dave303e

Apologies for the incorrect terminology, I meant freeway. https://www.strava.com/segments/6953445 3 segments on this stretch of highway, M4 grit, N4 up, N4 down, with aforementioned blue signs with 2 lines under a bridge and even tollgates at either end of the segments.

https://csggis.drdlr.gov.za/psv/ There is a link to all the property boundaries in SA. So unless you are paying/arranged for access or are on a public road, best check what property you are on and how badly you are trespassing...

Sadly it is a losing battle with people, it also happened in Enduro motorbikes. We once used an amazing part of a farm in a motorbike race, then someone went and rode it a few weeks later and we never were allowed to race there again. There was even a shooting incident where a landowner was letting off warning shots around them. My folks live near a popular riding area by rosemary hill and the number of guys cutting along their fence across from the road to the railway is a joke. Neighbor has had to fetch his cows off the railway a few times where cyclists have damaged the fence climbing over. Sadly south africans can't respect where they can and can't ride their bikes in general. Case and point strava segments on national highways where it is illegal to ride. Same old story, a few will ruin it for lots of others. As for open data, logic states that if it is land, someone owns it. So if you are riding somewhere for 'free' on your mtb, chances are you are on a public road or trespassing in some form. As for all the government land- if you are allowed to ride there, chances are you will know where to pay to access it, or you are again trespassing. But ya people will be people. Strava heatmaps show how often people are cutting through private land

I think Wahoo also shot themselves in the foot. Most of the Gen1's are still going strong and are accurate and quiet enough for most, so it is buy once and never again.

Bit like cars, all warranties, all liabilities all disappear when you fiddle with a safety governor. So I highly doubt the manufacturers mind too much Go drive in UAE, all the cars have like a reverse beeper as soon as you go over 120km/h it beeps on and on untill you slow down again. Can you imagine how much money you would make in sa disconnecting those beepers.

you can choose your friends, but not your family hey

It is rather scary, I know those motors, they can be so reliable if looked after well. But they are ticking timebombs if not looked after to the T. I still have mine, I have kept it for the last 4 years because in my head it is barely worth 15k and I am rather sentimental about it and it now happens to be a really quick farm bike. Scumtree also has a 2006 KDX200 for sale for 30k, that bike was R30k brand new in 2006...

I remember a few years back when KTM 300's broke the 100k mark and it was a big thing. Scarily on the bike boom front though- I paid 25k for a 2007 CRF250X in 2010, I thrashed it for a good few years. The scary thing is that guys are still selling 2007 CRF250X's for R23-R30k. It is ridiculous.

these are actually really cool, and if you had it set up well and charging off solar it would be even cooler.

yes and pretty much yes within 5-10k(KTM Husqvarna and Gas Gas are basically 1 company and the same bike) You can also get a 2022 KX250f for under R141k, that engine revs to over 13000rpm.

ok I'll bite... apples to apples it is then. Husky TE300i, is a full on race bike, R161k, S-works Epic is R240k. Seem fair?

You totally misunderstood my point. I have nothing against an ebike, especially in your case. But like you said you just need the help on the steep hills. So if you riding a 100km, likelihood that 70odd km will be you and the bike will need to help for those 30km of rougher climbs. In which case a smaller battery/standard battery will be fine for that stop gap to get you up the hills and this bike in the article is perfect. Chances are if you are needing to do 150km rides you will build up enough so that majority is done by you and that you would have the bike fill in the gap again. Like I said nothing against that. Also nothing against when you start getting older or are sick whatever and still want to enjoy a good solid ride. The standard batteries will get most through a 60km ride easily. Which is the equivalent of a marathon if you consider min distance for XCM is 60km. So it enables a full marathon in standard trim, which is more riding than most mtb riders do. And that is brilliant. If it can enable you to do that then really it is brilliant. Ask many runners what it means to do a marathon. Most would be excited if there were e-shoes to help them get from a 21km to a marathon. Like I said great enabler. But when you riding with spare batteries or oversized batteries so it can be on half power last over 100km because you can only manage 20km on your own, you are missing the point in MY opinion.

It is not the tyre that is necessarily the issue. Stan's Crest rims are only rated to 2,6bar for 2,3" tyres. Stan's Arch is 2,6bar on a 2,2 tyre and 2.4bar on a 2,5 tyre. So the tyre may be fine, but are your rims ok for that? That rim was properly buckled after it went boom which leads me to believe the tyre held and the rim failed first.

Sew/thread 2 strong elastics onto the front of the shoulder straps. You can easily hold 2 bottles there and the weight on the front will counter the battery weight a bit.

