NickGM

I suspect you are a bit (faster). Since posting here I've done a lot of reading on bicyclerollingresistance.com. Now I just need to make peace with the rand I'd be spending per watt.

As a person who's never really thought too much about tyres (and mostly rides road tyres of the "hard to puncture" variety) - is there a genuinely noticeable difference? I do need to buy some new ones and am thinking of splashing out a bit. But the price is eye watering.

I'm not a recumbent rider, but I do know that the guy that runs this company does ride one occasionally: https://www.cycletouring.co.za/about/ He's a really helpful and knowledgeable chap. If you toggle through the pictures at the bottom of the webpage I provided above, you will see photos of him on his recumbent. I don't know if he's on the hub.

In case not recommended here already, if you are looking for more of the same I'd recommend seweweekspoort. Not as many switchbacks but just as beautiful if I remember correctly. Also the nearby seweweekspoort peak is the highest part of the province.

I ride bikes to relax and not get fat. I don't want to spend my time on the bike in a constant state of being prepared for an attack. It's not feasible. If this is vigilance then it's not for me.

OK that's quite enough of that

Thanks - although I don't live in CT (am in stellenbosch) and am very seldom anywhere near green point. Normally only once a year in march! So its unlikely I'd ever run it.

Nice one - ya I've also found that the zip/spring is not really there anymore. But for now I'm putting that down to lack of fitness (and 5-6 extra kilos) and not age. I hope. But I'll have a decent crack at Zandvlei parkrun (nice and flat!) soon to see where I'm at. Another interesting challenge I heard about was doing an Alphabet of parkruns. ie: Akkerendam, Bellville, Century City...(and so on)...Zandvlei. There is no X to my knowledge, anywhere in the world. We apparently get some international tourists who do Zandvlei as there aren't many Z parkruns in the world. I think only 11, 7 of which are in Poland. Anyway, nice excuse to get out bed and go for a run if you find yourself in Aggenys on a saturday morning and don't have "A" yet.

I'm the proverbial "Long time listener, first time caller" on this thread, but will just post this so that I'm held to it (or at least committed to try). I don't run long distances but my goal for the year is a sub-20min 5km. I've managed a few when I was in my 30s but I'm now in my 40s and haven't really run much for the last 5 years. But if I get fit, lose some weight and find a nice flat parkrun course, I think I can still do it.

It just means shifting and breaking with the same lever. It's a term that's synonymous with older tech though. In other words "Yay it's the 1990s now and we don't have to move our hands from the brakes to the downtube to shift gears".

Yeah he just sort of appeared from over the ridge looking like this: No one really knows who he is.

I've got to say, you should be commended for finding the right people to contact, chasing them yourself and chasing others on this forum to do the same. Bitching about something on bikehub does actually have some benefits (like raising awareness within our own community) but ultimately we should be sending factual information to decision makers. So thanks for always nudging this conversation in the right direction.

I will always keep recommending 5tens. I have the freeriders and nukeproof flats (with the grub screws) and this is exactly what happens to me. It's incredible how sticky they are. Nothing else I've tried compares.

For it's weight, carbon actually has a higher tensile strength than steel (a more traditional frame material for heavy load carrying). But steel gives you the peace of mind that it is easily repairable. Carbon tends to fail catastrophically and irreparably if it does fail. I doubt either of these are factors in your decision though. More importantly: What is the bike and what is the weight you intend carrying? Is it a bike you already own or is it one your want to buy? Weekend getaway with 10-15kg on a purpose-built carbon bikepacking bike (Canyon Grizl, Cannondale topstone, etc) then the answer is 100% yes. Transcontinental tour with 35-40kg on a specialized Aethos? Then the answer is 100% no. Provide those details and people here might be able to help out more. For what it's worth, my partner has a specialized awol that is steel from head to toe. We used it on a 3-month tour. It is like an armored tank. It was brilliant on our tour and could carry very heavy loads without even flexing. But at the same time she never rides it now because it, well, it rides like an armored tank. She'd much rather have a nimble carbon gravel bike now. So if that will work for your trip, then do that.

When I was a kid, waai/vaai was a slang word meaning "to go". eg: "That thing really vaais" - That thing can really move (if talking about a car or bike, say). Or the classic "vaai pozi": lets go home. Maybe this was generational or local to an specific area (KZN/SD), all I know is that I've never heard anyone say "vaai pozi" in stellenbosch 😆. I always assumed it came from "waai" in afrikaans but apparently there might be portuguese influence too, which checks out: https://dsae.co.za/entry/waai/e07803 Above link also shows "Vye" as the anglicized spelling. But now I'm curious too. Whatever the case, cool looking kit.