BuffsVintageBikes

Agreed, if there was a "Most aggressive rider of the day" award it would have gone to Luke, he was ripping it up 👍

Every year I read @Mamils race report and every year I promise myself I'll do it the following year. Then along comes December and all my ideas of a solid month of base train and weight loss goes out the window in favour of a good holiday, great food and copious amounts of cold beers... because I deserve it, it's been a long year right? When I look again, it's mid Januworry and I suddenly realize that I'm nowhere near prepared enough for a week of climbing Bainskloof Pass for 4 days and chicken out 😖 I'm my own worst enemy I guess 😊

After doing my 21st tour last year, I made the commitment to my wife to drop my competitive nature and enjoy my 22nd tour riding around the Peninsula with her. It was her 6th tour but she hadn't done it in many years. I'm super glad I agreed to that idea because we had a lovely time out there. Taking time to smell the roses makes one acutely aware of just how privileged we are to still have this event on our year cycling calendar and the way the majority of the greater CT community embraces it, is truly special. When starting early (pre-7am), you don't really get any idea of how many spectators still take the time to come out and cheer the riders on. The first 70km's just flash by and the only support you get are from the early risers and the cheerleaders at the water stations. Starting later opens up a whole new world of support, with people all along the route cheering you on, braaiing, having a dop, DJ stations galore etc. It's a totally different vibe and a whole lot of fun. We stopped at many water tables, interacted with the locals and even stopped at the famous Noordhoek Cafe for a cappuccino (sadly the croissants were already sold out) and took the time to cheer on the riders as well. Cathy rode her ebike with a single battery, so battery management was crucial. Her bike is limited to 28km/h, so on the downhills and flat flowing parts of the course I added a helping hand just to keep the speed consistent with the little bunches we were in and on the lumpy stuff she made me work at bit keeping up. In the end her conservative use of her trail or boost mode was unnecessary because she still had plenty of battery life left. That little Orbea Rise really impresses me with its battery management. All in, it was a superb day out there and we had an immense amount of fun. I think I'll do it again next year, the same way... God willing 🙏

In 2022 I went down there on a gravel bike with 40C Rambler tires. It wasn't fun but it was doable.

I raced the 180 Half last year on a set of 47C Vittoria Terreno dry's on my Hartail. They performed beautifully, even down Rooiberg at speed 🤙

Clem is just trolling for new victims 😉😄 That Brackenfell group ride is a bit of a hammer fest this time of the year so come well prepared. They do however regroup at a few points on the ride if you get dropped but you still need to maintain at least a 30km/h avs speed so you don't get left behind completely.

DID, you are aware that Keegan is a multiple USA XCO Champ right? The oke can MTB and he can do it very well. I think this is a match made in heaven as long as they don't rip each others legs off.

Hoe dan nou so? Didn't Keegan ride the whole Epic with his brakes on when he partnered with Lacky?

Sorry, it wasn't meant to be mean although it does happen, often to people who take on these challenges around a braai with mates and then don't prepare themselves properly for the effort. All the best with your ride.

Don't die and if you do, warn the riders behind you that you're stopping to die so that they don't ride into you and cause a pile up. Oh... and have lots of fun, that's what it's all about 🤙

That was rather an interesting finish to stage 1 of the tour of Algarve yesterday. I see they now cancelled the stage altogether rather than give Ganna then win. What a cluster F$#@. I spent an hour watching the last 40km's on Live stream only for it to end in that chaos.

Yup, most of the k@kpraat has now moved onto whatsapp groups instead of the forum. Rather sad actually. I find myself enjoying the Wilddog Adventure biking forum a lot more as the topics are more varied and engaging. The target market there also appears to be a lot more mature (read old toppies) and experienced.

And this is where Ethics come into play... he blatantly lied to you to gain benefit. I had the same thing happen to me with vintage motorcycle that I bought on Gumtree for a bargain. I got contacted a day later by the owner of the motorcycle museum (or rather motorcycle hoarder) in Nieuwoudtville. I was spun this long story about it being the only bike he's missing in a collection of Yamaha 2 strokes and the bike will be preserved for eternity and on display for everyone to enjoy for generations to come etc. etc. etc. I fell for his story and felt good about preserving the history of the bike. I ended up selling it to him for what I paid plus the petrol to collect it. A week later I got a call from someone asking if I had the papers for the bike. When inquiring why he would need the papers after I sold the bike to the museum owner, he informed me that he bought the bike from him and wants to register it. Needless to say, he paid substantially more for the bike... as in SUBSTANTIALLY more. I'm still pissed off about it, not because I sold it but because I allowed myself to be bullshitted by a old con artist. But karma will deal with him in the future.

It was a sting operation, he had backup waiting.

Sadly for every 1 arrested there's another 10 ready to take his place, especially if they're getting rewarded for their efforts. The only solutions is to get them out of that area and hopefully not somewhere close to another cycling route because they now know how lucrative the cycling muggings can be.

Yeah, I really don't see the issue here. This is how fair trade works. If you did your due diligence and were happy with the price you got at the time then it sounds like you're just sour that you didn't sell them for more. Bear in mind that he might be smoking his socks and he won't get the price he's now asking for now anyway.

This is a tricky one: Why were you willing to negotiate significantly? Do he spin you a long story about needing a sponsor/being broke/desperate etc. You then felt sorry for him and dropped your price dramatically because you're a good bloke. Were you happy with the price you got at the time? If not, why?

