Bub Marley

I rode a hardtail for years and then finally made the switch to full sus so I kinda see where he’s coming from. I dunno if it’s just me riding it for so long that I became accustomed to it, but I do feel that people overplay the advantages of full sus. Yeah, it’s great to have a bit of cushion every so often but this idea that you can only do certain thing or ride certain trails if you have full sus is complete nonsense. Your skill level is way more important in this respect. Hardtails are just so much fun. Yeah your bottom will bobble a bit more but who cares.

This only works if hes willing to to do the wheel swop everytime. And in terms of performance, there are so many different types of gravel bikes that not all of them will cut it. A proper gravel race bike, sure. Personally, if racing is anywhere in your thoughts, then a one bike to do it all is out of the question. But if you dont care that much about racing then sure it can be done.

Not really sure what response you are aiming to get here. Only you will know whether it can be done. But like I have mentioned earlier and others have also said, if you want to do proper mountain biking trails, then a gravel bike wont cut it. And if you want to do proper road races, like actually compete for position, time etc, then again a gravel bike wont cut it. However, if you’re not planning on bombing down trails or racing on the road, then sure you can get away with having only a gravel bike. You’d essentially be able to ride everywhere with limitations. It’s all personal to everyone. From my own perspective, I would never give away the thrill of bombing down a single track descent with a proper mtb with suspension or give away the lightness of a proper carbon road bike when climbing up a mountain but that’s just me.

End of the day, your item is only worth what the buyer is willing to pay. Low balling sucks but bikemarket is a business that is trying to make money. There’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing. Just ignore there offers and say no. I big issue really is people over value their items. Bikes and components are not investments. Accept the fact that you’re gonna end up taking a knock when you sell. If your price is too high, people will low ball you.

I have 3 bikes: Road, Full Sus and drop bar hardtail. While I get the do it all thing, there are loads of drawbacks. You can get an extra wheel set for road but for me that’s just a faff. You’d also then have to keep your cassette consistent to be able to swop wheels which means you will most likely have gear range not suitable for tar. On the off road side, a gravel bike can take you off road, but let’s be honest here. Bombing a gravel bike down a single track mountain bike specific descent ain’t gonna be fun unless you have the skill set of Safabrian.

Why not do both?

Surely the platform rack is more secure on bumpy roads? I get the one for quick trips as the platform rack is heavy and can be a faff to set up but its way more secure than a hanging rack.

If it’s a platform rack you can adjust to make it fit but it can be a faff depending on the shapes of the bikes. On a hanging rack, im certain it would be too tight. I have a 4 bike rack and it’s a breeze to fit 3 bikes. If i wanna get 4 in, it takes a bit of adjusting every bike, calculating which bike to place where, some mathematics etc and also some foam to protect as most likely there will be a point where the bikes are touching.

What is your current size chainring? From those pics, it would seem like you have quite a bit of room there.

Nothing bigger than a 38T that’s for sure.

Ive also flown with bike before. I also used the extra 23kg included luggage for the bike. You just have to take it to oversize baggage but i never paid extra for it.

Del Toro did well to bounce back yesterday but he also showed vulnerabilities again up the mortirolo. The ending to the stage also suited him to a tee. Friday and Saturday will be very tough and I foresee similar issues on multi mountain alpine stages. I’d be very surprised if he stayed in pink come Sunday.

It probably can be done. Whether it affects shift performance im uncertain.

Yeah courses are definitely getting more technical. At the same time bikes are also getting way more capable to handle the terrain. You hardly see a hardtail these days at any XC race. Not sure if that’s a good thing though. The main concern though is the rider safety. It’s fine to do all these courses but XC pro’s have minimal protection. They all wear road helmets also, no knee or elbow guards. Some of those crashes in the rock gardens were hectic. Not really sure what’s the right move tbh.

Okay. I assume this is why he made it known that he changed the wheels. I wouldnt be a fan of this process then. So basically everytime i upgrade or change something i must now upload a new pic?

