Mountain Bru

I've always wondered with the roof top racks... How much of an issue is the height clearance? On an SUV (like a Rav), how often is it a problem at parking lots, drive through's etc?

I clean my MTB before races to make sure the drive train is clean and things are working nicely, but then stop worrying about it seen as even if it's clean when I get to the venue, it's not gonna be clean for long once the race starts. Road bike is maybe different, but as long as my chain is clean and lubed, and my stanchions are clean, I honestly don't care if my bike is dusty. A portable water sprayer might be a solution though if you're really pedantic? Drive to the venue, stop, spray down your bike, have a clean bike while you stand at the start line, but 30 seconds after the gun your bike is gonna be dirty again. This on the other hand, was a different story and warranted some hose pipe action before riding:

Procedure for the Trailseeker this weekend. Turns out you can run an event if you try

Can I add stuff to the "Seattle Mate Order" if that happens? Been eyeing a stages power meter from the states for a while... @Vetseun Global shopper is probably your best bet though. You'll have to pay double VAT (first in the country you have it sent to, and then again when it lands here), but if the stuff is cheap enough overseas it still works out as a win.

Thanks... It's always good to get advice from the pros ????

Wattbike at a gym? That's "kind of" renting an indoor trainer?

I guess it's always gonna happen at some point or another. At least none of the favorites were caught up in it (apart from Bardet, but lets be honest, he's wasn't likely to podium). Or am I missing someone?

I shall gladly report back on my middle of the pack finish... maybe "upper" middle of the pack if things go well.... ???? I don't really care so much about winning or where I come though, but it is nice when you do well in your batch. It's more about giving it my best shot and emptying the tank for me when it comes to MTB races. If I wanted a leisurely ride around Rosemary Hill/Legends, I'd go there on any other weekend and save on the race entry fee. On the camelbaks... as Trashy pointed out, I've dug a deep trench in the "2 bottle cage" camp so I don't think I can change sides now. But also... I rode with a camelbak for many years when I first started out and my bike only had 1 cage... I thought it was great, until I got into road cycling and learnt about the joys of having nothing on your back and being able to see how much water your have left.

Lekker man! Hope you have an awesome ride. If it's your first event, my only advice would be to not get sucked into going too hard at the start, which can sometimes be very tempting when there's suddenly all these guys around you that are hammering or want to pass you, or that you think you're faster than. 40km is gonna be a few hours of riding, so try start at an intensity that you think you can hold the whole way, and if necessary speed up in the last 5 or 10km. It's much better to ride within your limits for 30km, and then push hard for the last 5 or 10km rather than ride over your limit for 10km, completely exhaust your legs, and then suffer for 30km.

Pretty much anything with an autolap feature where you can pick a distance for the lap. Never really done any activity tracking on strava or any other android app, but I assume that many will have a custom autolap feature with a lap alert sound.

Like the kind of stuff someone might need to make velcro seams in pants? ????

Legend! I'll send you a DM

Thanks for taking the time to share. I have no ambition to ever loose money owning a bike shop, but there are some super valuable universal principles you shared. For 1 - The power of convenience. I've never thought about it that much, but it's so true. There are at least 3 Postnets that are relatively close to where I stay. I always use the one that has by far the worst service because it's next to the Checkers where I do my groceries. Every single time I'm there, I have a terrible experience, hate myself for putting myself through the same torture over and over, and vow that the next time I need to send something, I'll just drive somewhere else. And flippen every time I need to send something, I end up going to the same crappy Postnet after doing groceries. I'm not a moron (I don't think), I'm just flippen lazy, and I'm not going to walk past a Postnet and drive somewhere else just to get better service. I guess the same applies to bike shops. I'm also lazy about calling to make a service booking during office hours. I want to be able to remember at 23:30 while I'm lying in bed that I need to service my bike, and then jump on an app and make a booking. Basically, for consumers like me, if your shop isn't on HubTiger, it might as well not exist. I wish more places would have online bookings. I have this argument regularly with doctor/medical friends that their practice should have an online booking system, and they have a 100 reasons why it won't work, but the reality is that you'll win all of my loyalty if I never have to speak to your receptionist and can make a booking online when I go to the doctor/dentist/hair dresser/car service center. You'll also win my loyalty if you just tell me how much stuff is gonna cost in a simple, convenient way, even if it's more expensive. I can't believe that anyone goes to the trouble of "requesting a quote/price" on some online stores when other stores just tell you what stuff costs and you can order it immediately.

Difference is you might actually make money off the engineering shop....

What industry is that?

That sounds realistic to me (and a horrific way to invest R1mil). But if you've got a million to start with, I doubt R8k minimum orders will bother you.

Never thought of using a 26" frame...... Now thats a good idea. I have a 10sp drivetrain and damaged road front wheel lying around. Just need a frame and fork.

