Thug

Entered - Marathon

Those are unbelievably good times.

Cross post from here... https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/135379-attakwas-ss/#entry2189160 Also Surly KM rigid, 32x20, finished in 8:03

Your bike will be fine and is perfect for that race. I would just convert your tyres to tubeless if not already done so. As Dips says, spend lots of time in the saddle.

On that second last bend to the right with all those corrugations, my fillings almost rattled loose. I had to slow right down to keep my grip on the bars.

Wow, their wheels are work of arts. I wonder if it was bad business decisions / lack of market that caused the bankruptcy.

You could start from Groot Brak and ride towards Oudtshoorn. A nice 50km dirt road...

The guy who won that "ss Avalanche division" finished a minute behind me. We rode quite a bit together but he pulled away from me on the flats and downhills as he was running a 40x18 . Where I managed to beat him was on the uphills where he just couldn't pedal such big a gear.

Thanks & Well done!!

How did you go?

Thanks NSBB. A little kitsch for my tastes but I do like the tyres.

Having lived in the former Transkei pre 94, for a good 10 years or so, I have no issues being called an uMlungu and often refer to myself as one. But then again, I take life with a pinch of salt.

Make no mistake. This is a tough race because of the distance and amount of climbing but the weather made everyone's lives a lot easier. I really battled the last 10/15k's or so due to spinning out on the flat and downhill sections. Guys would come past me and I'd manage to catch a slip until the legs couldn't keep up anymore, then I'd wait until the next group and so on and so on. But all good in the end. WRT to the thought of doing it on a CX bike posted earlier in the thread, I agree, definitely not a route for a CX bike.

Just got back from an awesome weekend. Started in D batch along with singlespeedGuy on my Surly with a 32x20 gearing. 1st part of the race was extremely slow with most people walking up the climbs. Rode within myself not knowing what was coming and eventually stopped the clock in 8:03. I had to adjust my chain just after waterpoint 2, had an endo on that stretch and then had a puncture later on in the race. Highlight of the ride was the rocky technical downhill just before waterpoint 3, where 3 of us singlespeeders with rigid forks all rode the downhill together asking riders with suspension and gears to get out of the way.

We made it down here. Staying at the Pearl. Bloody hot already.

Yes, i would assume so.

Moenie worrie, jy kan voor my staan.

Looking great Patches.

I generally don't do races so don't have a national seeding neither an SAS seeding, so have no complaints with my seeding. Just means I can pass more people.

I hope those indicative times are incorrect. Giving yourself 90 minutes for the last 40k's is rather optimistic.

Ja, it doesn't look too bad at all. The Rocky Horror in Sabie looks far worse.

What's the best line down there for a rigid hardtail? edit: Looks like it's to the riders right.

I'm particularly partial to the one on the right. A close enough match to my Titus.

Yes, there a number of areas that the author ignores or glances over but the the differences between the 26" & 650b are largely insignificant and making the change due to perceived advantages or marketing rhetoric is wrong. There are far bigger gains to be had by going to 29" That's not to say though that a 650b is not the bike for you if you are purchasing your first bike or you are too small for a 29"

Codswallop - british slang for rubbish or nonsense