Paul Ruinaard

Yes If you live in the cape you will quickly find out about an app called epic ride weather. Very useful to avoid phoning the missus from hermon or melkbos when you have humped out there in a howling south easter like the TDF boys on a flat day and then realised you may need to get back home again in to the teeth of the Cape Doctor. And yes its looking increasingly *** for Simonstown for the headwind but once you are over Smits you will be jet propelled. the haul from top of Smits is going to be very fast

Okay those are two proper noob questions from a guy who has clearly got in to a bet and now wants to make it easier on himself. Slicks will make a big diffeernce and seen as though you are clearly a noob cyclist owing to the setup question i would suggets you need all the help you cna get. Secondly the saddle , if the fit is incorrect, or your hands and arms, or neck, will start to feel like they are trying to kill you. At least get some idea of how to doa. fit adn then set your bike up accordingly - lots of info on this. If the bike is a loaner and its the wrong size - welcome to a world of pain. Make sure you have made the changes to the bike and ridden it for a number of hours prior to just rocking up at the tour. And i would be more worried about cramping and making sure I drank enough and paced myself. the mateches you burn at the start are the ones taht empty the tank later. Remember suikerbossie is at 98kms. If you are untrained and havent cramped by then from dehydration you are a very good cyclist. Make sure you drink enough and eat enough and pace yourself. Most first timers are bitten by the bug and come back for another bite at the cherry. careful - you dont want to get addicted...

I have gone to Forza and will not go back

FYI just got some more goods in from Temu. Amongst them a cycling shirts for R 188, and if you go on to sites like RSSC Sports they are trying to sell the same shirts i.e. identical designs for 40 USD +. Simple and easy to bring in all sorts of things. The list of bits and pieces I now source from them grows all the time. I bring in a LOT of motorbike spares and add ons as well, which are customised to fit the exact bike i am riding and insanely cheap. I really cant beat the price and value they operate as well as the simplicity of it all.

Those that run away live to fight another day. If you have done some road racing you can see it developing and avoid it. Again to finish first, first you must finish. I am also now more preservation based. There will always be another group coming if you just sit up and wait and reign your ego in and often the back group that catches you pulls you back to the front group and they merge especially in the fast flat races when it turns a corner and there is a slight headwind.

Everything I have ordered off Temu and Aliexpress has arrived - even some by SAPO - collected and duties paid. Simply put if you dont like the experience no one forced you to put your credit card in at teh payments window. So far I am a happy customer and have found it all very smooth to use once you get acquainted with what they do or how they operate. Alos their returns or their credits for delayed delivery have been pretty good. Better than many other local sites.

FWIW i am also riding Souke. Ciovita - I can get through 10 of the Souke bibs for 1 x Ciovita and lets not discuss Assos. They work fine TBH. Like the man says. I have other issues which even Assos won't solve. FYI their cycling jerseys are also cheap as chips and some of them are very nice logos etc, so have a couple of them. R 200 for a jersey,,,

