Baracuda

I love my gravel bike but I must admit it blows my mind as well - riding Ultegra full of gravel and sand. If I build another bike, it would be 1X with 10 speed XT.

Its been said above, but just start slow and enjoy. Leave the heart rate monitor etc at home for a while. Take different routes and explore. I started to ride in Stellenbosch 15 years ago. The other morning, I did my usual town to the waterfall at the top of Jonkershoek, down the enduro track, up the other side, down the fire hut track and home. It is a solid ride. But on that ride, I remembered my first ever MTB ride 15 years ago. A mate and I departed out of Stellies, got about half way to the gate of Jonkershoek, probably about 4km from home, breathing like drowning turkeys, thought "juss this is hard" and turned around and went home before it got too hectic. Within a few months we were flying down Jonkers. Just have fun.

You could keep down the tar down the Caprivi, but I agree that trip through Maun and across northern Bots would be amazing. Although, seriously, when I was last up there, we were driving back to Maun from the north, about 20km out of town, when a local guy on a bike stopped on the side of the road waved us down. There seem to be a bunch of animals lying in the road about 100m further up the road, couldn't quite figure out what they were at first, but we stopped for the guy and as we stopped, one of the animals stood up and we realised it was a pride of 14 lions. We popped his bike on top of roof and he jumped in, but quite what you do if you bump into 14 lions on a bike by yourself, I am not sure.

Or you could head north, cross into southern Zim, Bulawayo, Vic Falls and down the Caprivi. A lot more interesting than the N2 and that Kalahari Highway.

I have just got the Ultegra - the mechanic disk version was nearly half price at Merlin Cycles. Super comfy hoods and butter smooth shifts, always spot on. Brakes were a bit swalky at first, but once they were worn in, are great and powerful.

https://www.mountainmailorder.co.za/apparel/men/base-layer/ In Cape Town have the Icebreaker range. I got the half zip top a few years ago for mountaineering and rarely take it off through winter. Not too hot.

I see a GravelKing SS is on the way. Similar to the WTB byways.

Much of this debate may come down to the difference between what things are worth (based on the materials and labour) and what people are willing to pay. I read an article no so long ago that laid a lot of the reason / blame for the escalation in the price of bikes and components with Enve. Apparently, Enve used to make really good wheels at a low price, but battled to make ends meet. The guy who started it had a deep passion for building great wheels and really just wanted to get them out there, but they were always on the verge of bankruptcy. Accordingly to the article, after a number of years of this, his wife (who has a degree in business science, ex-McKinsie etc) took some time off her normal job and decided to step in and help. She looked at the business, looked at the demand, and said "rubbish" and just increased the price of wheels by 3-4 fold. On first reflection, everyone's response was "those prices are mad", but they eventually came back and bought them. The other bike companies saw this - if Enve is selling their carbon wheels for 3 times the normal price, why don't we? Most of us think that spending 200k on an s-works is mental. It doesn't add up in terms of materials and comparisons to motorbikes etc. Is an s-works bike really worth 24,000 cans of Castle Lite? But there are guys that are willing to pay it and they will probably sell all of them in a few months.

Thanks, that is reason I am asking. 60k on a frame is little nuts to me, but it does not seem to be that outlandish compared to other options. One can spend 83k on a gravel frame if you wish: https://privateer.co.za/product/open-u-p-p-e-r-frameset/

Out of interest, how much is the new fancy Pyga XC frame in comparison?

Yesterday, Saturday Morning. Attack in Tokai / Steenberg: Just saw this on Facebook A cyclist was attacked by two men with a panga opposite the US Embassy close to Steenberg Village this morning. The cyclist was robbed of his bicycle and broke his leg in the attack, he has been admitted to hospital. According to SAPS Kirstenhof no arrests have been made as yet. Please avoid riding alone but maintain a social distance and be vigilant !Pedal Power Association #staysafe

In addition to all this advice on jackets, my advice would also be to focus on hands, toes and neck. Those little half toes warmers that cover just the front half of your shoe, a reasonable pair of winter gloves, hiking socks and a buff around the neck, works wonders.

