Wimmas

Do not want to derail the thread but want to know: Is it MTB or road? 200-300km's then clean and lube.... On my MTB I clean and lube weekly and I only do around 50km to 90km per week. I may also just be too paranoid

I'd see keep the one you enjoy riding the most as both are obviously great bikes. Hopefully you will get enough moola for the one you do decide to sell to fund the MTB of your choice. Just bare in mind MTB's have higher maintenance costs and upgrades can be extremely costly so buy the right one from the start.

Hmmm not a great experience, but I think it is pretty common. Many manufacturers save on costs when it comes to wheels/hubs/spokes. My Scott Scale 960 hardtail also only did a few km's before one spoke decided to bend. I assume it is probably made of bloudraad. Was not even bothered to contact the dealer I purchased it from or Scott themselves as the dealer is in CT and I am in JHB, plus it is a MTB and I was thinking they will likely tell me it is wear and tear, or due to the terain I ride. Hopefully your wheels will now last after the rebuild.

I would still rather go for a Silverback Stratos AL1 or Giant Trance 2 in the R40k price bracket. Good resale value as well especially on the Giant. Not yet fully convinced by Titan. Also don't understand the SRAM brakes and X-Fusion rear shock... If it was still a Rock Shox or Fox rear shock and Shimano Deore brakes I would've considered it.

That's how I roll as well. Just poppin into shops looking at new bikes. Need to decide between an engagement ring and a new bike. Already been told if I buy another bike instead of a ring, she's out!

Been using squirt the last two years. Does the job but does not last very long and I find that my chain gets gunked up rather quickly. Tried smoove once and it was an epic fail for me. Chain struggled to chain gears. Trying it again today for tomorrow's ride. Took my bike to the LBS last week for a major service and they lubed with Q Bike. Must say I am highly impressed with it so far. Did three rides with it and chain is still rather clean. Also gears were changing very smoothly. If Smoove does not work out for me tomorrow then I am moving to Q bike.

Cradle Moon Saw quite a bit of wild life including giraffe, impala, wildebeest, zebra and a few other antelope.

When I used to own a road bike I used cleats. On the first few rides I fell a few times due to stupidity and not releasing at like stop streets etc. Once I got the hang of it there was not even a consideration for flat pedals. Then I sold my road bike and started mountain biking. First bike came with flat pedals and I did not feel the need to change to clip ins. Got around quite well but I was still amateur with mtb'ing. Second mountain bike came with no pedals so I bought Shimano SPD's and clipped in again. Fell my arse off once but again due to stupidity. Cleats were set too tight and I could not get my foot released fast enough when I slipped and ended with a nice roastie from the top of my foot till under my knee. Carried on after that and eventually sold the bike. Third bike came with flats and I again just left it on. Came by just fine. Current bike has decent flats on and what I can tell you in my experience is I feel confident on especially technical uphills / thick sand etc. Where I lack confidence is technical downhills or standing and sprinting. Downhills because if you are not careful your foot can easily bounce off the pedals. Standing and sprinting because once my foot slipped off the pedal and I almost lost my manhood. For those two reasons I would consider going clip in again, but for now and my type of riding the flats suit me well. Oh and I cannot care less what anyone thinks of me due to me riding with flats. It is a preference and does not define your skill or experience.

Silverback Stratos AL 1 is very well specc'd and goes for around R40k new and has 120mm travel, so a good mix between XC and trail. If you want to go new Spez or Trek you will get very entry level components. Titan also has a few well specc'd bikes in that price range but I am not sure about weight as they do not state it anywhere as far as I know.

Took a week for them to give me a quote and 75% of what I wanted was out of stock. Ended up buying from the local Cyclelab instead.

For your budget go Giant without a doubt. I have Shimano flat pedals which I have banged on so many rocks I cannot count and they are still fine. I would have recommended it but it is R1.2k +

Great thread with a lot of insight. Since day 1 I have used clean green on my current bike. Works well to clean everything, but recently I noticed the chain is battling. Even though it looks clean to the eye, I think there it gunked where on cannot see between links. I always soak it for about 30min in pure cleen green, then brush it with a nail brush. Clean with hot water then hang to try. Once dried, I put it back on the bike and lube with squirt a day before I ride. Been working well until the last two rides. Recently noticed chain suck and gears not shifting smoothly. Did the above with cleen green and lubed with smoove. Had the worst shifting experience this weekend ever. Chain is still good as I had chain wear measured just a week ago and it is still fine. Has about 900km's on it. Think I need to soak it in either petrol or paraffin to get all the gunk out where the eye cannot see, and then dry + lube properly. For the casette, rear derailleur and chain rings I dilute cleen green 1:2 with water in a spray bottle and spray over the components. Then scrub with a paint brush, tooth brush, rag, nail brush until clean. I bounce the rear wheel on a hard surface after cleaning the casette to ensure the water does not sit and go into the places where it does not belong and mess up bearings/degrease where there is supposed to be grease.

