Mountain Bru

I've been checking out the route for Sunday. Am I missing something, or is there no info on water points or road closure anywhere on the website?

Seeded in BL. Looking forward to a lekker race.

Thanks for the advice. My first plan was to use an extra XT rear mech and 1x crank that I have lying around, and then getting some 105 shifters. But after much reading, I found that the pull actuation is different between shimano MTB and road shifters, so thats a no-go. My next thought was then to use a long cage 105 rear mech, maybe with a wolftooth adapter, to be able to use a 11-40 cassette. I decided against that though because I figured a RD with a clutch is probably required for a 1x setup. So the only real options I see at the moment for a Shimano setup is an Ultegra RX-GS rear mech. The claimed max cassette size is 11-34 though, so I'm guessing a wolftooth adapter will be required to run 11-40. Or switch to Sram. From what I've read, it seems sram road shifters work with mtb derraileurs as long as they both use their "exact automation" system.

Something beautiful got delivered today... Not quite a couch, but it's the best I could do at work . I have a question though. I'd like to run drop bars with a 1 x 11 setup. From what I've read, 105 shifters won't work with a SLX or XT rear mech. Has anyone come up with a working shimano system to get this right? (trying to avoid buying an entire 1x11 sram groupset)

https://www.evanscycles.com/garmin-edge-530-EV365215

For me, the real heros of the day were the 5 or 6 guys that let me jump the queue for the toilets before the start to avoid having to use the field. Missing my start time was the least of my worries while I was waiting

Anyone know what the road condition will be like in terms of potholes, man hole covers etc? And what the road closure situation looks like?

This was under Venue arrangements on my seeding email: "Late registration as well as registration for the kids races and 5km fun walk/run will take place inside the dining hall, which is adjacent to the starting chutes." I assume that means you can register on the day.

Bike Mob has a 15% off site wide sale on at the moment, excluding bikes. I think it ends tomorrow though. https://bikemob.co.za/

Thanks so much man. I'll send you a PM

Thanks for the advice. I was considering trying to do a week on the north island and a week on the south, but I think I'm gonna stick to the north Sweet definitely gonna take a bike with me. Is bike packing around a good idea? It seems to me like one of the main attraction is the beauty of the countryside, so travelling by bike should be epic.

Looks flippen epic. I've become a bit of a roadie over the past few years though, but I'll see if I can check it out.

Hey guys. I'm heading to NZ for a mate of mine's wedding in March, and then I have around 3 weeks of holiday in NZ before flying back to SA. Gonna be on my own though (but I'm cool with that) The wedding is near Auckland, so that's where I'm flying to and from, but I'm not opposed to travelling a bit while I'm there. What do you guys reckon is the best use of my time there? I'm also wondering if it's worthwhile taking a bike with me for transport, and also maybe some bike packing. Any advice?

To help quell the temptation.... I replaced my Fenix 3 with a Fenix 5 in April, and I've had to return it to Garmin twice since then. Once because the screen stopped working properly, and once due to loosing connection constantly with sensors and my phone, and the altimeter going crazy during rides. Garmin gave me a new one both times, but I reckon the 3 is the more reliable option.

Anyone found anything decent to replace your MTN 50GB deal? The new MTN "deals" seem pretty underwhelming as far as I can tell.

Thanks man. And the sizing (compared to Assos)?

Anyone know if these bibs are any good?

It'll have to be a cycling specific towel though, like this one : http://www.olympiccycles.co.za/shop/assos-fan-pack-towel-mug/ Normal towels aren't able to withstand the rigors of professional indoor training R264 looks like a bargain all of a sudden

I'd need an e-bike and some special juice from Lance to do that

Yip it wasn't too bad. A few times I asked the people in front of me to please give me a gap, and that was sufficient, but I think there's definitely potential for a problems and frustrations, and it does break your rhythm a bit to have to weave your way through people. Maybe that's an advantage though cos you can focus on choosing a line through the crowd rather than your legs.

I'll take any suspicion of riding an e-bike as a compliment

I've ridden it on a Sunday afternoon without feeling too unsafe, but I wouldn't want to have to contend with traffic and the climb. I knew a guy when I was studying that rode it everyday at peak hour as part of his commute though. If I remember correctly, he said the descent was more sketchy than the climb cos there's literally no shoulder, so I'd definitely avoid that.

I put my gopro footage of the climb on youtube here: Something to watch on the indoor trainer to motivate you not to be a walker next year (and maybe to motivate other walkers not to take up the whole road)

Shucks I see I didn't pay enough attention to the emails they sent and didn't check the website after I entered (riders brief only went up on the 30th of October) I guess it's always easier to blame someone else for your own incompetence. My bad.

All in all I had a lekker day, but I think the organizers could definitely do with some constructive criticism from the riders to improve the event. There were way too many seemingly simple things that I think were overlooked. It seems the organizers checked this thread at some point, so maybe things can change for next year if we make some suggestions of what we think could be better. Really enjoyed the race though, so I'll be back next year even if nothing changes My 2c on what could be done better in future: Instructions as to which roads would be closed and which to use to access the venue would have been great. It seemed like loads of people (including me) went to fountains, and then didn't know where to go from there due to the road being blocked. Literally an A5 piece of paper in the "race pack" would suffice.An indication as to where the water points are going to be. Maybe I missed it, but I had no clue how many water points there were, or where they were situated. Again, A5 sheet in the race pack with a route map and water point locations would be perfect. Signage at the venue. I had no clue where the start was from where I eventually parked. A demarcated walkers lane on Tom Jenkins. I almost couldn't ride up due to the amount of people walking all over the road. People are moeg. They need help with common sense like keeping to one side of the road if they're walking. Dustbins at the venue. I didn't see any, and when I left I saw that people had randomly made piles of empty bottles on the side of the road so I'm guessing I'm not the only person that couldn't find a place to chuck stuff away. An indication of which roads aren't fully closed. I wasn't expecting to see any cars on the route, but quite a few came past me on the section on the R511. I think it's pretty dangerous to tell people there's full road closure when there's not. Maybe a route change to avoid some of the chaos of the CBD? The traffic cops did their best, but I reckon they had their work cut out for them trying to control all of the taxis and cars and pedestrians on the road. Even with all of their efforts, I still saw a few cars that managed to get onto the closed off roads and had to be chased down by motor bikes and escorted off the road.