I am not a psychologist, I have had proper depression before and felt like you do. Some advice, it may be useful or not. I can only reiterate the advice above: "Rather dig deep and start off small. Motivate yourself by setting attainable goals in a decent time. Do not just think about it, but write it down and measure your performance so you can see if what you are doing is working or not. " Don't try change everything in one day, start with basic work tasks, list only a few of them, get them done and the satisfaction of getting them done, will make you more positive, to possibly expand the next day. Secondly, spend time with friends, even if it is chatting online in these covid times. Your mates show you there is a normal other world out there, make you laugh and show you that things are not that bad. Third, lay off the booze (only a beer or two a night) and keep your place clean. Make your bed each morning: Lastly, ride your bike. Perhaps make an arrangement to meet a mate at the traffic light up the road at 06:00. Knowing that he / she is there will get you out of bed and it will get your endorphins up early in the day.

I am 1.78cm and felt the Medium was a better fit. I am now of a large Pyga 110. The 2016 Anthem has a relatively steep 71 degree head angle, so going for a large with a short stem to get the "long and slack" geometry may not be the best as it is not slack.. You may end up with a short stem with a steepish head angle, resulting in twitchy steering. But, I had the same conundrum when I was buying my Anthem. I also read every blog and review and then eventually went to a shop that had the medium and large in stock. Got on the medium, it felt a little small but fine. Then I got on the large and it felt massive, not flickable etc.

Can't vote up enough. I have been riding in NZ, Italy and France over the last couple of years. Most of the XC / Enduro riders buy a Deore / SLX equipped bike with emphasis on good suspension and that is it. They have phenomenal skills and emphasis is on riding hard and charging. Chatting to the guys, they see S-works / XO / XTR etc as something for pros. Whereas here, guys seem to be obsessed with show pony bikes and to be frank, most don't have the skills to match. 20K is all reasonable, but over 80-100k on gravel bikes??

Further to the tripster noted above, Bike Addict seem to have significant specials on their 2019 bikes. In terms of ones with more relaxed geometry under 20k: Merida silex is known for its more upright geometry: https://bike-addict.co.za/collections/merida-gravel/products/merida-silex-400-2019 https://bike-addict.co.za/collections/merida-gravel/products/merida-silex-400-2020 I am looking at the Cannondale for my old man: https://bike-addict.co.za/collections/cannondale-gravel/products/cannondale-topstone-se-disc-105-2019

I just built a Kinesis Tripster AT - found the frame for 5k second hand and built it up from there. It has the relaxed geometry etc that you are after: https://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Models/Adventure/Tripster-AT On some sites, e.g. Merlin, the frames are discounted and your probably get close to a build for 20k. (just remember the 15% VAT on parts coming in).

I wonder which half it is going to be? Or perhaps Bloem to Bloem.

If a monster cross bike is a mtb with dropbars instead of a flat bar. What is monster cross bike with a flat bar instead of a dropbar? I understand that some spanners want a flat bar and big tires on gravel bike, but it seems like we going around in circles a little.

I think the second hand market is about to implode, not explode. I built a gravel bike 6 weeks ago. Mixture of new and old components, second hand frame. With the current specials at numerous shops, I can buy a brand new bike for 10k less. Same components etc. I just giggle at the prices guys are wanting in the second hand section. Obviously they haven't looked at Spec, Bike Addict, etc etc lately.

I also built a gravel bike a month ago, all good, but then Spec has started a lock down special with the Diverges discounted by 40% or so. The comp carbon with Ultegra is now R35k instead of R58k. Good luck to anyone trying to sell gravel bikes second hand when the new ones are far cheaper.

https://trailhead.rockshox.com/en/tuning/36T60521852

Skate board wheel bearings and some wood. Or this one: If you training for the Munga

Most of our MTB night riding group here in Cape Town use: https://www.extremelights.co.za/collections/bicycle-lights/products/endurance-bicycle-light-1 Also for morning commutes and so forth. Tough, straight forward, plenty of light.

Indeed, I was super skeptical, until I had a good on a Trek Checkpoint for the weekend. A karoo road, jeep track and road route that would have been a boring old schlep on my Pyga 110 (which i love), turned into an absolute jol. The fact of the matter is that the majority of South African mountain bikers are actually off-road cyclists. Most of can do 100km without a worry, but can't ride a 1m drop off. Many may prefer a more efficient gravel bike to an MTB.