I have no idea tbh. Never worked with Naked before.

We basically had 1 day of proper rain. And in comparison to the previous 2 years, it’s been nowhere near those levels of rainfall. It’s also going to be bone dry this weekend so I wouldnt stress too much. The route will be fine.

If he had just registered the claim normally, they’d have probably just paid out. The fact that he made it known he was riding someone else’s wheels, probably alerted them or flagged the claim which meant for investigating needed to be done. This is why having a broker is valuable as he would’ve provided with some guidance as to what to say and what not to say.

This is the problem with wheels and suspension/ mechanical damage claims. The onus is on you to prove that it was the pothole that caused the rim to crack and it’s not because just general wear and tear. Sometimes it’s pretty easy to spot depending on how much it’s actually damaged. But a lot of times you have clients wanting a new rim because of a slight buckle or because of a hairline crack and if it’s an older vehicle, they will definitely have someone assess it first. Hence why i say it’s not as straightforward as it seems.

Im a broker with contracts with all major insurance companies. So I’m just relaying my experience over the years. These types of claims are not as clear cut as you claim by saying wear and tear wont be considered. You’re being extremely naive if you believe that to be the case.

If you compare it a vehicle for instance. If you crack a wheel because of a pothole, insurance will take wear and tear into account when paying out. The same applies if there is suspension damage to your car as a result. Some manufacturers, I’ll use Trek as an example, offer a discount on a new frame if its in a crash. My point is between the insurers and the manufacturers they need to come to an understanding that a carbon repair does not void your warranty. At the moment, any repair voids a warranty as far as I know. And if you voiding a warranty, then what consumer is not gonna fight you over this? There needs to be a panel of carbon approved repairs for each manufacturer. Like we have for vehicles.

We had a discussion about this in another thread quite recently. Unfortunately because bike values have skyrocketed, we’re going to become accustomed to having bikes repaired instead of replaced. The insurers, bike manufacturers and repairers need to get together and figure all this out. There needs to be some sort of agreement whereby a repaired frame carries the same safety standard and does not reduce the value of your car like we have in the motor industry. How they are going to get around this i have no idea at all. At the moment, I can understand where every party comes from. The insured is worried about safety and value of his asset. The insurer however is still running a business and right now bicycles are not a profitable line of business. So something has to give. What I foresee happening in the future is insurance premiums for bicycles will most likely continue to increase to make it more profitable. As it stands right now, one accident on your 200k bike means it’s most likely getting written off. So how does an insurer make money off this? The best scenario for me would be, if there is a warranty of the frame, the manufacturer should cover the replacement in accordance with their policy unless the claim is accident related. So if the manufacturer is insisting that the bike must be replaced then they should be the ones covering this if its in line with their crash replacement policy. If there’s a shortfall, that’s when the insurance should kick in. There’s a difference between claiming after an accident for instance vs claiming because you went over a pothole and that’s caused a stress fracture. These sorts of incidents should be covered under the warranty. As a broker, I can only provide feedback on my experiences. As it stands, RAW are involved with all insurers. They have their hands in everything right now. So even if you’ve moved away from Santam, the chances of having RAW handle your claim at the new insurer is very high. Most insurers will act on what the assessor says. That’s why they employ them. And RAW are most definitely pushing repairs over replacements as it stands.

How are the wheels covered when they dont belong to you? Comical this 🤦🏻‍♂️

A bicycle is insured the same way you would a cell phone. If the current model is not available you need to insure it for the value of the model that is available which is specced the same. If you have an ultegra mechanical groupset you can’t get ultegra di2. Unfortunately there is no book value for bicycles like we have for vehicles so there’s no way around this for insurers.

This is not really the correct process. You first need a decision from the insurer. You then need to go back to your insurer if you’re unhappy. If you’re still unhappy after that, then you approach the ombudsman. If you go straight to the ombudsman, they will during the process ask you and the insurer to liase and see if you can come to an agreement. So you still have to go through the process.