Truth be told unless you are riding at the front of a race as a pro or in the age seeded racing bunches, you are riding for fun. Fun rides - get it. Some see it. alot more serious than others but its menat to be fun. WRT ebikes the differences are vast. I have ebikes so i know all the ins and outs. Typically the likes of an EMTB is limited either at 25 kph or 32,1 - depending on which regime you are obeying - Europe or USA. Most bikes - any Levo or Scott MTB is limited at that speed. So on a long fast drag your nimble ebike turns in to a brick at that speed and you start working hard to keep up at any speed above that. Now for the road bikes - my Creo SL is limted at 42,1 kph which is fast. Other mates have similar and theirs are the same. So you can cruise along on this machine at pretty high speed and have an awesome ride with really fast bunches you could never normally ride or race with. I have pulled many a bunch of mates home in to a stiff SE wind in paarl here. Now it starts getitng tricky when you start on the power outputs of all those bikes. My Gen 2 Levo SL has a maximum power of 320 watts and the Gen 1 Creo is 280 watts. Thats in turbo - with about 50nm of torque give or take. That means that these bikes make you work quite a bit - they arent motorbikes. You need to be quite strong to ride one of them up a steep slope. Thats the idea with SL - smaller batteries and motors as well as lighter weights. But then you get to the New Levos and the Scotts - these are in the league of 550 watts to 800 watts with big batteries. My wife has one. These things are powerful and have up to 100 nm of torque. The impact is that on a steep climb even in eco which is at 30% you are getting 150 to 240 watts of assistance. Full gas in turbo they are very powerful and thats why they go uphill so fast. If you gas a full fat ebike up a hill you climb like Pogacar. Its crazy. My wife can run away from me on a climb in Trail (level 2) when i am flat out and redlining my heart rate on my bike - and she is not even working. IN the CTCT women on Scotts were passing me like I was looking for parking and I was at turbo and giving it full gas on my Creo. THen there are the guys that pay for the chipping to be removed - there is a dude who has a Specialized Gen 4 Sworks (i think its 660 watts and 100+nm) that has claimed all the EBIKE Koms on Paarl rock and surrounds - he passed us going uphill at 36 kmh ave speed from strava for the segment on a steep section towards the mast. If you remove the limits then its just a function of battery power. I have found a dude who can make an extender battery which basically doubles you capacity of our 720 w/h battery on the Levo - so you canrace in Turbo for hours - they were being used in Race to the Sun last year. So you get a complete mix of all of this and people are always tweaking, so no wonder some of the people are fast as they have massively powerful bikes which pulls them in to race situations where they have never been before and have no experience. FWIW I intentionally wil sit at the back of groups and am always aware of unabalancing a race by pulling a group up a hill on my bike if i am in a bunch. Thats just me. I am sure there are others who just go full gas till they see the chequered flag or the battery dies. 2 years ago when the limits was 3h50 for ebikes for CTCT i saw guys on ebikes do this and posisbly use two batteries - they were in the 2h40 mark which was just crazy. Hope that explains it and helps people to understand. Some ebikers are just old dudes who are happy to ride with their mates again and be able to hang on to the groups - like me. Dont demonise us.

I have had some temu parcels actually arrive - albeit slowly - from SA Post office - got a notie, went and paid duties and collected it - at least twice. So it does happen.

Hey be careful - i got a very smooth link from Courier guy for R 18,22 and as i had ordered from temu and was expecting the message I made the mistake of clikcing without looking. Fortunately i saw the rror of my.in time as it was a scam site and i had added my credit cards details. Then once I managed to stop the cards I got a Whatsapp from Courie Guy support ostensibly asking me if i needed help. See below. And i work in this industry so its a bit embarassing when i get caught whilst not paying attention....

I have purchased bikes overseas off Ebay. To bring it back I traveled out with my bag (checked in) bagged the bike and pushed it back in to the country and when asked - was on a cycling holiday and had the bike with me on the way out. I would suggest as you have been advised, unbox the bike, assemble it, ride it through mud and grit, take some clammy chamois and cycling stuff in your luggage and then rebox it, poke some holes in the box and make sure it has been taped closed or looks like it has been reboxed. Write all over it. Make it look like the box is just transport for the bike. Never had an issue with any of them. Alos not sure what time of year you are planning it but at this time of year hundreds of bikes are coming in for CTCT from overseas. To be a smuggler you need to be bold and confident 🙂

Where do you think that Ryder and companies like that are sourcing from? Same goods but they are adding 40% margin for doing the import.

Sorry maybe am too old but videoing or photographing on cell phones in the bunches is now cool as well. Makes for great social media posts I am sure. Not sure if you can say the same for how much it impacts your control and where your attention is.... Clearly age and wisdom comes from doing stupid things and having narrow escapes that allow you to survive. Its called survivor bias - if you did it once and got away you dont think its dangerous.

