can actually see

I'm not talking about Tokai. I'm talking about the greater area. You can't see it burned from many trail entrances as you go south. I also specifically mentioned hikers, runners and dog walkers, most of whom definitely don't use trailforks. Again, look beyond your bubble. I'm not using the mountain, I am saying that complaining about people using the mountain but making no effort in the real world to close anything makes no sense. I'm over it. Again, today, I engaged with many people today who have no idea that the part they are using daily is closed The real world barely touches on the circles you have mentioned. From Boyes drive all the way to fish hoek there is almost no evidence of a fire from the trail entrance and there are streams of people in and out

So many trail runners, dog walkers, hikers etc all up and down the mountain. I watched a whole group of elderly people head off yesterday while 10 or 15 runners jogged past them while I was on the school run. @Zebra they aren't on this forum, very few people are actually actively on this forum. Baboons can't rip down a no entry sign thats stuck on the big signs. Seriously. I haven't listened to the radio in years. I see a news24 article was published yesterday. That is definitely a step in the right direction. You also all assume people from out of town or even just out of eyesight even know there was a fire. I certainly don't know which parts of Durban flooded recently. The reality is that many people are currently using the mountain, Parks and organisers are complaining, but the information on trail closures is not readily available unless you know where to look. Even then it's not easy to find the latest updates. I don't expect Parks to do anything, history shows that they probably won't. But I also wont defend them for not doing anything except making some facebook posts and then complaining that people don't know. Look from outside your bubble If you're here from Russia, you check the website for opening times and access. If you're from out of town you likely aren't even aware there were fires and where they were, so you check the website OR just arrive and don't see anything telling you the trails are closed. But, I see people are unable to see this and will assume everyone just knows because they know and the small group they engage with knows. The country/world is a big place and most of the mountain users aren't cyclists on Bikehub and don't follow the Parks facebook page. Should people be injured up there currently, with no signage and the current level of notification, Parks would have a hard time proving they have done their due diligence

It's not a rant. Posting baited posts like this is extremely 'I'm a bikehub legend so I can say what I want because everyone knows me' kind of attitude that stops new people engaging. The fact that the dedicated website still indicates that you can arrive between x hours, pay x and use the area is a shambles. Radio is live, If you were masturbating or watching your kid playing sport then you've missed it. If you live elsewhere then you've missed it. One also has no way of dictating how facebook display your posts, so it's even difficult to find up to date information using a search engine. They have said many times they were putting tape and signs up at trail entries etc but haven't done so. Lots of people are using the mountain currently. It's unsafe and they don't want you up there, are complaining about it, yet also aren't taking reasonable measures to avoid it.

The website still reads that you can arrive and go in If you don't follow the channels you will look at the website and see what's what. FB, Twitter, the radio..... I wouldn't even think of using these as my primary source of information when I have a website Not updating the website is ridiculous. Using social media and assuming that people do too is also ridiculous. Update the website and put basic things on the ground.

Communication of the closures is terrible. None of the trails in Silvermine east have red tape or signs and the website isn't updated with any closures If there was proper communication and clear, visible directive I'm sure there would be a lot less rogue riding/running/hiking etc up the mountain

I've done both If you're racing, like racing racing, then the skillset required is completely different. Different engines, different mindset, different training. If you're doing it to finish? Be a part of the experience, enjoy the event and learn some things about yourself, both will offer that too, but differently. Why do we need to compare things? Do both, learn the skills to do both. Nav, sleep deprivation, staying in the diesel engine zone and seeing Lehanas pass in the snow, Heading up to Vuvu and doing 300km into a headwind in the eastern cape will definitely hit differently than doing some technical half day loops around some wine farms. BUT staying healthy and happy is difficult at CE. They are two very different beasts. Neither is easy, neither are cheap. Be grateful that we have the option to do either. Be grateful you can afford to do either. You will be a different (I am sceptical to say 'better') person after completing both to the best of your ability.