T_Boss

Thanks. I assumed it would be something like that....just never paid attention before.done it in other airports, just never at ORT

Not really cycling related, but hoping someone on here with experience can advise me. Normally ORT is my final destination on an international flight, from where I transfer to the Domestic check in, and carry on to Cape Town...... but a business trip in 2 weeks time sees me flying from Europe back in to ORT and then on to a connecting flight to Botswana, but on a different airline. So I need to collect my luggage on arrival in ORT, but from there, where do I go to check in to the next flight? Do I need to clear customs and go back into the airport departure side, and then re-check in and clear customs again, or is there a route to collect your luggage, and then check in to your next flight, without first clearing customs and passport control?

I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one that still enjoys a hardtail. To be honest the post was a bit tongue in cheek, but I was interested to get the other users here’s opinion. I must say I was shocked when the guy at the Spaz store said no one buys hardtails anymore...... and I felt like telling him it’s probably because they aren’t exactly trying to sell them. But it does also seem to be a brand decision from Specialised. The Stunpjumper hardtail used to be a fun bike, but it’s been dropped from the lineup all together. I know there are other brands better suited to trail hardtails, but even then, the shops do seem more inclined to push DS bikes. I wonder why? Is it more work for them with one backs on shock services, or do they make more margin on the DS bikes. I would imagine there would be more margin in it for the shop to sell a decent specced full XT or XX hardtail, than a GX or Deore specced DS. But I may be mistaken. Just glad to hear HT is not dead

I have been wondering for a while now why it seems hardtails are so unpopular in SA. I mean you hardly see a hard tail anywhere outside of a high school bike shed these days. Seemingly a full sus trail bike has become the entry point to being able to ride even a mild Jeep track. Now sure, I’m exaggerating a bit above, but it would seem locally that hardtails are not really selling anymore. I was in the specialized shop in Stellenbosch over the weekend to see some of the new bikes, and I was surprised not to see any decent hardtails. They only had the really entry level rock hopper hardtails. When I asked a young sales guy if they didn’t have any more serious hardtails in stock, he sheepishly showed me a top of the line S-Works Epic, that was retailing at R140k. Nothing else. When I asked him where all the bikes in between are, he said they don’t carry hardtails anymore, because no one buys them. This is in stark contrast to what we see in the overseas forums, and especially on channels like GMBN, where they seem to absolutely love hardtails, especially for longer rides across the countryside, or just some fun on a trail park. Now I know full sus is awesome, especially on multi day stage races, and especially with lots of long corrugated gravel or very bumpy track....... but for blasting on some flows single track, nothing on earth beats a hardtail. The XCO guys on the international scene also seem to chop and change between there full sus and hardtails depending on the terrain. So why on earth are hardtails basically dead here. Specially in a place like Stellenbosch, that is blessed with loads of amazing trail riding? If I was on a tight budget, I would far rather buy the best hardtails I could, rather than an entry level full sus. I mean bikes of R25 to 30k are being sold with sun tour and x-fusion suspensions, and SLX if you lucky. In these price range I much rather buy something with a REBA fork and full XT groupset....... If I was told I had to choose one bike now, and I could never have another, it would definately be something with pretty slack geometry, 130 mil travel up front, and nice wide 27,5 tires, and a hardtails. I do how ever hope the day never comes where one needs to be married to one type of bike for life......

This is what I am leaning more towards as well. Once I have a better understanding, I can make a call about opening some shop space. I will probably be based in Stanford, so pretty nice and central to most of the Overberg

So BMT/White stone is the only shop in Hermanus I have been to. Have heard good things about village cycles. My question is more regarding the distribution of cyclists and services throughout the rest of the Overberg. Or are all the cyclist weekend warriors from Cape Town? The way I see it, the rest of the district has to either go to Hermanus or in to Cape Town to have their bikes serviced, or pick up some spares. So I am wondering if there is a gap in the market to set up shop slightly more central to the like of caledon/Greyton etc, or as mentioned above, offer a mobile workshop service, But obviously, that would only work if there’s a lot of riders in these areas, and that all the peeps you see out on the trails are not just visitors from Cape Town/Stellenbosch etc, that have their pick of decent bike shops everyday of the week.