Hey all, thanks for the explanation wrt the Sunday. I do respect the right of religious freedom. We all have the freedom of belief and this aint the USA. No offense intended. I think the race was well run from what i saw and i only have ever done it once but it seemed very popular and I am observing that as a result of its popularity you may need to think about how you take it forward, which I say as a result of past experience. I really dont do many road races without road closures any more because of what i saw and what happened up country. There was a time when there were races every weekend and especially in the lead up to CTCT they got very big. I also used to do as many as possible so have ridden every one on Saturdays and Sundays in Gauteng North (who also raced on Saturdays for religious reasons) and Sundays, with entries from 500 people in the late 90's to 8000 at its peak. This was in Gauteng. Some of them are still running but with markedly reduced numbers, mostly because no one wanted to attend any more. Ride for Sight, Hyper to Hyper aka the fast one. Edenvale cycle challenge, Race for Victory and many through the cradle. Sun city was very popular and is the one that I saw the worst bunches across both lanes with oncoming traffic. Not cars but large trucks out near the mines and going head on into bunches because the race was too popular and the roads could no longer accommodate the amount of cyclists and as a result they were massed across both sides. The less serious incident involved multiple crashes in the racing bunches from the squeeze when the people all tried to get behind the white line. Some of those were pretty bad. The more serious were fatal and made me think twice about whether it was worth it In Jhb the trucks and taxis have (or had but i dont think its changed) a far less accommodating attitude towards cyclists especially out the backroads in Vereeniging and remote roads. Just a suggestion - ultimately you want your ride to be safe. if people do stupid things in a fun ride its really up to them but I have seen dead people lying in the road owing to trucks passing cycling bunches (race in the cradle a couple of years ago) too close and riders getting pulled under the wheels. I can't recall the specifics but it was a non road closure race and happened on the entry to the cradle on the Krugersdorp side when the road narrowed. If anything happens it's really the organisers that will come in for flak and truth be told hindsight is always 50/50. My 2 cents worth - riding your ride I got a strong sense of deja vu from the old days at the peak of road racing (insanity) in Gauteng when the bunches were huge and all manner of events took place. Personally my safety and having worked out i am done with PB's dictates i am very selective about rides and who i ride with but so be it. I have been there, (and maybe took part in some of the craziness when the red mist descended) and would say i am a very luck survivor of many very close shaves in bunches when they were massive and really out of control. Use it, dont use it - hopefully you never have any issues and never have to recall the above.

Hmm,I am from up country, so my first 99er event. I dont do much road racing any more but used to do a lot in Gangstas Paradise. I asked how many riders at red registration and when he said 4700 and they expect 5000 i was a bit taken aback, especially as i asked about road closure and he said no. That’s a lot of cyclists down a busy road on a Saturday morning. Can i ask why this event is run on a Saturday ? With 5000 riders entered you proceeded to irritate an enormous number of motorists with the big bunches all across the road. Some seriously scary overtaking from cars and trucks trying to get past scared the cr@p out of me once more. Large trucks and queues of cars in to oncoming traffic on blind rises. That is a recipe for disaster. I have seen what happend when one of those cars hads a head on next to you in a cycling bunch and its not pretty. Maybe its me but why not run it on a Sunday as there wil be less traffic and secondly take it as far out in to the main roads with large shoulders as soon as possible. We have enough cyclists dying from motorists hitting us from behind already - surely someone should think this through a little bit > Nice race - also flat and fast so you will have large bunches forming and with that amount of people they will join up and then you have them all over the road. What am I missing or does the cycling community not think this is an issue?

The laws of natural selection apply to the cycling gene pool as they do in the African bush for Impalas and warthogs. If you ride on roads that are dangerous the danger increases and your risks increase proportionately. I am tired of preaching abot risks, strategies to mitigate and avoid and then hearing people being of the opinion that you know better or can make your own rules up. If you do nothing to reduce risk you increase your exposure. If you do a lot and someone avoids you or you avoid a situation by a plan not to ride in a high risk region you never know what bullet you dodged. People cant seem to get this idea and always seemm to think they know better or they can circumvent these rules. Those are the ones that are normally the loudest - aka dunning kruger effect. It is always true that people under estimate risks until after the event. We are seeing mass carnage from early December and we are still attesting our right to do risky things, and that we know better. I am sure all these people who are now dead or mained didnt walk out the door thinking it could be them. But it can be you every time you leaev the house. My 2 cents

Agreed - bright clothing seems to have no impact, but eyes are drawn to motion and flashing lights. Motorcycle advanced riding schools say always have widely spread spotlights on high beam and if approaching intersctions you weave or make your lights move as the drivers tend to see that better and notice the movement. Preferably with coloured lenses i.e. orange or yellow