They say data tells the true story and I found the stats from this past weekends Trilogy 80km gravel race at the 99er rather interesting. Besides the fact that the entries more than doubled in a year, it's the age group info that shows where the spending power is currently happening. The road group on the other hand showed higher numbers in the 40-49 group.

As a bicycle restorer, threads like this make me happy 😄 Old bicycles still have so much too offer riders, both new and old. It always fascinates me that new riders will drop tons of cash on a new bike when they have no idea if they'll even enjoy the sport. There are so many old bikes around to be bought for absolute bargains and the replacement parts like chains and cassettes are a fraction of the price on the newer stuff. 2 years ago I bought a hardly used, 2014 carbon Scott 29er hardtail here on the forum for a great price. It still has a 3x XT up front and 10 speed cassette at the rear. I raced that bike to WP colours in my age group (Marathon MTB) and a podium at the 361 Half. I'm not trying to be windgat, just pointing out that older bikes still have so much to offer and yet so many get pushed into a corner in the garage or have to be upgraded to the latest and greatest 12 speed groupset. I still regularly ride my vintage steel racing bikes in the bunch rides in the evenings or weekends as well. The regulars are used to seeing me on a steel Classic but it's always entertaining to see the new riders reaction when you're sitting in the bunch with them when the pace is on and they realize the old ballie is on a bike that's as old as what he is 😄 I'm not saying we should ignore the advancement in technology but we do need to realize that the market segment that draws full benefit from those technical improvements is minuscule in the greater scheme of things. You don't drive a Ferrari to the office in rush hour traffic so why do you need a Factor VAM for a PPA funride in group F? With the rise in prices of high end bikes, this will become less and less of a thing in the future but as a poor 3rd world country, Saffers total fascination with their attraction to expensive bikes and vehicles is rather strange. No were else in Europe will you find this, not even Italy. Here you hardly see anyone on a 26er MTB anymore, over there lots of people are still riding them. It's weird 🙄 Anyway, enough rambling, each to their own I guess, as long as we're all enjoying the sport and we're out there on our bikes, both old & new 😉🤙

I can highly recommend the new Super Sconto Italian Deli at Devonbosch (at the end of Bottelary road), open 7 days a week. Italian sarmies just hit differently. The Brickfields Cafe that's there is also very nice but sadly they're not open on a Sunday.

You guys absolutely took it to the next level and you can all be very proud of your event 👏

The Gravel Trilogy: Yes man, what a lekka route & ride. We felt every one of those extra 20km's added on from last years event 😊 After Finish Time stuffed up my result from last year with a DNS and had ebikes winning the age groups when they weren't supposed to be allowed in the Trilogy, I decided to change my approach this year and rather enjoy the event with good mates rather than mix it up with the racing snakes. It proved to be the best decision ever because we had a total blast out there. It meant falling back to FG to start with the worst seeded mate but he was by no means a weak rider, he just doesn't race often enough so has no seeding. It also meant we were some of the strongest in our group so spent most of the day on the front and out of trouble. Well, beside the youngster on the MTB who suddenly decided to turn left without any warning at the Medium road route split grazed my front wheel almost bringing us all down behind him 🙄 He was doing the Trilogy as well and wasn't supposed to turn so it was very unexpected. When we turned off the tar at 25km mark we were sitting on a 34km/h avs so we weren't hanging around either. From then on we went all MvdP and WvA 😄 Riding those gravel roads at speed was such a jol. I ride them often but never in anger and if felt so lekka to give it a tonk. The sandy bits made life interesting every now and then but for the most part it was just awesome. Somewhere just before the Klipheuwel trails, one of our mates legs fell off (we won't mention any names 😉) so we had to back off the pace and nurse him home. It meant feeding him gels, the odd push and a stop at the last feed zone (which in itself was simply an incredible experience with people wanting to feed us and shout motivation... and taking photos for us 😄) My wife winning a hamper in the lucky draw was a bonus... and scoring free tickets to next years event... this after she won a hamper last year as well and got us free ticket to this years event 😄 Needless to say, I'll bring her with next year again. She also did the Trilogy but on her ebike out of GG group. The two of us are doing the Cape Cross Tour later in the year and she wanted to test the range on her Orbea Rise. After 80kms she ended up on a 21km/h avs with 2 bars of battery life left (of the 5). I'm seriously impressed with that little ebike... and my wife of course 😄 Well done to Nicholas and the entire team on an absolutely superb event. I truly cannot fault anything about the organizing, it was spot on. Well, besides FT who got me as a DNS again 😖 Actually there was one thing that was a little frustrating, that Rugby Club needs to appoint more barmen for next year. We got very thirty in that sun and the queues were long. The brandy bucket was a winner though... Yoh !!!! 🍻 Roll on 2026... this event is going to get HUGE !!!!

Must have been a helluva job on the Trilogy route, now that's going above & beyond 😉😊 Jokes aside, thanks to your Team for all their effort. If it's anything like last years event, we're in for a great day out on the bike at a very well organized event. I know I'm really looking forward to enjoying the Trilogy route with a few good mates 👍

D. Trilogy - weekend warrior

Glad to hear. I checked now and my result from last year is no longer even reflecting on their site. I've gone from a top 20 placing in the Trilogy to now having a DNF... and the oke on an ebike (which wasn't allowed last year in the Trilogy) is still showing a top 10 placing.... WTF 🫣