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I travel with my bike all the time. Maybe 3-4 times a year. But it’s for long term - more than a month at a time. It’s a faff for just a week or two since you need to be able to travel with a giant bike bag - rental cars need to be bigger, airport transfers need to be bigger etc. Packing is a pain in the ass too and there is always the chance your bike gets lost or crushed. I have insurance for that but it’s another thing to worry about.

https://bike-addict.co.za/products/titan-skyrim-dash-2024?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=d065f73d8&pr_rec_pid=9075364430121&pr_ref_pid=9075172573481&pr_seq=uniform R37990 https://bike-addict.co.za/collections/dual-suspensions/products/titan-cypher-rs-dash-2024?_pos=21&_fid=6b316d815&_ss=c R33990

hi @StaticX Maybe post some links of the bikes you fancy here and we can advise you more accurately. I am around 1.88 and I ride XL. I have often wondered about perhaps riding L but when I sit on one it feels cramped. Maybe, go to a bike shop and sit around on a few sizes between L and XL and see what feels better. Nothing worse than getting an ill-fitting bike that you spend hours on and start feeling cramped in the cockpit.

The Trek is the most versatile bike in the posted selection. The Pyga is nice but heavy and heavier than the Trek (which is also alloy I assume) Something to watch out for with the Pyga 110 29 alloy frames is that they crack on the seat tube below the top rocker link cradle. Make sure you insure the bike if you opt for it.

Careful what you assume. The standard restriction on a Specialized Creo e road bike is 42 kmh. Once you go up above that it turns off. It doesn't mean you can climb at 42 KPH BTW. Just you will get some assistance up to that speed depending on your chosen setting. However once you have the bike moving - even the e MTB which is limited at 32 KPH - its easy to stay with a bunch . I often have the bike completely turned off and am sitting at 45 KPH in a bunch if we are on flat or in a tail wind - they are easy to pedal like a non assisted bike as the motor drag is negligible so its not unlikely she was not being assisted. UNless you have ridden one and understand how the assistance works be careful of making assumptions - you will find at high speed sthe assistance is marginal and is not really impacting the effort put in as the bike can't do much at that speed - its mainly rider effort. Its no a motorbike - its deisgned for assistance at lower speeds. Above a certain speed its rider effort. Now you need to maybe think she was pretty fit and strong and chooses to ride the bike for her reasons but could be a damn good cyclist and would be quite competent on a normal bike. Ego's take a lot of bashing when that happens.

So here's my 2c and please note: "I do not know everything, take what I am saying as an opinion & not fact" 1) Confirm and decide the discipline you and your son want to pursue, I assume from the list of options that it will be trails, the question: Will it be limited to trails or are you going to once in a while join the friends out on a marathon to go for pancakes in another province? If the answer is maybe then you need to make peace with the fact that your trail bike will be somewhat heavier and slower than the other marathon bikes. Also, if you want to use this bike to compete in stuff like the Trailseeker or so then a podium position won't necessarily be in the cards. 2) There's quite a bit to look out for when going for a viewing but I normally look at the wear of the chain (worn chain can translate into a worn cassette, chainring, pulley wheels). Also request the service history of the fork and shock. 3) If you can get an SME (Subject Matter Expert) involved in your buying process then it will save you quite a bit of frustration and issues down the line 4) Don't be too phased about the items fitted on the frame as they're all consumables and or can be swopped. If you do not like the look and feel of the frame then you won't ride as much in any case . There's more stuff but the above is a good start

So many things to consider, the most important of which is size. Nothing will spoil your day more than riding a bike that is too small or too big for you. Step 1 is to determine the size you need and choose the bike that is the size. If you already know this and all 3 of these are the correct size, choose the one that speaks loudest to you.