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DT5SUjwE9w-/ Here it is Agree on the restrictions. However when the floods on Franschoek pass happened they restricted it to 5 tons, which the trucking companies proceeded to ignore blithely as i was passed by many 16 wheelers whilst riding up there during the restrictions. Turns out the pass is a short cut and its in their interest to save money on their deliveries so the commercial imperative and "i'll do what i want and scew you" trumps everything else. Trucks from Shoprite, Pick n Pay etc. So how do the stores down the atlantic seaboard get deliveries or do they hike the prices there as the deliveries are now more costly etc etc and then the locals will start picketing because their cornflakes went up 10c a bag - even though they are safer. If in London or France they would fine the cr@p out of these operators but as the ANC bigwigs have shares in most there is no appetite to enforce anything, never mind the menas and then they would tie you up in court. I have just come back from Paris and the centre of Paris is like London or Amsterdam - its so regulated even the bicycles scream to a stop when the lights change,. FYI all trucks in Paris have stickers displaying their blind spots very clealry with warnings containing the french word "Mort" clealry displayed, so they are telling you that if he truns and cant see you and you end up under his wheels you may end up like a toothpaste tube under a roller.

Yep i know the pain - it took me 20 years to sell my C40 and finally when i was too old and it was too hard on my body i sadly parted ways with my Ferrari of bicycles when i realised i was getitng too old and it was a sentimenatl attachment,a bit like the fat old man trying to get in and out of his very low slung hypercar in front of the coffee shop. I sold it to another loving fanatic foster parent :-). WR the topic at heart I honestly agree - as much as i love it, I would not cycle Sea Point to Llandudno any more - just too dangerous TBH. I ride with very bright flashing lights on the front and a Garmain Varia radar on the back and still would happily wear enough lumo gear to glow in the dark. I really dont care what i look like any more - i care that i am seen, as i chose to ride roads and am often solo. Also ride wide shoulder lanes if i can, ride MTB on the road so i can take to the shoulder if necessary and also have in the past used gravel tyres and wheels on the road bikes for the same reason - if i hear something and the garmin beeps then i know that its probably wise to make myself thin or take to the dirt if i can. Its really not worth the debate any more as you only need one idiot. You can insist its your right to be on a route but you cannot argue with the increased danger you face from the lack of awareness and honest antagonism to cyclists. Yet every ride i see people who have NO lights on their bikes and ride abreast of each other irrespective of the lanes - expecting motorists to be aware of them. If you do some searching the most common accidents with bike/car are at intersections aka the Burry incicdent i.e. car doesnt see you and crosses your path and the bike cant stop. But the highest incident of fatalties are from rear impacts . in both cases the risks can be mitigated by ensuring the motorists see the cyclist ahead of time usully with front flashing lights that draw attention and secondly with rear lights that change in intensity i.e. they draw the people attention as something changes. Changes in shape and speed of the strobe draw attention - also coloured lights like an orange lens on the front of a motorbike light draws attention and makes the bike stand out against the background. White does not do it as well. All of this adds up and reduces your risks. But it never is 100%. So every time you cross an intersection you are at risk, Maybe i have ridden motorbikes too long but you develop a bit of a sixth sense for seeing idiots ahead of time - i cant really explain it but i can see people doing stipid stuff in the traffic way ahead and just move out of the way if i can. FYI most of the time i do not like riding with MTB riders on the road as they are usually all over the place and do stupid things. An experienced road bunch is great but normally i am very selective with who i ride with. I dont blow through traffic lights and get very upset when cyclists do. My 2 cents worth on the topic. But hey if you feel that its your right to not do all the above and expect others to ensure they are aware of you then so be it, that is your right. I am continually amazed how the human genome uses natural selection to down select arrogant idiots on a regular basis. Like in aviation - you get old pilots and bold pilots but not often do you get old bold pilots. I am not saying the Camps Bay incident was owing to this, rather that we should learn from it and do what we can to reduce our risks at a personal level rather than try and get the authorities to act on whta is after all a very sad situation but against the larger issues in South Africa a microcosm of our bigger woes in society like drink driving GBV etc.

you can buy a cheap one at most of the little cell phone shops for a much reduced price like everything they do. I think the one in the cape in most shopping centres is techno shop or techno stop. Where they cell phone screens, batteries, phone covers etc.

