NGM

As others have pointed out, maintaining a website like this takes a lot more work than one 18yr old could manage. In my opinion you could be forgiven for not knowing or understanding that. There are some free mtb forums out there, but they all rely on a very rigid and sterile template. eg: tell me you have not seen this forum template in a million other places: https://forums.mtbr.com/forum.php Honestly, if you searched for caravaning, plumbing or reliant robin enthusiast forums, you'd probably find the same dull template. So to do something better, you need more more staff, who'd expect to be paid. So how do you get income from a free online platform? 1. Sell advertising space (pop ups, and have you been on gumtree lately? There are more adds than there is content) 2. Provide sponsored content. 3. Harvest user data (google, and all social media) to sell on to 3rd parties, swing elections and generally just manipulate you - I'd rather sell my soul to the devil. 4. Make it not free - fair enough.

I thought I recognized that slipway! I lived in kingston for a few years. That part of London on a nice summer day takes a beating. Have done many a drunken cycle along the towpath riding home from Steins biergarden in Richmond. Highly recommended. (Steins, not riding drunk next to a river)

That's great. There tends to be loads of decent 2nd hand mtb 1x sets and road shifters floating around the classifieds.

Generally I prefer 1x, but will get in touch anyway. Thanks.

So an update here, I've gone with a soma wolverine. Its pretty pricey, but is also the right tool for a multi day (and month) touring bike, and its bloody beautiful. So there's pretty much no choice now, the road bike has to go to help fund this! Thanks so much to Morne555, Grease_Monkey, BikepackingShop and Jewbacca for the valuable input via PM. I will almost certainly be asking questions here and will happily post photos. I've picked out wheels, a stem and bars. I'm uncertain on drivetrain/groupset. Are there any fans of this groupset? https://bikemob.co.za/collections/groupsets/products/sramapex1hydrogroupset?variant=31210841178197 I've always tended toward shimano (less flash but more reliable in my experience) but can't find any gravel groupsets in RSA. There was this press release: https://community.bikehub.co.za/features/_/gear/gear-news/shimano-launches-grx-gravel-dedicated-drive-components-r7818 If anyone knows a decent place to source the above, please let me know. Also open to other suggestions. For reliability I'm actually keen on mechanical disc as opposed to hydraulic brakes, but not sure where to start looking.

Quick query, what STI-type shifters do people normally use on touring bikes if one goes the disk brake route? Can you use typical roadie shifters and then connect the brake cables to mechanical disc brakes? That seems like a bit of a hack, but are there other more standard "go-to" options that don't break the bank?

I've only ever ridden large frames so I suspect it wouldn't work. Thanks though.

That's a great offer, thanks! I might be in touch. I've been looking at the FARR frameset because its pretty cheap and I can pick the rest of the parts out myself.

I hear you, but in my case it is certainly not just another photogenic n+1 bike that I can post on Instagram. This will be replacing my road bike. This was actually inspired by a mountain pass fairly close to you! In my first visit tot he klein karoo I rode seweweekspoort and then discovered that it was one of so many incredible gravel road mountain passes in this region, and most of them are all within a few hours of each other. Couple that with the fact that I plan to ride a 3 month trans Canadian bike packing trip in June next year - and I need the right tool for the job. I know you weren't having a personal go at me or other contributors on this thread, it was a valid observation. But I still need to assert the fact that I'm not one of those people.

Thanks, ya I'd actually spotted that but a medium wont work for me either. Looks a great price for the bike though.

With an MTB fork its a bit heavier and raises the front of the bike up, so you are less aerodynamic. Also an mtb fork typically results in a bit of "pedal bob" which means a slight loss in efficiency. But then you may want a more upright sitting position if you plan on 6hrs a day in the saddle, and you may want an mtb fork that can absorb bumps better. Depends on where you are riding. Also people often have an old mtb sitting in their garage that they turn into a touring bike because its not being used for anything else and they can take the load better than a road bike. So, IMO, that is why you see both. From what I know, touring bikes are "traditionally" steel frames & forks because steel has shock absorbing properties of its own and can handle being heavily laden. And again they often have a more upright sitting position because, well I don't know about you but I get lower back pain after 3-4 hrs on a road bike.

Those tick a lot of the boxes, thanks! That classifieds build is insane.

I'm looking at buying a touring bike to do some multiday trips around south africa and overseas (when its eventually possible) and I'm looking for a decent touring bike I can use. I have a rough idea of what I'd want: Steel frameno suspensionrelaxed geometry for more of an upright sitting positionDropper bars - essentially something that has a CX/gravel look to it. I'd want to do some CX stuff with it anyway.Capacity for panniers in front and backI'd say I've got a budget of R20K. I've looked at some of Dave Mercer's stuff and it's beautiful but works of art like that come at a price. Then there are bikes like this: https://surlybikes.com/bikes/pack_rat I'm not a HUGE fan of the looks, but I think they are a pretty reputable brand for touring bikes. Any suggestions?