Sure thing. I felt very overwhelmed, as back when I was a kid there was a corner shop that sold bicycles and you kinda just picked the colour and whether you wanted road or MTB. If you go into a bike shop now you’ll be SHOOK. The options are basically endless and you can spend as much as your budget will allow. Like, there are bikes upwards of 200k, and bikes that are 5k, and you need to find your sweet spot. The thing is, if you buy a bike and it’s *** or uncomfortable or complicated or you don’t trust it, you won’t ride it, and you won’t necessarily chuck it and buy another. You might just think that cycling is not for you. Hills are hard, descents are sketchy, but hills are less hard with decent kit and you’ll fall off less (or work harder to fall off) on descents with a decent bike. And you can go faster in general 😁 No bike is going to make you a champion off the bat but coming back into this and spending a lot of time reading and learning, I realise that I could have bought a LOT of crap, and I lucked out with my first bike (which I still have, and seemed SO expensive as a brand new purchase at 13k) - I fairly quickly realised I really enjoy cycling but my bike didn’t have enough mountain in it - tried out some new bikes, felt underwhelmed and really quite disappointed, spoke to Robert, and got a cool second bike. I still have my first bike and I still love it, but it’s not the one I chuck down loose, rocky descents or attempt loose, rocky climbs. But the first bike was the right bike for me because it made me excited to get on a bike every day and by the time I started looking for a second bike I’d already done almost 2000km on the first in a year - and that was with major spine surgery in the middle of it all. You need to have a sit on whatever you are interested in, because no two bikes feel or ride the same, and the exact same components on a different frame can give such a vastly different ride. I’d sat on quite a few bikes before I sat on “the one” and when I sat on it I just knew. It’s served me well and will continue to do so for a good long time (e.g I’m doing Race To The Sun and other road and gravel races on bike #1 this year, as well as commuting to the shops etc, and the MTB is picked for Trailseeker and other MTB events). If you could manage to save say R15k, you’ll have a really decent hardtail (front suspension only) that won’t need upgrading for a good long while. And then you might decide to get a full/dual suspension bike instead, or upgrade your existing components, etc. There are no rules, but start with something that you like to ride 😊 Oh! And good brakes. You’ll really appreciate good quality disc brakes (preferably hydraulic) as you get to grips with cycling again. The only thing more annoying for me than clicky, unreliable gears, is brakes that don’t work properly, or squeal. It’s so off-putting.

My friend is looking to hire an Mtb full sus E bike preferably a Turbo Levo for three days. We have searched the net and cannot find any place that offers this service. Any companies or suggestions is most welcome.

So after the feedback, I ordered the Ribble titanium with Shimano 105 - 2 x 12 on 24 January. Delivery was estimated to be between 26 March and 2 April. I ordered the bike to be send to my home address in Somerset West. The price was R50k. The checkout said "all shipping and taxes included". Being a bit skeptical, I phoned Ribble's online help line and the guy that I spoke to confirmed that the shipping and taxes are included in the price. Also checked the customs tariffs on the SARS website and bikes imported from the UK is free of custom duty, but subject to SA VAT. On 20 March, I received and email from Ribble saying that my bike has been shipped. After that, 2 emails from DHL and this morning the bike was delivered. Test ride this afternoon. Happy days!!

In order to avoid my daily post limit, I have to do a rather lengthy response here: - there was no point in pushing some issues for parts as @thebob said - many thanks to @RobertWhitehead for your help, advice and most generous offer. I will be seeing you in the near future for parts, service and/or advice as you're close to where I am - agreed @sirmoun10goat: the parts spec being different was minor but for a pedant such as myself, a major irritation. I need to be told at times to calm down. There is a definite issue with those freehubs. CL is sending the bike to their Boksburg branch for inspection and will take it up with the supplier - upgrading the wheelset from @RobertWhitehead was an option, thank you @Koos Likkewaan 2 for the heads up - @Skubarra: your question WRT the price difference in parts, I would say negligible. I asked Elena Retief from Silverback for more info, no response - @Rowl: I hang my head in shame... I did not check the spec before buying the bike as I was not concerned about that for the money at the time. Once the problems surfaced I began to investigate the spec and to my dismay, cursed myself for not checking prior. I would have been happy with said spec if it simply worked... - @agentorenge: thank you for your profound insight into the matter - @RobertWhitehead: as per your upgrade suggestions, not for me, not at this price point. I did however learn plenty about parts and have watched lots of YT for info - @Robbie Stewart: so right you are. I am considering abandoning this venture and taking up bowls or knitting... I have till tomorrow morning to decide what to do - @OVERDRIVE: I like the TR bikes and those were the first that caught my attention. I might end up with one... - @Sandro: CPA was a last resort. Thank God that was not necessary - @The Ouzo: CL has good prices for parts and accessories, I will buy from then again - @Andro: I suspect that corners were cut somewhere along the line. Exactly by whom and where I cannot say and I don't want to make any false accusations on BH... Last, but not least... thank you CL! I got a full refund today, no questions asked, no hassle whatsoever. Amazing experience. Jaco the store manager from Lynnwood is the best! Nothing is too much for him. He and his team went above and beyond what was required to help me, the customer. Gerrit, Norman, Stephan, Andries et al., all great people. There really are good people at CL trying their best to deliver excellent service. Please do not write them off! He offered an upgrade to a better bike with discount too. I browsed for 2 hours looking at everything but only saw bikes I wanted starting at 60K. Oops. I took the refund. CL has a sale coming up end of April, maybe... I am so grateful to CL for their service. They really do stick to their customers. I even had "Engela Atkins and I am Head of Merchandise and E-commerce at Cycle Lab" reach out to me via mail and offer assistance. Before I could call her, Jaco called me and asked for me to come in and resolve the matter. Thank you sir. Am I bitter towards CL? No. Have they lost a customer? No. Is the relationship ruined? No. A BH member said "never go back". Life is all about relationships, they are hard work as all the married people will tell you. I am going to buy a biltong, nuts and fruit hamper for CL and drop it off in the week to say thank you. Very lastly: let us not pillorie, lambaste or speak falsely of CL or anyone for that matter. Here or elsewhere. Let us all be kept accountable for our words and actions, myself first and foremost. Thank you.

