WIPEOUT 1000

I really enjoy my Litespeed Gravel, it's just a solid go anywhere, do anything bike and the bigger volume tires really do make a difference to the ride quality. I also agree with the prior comment about 2 x. No amount of marketing can undo the empirical evidence, cross chaining is just a waste of energy and having 2 rings at the front does make a difference when your riding on the road or gravel.

Just a shoutout to all the great volunteers who make this event possible. While we were swimming around the peninsula, they were next to the road treading water, assisting with a smile. I snapped my chain as I crested the climb from Misty Cliffs dropping down into the Ocean View decent. Fortunately there was a very friendly mechanic at the Sun Valley waterpoint who managed to fix it. I am very grateful sir.

I honestly have no problem with people riding on e-bikes. As long as people ride with due regard for their fellow cyclist, i.e. safely, it makes no difference to me. However, I've never understood, that given tri bars are banned for safety reasons, people are allowed to ride 70cm+ MTB handlebars in a road race. From my perspective, there are few things as scary as riding in bunch with someone with wide handlebars.

I agree, also for my riding wider is definitely better, but on the road I find that the 38mm one works really well (40mm in practice.) It's really very comfortable but if you want to go wider, Rene Herse (made 100% by Panaracer) make them in 44mm, 48mm and 55mm. The only 2 issues are that you'll have to import them and they are significantly more expensive that the normal Panaracer's. https://www.renehersecycles.com/product-category/components/tires/700c/

I ride Panaracer Gravelking Slick TLC's (Folding Tire - 40-622 / 700x38C). According to Bicycle Rolling Resistance it is the best rolling 40mm slick available. https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/cx-gravel-reviews/panaracer-gravel-king They're probably not the most puncture resistant tires I've ever used, but from my experience the main problem is glass. Unlike a tubed tire, where you have to puncture both the casing and the tube on a tubeless tire if you puncture the casing you end up with a lot of sealant everywhere. However, you can run them with a tube and more importantly for normal gravel I've never had a problem. The only issue is that for some reason they're not locally available and I have to import them. Panaracer manufacture similar tires for a few other brands (e.g. Rene Herse), but these are significantly cheaper than any of those.

Hi' I'll buy them if you can send me your contact details

It is true that the price has increased significantly in the last couple of years, but that also seems to be true for virtually every other cycling event. However, my 2016 ride still ranks as one of the best things I've ever done on a mountain bike and I'll like to use this forum to acknowledge all the people who made this amazing event possible. Thanks for the great memories, it was a privilege to have ridden the beloved country with you guys & girls!

For the Festive 500’s #1 to #10, Rapha would mail everyone who completed the festive 500 a small badge/patch/roundel. It's a small insignificant piece of cloth, but I was still bitterly disappointed to discover on completion of the 2020 Festive 500 that Rapha had stopped doing this and all I had to show for the effort was a virtual badge on Strava.

Unless Rapha brings back the little roundels, I'm not doing another Festive 500.

Personally I think the grease supplied with the chain is simply there to protect from rust & corrosion. It useless from a friction perspective and it attracts dirt like nothing else. I would clean the chain ASAP and lubricate with whatever you think works. Personally I use hot wax on my chains and because it's a little more complicated than using normal lube I rotate my chains. It is really easy with the right chain (in my case Connex chains by Wipperman.) If correctly applied hot wax is by far the most efficient chain lubricant. However, I think the main benefit from my perspective is improved chain life which also has a direct impact on the life of the rest of the drivetrain. For reference, I have done more than 18 000 km’s on the 2 chains I currently rotate and both are still within 0.1% elongation, measured over the total length of the chain.

Cois, dankie vir die foto en die nuus, julle is 'n inspirasie, bid vir jou en jou vrou.

I use hot wax on my chains and because it's a little more complicated than using normal lube I rotate my chains. It is really easy with the right chain. The main issue to consider is that not all quick links are re-useable and if so, it can become prohibitively expensive to rotate chains. I use Connex chains by Wipperman. For reference, I have done more than 17 000 km’s on the 2 chains I currently rotate and both are still well within 0.5%.

Francois, beide van julle is my gebede.

How does one sell such a stunning bike, and more importantly one with so many great memories, for so little? It's a bit of a left field suggestion, but if you're kids are not going to ride it, make another great memory and donate it to someone who needs a bike?

This morning my friend Sakkie completed his 31st consecutive CTCT 109 for 109 Charity Challenge for March 2021. He also turned 61 today and to celebrate his wife had a special medal made to celebrate.

Just completed my 5th consecutive Festive 500 this morning, only to discover that we'll not be getting a roundel this year. A bit like the rest of 2020.

I think J&J is probably the main reason we see so little campy on South African bicycles

I assume it's also the same front chainring it came with

From what I read, SRAM seems to have some quality & specifically tolerance issues. Hambini's opinion of their GX crankset is not suitable for younger viewers. I also find it interesting that no one's yet referenced the recent Velonews article on chain wear. I found both SRAM & Shimano's responses very unsatisfactory. https://www.velonews.com/gear/we-went-to-germany-to-test-the-most-popular-bicycle-chains-heres-what-we-found/ We went to Germany to test the most popular bicycle chains. Here’s what we found:

I’m sure the Epic organization has insurance to cover loss of income for this type of scenario. The question is at what point they can claim? I suspect the Western Cape Government guidance was it. On the other side I really feel for the riders who now cannot participate this year. It’s a huge commitment (family, time, money, etc.) to get this far and not to be able to even start must be heartbreaking.

My Litespeed Gravel (Large) weighs approximately 8.4kg's in CTCT mode. Not a lot extra compared to my other road bikes.

I bought a gravel bike in 2018 after doing a lot of research on rolling resistance in the real world, i.e. not on rock hard & absolutely smooth velodrome. The science is interesting, but basically, on real roads, vibration not only fatigues but also absorbs momentum. I.e. if one can reduce vibration, one can go both further and faster for less energy and with more comfort. Anyway, I concluded that I needed wider tires on my road bike and since most road bikes max out at 28mm to 32mm I decided to buy a gravel bike. 2 Years later and I've not ridden any of my road bikes since. My gravel bike's just a much better ride on road. It's no slower than my riding partners' road bikes, it's more comfortable, it corners and descends much better and because I run tubeless, fixing flats next to the road’s no longer an issue. The one thing I find a bit of problem is finding suitable slick tires locally. I run 38mm Panaracer GravelKing Slick Tread TLC most of the time and for CTCT I used a pair of 32mm Continental GP5000 TL. It seems that in South Africa, people believe that you can only go offroad if you have knobby tires. This is not true, everyone who’ve done the Eroica or anything similar knows that one can ride gravel roads on skinny road tires, but wider works better. Recently, Ted King won the inaugural Steamboat Gravel Race on 35mm Rene Herse slicks.

4 Years in a row, I hope I can make it 5 this year.

Pauline held all 3 at the same time, but she actually won the Road title in 2014 an the other 2 in 2015.

My De Rosa Titanio was made to measure for me. To the best of my knowledge all titanium De Rosa frames are custom.