Myth

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/bike-check-and-interview-evan-turpens-high-pivot-steel-beauty.html Very very interesting project. A thing of beauty.

Well...if no one is going to say this...very very nice, if not stellar, photos from Mr Sadie.

Beautiful bike... but frack that's a lot of money for a bike. My 790 Adventure cost just slightly more

Indeed, not to forget also a Tubeless conversion (not too expensive if you can do it yourself or have a buddy that can help) and a proper set-up. These two things will go long way in reducing frustration and injuries... Good luck and happy hunting, its always a fun thing to try and find a suitable bike

Ah...the great tyre debate. Usually 20 responses will give at least 15 different answers... I run Maxxis Ardent front and Crossmark rear and have been for ages on my XC bike. Since getting a trail bike that came with more aggressive tyres, I've really started to notice how crappy the grip of a Crossmark is (once you have perspective). Crossmarks are bullet proof, don't get me wrong, but they are definitely not grippy. So I would probably go for an Ardent race for my rear tyre when the time comes to replace it.

Indeed...excellent bikes that we no longer have access to...

Snap...looks like my bike but with a coil!

Where can one get WPL? I haven't been able to find it locally...?

That looks pretty sleek for an e-bike...

A simple way to check it would be to just put a 20mm spacer of some sort under your front wheel (the sort you get with indoor trainers work well). This won't be exact but should show you to some extent what would happen to the head tube angle and BB height. Better still, give it a bit of pedal while propped up like this to feel what it does to your own weight on the bike. You might find that you would need to move the seat slightly forward (to reduce the effective seat tube angle) and add stem length to still sit in the optimum position. Besides the above, the extra 20mm should make for a lot of extra fun on the trails!

Well, I was basically waiting for the ONE PROPER SOLUTION, you know the one for lazy guys like me. The one that sort off goes like: "Put three drops of solution xyz on each jockey wheel. Bounce the bike 5 times on the rear suspension and all the gunk falls off..." But like everything in real life, looks like I will at least have to put in a bit of effort.

Thanks...yeah that's the one thing I never do, although I don't "overlube" I never wipe of excess afterwards...need to get into the habit of doing that. I also usually use a piece of rag and pinch it together between two fingers while rolling the jockey wheel in between, which gets most gunk off...I just never seem to get them "spotless" clean in this fashion. Guess its time to try a toothbrush...

I am curious how you guys keep your derailleur pulleys (or jockey wheels) clean? I have noticed that after a while, even if you chain your chain regularly/properly, a fair amount of gunk starts to accumulate on the jockey wheels. It seems like a mission to me to get this aforementioned gunk off. Especially if you do not want to completely de-grease the bearings inside the pulleys... Any advice?

Ask them to also include a rubber service.

You are lucky they are not previous generation if they took that long to arrive.

There are actually many gravel or dirt sections next to the road in many areas in Centurion. so much so that on a ride I can probably do 40 km with very little tar road interaction. A few quick ones that come to mind - next to the road Old Johannesburg road - this section stretches quite far and even has a little bit of a "bushveld feel" in certain sections (like the area between Hendrik Verwoerd and Ruimte) - next to the road Hendrik Verwoerd, all the way from Old Jhb to Rooihuiskraal. - next to the road Rooihuiskraal road - the portion shown earlier in the thread around Zwartkops I've found its great to ride with other locals that have lived in Centurion for a while as everytime we discover something new...it is important to know where the more common danger areas are though so you can avoid them...again, local knowledge is good in this regard.

Agreed T-Bob...I've personally found the tube around the middle makes the biggest difference to performance - dropping 12kg from my body saved me almost 30 mins on the 947 using the same bike. So bike weight is pretty much insignificant factor in the bigger scheme of things for us as amateurs.

Indeed, same here...had great service from Evo, Csixx and Spaz Stellenbosch. Had crappy service from Edgars (still waiting for my kids' clothes 6 weeks on, the winter will be over by the time they get their winter clothes).

In my opinion, rather buy a bike with a good groupset and wheels, rather than focusing on the frame. I concur with the other comments - I have had Alu and Carbon bikes and have had crappy and good wheels...the largest difference in feel comes from the wheelset. And here the difference can be attributed both in weight and in stiffness (or flex). In terms of groupsets - mid-range groupsets just perform so much better (especially once components have started to wear) than entry-level groupsets - both in terms of shifting and braking performance. So if it was my money I would buy the bike with the best wheels and groupset in the price-range I am willing to pay - the frame would be good enough (irrespective of being carbon, Alu or even steel). Unless you have a lot of dough to spend - then the upper end frames do actually also feel a bit different, but I'm talking Hi-mod carbon here, which is usually out of most people's league. Cheers...

Faaaaark! Thats nice.

Funny enough mine comes out one size smaller (but I am sometimes close to borderline between sizes).

So just a question those pioneers that have already pulled the trigger on Canyon bikes - the sizing looks to be a bit different from other brands - did you guys need to buy one size smaller than your usual size?

So, my next question: Tyre choices: Currently the options i'm considering will either take a 700c 42mm max tyre or 650b 42mm max tyre size (and I am not 100% certain on that width, it may even be 40mm). Obviously i want to use the widest tyres possible, as well as tubeless compatibility and reasonable protection, so what are my options in those sizes? So far I can see: Maxxis Rambler Schwalbe G-One or X-One Kenda Inflintridge Pro Also not sure if one can get these locally...

how are you finding the suspension "bob", or are you running relatively low sag?

I would probably go 2x anyway as i think for a gravel grinder it would be easier to find the sweet spot with 2x gearing.