I am looking for a gravel bike that is robust. Which brand would you recommend: titan switch, ride Farr, rook scout, Scott speedster, Momsen gp300 etc ? Are the local brands any good ? My budget 25k

Nope, you are not an idiot, just new to the sport. Cycling is super expensive, especially mountain biking (things break). The first answer to your post was correct. Ride the bike and have it repaired under warranty for as long as possible. Once you've exhausted the bike, warranty and/or your patience, make a decision about the sport. If the bug has bitten, buy a Titan (best value for money new) or a good second hand bike (ask on here for free advice) Wishing you many happy miles.

Hiya Really keen on their new Valerian. Touted as an aero & climbing/race bike all in one. Seems to be superb value. Especially the one on Cyclelabs recent sale. The Elite. Disc, Sram rival, carbon wheels. Retails at r53k. On sale at 35 grand. 18k off. I called Titan. They based in Stellies. They're making their own moulds now. Claims this model should be around 4 years at least. Bike looks awesome. And I'd like to support local. Just no solid reviews yet. And worried that it may look fast but without the R&D budget of the big guns, it may not be all that good on the road. I'm just a medium level rider, not a racer. 45 y.o. but getting more serious and wanting to get into the peloton riding in the races (the relatively slower ones for now - sub 330) Would really appreciate any comments/insights.

Just rear shock service and pivots, I ride a Titan Cypher Team and I love the bike, my favorite bike to date. But comes down to personal preference, I dont like hardtails so wont really consider one, so for me I pay a bit more each year to maintain my dual sus XD

Hello everybody, I am brand new to Wahoo / Zwift, so I hope I don’t embarrass myself with this question: I have tried one or two rides on Zwift but I don’t feel like the Wahoo Kickr resistance is appropriate for gear/cadence/speed that I am meant to be feeling (maybe I’m weak). I discovered my GRX rear derailleur has a clutch which helped take the slack off the chain but I still think it is not calibrated correctly. I have tried with ERG mode in and off. I have also done that spin down calibration. I’m not sure how to check, but surely there is a way to select different cassettes under settings to ensure the Wahoo configuration is correct for the bike. I did a interval session today and it was an absolute disaster trying to maintain the 85rpm cadence but keep the watts low enough to 65W in zone 2. When the cadence went up to 110rpm I would exceed the watts required by 200-300W which doesn’t seem right. Any suggestions would be super great! I have a Wahoo Kickr 4 with and Silverback Siablo CF (2023 spec):

@candyfloss - My 2c to take into consideration: Think about the riding style & type of trails you want to ride or what interests you... I've been riding for 2 years, and I'm on my 5th bike now... I started with a hardtail XC style cheap bike to get back into it, then I got my first dual sus XC bike, then I upgraded to a carbon dual sus XC bike... I then started getting into doing jumps and wanted to start doing more "gnarly" stuff like all the cool okes do. 😛 So I ended up switching to a cheaper short travel trail bike (140mm front/120mm rear), and rode that bike for close to a year, progressing more, and eventually ended up with a 160mm/146mm Enduro/All mountain bike. Also start with a proper set of flat pedals & shoes, learn the basics & proper techniques, then switch to clipless if you feel like doing so. So TL;DR version: Think of the style of trails/riding you'd like to do, if you're interested in doing jumps and rock gardens, get the right bike from the beginning, something with a slacker head angle, more travel front and rear, etc... and in all fairness, a trail (even my Reign) climbs fine if you're not a KOM chasing XCO super athlete. 🤣 Most important thing to remember is to have fun! Happy biking! 😎

