LazyTrailRider

The 80s called, they want their styling back 😬

Rode up the spruced-up Fairy Garden BMX track (just kidding, it's great 😆) yesterday morning. Good work, thanks guys! Special appreciation for fixing that sharp rock that has for years wanted to eat the left of your rear wheel as you sneak past it coming out of that left-hander. IYKYK.

I raced a provincial DH against Matt Kimble in 1992, the guy made me look like I was standing still.

While we're on the topic of initial price, let's have a quick chat about depreciation. My 2023 battery-powered machine cost me just under R200k in total, and it has seen 1560km of riding since then (my gravel/road bike does more). Conservatively, it's cost me R64/km in depreciation alone. This means that an average 17km spin in Tokai costs me R1000 so far. Every time. You know what? It's utterly ridiculous, but I don't care because this $%^ is what I live for 😄

Do you store your cash in a savings account, where it earns less interest than CPI? Bonds are where plenty of people with lots of money stash their cash. There is no such thing as money without opportunity cost, it always either earns a return, or it does not. If you're taking cash out of an investment portfolio, you're giving up the return it could have earned there. If you're taking it out of a bond, you're giving up the interest savings (on an appreciating asset in most cases) it could have earned there. Your original statement looking down on someone drawing cash from a bond means that technically, the only people who genuinely can afford toys like bicyles used for sport are those with zero debt and annuity income from investments with zero replenishment of capital required. Basically, people who have enough money that they don't need to work and can live off interest.

Yup, in the same boat mostly at 47, so I get tons of satisfaction when I do manage to improve!

It's quite amusing to watch people get onto their high horses with "I only use my activity data for the noble purpose of my own training, people who care about what others are doing are vain". Strava literally exists for you to be able to compare yourself to others, that is 95% of its selling proposition. I pay the R599/year because I want to see how my segment times compare to others every time I ride. Most importantly, I freely admit this. There is no point in pretending that I'm better than everyone else and I don't care about others. We ALL care about how we compare to others, if you don't, you're lying to yourself.

More than 25 years. I met Meurant in 1997 when he convinced me to help him and Jack with the Botmaskop DH build. He was already a legend back then, like he was for the 28 years following that. RIP Meurant and JP.

For R2.5k, you can even look at the new Specialized Recon 1.0. But, like others have said, shoes are like saddles: what works for one person does not for another, so try them on.

Wait till you see the stats. On a Saturday morning in the peninsula, my Varia records being passed by an average of 200 vehicles per hour…

I’ve just changed to Transmission from Eagle and I’m going to change from 32T to 34T to spread the load more on my expensive new T—Type cassette. The GX that has just come off has around 1400km on it and still in very good nick (700km on a GX chain, 700km until now on a XX1, which is still perfect), but it’s very obvious that the larger 40% of the cassette saw very little use, which is not ideal.

Thanks for reminding me 🤪

There are some outliers in the market, I've sold several bikes I've had for 60% after 2 years, 70% after a year, but 1) those have been machines that have seen only a few hundred kilometres of use and 2) I don't treat my bikes like most people do, minor scuffs and scratches aren't "normal wear and tear" for me unless it's on a bike that I'm riding properly hard.

They had me at Pazzaz.

Also, the advertised price includes the dealer's costs and profit to finance and keep something worth several hundred K on a shiny floor for a month or three, keep it clean, advertise it, and pay people to show it to interested buyers, spend hours helping them with their paperwork, etc etc.

Unfortunately for my wallet, I have over the years been guilty as charged. I bought 2022 Stumpy Evo new, added a few upgrades (total spend just under R100k), rode it for a year and put just under 400km on it. Then bought a Levo SL2 (also new) for R150k and added a Traverse SL carbon wheelset, nicer brakes, and a new Lyrik Ultimate to it, total spend R180k. Sold the Stumpy for R60k. I've put 1300km on the Levo and it is mint (no scratched derailleurs here) because I am pedantic about my stuff, but I'm under no illusion that I'd likely only get R80k for it. Here's the thing: There are people like me out there who have ridden bikes their entire lives who genuinely get immense satisfaction from fiddling with the latest tech. Specifically suspension, but brakes, geo and things like drivetrain dampening (man, recent years' bikes are SO quiet). Oh, and carbon wheels. Sure, value still matters to me (I'm not silly enough to buy XXSL or a Reverb AXS post, or heaven forbid Flight Attendant), but it puts a huge smile on my face to pin it down say the Snakes at Tokai and feel the noticeable difference in composure on a big hit between a Charger 2.1 and 3.0 damper (yes, it's better). Do people like me keep the manufacturers who release new stuff going? Yes. Do I mind? No.

Some excellent deals to be had. The Levo SL that I paid R150k for can now be had for R105k, as an example. Sucks a bit for me, but great value!

If you’re riding the kind of trails where you’re constantly above 32km/h, an EB is not the tool for the job.

I’ve never actually considered this, but good point! Then again, in 35 years of riding across dozens upon dozens of bikes, I’ve only once bent a hanger (probably 20 years ago), and never broken one.

Both my previous and my current bike have UDH. I've been eyeing GX Transmission, but I can't get over the cost, so this might just be for me...

Paying R50k+ for a week's racing never really made much sense to me before, but I could kinda, sorta, roughly-in-a-way justify it in my mind because of the "it includes all accommodation and food" aspect. I'm back to my original opinion now, Epic will never see me. If I wanted to give money away in exchange for a crappy product to people who are desperately trying to keep shareholders happy by cutting costs, I'd just buy a Tesla.

You will not regret getting a Stumpy Evo. Out of the 20+ bikes I’ve had, it’s been by far the best all-round machine. The fact that both the Levo SL Gen2 (which is what I ride now) and now the new Stumpy have the same geo as the Evo had 4 years ago illustrates how sorted this setup is.

Anything below 32mm is not wide. Most of my road riding is done on 38mm Spez Pathfinders.

I was going to suggest exactly this.

This really sucks, so sorry to hear about it!