What you can do as well, put a few cable ties on the seat stays with the end that you usually cut off pointing at the tyre. Trim that end as close to the tyre as possible. Then rotate the wheel and you can figure out where it is bulging or under. It is the quick and dirty way to check for bent rotors and buckled rims. But if you put a few next to each other either side you can see if it is the tyre sitting funny or bulging.

Stans Crest have a 2,6Bar rating with a 2,3" tyre. Garage Pressure gauges are not accurate at all. So just hammering it over 3 bar will eventually end in a bad way. Berm Peak on youtube had similar. If you google it you realise it happens fairly often.

DON'T PLEASE DON'T I MEAN REALLY REALLY PLEASE DON'T! I have had a tyre blow off the rim, not far from 3 Bar doing this. The bike was in the back of an X1 at a petrol station because I didn't have a compressor at that stage and didn't manage with a pump the first attempt to seat. When it went boom it destroyed the rim and spokes, sealant went in all directions. Every petrol attendant was running or hit the deck. It took 2 days to clean the car. My ears were ringing for a few days, I had sealant in my eyes and up my nose. The wife just laughed. Really not a fun experience. I will try find a photo. Read your rim owners manual, lots of them are not rated to high pressure. This is a good 1st check.

I use Castrol DWF on my bicycle a lot still in summer, mud doesn't stick, makes it look good, stops any chance of corrosion happening. If I lived at the coast still I would be buying it by the case still. Up on the highveld in winter your bike stays cleaner without it and there is so little chance of corrosion if you dry it after cleaning so all good. You just need to keep it away from your brake rotors. If you want the really good stuff, splurge on maxima SC1, then your bike even smells sweet. On the IDT for a while I used motorbike anti fling lube, a single application lasts a long long time and it is better priced than mtb lube. You can feel it robs maybe a watt or so but on the trainer who cares, you there to work anyway. It is quite interesting though the economics of bicycles, especially given the rise of financing. I mean walk into a major bicycle store- you don't see the bike price, you see the monthly repayment amount, which makes you realise where they want you to go. I have found it is easier to get bicycle finance than almost any other finance. The teams there are brilliant in their UX. I guess it is lower volume and all about the the UX. That being said it can work out reasonable to finance a bike and if you don't have the cash upfront but know what you can work with monthly then why not. I mean R1000 a month on bicycle finance is a lot better than R1000 a month to go to a gym in my opinion. At least a few years later you have a saleable asset along with some fitness. My timing happened to work out well, I paid off a bike I financed in 2019. It was a good price as the bike was marked down. I also put in a good a deposit and kept the term to 36months. Trade in on the bike was a lot better than expected with the bike boom. So by seeing the boom it made it a lot more viable to trade up to something better specced and well priced. I also have the luxury of an accountant wife giving input.

Yup, the needs are vastly different, take for example the UK where the chances are you have a tar road right up to the entrance of the farm and once on the farm it will be a sxs or tractor. So it makes sense to have a van. A lot also depends on the produce, animals vs crops etc. Needs are very different. We have family on a farm where it is 25km between the 2 farm houses. In UK that would be a pipe dream sized farm. Average Dairy herd in KZN is around 900 head. In the UK it is around 150. You are not far off hahahahaha. Look they are useful, they can pull like no other bakkie and load really well. But you can survive with an np300 or even worse for the toyota brigade- a ranger...

I also remember how much closer to totally worn I used to ride chains and cassette's. I feel like most are replaced with a good 1000km still to go on them nowadays. #rideittillitblows you will laugh at the amount of sniping done to cut running costs that you don't see... I have an old bike on the trainer. Because I only train in ERG mode- the gear doesn't really matter. So when I set it up, I found the cheapest, heaviest, chain and cassette. Then I run it in 1 gear for a few 1000km, then swap to the next gear for the next few 1000km then the next. Stretched chain don't care, between the mrs and I, we are over 7000km with a single chain, cassette, shifter cable, jockey wheels etc. But our fun bikes only come out on weekends and not when weather is inclement(other than races). It means you can enjoy the proper riding because you are fit, but not have the massive running costs of riding a premium expensive drivetrain/tyres a lot. Rouvy also has family membership to cut costs there.

What are your thoughts on the 'Dacia' Renaults?

and if it was a really good harvest it is a Landcruiser

I thought claiming tax on company vehicles was limited to certain vehicles, like single cabs count as work trucks but double cabs don't? or did I hear wrong? I shut down a little when the mrs goes into accountant mode

Farmers counting hilux's in sheep. Then you go through the classified adds looking for a tractor and realize R2.5-3mil for a 5 year old tractor or combine isn't exorbitant in the current market.

went from GX cable to GX AXS, both are good and solid and reliable. Personally prefer the ASX just because it shifts so well and consistently.