Ironically those photos of a pyga gave me morewood. I suspect that joke has been made before

I spent many weekends MTBing in the surrey hills when I lived in the UK. It's a pity that I was not into road riding at the time because now I'd absolutely love to take a road bike around (and over) those hills between Guildford and Dorking (Holbury, Codharbour, Leith Hill, Box Hill etc). Enjoy!

My Argus history.. bear in mind that I'm reasonably fit and have done a number of 100km races in under 3:00, so obviously a sub-3 is a big goal for me. (This is not a brag, it's just important to the narrative.) But I'm not obsessive about training and I'm not physically gifted, so to have any chance I need to be a good starting group and need the weather to play ball. 2015: I train hard. Literally about to buy an entry. Then there are fires and they shorten the route. Decide against it. 2016: Skipped. Don't know why and don't know what happened. 2017: I train hard. I buy an entry. The group before mine gets sent off, we make our way to the line, and it is cancelled. 2018: I train hard. I buy an entry. Then a friend organizes a skiing trip that can't be turned down (cheap flights and free accom in switzerland). So I sell my entry and the weather is PERFECT, about 1200 sub-3's roll through. 2019: I train fairly hard. I finally get to ride, but it's one the windiest years to not be cancelled and there are literally ten times fewer sub-3s than the previous year. 2020: I skip and brilliant conditions prevail. The only thing that can be concluded from this is that, if I don't even so much as consider riding the argus, the rest of you guys will have a great ride. You can't argue with the stats. So at this stage I will happily accept donations TO NOT ride in 2021.

Geez that really tells a tale. The gent in second was ahead by almost an hour at one stage - which is nearly 2 laps at your guys pace. Then he took a nap (mechanical?). Then he caught up again, then took another rest, then caught up again, then took another rest.. then just didn't quite catch up. Epic battle.

Pantani Rules! I Hate Lance!

I don't think I've ever commented on this thread, but I've been following it since it started. I'm really impressed with your resolve. The human body has evolved to be good at dealing with short term stress, we are not as well adapted to dealing with long term stress. So with that in mind I think you just need to accept that there will be moments where you feel low. But so long as you keep reminding yourself that those low moments are temporary, your resilience (which you seem to have in abundance) will help you get through all of this. Please know that if you can be an inspiration to me (some dude who has never met you) then you are likely an inspiration to many.

It's really a great race for boosting one's seeding. I'm picking up stompies here but I'm guessing you guys want to do well here to give your old man a better seeding (for CTCT)?

I rode with 2A a few years back (2017) and did 2:41. It's not like a normal ride because Helshoogte often breaks the groups up straight away, well that's been my experience. New (slightly random) groups tend to reform after the Pniel T-Junction again. I put a big effort in on the climb and then rode the rest of the race with a largish group of 1C and 1D, and a couple of the other 2As who joined me. I suspect the more advanced groups tend to stick together over Hels, but from what I've seen, the 2's and 3's tend to be a big mix of ability and it's often carnage in the first few minutes. I guess you just need to read the crowd a bit on Helshoogte. If nobody really kicks off, then just stay with your bunch and you will almost certainly come in close to 2:50.

I love that pic of the egg eater. I've always liked those snakes. Non-venomous and attractive markings: my kind of snake! We used to get Eastern Tiger Snakes where I grew up in the lowveld - really beautiful.

In that area and with those colours it would almost certainly have been a Juvenile Cape Cobra - they've often got a black band across the throat and are often yellowish green in colour. But its a good question about what to do. In the case of a Cape Cobra I can say definitively that you should do as little movement as possible and call for help as soon as possible. So unless you can freewheel back to an easily accessible place in a few minutes without making any physical effort, rather just sit down and call emergency services.

So we've established that snakes are deadly on the land and at sea... but what about in the air? What if, say... one found oneself on a plane...stop me if you've heard this.

This race is normally great for me. My seeding is always lousy because its my first event in 9 months, but I'm always fit at this time of year because I've ridden plenty over the holidays. Combine that with the fact that the only thing I'm half decent is climbing, it means I can normally jump one or two groups on the way over Helshoogte, and then coast for the next 90kms. That's how its played out for the two years before last. And this year its all going according to the same playbook, except that I have a wedding on Saturday night in Cape Town. And its not a "Polite hug at 11pm and thank you we had a lovely time" kind of wedding. It's an "old varsity friends who now only see each other every few years and think they can still play drinking games" kind of wedding. FML.