LazyTrailRider

Spot on. You’ve pretty much summed up everything.

Haha, I'm 181 and 67kg!

You've pretty much summed it up. I know it's tough to hear OP, but spending money on wheels won't make you faster, it will just be a placebo. Step up your training; besides being more cost effective, it will probably be more satisfying! EDIT: Just so I don't seem harsh, let me qualify the above by stating that I have 3 bikes with carbon wheelsets in the garage. On the trail bike, they're for stiffness (I'm a tight line picker and live for improving my segment PRs one second at a time). On the gravel bike (which serves as my road bike), they're for the quality of the hubs that came with them and for bombproofness, because full-on road bikes and their wheels are too twitchy for me. On my wife's e-bike they're purely for lightness when pushing and picking it up, because the bike's already heavy. Does it make enough of a difference? Not sure, but every little bit helps. My point is that there are many different reasons for buying bling gear. In some scenarios though, you're setting yourself up for disappointment if your goals don't align with what the gear's able to deliver.

Indeed, this too.

I think you'll find Nino could run slicks and still out-corner most of us wannabees. It is very seldom useful looking at the setups run by XCO pros unless you're already a seriously fast rider.

Ha. You know what else is Spez? My helmet, bibs, jerseys, gloves, socks, shoes, jackets. Gotta match, because.

These exercises are fascinating to me and I’ve kept a spreadsheet over the last 18 months. I have three bikes in the garage (2019 Stumpjumper, 2020 Diverge, 2017 Levo). Both the Diverge and Stumpy were bought during this period, with only the net cost of the Stumpy after selling the Enduro it replaced factored in. On the Stumpy and Levo I keep everything absolutely mint. I have fork lowers done every 25 hours without fail, cables whenever I feel just a little bit of friction, full suspension rebuild every 12 months. In addition to this, there’s a long list of components I’ve upgraded as I found deals too good to pass up on, kit I’ve kept fresh (I’m a sucker for nice stuff), a new set of 2FO ClipLites, a road helmet, some low-light Oakleys and proper lights for pre-dawn riding, new carbon wheels for the Diverge, different bar and stem, etc. All in all, my bike riding has averaged out to R7400/month over the last 18 months. When I first looked at the figure I thought “*%#* me”, but riding bikes has been what I do for 30 years so it’s just how my life is configured. Bikes and bike stuff is worth every cent to me!

There are about 3418 shades of grey in this statement. How much of a house do you really need? In SA terms, why do you need to live in a R4.5m house in a "nice" suburb when a R900k 2-bedroom apartment in another suburb (which someone doesn't think is nice purely because of their perceived socio-economic status) will do just fine? How much of a car do you really need? If most of us were perfectly honest with ourselves, we'd admit that the 8 yr old R100k hatchback is actually all we really need. There are several people in this thread who could buy both the R900k apartment and R100k car cash and still have money left for a R50k bike. And yet, out of these several people, I'm willing to bet that 90% live in the R4.5m (or more) house with a bond and drive a financed R700k (or more) car, and then most likely ride a R100k bike bought cash.

Holy crap, 20% with prime at the level it is at the moment? ????

I bought a 2017 Levo - very similar to yours Aquaratza - for my wife in July 2019. Granted, it lives a very easy life with one or two 15km (300-400m) elevation rides a month in most months. The only trouble I've had so far has been the screw on the drive-side of the plastic motor cover pulling through leaving the cover loose, but that was easily remedied with a DIY washer. Because it's such a schlep (read: I'm lazy) to remove the battery to clean it, I take it to the Spez dealership to be washed and lubed 9 out of 10 times. They're obviously very aware of the battery control's water ingress issues, so I have not had any problems there. Something which should be said on the other thread: Getting the Levo has been the most incredible game-changer for her. She's a type 1 diabetic and really struggles to keep blood sugar levels consistent, the ability to dial assist levels up and down while on a ride to make sure she doesn't sugar crash has been amazing. Without it, we would not be able to ride together!

It's all about layering. My setup: If it's cool but the wind-chill factor is high: K-Way Thermalator base layer + Spez Deflect jacket.If it's cold but no wind: Spez Therminal mountain jerseyIf it's very cold and windy: K-Way Thermalator base layer + Spez Therminal mountain jersey + Spez Deflect jacket

Fear not, 47 is more than young enough. I’m 43 this year and have set more PRs in the last year than in many years before (I started racing 30 years ago). There are 47 year olds who are Strava top 10s across the board...

The dudes and dudettes commenting on this thread are obviously *not* the target market for a R200k bike. Are there enough people who make enough money to make it worth the manufacturers' while? Obviously. If you're earning 5 or 6 bar a year and you love riding, having a Levo S-Werx isn't really a crazy thing at all...

Highly unlikely you’ll ever snap a Lyne bar. I ride with an AMP 35 and it’s been completely bulletproof.

What you're planning is referred to as a hybrid system, which is what I have. When there is sunlight, it charges the battery and runs the house.When there is no sunlight, the house runs off the battery.If the battery is empty, the system switches to grid which then both recharges (at a configurable rate) the battery and runs the house until the battery is at a set level, at which point it will disconnect from grid and run from battery again.

Inverters get pretty loud when under load. Depending on the size, I would not put it anywhere near a living area. Ours is in the garage and I can hear it in the adjoined scullery if the door is open. If you can be fairly certain that things will stay nice and dry in your outside building, definitely go that route.

This is a great lube. But... I have both this and a bottle of their C3 Ceramic Dry. C3 wins hands down. Yes, it’s crazy expensive, but the added syrup-like consistency (almost like Finish Line’s old school wet lube) makes it stick and last just that much longer. It also dissolves completely when using water-based degreaser. Magical stuff. The only other stuff that’s come close is Rock ‘n Roll Extreme Purple, which we sadly don’t get locally anymore... Squirt is rubbish, unless you love scrubbing wax out of your pulleys every weekend.

All very good points which echo my experience. On the Li-ion lifespan: My approach is that battery tech will be drastically better 5-7 years from now, so even though my 10/7kWh Freedom WON battery has a 10yr guarantee if used at an average of 70% DoD, I mostly klap it down to 25% or even 20% in winter (when there is no loadshedding). Yes, it was expensive at R95k odd, but I'm thinking that I'll rather squeeze every single bit of performance out of it short-term because it's quite possible I'll be able to buy something new double that capacity for the same price 7 years from now and in the process neatly upgrade my overall lack of reliance on whatever the grid state is at that point. EDIT: I see the new model is 18 months later already down to R70k and guaranteed at 10/8, so point proven!

Unlike many charts which advocate too high pressures, this one is pretty good!

As far as I know he's focused on the XCO. Our young pinner Matt Lombardi is however riding, you can spot him at 2h45s: https://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/MASSIVE-DRIFTS-AND-CARNAGE-E-MTB-WORLD-CHAMPS,38297/sspomer,2

Absolutely. My bike garage agrees...

No need to wonder, check out the links I posted...

On the *completely* different end of the scale, Spez's 2021 kit has just dropped locally. The effects of our weak ZAR (not that it's only that, I know) are now well and truly hitting us with all the new stuff reaching our shores. https://www.specialized.com/za/en/enduro-pro-shorts/p/175031?color=280702-175031&searchText=64220-5000 https://www.specialized.com/za/en/atlas-xc-comp-shorts/p/175016?color=280641-175016&searchText=64220-3100

Don’t even joke, my Diverge (albeit on special) cost as much as a Pike ????

Fokkit, have you seen what a Reverb AXS costs? My gravel bike stuff feels cheap compared to what I’ve been brainwashed into spending on my trail bike!