I'm confused by this R8000 thing.... Are people saying that a first off purchase of R8000 is too much? Personally, I can't believe a first purchase is as low as R8000 if you want to be a retailer. I mean realistically, what can you even buy for R8k? Maybe 1 groupset? The cheapest frame a manufacturer makes? A few sets of box section wheels? For a bicycle/component brand, I would have expected the initial purchase to need to be well over R100 000 if not more. Average Joes are spending R50k plus once off on a bicycle, and they're not allowed to buy at wholesale prices. If you claim to want to own a shop, and can't spend R8000 once off to buy stock, I really don't think you're in a position to open a bike shop. (Yes, I get that you might need to spend R8000 at more than one supplier, but the point still stands even if the value was R50k)

At sub R1000, I'd try a bunch of helmets on and buy whatever feels the most comfortable. If you want to spend more, get one with MIPS. But at that price range, I don't think there's much of a difference in protection so comfort is king. Other essentials... spend as much as you can afford on bib shorts. A first ascent bib is okay to start with I guess, but you really get what you pay for. I sore ass is really gonna influence how much you enjoy riding though. It's really okay to ride in a T-Shirt when you're getting started, although you might miss having jersey pockets and need to make another plan to carry your stuff with you (like a saddle bag or camelbak or top tube bag). If you ride more technical stuff on your MTB, gloves can help you keep the skin on your hands if you fall. Scratches and bruises are one thing, but you don't want to screw your hands up. But if all you ever plan on riding is a dirt road and you're comfortable on a bike, it's probably not necessary If you're a fan of not having rocks and dust scratching around your eyeball, some form of eye protection is important (I never ride without sunglasses). Even just clear (or shaded) safety glasses will do the trick if you're just starting out and will be dirt cheap. But this is really something to consider. Your front wheel has a way of flinging stuff into your face, so eye protection is important. On the road and on my MTB, I've had loads of stones hit my glasses. Sometimes you see it coming, but there's usually not enough time to react And if you're riding alone, have whatever it'll take to be able to fix a flat tyre yourself. If you're riding with someone else and you want to rely on them if anything goes wrong, just make sure you communicate that with them before hand and make sure they've got whatever you might need. So that might mean a spare tube, patches, tyre levers, and a pump. Or if you're running tubeless, a CO2 bomb and an adapter. Getting started can be expensive though, so don't be afraid of using the classifieds here to help save some cash. You can always sell the stuff later and get something better when you know what you want, and when you know you're gonna get a lot of use out of it. Except bibs.... 2nd hand bibs are just gross

So what you're saying is that you go to the shop with the best workshop and best shop, and also like the vibe there? That's not saying anything really. The question isn't would you go the 25km away shop when it's actually the best workshop and you like the guys there. It's would you go to that shop when it's not the best, but you like the guys. (If I don't service my bike myself, I literally drive past a shop where I really like the head mechanic to take it to a shop with a better workshop and thats on Hubtiger)

Mate it's a race..... Ballztothewall from the gun or what's the point? ???? Thanks for the advice on the route. I have a proper bike with 2 bottle cages, so won't be weighing myself down with a camelbak. The Buffelsdrift Trailseeker had 200m more elevation and I suspect far more technical sections, and I had touch down that cost quite a bit of time, and I managed a 19.2km/h average on that, so this should be a fair bit quicker.

Jolande also rode the track a million times in training, probably with a head unit and power meter..... ???? "Go til you blow" is my default tactic for zwift races. Start with a 400w surge from the gun, and then hold the front group until either the bunch sprint or you catastrophically blow.

The GPX file isn't for navigation, it's for pacing.... Knowing the distance to go, the elevation gain remaining, where the climbs are, using climbpro on the garmin to pace the climbs nicely.... All really useful stuff when it comes to pacing.

It's weird I feel kind of the same in that the Vuelta doesn't seem as easy to get hooked into as the tour, but ironically I expect to see more competitive and probably more interesting racing from the GC boys. Roglic is the favourite, but his team looked completely useless yesterday. Ineos have Bernal and Yates looking strong, and Carapaz might be a game changer as a super domestique in week 3. Landa is gonna have to do something special on the mountain top finishes if he wants enough of a buffer over the other guys to make up for his TT, and his team looked super strong yesterday even though it came to nothing. Movistar have their trident in action with Mas, Lopez and Bala, and actually don't look completely disjointed as a team for once. And there's a few "unlikely competitors" that might genuinely mix things up if they aren't marked. So it actually looks like there might be some really tight racing in the coming stages, unlike the tour where Pogacar had it wrapped up on stage 8. And also, there haven't been 78 crashes in the first 3 days, so there's actually a chance that the race will be decided by strength and tactics, rather than who was lucky enough not to crash.

Anyone else giving this a go? I'm entered for the marathon (70km). Has anyone done it before and maybe have a gpx file of the route? Any tips on what to expect? I assume it's gonna be next level dusty, and pretty quick seen as there' isn't much elevation gain on the route.