Jewbacca

It's not unheard of... Benni Roux got a ride in a car after going off route at the inaugural Munga trail and went on to 'win' it.... The car in question was the race director. People do dumb stuff all the time. The twins who swapped out at Comrades etc

hahahaha 'Nothing sinister, this is the reason'....... 'Oh but it IS sinister!' The internet truly loves a good, technicality nay say

It's a very twitchy, purpose built race bike. So road/gravel slogs it will be awesome. If you are not as skilled on the tech stuff, it will be 'less' comfortable than a slacker bike, but still capable of getting down. Those older Epics and 'steep' marathon bikes are very efficient pedallers, but aren't hugely confidence inspiring on the tech stuff if you aren't already capable. It is a fantastic piece of kit though as far as that era bike

HAHAHAHAHAHA I didn't even need to see it to know it was something like this. Does nobody Watch Star Wars and realise there is a message behind the lightsabers and poor acting? BALANCE to the Force! Without balance we are doomed. Darth Ginger has some helluva deep rooted issues he needs to deal with

My STRAVA account is inactive so I am unable to see what I assume is a gem of some all consuming fad and self gratification

A heavily tattoo'd ginger ex gun maker is shaking his wahooligan fists at you all and your advice! He can ride at 400 watts average for 4 hours on water! Ask him how to find the keeto way.... You too can ride in a water fuelled 1 man worlfpack (plus photographer), think Cape Point is the southern tip of africa and only wear black.... The keeto way....

So one thing about this is GPS tracking/route saving space/breadcrumb notifications for an ultra. SO many older options simply don't have the battery life. Even the Fenix5 series battled to get through a 100 miler in one charge for a 'quick' waddler. If the wife is doing Ultras, 6k replacement for a 7 or Enduro watch isn't bad at all. You could also potentially buy an old stock 6 or 6s for less. I use a hand held e-trex as backup, but it doesn't have the same ease of use or vibration alert if/when you go off track while sleep running. Ultras are expensive. The toys, shoes and entry fees add up quickly.

That sucks. New helmet, wonky skouer and some dodgy confidence levels next time you ride there! On the bright side you can ride the Gravel/road bikes which is still good. I was tempted to ask for the entry but I can't buy myself that sort of free time next Sunday unfortunately.

Where did you ded? The drop on Iron Monkey is actually easier than the 'B-Line' on the right. 6 weeks? I assume no broken bones... Heal up punk, first proper #enduro bail?

Sorry, LBL. My bad I got excited. I think MvdP is definitely the most likely candidate. If he focusses on Lombardia 2024 and LBL after he wins that it would be achievable. Anyway, head in shame after that. hahaha

I'll do it with you..

I'm in the 'likely to not be in my lifetime' camp, but to throw some nonsensical theories....... The Pog if he rides a proper bike..... WvA if he can tame his own aggression MvdP if he can pull a trick at MSR, which I wouldn't discount as he seems to have a very systemic, realistic approach to the amount of racing and winning he can do in a season. Mahoric? I wonder why Marc Hirschi was never able to get his form back. That guy at one point looked like he was pure class and duked out some amazing races. Pidcock is generational, Remco is generational. I find neither of them particularly engaging which makes supporting them difficult for me. Amazing to watch the talent on display, but not very enthralling We really are in a golden era of bike racing. Enjoy it

He is retiring at the end of the season.... But I get the feeling he clocked out a long time ago.

Dino, could you please provide some proof that you ARE in fact on the ground in amongst it? You could very well just be sitting at home making this up....... 😋 Jokes aside, I think Meria made some really good bikes that perform well, but a lot of the mountain bikes hurt my eyes. They made some fantastic Enduro bikes too. I've just always been put off by the aesthetics.

A year after nearly dying of Viral Meningitis, I am FINALLY able to start pushing the boat out again, albeit slowly. It's has been, and continues to be, a long road to recovery, but 12 months on, my body and my brain are in a position to start getting a bit more into the legs. I did a little 20km trail run without much fuss at decent clicks last week and will try to get that sort of comfort into 30km by the end of April and 50km by End of May. From there just keep going and hopefully be able to smash some hundys later in the year. BUT, slowly slowly catch a monkey!

If you buy that you can laugh and love too.....

Look, I'm not in the market for this. I don't even own 12 speed kit. I have 2x11 on my road and gravel bike. 2x on the gravel bike because I like having closer ratios and the option to bail out should I need to. Being able to do this with a really cool looking 1x system would be awesome. IMHO the bike industry is constantly 'solving' problems that don't exist. If they are close to the perceived norm then people seem to love it, but as soon as they vary too far from what is perceived as 'the industry standard' then it is mostly poo-poo'd. I remember the absolute disdain shown to dropper posts when they first started popping up. Never mind 29 inch wagon wheels! Science aside, it's a nifty toy, which has some real world appeal. That is basically what defines the entire sport for those not racing at the front in UCI or age group registered categories

But this makes it 22 or 24 speed?

'Single speed'..... 🙊 I think this IS a direct replacement for a 2x groupset. They specifically mention gravel bikes It's 1x gear simplicity with either a bail out or a granny. Which ever way you want to wield it I guess.

Has SRAM swapped over from DOT fluid to Mineral fluid? I'm loath to cross pollinate bleed kits between the two, but I guess a good thorough clean after use would suffice. I have a mineral fluid kit with multiple hoses and attachments and a DOT fluid kit with the same. Also both of them are so old they are probably teenagers and have a tiktok account.

Yoh.... Mechanical doping at SS world champs is going to be a thing! This is pretty rad though. I know SRAM used to have a 2 speed hub that shifted automatically based on the rotational speed of the hub shell and CSS also imported an internal 3 speed hub that had an 8 speed cassette on the freehub body, so it's been 'a thing' before. The electronic shifting and more refined system and looks is impressive though. This is an interesting segment in the market and I'm not surprised someone is trying to refine and corner it

Ah... I still disagree. I see 100k bikes sit in the classifieds for ages. Most people spending that cash would likely buy new. I say 'most' as there are of course always outliers, but IMHO a 100k plus second hand bike isn't a common sale, nor is it a fantastic investment if you don't have that sort of spare change to throw at a depreciating asset that may or may not be sellable Disclaimer, I have zero information. In fact, the best person to answer this is the guy who does the info harvesting in the classifieds...

Is that a fair reflection of the actual Market as a whole though? Less than 1000 of the wealthiest 'cyclists' in the country or pro's. I'd say look more at what is being ridden on club rides, at CTCT, at bigger, mass participation MTB events and what moves on the trails every weekend to get a gauge. If say, 4000 bikes are sold monthly, how many are in that bracket? My guess is not many. Those bikes are definitely bought and sold, but the definition of 'Market' in this sense probably needs to be defined. I don't think there is a sustainable business solely based in that market segment, but top end/upper tier bikes certainly drive the 'I want' factor in a brand. Can't afford the S-Works? Well we can sell you one not quite as good for 1/4 the price, but those who can afford the S-Works (and some of those who can't) will want it and buy it because lust, ego and desire along with unnecessary toys are what make many humans tick. What I find ridiculous is that 100k isn't even that much money these days after inflation, Rand value etc but R1M is still the baseline value to be a VATable entity

Unless all my clocks are incorrect, this is a day early?