Bub Marley

Maybe something to consider for a future gravel event then? I think you could possibly keep the route exactly as is but instead of finishing on adderley, take a right into Malans come up the hill and then instead of going up Vissers on tar, perhaps use the farm roads like they do in the epic prologue. You’d probably still have the traffic issue after the vissershok descent but perhaps make that a neutral zone and end the race at the top of one of those steep pitches on Vissers? Something to think about perhaps.

This is a real pity. I remember in the past when we went over the gravel section on Malans and then did Vissers and then Odendal. Now that was a proper race. While i get that these things are out of your hands, it’s still a massive dampener to all to have all those stripped away.

Yes it’s positive as it might attract international entrants and it also raises the profile of the event. I would not travel if I qualified due to financial reasons at this moment but it would be nice to have a uci medal in my collection.

https://ucigravelworldseries.com/en/cederberg/ I see this race is now on the UCI calandar of events. Looks like it has replaced the Swartberg race so gives us here another option to do a uci race.

Bike looks like it will disintegrate as soon as you sit on it.

Bike is clearly designed around Pog’s position. While it may not be a looker, the bike is clearly going to be mad fast.

Every year a piece of what makes this race so great gets removed. I know it’s most likely not the organisers fault but it’s a real pity. From finishing with a double vissershok and odendal, to no vissershok, then no vissershok and odendal cut in half and now no vissershok and no odendal. It sucks.

Not riding this year unfortunately.

I have ordered but paid extra for the courier option. Do not order through post office.

Link please?

Thanks. I probably won’t need the spacers as the stack on the hardtail would obviously already be too high. Will try and get a stem with a decent negative angle to get as low as i can.

How would you guys setup a gravel bike / drop bar hard tail compared to a road bike? Purely in terms of reach? I think I bought one size too small on my hardtail which probably works out better for me in terms of this conversion. At the moment the reach on my hardtail is 380 which is equal to that of my road bike. I currently run a 100mm stem on the road bike. Should i keep the same length for the hardtail or maybe go smaller for better handling? Any advice?

6 weeks for a replacement unit. Not sure how long a quote would take.

Mine took around 6 weeks i think.

There is a setting on the camera which shows you to toggle mirror off which resolves their issue.

I rode with the mediclinic guys this year. I think our teams past each other a few times close to the end.

I dont really care about the top 5 cheating. It’s just easier to put a team of 8 together compared to 12. It would still be cheaper than paying for a 12 man entry when you’re only 8 people. This is probably a pointless discussion anyway. I haven’t heard or seen anything that they would even consider something like this.

Have a price for an 8 person team. Then a different price for a 10 person team and a price for a 12 person team. I think it’s a lot more difficult to manage if you have an individual entry system and then you need to link it to a specific team.

The problem with this is the entry fee remains the same whether you are 8 or 12 people. What they could perhaps do is reduce the entry fee if you have a smaller team.

It’s so much easier to put together a team of 8 than 12. In 2022 and 2023 I sponsored a team and honestly getting 12 people on the same page in terms of commitment, training etc is a nightmare. And then you always have a last minute pull out in terms of illness etc.

1million for a bike and it comes with Chinese carbon wheels. Some deal that.

I personally think 12 in a team is too much. If we drop it down to 8 or even 10 and keep the same number of teams it will open up a lot more space on the road. The stretch from Robertson to Bonnievale is a disaster waiting to happen as traffic is open on the oncoming side and at the point i noticed most of the elite teams coming through and every amateur team trying to jump on and score a free ride. That road is not very wide especially with oncoming traffic. So yeah, my suggestion is make the teams smaller. And it should be safer all round. It’s also really hard to get 12 people in a team. So many headaches and last minute substitutions.

I’m interested to know what happens after you get dropped. Do you still go hard till the finish or is it like now I’ll just have some fun and enjoy the event instead.

Why do people always assume carbon is weak?

Can you maybe post your Strava file? Just wanna see where exactly this race goes through. Considering this for next year. The website is a bit of a mess.