SSCC

The Evil CH is the worst riding gravel bike I have ridden. Absolutely horrible. That’s saying a lot because I’ve owned 11 gravel and monster cross bikes and ridden even more 😉

Congrats on another finish! What were the route changes and RV changes?

It's amazing how varied the weather can be for fast vs slower riders. Based on the finish times over all editions this year was the easiest (fastest) year for the faster riders. On average across all years to go sub 3 days you needed to be in the top 10. This year there were about 25 riders under that mark.

It's a new GPS event not the Freedom Challenge. It's a bikepacking race that is similar in concept to something like Atlas or Silk Road. Even though I think this new race is a fantastic addition I don't think this type of race appeals to the vast majority of Munga riders. The typical Munga rider wants the water points and race villages and not the uncertainty of looking for a service station at 2am to refuel.

My bad. I had the calculations wrong.

The leaders are at 966km. It’s 10am. What numbers are you seeing?

Must be slow going this year. Wind? If Trackleaders is correct this could be the first year that no one breaks the 3 day 72hr benchmark.

Agree with this. Its worth every cent in my opinion. On the prize money - if the Munga team had half the marketing savvy of the Gravel Burn team they could make this a million Rand (not dollars) prize purse race. The problem is their marketing looks like it’s done by the people that do the Game or Makro Black Friday sales catalogs. It’s a complete mess and has zero sponsorship appeal.

Yikes. That’s a good setup if you don’t mind a sore arse or saddle sores 🤣

Agree with this. Or a gravel bike with suspension and MTb tyres. It’s odd that if you call something a gravel race people automatically think a rigid gravel bike with 45’s is a good choice. All you had to do was look at the route and ask people to know how rough it is out there.

No one’s comparing them.

I think he saw the potential in this format but saying he copied those events is a bit much. I’ve done most of the races on your list and gravel burn is nothing like them. The OG gravel race in the western Cape (drop bar) is the Tour of Ara followed up Karoobaix. All of the events you listed took inspiration from what Stan started and added their own flavor to it. I think we should rather celebrate the fact that we have another race rather than criticize. I’m probably never going to do gravel burn but I’m happy it exists.

The first year of many events often attracts the dreamers. The inexperienced. Like you I suspect many don’t know what they are in for 😫

It did hit a sharp edge. A dog knocked it over and the guys bike hit a low planters box edge. Cracked just like in the image. By definition, a rejected or denied warranty claim is no longer a warranty claim, but rather a denied claim. Your inability to understand this concept is perhaps why you have writers block.

I’ve seen lightweight mountain bike frames break at that exact point from falling over. It’s a vulnerable point. If you buy a light weight frame that’s the risk.

If you look at the image I posted the break is on the seat stay and visible from the outside. I’ve seen frames that have fallen over at a cafe break in exactly this spot. A single break that looks just like this. It happens so quickly. Someone bumps the bike, it falls then is lifted up and the owner is none the wiser. Until he realizes it’s cracked. Ask carbon repair shops how often they get this exact repair. I’m not disputing Enves quality or value. Overpriced and overhyped IMO and I’d never buy it.

What do you mean? That carbon frames can't fail or break on impact?

Is this the break? Hard to tell from the photos you posted.

I understand your frustration but it's not a manufacturing defect. That is what the warranty covers. It really does not matter how it happened because something, somehow has pressured the frame / hit the frame and damaged it. Pay for a new frame on their crash replacement and then get the old one repaired. Sell it listing it as a repaired frame and you will recoup 1/2 of what the replacement frame cost you. Or rent a bike on holiday and repair the frame when you get home. A good carbon shop will fix that no problem.

That’s impact damage. Carbon does not fail like this without an impact. I agree with Enve. It’s a “crash” replacement claim.

Faverio. Buy one unit and switch pedals between bikes. I'd personally get the SPD version. Or if you ride road pedals on your gravel bike get the road version.

Hows this saddle holding up?

I think your'e looking at the 180km results. The 130km is a new route and 8hrs should be plenty of time.

Isn't the Gravel Earth fee 5,000 euros or about R100,000?

It's great that the race is making a comeback in 2026! When you guys signed up to be part of the Gravel Earth series I knew immediately that it was a mistake. Remote, Karoo locations cannot afford the costs they or the UCI charge. You'll never get the numbers or the sponsor to cover those costs which are substantial. Having an elites only race is another mistake IMO. The beauty of gravel races are that the age groupers and elites all race the same route. It's that way at Unbound or Trakka and every race I can think of. Having an elites only race sends the wrong message. If you are concerned about total race time for slower riders have a cut off time that eliminates people. I've done a race in the States that had multiple distances that shared some parts of the same route. If people didn't hake a certain point in the long race by a certain time they got diverted onto the shorter route. It's much more inclusive then having a elites-only race.