I guess this question is a bit of a first attempt at some market research. What is the bike shop/service industry like in the overberg? I know it’s a top cycling area weather road, MTB or Gravel, but haven’t seen much in the likes of bike shops. I went in to the BMT shop in Hermanus, but didn’t seem like much was going on. We potentially looking at moving to the area, and would like to start up a business. Leaning more towards service and repairs, not retail, so no brand affiliation, but would carry stock of basics likes tires, chains, lubes etc. Another consideration has been to operate a mobile workshop, servicing your bikes at your premises, or for more detailed work, at least offering a pick/up drop off service, with fees based on a sliding scale related to distance. Interested to here thoughts from the local riders. If you feel the market for bike mechanics/shops is saturated in the area, let me know too. I have been spending some time in the area and haven’t seen much going on.....

Giving you this post a plug again. There is still place for 6 teams.

Hi guys, just a little post boost. Online entry form for the completion is now up on the website. It is going to be a great day out. Also welcome to camp our for the weekend, and there is some great cycling on in the area. Entry form and details can be found here: http://adventurelogistics.co.za/potjiekos-masterchef-challenge/

We are hosting a potjiekos Masterchef competition in support of the K-9 unit at the Southern African Wildlife College. I’m sure a few of you guys here are also cooking champs, so enter a team and get involved. For more info follow the link here: http://adventurelogistics.co.za/2019/09/17/potjiekos-masterchef-challenge/ Or the Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/407341799985902/

It went really well actually. got into the swing of things about 10 minutes in, and it felt pretty natural. I did take it relatively easy on the resistance but stayed pretty close to what the instructor was pushing. Will try to go in a little earlier next time just to get my position on the bike better. I am going to be stiff tomorrow that is for sure. but I will do a light spin on one of the stationary bikes before my swim session tomorrow, just to loosen the legs... Im pleasantly surprised by my heart rate management and recovery, given how massively unfit I am at the moment

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Yep, hoping muscle memory kicks in. have done a few 20 odd km rides since Christmas, and felt okay, but find the roads a far more intimidating place than i used to 5 years back, So I will need to rely on the spin class to build up the saddle time between proper rides on the the weekend...

Looking for some advice on attending my first spin class in years tomorrow. I haven't really been on the bike or doing any serious training for the past 4 years, and I am literally in the worst physical shape I have ever been..... Before this 4 year hiatus, I had never stopped training since high school. Basically from the age of 14 to 25, I did an average of 4 hours exercise a day, every day, whether athletics, swimming, hockey etc, and then from about 17 to 25, I took MTB pretty seriously, and rode about 650km a month on average during that time, over and above gym and some other cross-training, so I never really knew what it was like to not be fit. Then for reasons unknown, I stopped almost overnight, without changing my eating habits or anything else. As a result, I have become massively unfit, and bloated from a lean 98kg to a fat 112 (I'm 1.8m tall, but heavy set) now I have decided to turn this situation around, and as part of that program, I will be in my first spin class in years tomorrow morning at 8 am. How do you go about pacing yourself through that? If I follow the pace of the class, I will probably die before the 45 minutes are up... any tricks from the wise to help me through it?

I can live with the slight side to side play, and understand the need for it. As long as the "cheaper" versions dont bob up and down (Telescopic movement), then its all good. Just wait for pay day then, and i will be ordering my Lyne dropper post...

That said, have just read through the entire thread, and my specific question isnt actually answered. There is one post which mentions lateral movement, and compares it to the Fox saying the fox is better..... So that doesnt really help. At 4 times the price, of course the fox is better..... But my question is, if I dont think the lockout on a RS monarch is locked enough, am I going to be able to ride on a Lyne dropper post, or will it drive me mad? I would rather then wait a few months and then fork out on a Crank Bros or Fox dropper post

Thanks for the link. Guess I should have searched

Hi all, Considering a dropper post for my hardtail XC bike to help with those sketch descents, and when I go play a little on the smaller jumps at the bike park. I absolutely hate any amount of suspensions pump, which is the main reason I still stick with hardtails even for marathon lenght rides. I will take the rolling resistance of a plus tire over the losses in a rear sus that doesnt fully lock out any day. So my question is, at the more budget end of the spectrum, R2500 to R3500, how well do these dropper posts lock out? I rode a mates bike with a crank brothers dropper post, and it was properly solid, but a little outside my budgets at the moment. What is something like the Lyne components advertised on the Hub like? worth it, or should I save up for a top end dropper post?