My2 cents worth After looking on this forum I have bought some cool gadgets and things off of Temu or Alibaba lately for cycling - rear stop light, compact electric pumps, mudguards, some shirts and bibs (souke). All were at least a third of the price of the local stuff that is essentially identical. Their service is fast and efficent once you wade through all the noise. You also need to know what you want and be willing to read and research. I have also bought all sorts of gadgetry and trickery for my adventure bike - screens, covers, valve caps, fender eliminators etc. All are custom fitted for Triumph. Some arent very polished others are simple and effective - all at a very reduced price for very similar things you get locally with brands on. Simply put it isnt the BMW or Merc or Specialized or Ciovita site you are shopping on so use discretion and undertand that you may have some things that are a bit of a lottery - similar to what ecomeerce was like right in the early days. I am highly likelt to use them again for things that i need and its very much become my go to site for everything i am trying to find as it has a massive scope of goods on it. I dont care about brands ay more at my age and am happy to save some money on things. After all no matter the price of the watch it only tells the time, whether a Rolex or a Casio.

I have varied from 92 to 122 Kgs in all my cycling career. Like they say focus on wheels - you will miss them if they crack and beak on a ride. the balance is about setup and making sure you have a good saddle and are comfortable on longer rides.

This was after about 2,5 years so just outside of warranty. FYI i had and older set of Vectors from Garmin which went faulty and were replaced under warrnaty with a small payment. I switched to Assioma on the reviews and sold th replacement vectors. FYI At the time i bought the Vectors and Assioma were the same price, there wasnt such a premium on the Vectors - they were also the older ones which allowed you to replace the battery. For me to now repair the Assiomas even with a special offer from their support who recognise they are faulty they are R 15k for the two. Same as the cost of a new set. So why do it? IMO the support from Garmin is better locally. I would have had to do the import and carry the freight and duty costs. Use it or lose it.

THanks i am going to pull the trigger. Are you using it on the road bike?

Has anyone ordered a 3D printed saddle off Temu. I am looking at this: https://www.temu.com/za/-3d-printed-bike--24-5x14-5-15-5cm-7x9-carbon--mountain-bike-gravel-bicycle-seat-g-601100748033291.html?top_gallery_url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.kwcdn.com%2Fproduct%2Ffancy%2F6cfb747a-1a1a-44f1-b2a3-beb42852ed0f.jpg&spec_gallery_id=125255&share_token=_wX7G7fHAK5kroPGtrO6COo-EF_YYQgJDWnwko8oecWcE18vN2lPi3jIigkcqL_jsQ5-6cF69OSN0MyaKBGGwBNIFWYNxU-zxI19eV4nxZ7U2qNB6SIbUCwQcJZvtOZ_qJxyW0ZeBZcrHwYDui0jfE4Qyc8j6CWKDa-OlDdClME&refer_page_el_sn=209279&_x_vst_scene=adg&_x_ads_sub_channel=shopping&_x_ns_prz_type=-1&_x_ns_sku_id=17592644404019&_x_ns_gid=601099632077524&_x_ads_channel=google&_x_gmc_account=5327403149&_x_login_type=Google&_x_ns_gg_lnk_type=adr&_x_ads_account=7587261690&_x_ads_set=22450022799&_x_ads_id=178960129860&_x_ads_creative_id=747075879764&_x_ns_source=g&_x_ns_gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7ghfD2jGZlxEXc5pV9x2sO4QaWyyd6CkVKZMaM-aiJ09NWZiyZRU-MaAnq4EALw_wcB&_x_ns_placement=&_x_ns_match_type=&_x_ns_ad_position=&_x_ns_product_id=17592644404019&_x_ns_target=&_x_ns_devicemodel=&_x_ns_wbraid=CkEKCQiAsY3LBhCFARIwADk9B9yikphEMeFlZQwc2othqTON7BdWXbEfmm3eCSEmhP5tsvmQVVpjbB8OX9KIGgJtSA&_x_ns_gbraid=0AAAAAo4mICHF5M54ms-m7MCBgeSK96hG3&_x_ns_targetid=pla-2454958358834&refer_page_name=kuiper&refer_page_id=13554_1768226496948_ypzfw5zayl&refer_page_sn=13554&_x_sessn_id=pi5zd3q322 Just wnated to know what the experiences have been as they are a third of the price of the brand names and are also 155 mm which is my size.