Not going to get into a d**k measuring contest and my intention is not to derail the thread. There are a lot of people who bust their ass and do not earn a seven figure salary and cannot afford expensive bikes. If you are a Havard Law grad working 60 hour weeks and earning big bucks and can afford a R200k bike, then well done and I mean it. For the peasants like me, we get by just fine on our low budget bikes. My point was just a mid range bike is fully capable and reliable. If you are not a pro where every split second counts, then there is no need to indebt yourself and get an expensive bike. As for the OP, I think your question has been answered and you can draw your own conclusions. Some are of the opinion it is a marketing gimick, others believe the price warrants the spec. It all comes down to the latest, lightest, stiffest and toughest. That is the "marketing mix" of what dictates price.

Hence I said buy whatever fits your pocket. You are obviously fortunate and it is a privilege to afford and ride an expensive bike. However, it is certainly not a necessity and mid range bikes are also very capable and reliable. No hate from my side and I wish I can ride an expensive fully specc'd dual sus bike.

My short answer is if you are not a pro or compete competitively, there is no need to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a bike. I have a 2018 Scott Scale 960 which I paid just over R14k for brand new and I have not come across anything which I cannot face, and I am happy with the shifting, fork performance etc. Obviously a R50k dual sus bike would be a better ride, but I do not need it. Cycling has become a rich man's sport over the years and many buy certain expensive bikes for bragging rights, not ability or reliability. Buy whatever fits your pocket.

I see the right entry is currently sold out, but they do have left entry. https://www.on-lynecomponents.com/collections/the-holy-rail

I'd be very careful going for Stans Crest. I have read of so many cracked rims that it astounds me they are even still selling them. Not sure if the issue is sorted, but if spending so much on rims I would want peace of mind that I am not going to sit with cracked rims every few months.

Well everyone is bleeding from the manufacturer, to retailer and end consumer. Not sure how willing manufacturers are going to be to cut margins and make no profits, and with social distancing in place no crowding allowed. Think this year we will see longer periods of specials to avoid crowding which will result in smaller discounts due to the period, and more moving to online which is also a bummer due to quantity limits, websites failing, deliveries taking forever etc.

Also using Lyne components side entry. Works perfect and is very affordable at R119 each.

Did the loop the last two weekends and agree that it is a mess, especially around Bidon to the section where it splits to the Sterkfontein caves. People riding in groups very inconsiderate towards vehicles and cycling in the middle of the road without giving a crap when vehicles approach. Also came across a group of around four fixing a puncture in the middle of the road. Many also stop in the middle of the yellow lane do to whatever it is you do when you stop, and then just start off again without consideration of cyclists approaching causing one to have to slow down to avoid an accident. Each time I arrived around 07:45. Been chaos at the Craddle!

I have a Polar H10 and it has been great. Water proof and you also do not need to keep your phone with you to track. You can just start your workout, leave the phone, and srop the workout once you are at your phone again. Very accurate and picks up the slightest changes in HR unlike the arm straps and most watches.

I have these Shimano flat pedals and very happy with them https://www.evobikes.co.za/components/shimano-pd-gr500-flat-pedals.html The Giant flat pedals look great and are much cheaper.

I totally misread Sportsmanswarehouse. Last time I checked it was capped at R2,000 max spend for a cash back of max R500 per month. This was dependent on your vitality points, health checks and fitness test etc etc. Logged in saw mine is sitting 50% for May, but they do not mention the t's and c's. With Discovery there is always a catch in the fine print, no way are they going to give you so much money back on a bike. The momsen the previous guy posted is a winner!

Read the vitality cash back on bikes very carefully.... Not worth it at all. It's not instant discount and it's paid back monthly over a long period. If you insist on a new bike within your budget, look at Bike Addict. They have a Titan Rogue Sport at R8k. Probably the best bang for buck on a new bike.