Or just ride it. Sure you arent going to win any races on a 26in XC bike, but it would still be one hell of a commuter, and it still works nicely on trails, even if its not as "fast" as a 29er or 27.5. Unless you really really need the money, or the space on the wall. I would just keep it and use it.

The difference in VAT is made up by the saving in shipping, especially since you pay for express shipping at Skynet, but then don't receive your item for weeks. So it may actually just be worth it. Technically, you shouldn't need to pay VAT in SA, if you can prove you have paid it in the UK, but I think the admin on this might just be a little too much to be worth the effort

I must say I am thoroughly disappointed in CRC take on this issue. They don't really seem to care about how useless SkyNet is. I have contacted them about this, and always just get generic replies. It seems that it is not just a Skynet South Africa issue. A simple google search seems to show it as a problem all over the world. They obviously do not have any control systems in place. How does a company with the footprint of CRC decide to go into a partnership with a courier company that has a Trustpilot rating of 1? seriously?

Yep, Getting through to the people at the airport seems to be the answer. I had to try a number of times to eventually get through, but now there finally seems to be some progress. The story behind my delay is as follows: 1. Apparently, Skynet UK forgot to attach the customs invoice for my package, so they couldn't submit it to SARS for clearance. As to why they could only determine this after I called, and after the package has been lying with them for nearly 3 weeks, is beyond anyone's comprehension. 2. The customs invoice was requested to be re sent. I asked to be copied in on the email. 10 minutes later, the UK office replied with a copy of the invoice. 3. New problem now. Because the value is over R500.00 they need to send it for formal customs clearance, and this can take up to 7 days, only once this has been done, can they give me a value to pay for clearance, and then they will ship out within 48 hours of receiving payment. (Strangely, this all seemed to be news to the people from Skynet... I thought it was standard practice, and exactly why DHL has a dedicated expediated line at SARS, and a web portal where you can log in and make your customs payments) 4. I was also told very directly, that if I dont pay the customs invoice within 7 days of them issuing it to me, I will be charged an R1500.00 penalty. Really? After all your uselessness, you have the audacity to put down terms and conditions like this? Also, do you really think, after all, I have been through, I want to wait any longer than necessary to get my goods? Of course i will pay as soon as you provide me with payment details. 5. Lastly, to really put the icing on the cake of how pathetic they are, I asked if I could at this stage update my delivery details, since I am no longer on holiday in the western cape, where I expected to be when the delivery should have been made. No, sorry sir, we cant do that, but if we do, we will have to charge an admin fee for this. Really? So can you not do an address change, or can you do an address change with an admin fee charged? Sorry sir, I am not really sure..... at that point I gave up. Will have it delivered to my parents in Hermanus, and then will pay a R99.00 admin fee to PostNet to have it send back to me in Pretoria.... and I will not order from CRC again until they changed back to DHL or some other reputable postage company. This after spending close on R200k with CRC over the last 10 years

I Have been trying to get hold of them all day. Probably made about 25 calls during the course of the day, with simply no answer. Have you got some direct numbers of persons to call? I tried the numbers given in a previous post, but they all just ring without any answer.

Has anyone contacted CRC about this? Perhaps they should be made aware of these issues with Skynet

this link seems to clarify things a little as to how the line up works: https://www.sram.com/sites/all/themes/sram_2011/st_rockshox/_images/products/product-matrix-forks-suspension.jpg But this is outdated as the Recon now also comes in boost, and I would honestly rather have 32mm forks, especially considering the weight of the 30mm Judys is not exactly impressive. Maybe I must just ride the hell out of these and wreck them in the warranty period if I am lucky the replace them with Rebas.... If not, I will spoil myself with a Reba RL for Christmas this year.

Yes, I saw that too, but that only adds to the confusion, because they list them in that order, yet, if you look at the pricing, the Judy is priced between the Recon and the Reba. So it really makes no sense. I would honestly rather have had the significantly cheaper Recon to this fork. Regarding the Race Face cranks, I really dont mind that, I have always preferred them to the XT Cranks, and I find the chainrings to be much more durable