2721sim

Stolen: Giant XTC 2015 When: 28/04/2022Where: Roundhay, Cape Town, Western CapePictures say about all I can about the bike. Stolen in Somerset West on Thursday 28th April.Get further details about the incident in the Stolen Bikes section.

With so much going for Mountain Biking ... why do they feel the need to add more fuel to the fire to chase people away from Road races ... All valid comments: Accommodation and travel Partners and riding in groups the next big number (be it 5, 10, 15 ... ) Cost of R 470.00 for the race, (plus PPA Fee which most people only pay for the Argus benefit) Seeding events ... What is the point ... If the 35,000 "selected few" are all a sub 4 time ... if you get a draw even without a single seeding race you will start in a sub 4 group ... Have they really not thought about any of this? Or are they arrogant enough to believe that people don't care ... I will consider putting my name down, but I will not do seeding rides,will not pay PPA membership and who knows ... maybe that is the sad end of it for my Argus experiences ...

There are positives to both sides of the argument ... I spent R4k 3 months ago ... I however bought what I thought was a good idea, and that is what I am going to aim at sharing here ... I bought a bike that already had discs ... basically that was the entry point ... My thoughts were I could upgrade any part of the bike ... and if I didn't like the sport I wasted as little as possible....

I called my wife informing her that is exactly what I planned to do ... however I also mentioned in the same conversation that I would be in a foul mood for a while to come ... ... I think her mental wishes at the time materialized into my bike repair ...

After taking 1:40 to do the first 6 km's due to some technical issues it was a hard ride after that. My group was long gone and I was left trying to pick up the pieces with the unseeded at the tail end. With the knowledge of a social ride ahead I found myself yo-yo'ing from bunch to bunch all way from Eastern Boulevard to Suikerbossie. It was not that fun doing those gusty windy patches alone! Awesome ride as always though. The brilliant organisation once again highlights the downfalls in so many other events.

Managed to get a broken chain 6km in and stopped to repair. Then it went again ... pushed back to the repairs table after expecting not to be able to finish .. lost 1 and a 1/2 hours but thankfully finished in time. A huge thanks to those repair tables. I was not the only one.

Thanks, I hope so. There are a few family members doing their first Argus this year so much interest to see their progress ...

In Cape Town we use good red wine!!

Anybody know if there will be an sms service for interested people to track cyclists along the route. It was advertised a couple of years ago but have not heard anything about ti this year ... I think it generated an sms when the cyclist crossed a timing mat ...

A problem I seem to encounter in the area is that most of the LBS's are mountain bike focused ... I get the same feel from Cycle Addiction. So me looking at a road bike in that price category seems to be a serious "disadvantage". Even went as far as Stellenbosch with the likes of places like Flandria ...

I approached the various bicycle shops in the somerset West area ... I am not in the need of a top end bicycle ... I would not have the time to enjoy it to the fullest ... so started looking for the replacement atthe bottom end of the market ... After much debate the decision was made to buy new ... So a new Trek 1.2 2013 was decided on. I assume that the higher the cost of the bicycle ... the higher the profit ... which seems to be directly proportionate to the service received ... Of everywhere I went, Cyclelab was the only store to offer any interest in a sub R 10,000.00 bike ... Now maybe I am being a little old school ... but imho R 10,000.00 is a fair amount of cash to spend on a bike ... obviously I am mistaken ... I just wanted to extend a public thanks to the guys at Cyclelab Helderberg the service was professional and it felt like I was spending way more than I was ... Thanks ...A definite plus in the area ...

Very neat shop ... but I got the feeling that I was doing them a favour walking in the shop .. and felt like I was expected to apologise to them for walking on their floor, and pay the staff for just being there ... Sadly however this seems to be a common problem in the Somerset West area ...

If those come to South Africa I am sure you will not be the only one ... what a beautiful combination of practicality and convenience.

My first Argus I rode on a Raleigh M650 ... Just for the experience ... Managed a painful and uncomfortable 6:47 without a day in the training seat ... but managed it. I would suggest, add slicks and go with the MTB ... I would doubt that the difference in bikes is going to be that dramatic that you would notice it ... As mentioned, see how it goes and then consider buying a road bike for multiple events if road inspires you.

In 2011 I had a bee in my bonnet for the Argus. Pulled out an old 5mp digital camera, wrapped it in a plastic bag, and sellotaped it to my bicycle ... amazing pictures! Price equivalent - R 499.00 ... I cannot see myself spending more on a "action camera" than a "cheap" digital camera with better zoom, longer battery life and a larger SD Card capability. I am amazed by the providers of these types of cameras as to how they justify the pricing ... because they can add the wor "action" to the description? It would be interesting to compare the images taken with one of these to a point and click digital camera.