LazyTrailRider

Don’t. Also, temper your battery lifespan expectations and be mentally (and financially) prepared to spend another R10-R12k on better batteries in the next 12-24 months. I financed a dozen or so (albeit smaller 1kW) systems similar to this for our software dev team over the last 2 years. The most important takeaway so far has been that people generally expect far too much from setups in this price range. My advice would be to avoid disappointment by not doing that.

Didn’t you say your previous post was going to be your last one?

Going to be around R270k for the SW model. I love my Diverge, but no thanks.

Don't underestimate the importance of this. My wife and I were at Meerendal this weekend and enjoyed it. She is a very cautious occasional rider and Meerendal is one of the only trails she feels comfortable on. Hoogekraal? Interspersed with techy bits which she needs to walk. Bloemendal? She hates it, because it compresses as much tech as possible into a short distance. Great for us shredders, but unpleasant for someone who rides for meandering scenery. Jonkers? Way too tech. Tokai? Straight up, straight down if you exclude the ST which she's too scared to ride because it's so busy and someone on a Strava run is going to chase up behind her. We need diversity in trails - as in most areas of life - to make the world a better place. Just because you and I love sending gaps and shredding through rock gardens doesn't mean everyone does. Not everyone rides to "progress" either, some just want to enjoy the scenery and a bit of meander. Let's not forget that.

The reality is that many people have all of the above. I log gravel, road, MTB and eMTB rides on Strava depending on the day.

Bliksem, 62km in plakkies? 😲

The HSC on a Lyrik Ultimate isn't going to affect the feel you're talking about much, it's very difficult to discern any difference until you start hitting really big square-edged stuff. Your setup sounds pretty mid-range, so my guess would be that you need to get used to adjusting your riding style slightly... Maybe run 25% sag for a while and then work up to 30%?

Yes, but only because you were conditioned that way. That's my entire point.

I'm very familiar with Christian's explanation of this, but here's the thing: this transmission exists purely to serve sentimentality and nostalgia. The reality is that the fact that we need gears to start off with is problematic, and gearboxes exist as clunky (pardon the pun) solutions to this problem. The fact that manual transmissions became associated with "the joy of driving" is quite amusing, and I suspect will in 50 years be seen in the same way that we'll think it's strange that for a century us humans came to associate loud internal combustion noises with performance.

Afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. Manual gearboxes seem silly once you've owned a proper performance dual-clutch.

I used Shimano from the 90s until around 2010, then had some cheapish SRAM stuff, then cheapish Shimano (like SLX level) again, then XT, but I never could say that I genuinely felt one camp was superior. Since 2015, I've been on SRAM for my MTB stuff. First XX1, then different generations of GX. Currently GX Lunar on the one bike and NX on the other. On my gravel bike I run GRX and I like the feel, but I don't think it's an apples-to-apples comparison because it's such a narrowly spaced cassette. @MORNE I was thinking about ditching the NX for GX AXS, but now you have me thinking that I should maybe consider going XT again...

I'm afraid you've lost me.

Erm, they do. There are plenty of EB segments which only show up on EB-selected rides…

On a practical note, I for one love comparing my EB and analog times on DH segments to try and figure out where I can improve my analog performance. It's been pretty interesting seeing that I thought I was losing time in section X when, surprise, it's actually section Y.

Easy.

In all seriousness, I think The Quantified Scientist has some of *the* best data insights. The guy is not a muppet...

It would be extremely surprising if that chainring did NOT slip. It’s moertoe!

Race Kings will never inspire confidence, low rolling resistance is their only purpose. For your use, I'd look at the new Spez Ground Control front and rear.

Hmmm, interesting. I've had Roval Traverse SLs and now the "normal" Roval Traverse carbons and I can't say that either has felt harsher than the alloy versions. In fact, my perception is that they're ever-so-slightly better at damping high-frequency stuff. Anecdotally, it sounds like it might be an Ibis thing...

Cool story bro. I’m assuming you also think that all lives matter? (Doing my part to get this thread locked so the muppets who think they’re heroes can stop giving others stupid ideas).

Yup, just buy a new one.

Yes, quite interesting. I suspect it may have something to do with flicking into turbo on a short climb (although I seldom do this), getting carried away with feeling like Superman, and then smashing it with 100% effort!

A direct real-world comparison on the same route could maybe be useful here. Both the rides below are in Tokai: Fairy Garden, Main Drag, climb up around Snakes, Boulders up, then down Mamba and the rest of Snakes, back to Vasbyt and down with the main singletrack. Normal bike is a Stumpy Evo, EB is a Levo SL. The biggest difference is the relative effort, but as you can see the HR and speed aren't worlds apart... PS: I don't have power data for this EB ride, it was before I had a Garmin capable of getting power/cadence/battery input, but subsequent rides show an average 170w on these kinds of rides (which are definitely not very hard, just punchy for some sections).

Pretty close to exactly my story also. I love my SL, but I don't want it as my only bike. Danie, don't rush into this without very carefully considering your long-term options...

Typo I assume?