Baracuda

I have tried KMC and Ultegra / XT chains and yip, the Ultegra / XT is smoother, quieter and just feels nicer. One wonders if there is a watt difference (i.e. does an KMC chain need more power as it feels like it is grinding more)? But the KMC is tough and doesn't break. The Ultegra is also tough and doesn't break. Life is short, spoil yourself to a nice chain.

I am 177cm and find the M Giant Revolt fits me well. Although I could in theory stretch to a M/L, I preferred a medium stem so that I could add a Redshift shock-stopper that I had already, but also a longer stem is more stable and less twitchy. I have a Pyga for mountain biking and use my gravel bike on gravel roads. If you are more inclined to single track and picking your way through difficult stuff (i.e. towards the mountain biking end of gravel), then longer reach,shorter stem, wider bars may be better. If you prefer long-distance bombing down gravel roads and ultra events, then shorter reach and longer stem may be more stable, less taxing, and more efficient. Keegan Swensen is my height and on a small Santa Cruz with a long stem for ultra events.

Live, but an odd interpretation of "gravel"

I see that I can "push" my Ultergra RX derailleur to 11-40 - not officially, but guys do. It may help with a few of these silly gravel races that send you up a goat track in the last few kilometers of 100 miles, but otherwise happy with what I have above.

As noted above, horses for courses, but my 2 cents: I have Shimano 2x11, with 11-36 cassette and 50-34 crankset. Great for almost everything, can stay with the roadies around Cape Town, great on open Karoo Roads, great on any paved mountain pass, but once the gradient gets above 12-13%, e.g. the last 2km of the Swartberg Pass from the south (15%), you really battle. What I have is great for 99% of our gravel roads and my Shimano 2x11 is rock solid, lasts for ages and is not expensive, but if you want to ride steep jeep track (mtb stuff), then one needs MTB type gearing.

As a serious middle aged amateur in the back end of the field, I find that mtb fitness and strength is a different kind of strength to road riding- yes more intense, but more torque orientated than top end spinning power. I found that spinning on my gravel bike with 28mm road tires inflated to 100psi did little to improve MTB fitness. I replaced them with Panaracer SK 38mm tires that sound like a old Land Rover on tar, nice low end resistance that needs constant torque, and although one is obviously slower and it takes more power to stay with the bunch, the strength is more transferable to an MTB.

Also a chance to jab the old guys in the ribs. Perhaps the: Nedbank Cape Eric Untamed Grondpad Race powdered by Biogen (I still can't work out how cape winefarms are 'untamed Africa')

I use the Panaracer Slicks 38c on tar and light gravel and they great in terms of speed and comfort once mounted and have surprising levels of grip for a slick. You generally need a bomb to get them mounted. They my go-to training tire for general road / light gravel in and around Cape Town. They last well until they don't. It is quite odd, one hardly ever gets a puncture or issue for a year or so, pretty tough through all sorts of terrain, and then suddenly one day they start to leak. You can hobble through a ride or two, but have to be replaced. In terms of replacing, make sure you buy the latest version with the tough side walls. The old version was a bit iffy off-road. I also have a set of Panaracer SK's. They look cool in a hipster sort of way but their rolling resistance on tar is nuts I bought a set of Schwalbe G One RS's (40c) for the Swartberg Fondo and they are really comfy and stupidly fast, to the extent that I kept on shooting out the front of the peleton I was in on downhill stretches. I have not tried them, but I have been told that the Pirelli's are tough but not comfy. The Pathfinders are also tough, but apparently heavy and sluggish. There seems to be a trade off between comfort and toughness,

On these: https://32gi.com/products/sports-gels. ? I found the fold in half thing works great. You can do it with one hand and quickly.

Just received an email from the Swartberg Fondo organizers that the race is no more. I would like to publicly thank them for an awesome event. It got me into gravel racing which I love. A real, real pity we can't do another.

After trying many I settled on 32GI - they do the job at a great price. There is SIS and other "high end" gels that are great, but if one works it out ZAR per unit mass / carb, 32GI seems to be best and one can order bulk boxes directly from them - often on special.

Really interested in this. I have been trying to plot a route home from Prince Albert, but Majtiesfontien sounds more do-able without taking protracted leave. There is the north route, straight over the N1, and after a few km, turn left and onto the gravel road to the Tankwa, Ceres,.... An alternative is to head south to Montagu (via Touws River or Laingsburg), then to Greyton, then Franschoek,....

The Biedouw Valley road is incredibly scenic. Often take it on the way home from Afrika Burn (from the old site). The National Park was horribly corregated when we were there last year.

Quite strange, we stayed in the National Park last year and I went gravel riding every morning with out issue.