GLuvsMtb

Replaced my Spec Levo Turbo 2020 Comp Alloy last year with a Giant Trance E Advanced Pro 1 after riding my wife's Trance E +3 and coming to the conclusion that it handled better than my Levo. I changed out the 625 battery with a 800 battery and recently replaced the stock wheelset with Hope Pro 5 / WTB HTZ i30's. The LiveValve took a bit of time to get used to, but these days its very much set on race mode and I leave it there, unless I do a long ride on tar only, then I'll use the firm setting. Its an awesome bike at the price point, and although I've spent a fair bit on it after purchase, there is not much out there that beats it, even after adding the wheels and upgraded battery to the price.

A huge shout-out to the Urban Goat team for hosting such an awesome event. My wife and I had a splendid time. 3 days of perfect weather, the best glamping mtb village on the multi day circuit, all that Nieu Bethesta has to offer and great company made this a definite fixture for next year’s mtb calendar.

I had a nice easy ride with the missus out of V batch. Nearly had a run-in with the officials at the 80km water point when they suggested that the race was stopped. They allowed us to continue at our own risk citing the extreme heat. We were well hydrated and were riding well within my wife’s limits, so it was nice to be able to finish.

View from Botmaskop

I was also doing a bit of a discharge home. Essentially maxed the power setting from Stellies back to Somerset West. I do this about once a month

About 65% off road ride done on 31/12. We will be absolutely fine on our current setup.

Doing it with the missus. Both of us on E Bikes. I will use my 800w battery only, while the missus will use the 800w battery as well as the 250w range extender. I comfortably get over 1000m of elevation and 70kms on the 800w battery, most of it on trails. A slightly slower pace at lower setting will definitely help with having decent reserves (both battery and legs) for Suikerbossie and beyond.

Q: So what was the race like? A: My partner’s back wheel looked amazing from where I was riding Q: And the views? A: What views?

I am not sure if this is still relevant, but I recall Adrian (former chairman of TBMTBC) and TBMTBC parted ways around 10 years ago and that the parting was not that amicable. He then headed up Botlary at the time. I was a TBMTBC member until I moved to Somerset West. What I like about the Winelands setup is that day membership gives you access to ALL the trails on the network, not just one at a time and no access to the secret-special-members-only sections like the TBMTBC setup. Hence why I haven’t ridden TBMTBC since moving to SW.

Nice work here. I guess for me Winelands is a no-brainer. Living in Somerset West, so most of these are riding distance from home, so the travel cost becomes moot. PS Winelands day fees going to R100 a day from 2023, so you’ll want to update that one.

3 types of e bike riders out there. 1. The e bike stage racer - he wants the biggest battery to get him through W2W stage 1 without a battery change 2. The Enduro / Gravity rider - Big battery with maningi travel for as many runs as there are hours in the day 3. The lightweight - 50nmt motor with a small battery. Usually for mommy to ride with daddy, and when mommy rides alone she can actually lift the bike onto the bike rack. All 3 (and the combination of any of these) areas have seen tremendous growth in the last 3 years, and the bikes have all evolved at a staggering rate. A colleague from Durban is currently in Somerset West at our head office. I’ve shown him around on our locals and he said that he now understands why I have an e bike. Being able to get from SW to G Spot, do 2 or 3 runs and back home in under 2 hours makes way more sense than doing a 2 hour ride on the road to Stellies and back before work. And on weekends I easily ride from SW to Banhoek, over to Boshendal, have a light lunch and back to SW in 3 to 4 hours, with battery to spare. Its still work, but you can really decide how much work it is.

Thanks Chris, is the event E-Bike “friendly”, ie. Does the camping sites have electricity to charge batteries?

Looks tempting! What does the camping setup look like? Is the catered option worth it? Looking to do this one and rough it with the tent solo, so want to travel light

Reduce the number of road races and make them really premium with full road closures, well thought-out routes that offers a challenge and decent scenery, Consider 2-day events (or even over a longer span), incentivise competitive riders with decent prize money / sponsorship benefits. TBH, road cycling is reflecting the poor state CSA and local governing bodies are in. On the MTB scene the “independent” and niche organisers seems to do very well. It is because there is perceived value. If I have to deal with oncoming traffic while dodging potholes in a bunch of 50+ riders, I’d much rather do a small group ride / go solo.

One needs to assume that the bike would be de-limited then. E Bikes are limited to 32km/h. I have done quite a few events with my e bike. A 700wh battery gave me about 1600m of ascent and 87km in just under 5 hours. It took very careful battery management to complete that stage and was marginally easier than what I would have done on a normal bike (I gained about 30 minutes). On shorter events / stages the benefit is greater. I have done a 45km event with 700m climbing on more or less full power and had battery to spare afterwards. What becomes more important on an e bike, particularly on longer stages is accurate route information. Knowing how much climbing remains and what distance remains helps you to optimise your battery usage. You try to build a margin in, but in some cases you cut it fine or get it wrong. On that big day with 1600m climbing I finished with 1% left. The last 8kms took an hour to do, where if I had been a bit more conservative, I probably could have done that section in 30 minutes on about 50% power. When I ride with friends that rides “normal” bikes I try to keep my HR at around 135bpm. It is in my training zone and I get a decent workout. Did Jonkershoek today with a non-e bike friend. We rode 2 hours on 20kms, I used 15% of the battery and had my HR in my zone. The nice thing for me is I can ride with my weekend warrior friends as well as my alpha-male-who-has-done-5-Epic friends too.