Thanks for the feedback thus far. It's made me re-think things. A road bike will probably better serve my needs. I've found the following 2 options: https://bike-addict.co.za/products/avalanche-solo-2020?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=a1326e579&pr_rec_pid=4327776976980&pr_ref_pid=4182181806164&pr_seq=uniform https://www.decathlon.co.za/road-bikes/326838-57736-road-bike-triban-rc-120-disc-brake-blue.html?gad_source=1&sfdr_hash=f56bcba65ffeded1e4abe96d9900fcfb&sfdr_ptcid=35079_617_695730152&utm_campaign=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.decathlon.co.za%2F&utm_medium=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.decathlon.co.za%2F&utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.decathlon.co.za%2F Does anybody have any experience with these bikes?

Hi there New to the forum. I bought my first mtb in 2018 after my teen years and bought a Gielang chinese bike. i just wanted a bike for the odd camping trip etc, then I saw a Raleigh Vapor FRS 29 with rear shock etc etc and sold the chinese bike and got the Raleigh. Im happy with the bike, but the 29 might be a bit big for me with a height of 1.77m. I now have the opportunity to swap the Raleigh with a Mongoose Tyax Comp in 26 with a large frame. i like the Mongoose and the Raleigh, but Im leaning toward the Mongoose more, but wouldnt want to make a mistake. in my opinion the Mongoose is a better bike, but I don't know all that much about whats hot and whats not. I dont ride as often as I want to and when I do,its mostly on road, but would like to do trail riding more often. so what bike between the two is the better one? Thanx

Going into the store and asking for some entry level components on an entry level bike to be swapped for other entry level components is going to get you nowhere. Get the bike fixed under warranty and ride it. If it continues to break, continue to take it in under warranty and get it fixed until the warranty is no more. Hopefully by that time you'll be ready and able to go for something nicer And no, you were not cheated. Manufacturers regularly had to substitute parts on bikes in the recent past just to be able to have units to sell. Not the case now, but could have been when your bike was manufactured

If you are actually selecting a bike on its carbon footprint, I really hope you have picked all the other low hanging fruit in your life first. A kilogram of carbon fibre is not going to shift the needle on the planet dying or living, but have fun recycling your steel frame when you do it. If you're going bespoke money no object UK frame build, support a Saffa (assuming you can wait long enough) https://www.saffronframeworks.com/ordering/

Howzit lads.. please see photograph of newly purchased and installed 11 speed kmc chain.. the slack on the small chain ring is causing the chain to actually sit loose on the chain stay.. this can’t be right and is it a case of removing links.? On The large chain ring it seems to be fine.. last photos to show where the chain is sitting on the cassette.. 🤙🏻 should I go past the bike shop.?

Hmmm. I wouldn't go with a (heavy) alloy frame paired with a Chinese groupset when there are far, far better bikes out there in the same price range on the used market. 🙅‍♂️ Those heavy bikes tend to be proof-of-concept bikes: you buy it (because new is always better, right?) to prove to yourself that (gravel) biking is your thing (spoiler: it is); then a few months later your eye starts wandering when you see a 'better' bike. They look so light (they are!), the drivetrain is so nice (it is! And you can get parts for it!). So you want to sell and upgrade but nobody wants to buy a used Chinese gravel bike for half-decent money ... ... so go straight for the throat: buy a half-decent known-brand bike (that you can resell for the same money if gravel bikes aren't your thing; only it will be your thing do you save time). 😎 EDIT: absolutely nothing against Avalanche whatsoever: they get lots of people into cycling, and that is always a fat plus! But the last time I lifted an Avalanche I cracked three vertebrae and tore a bicep (*slight exaggeration may apply).

I'm trying to lose weight and get a bit fitter so I can finally hit the trails on my MTB again. Decided to get a mag trainer and now I need a bike for it. I can't use the MTB (29er and I don't want to fork out for the trainer thru axel adapter). Should I get a fixie or road bike for the trainer? Primary objective is to lose weight and get fitter. In that order. Would also like to use it with zwift / rouvy. I've purchased a speed sensor to make this possible. 99% chance that the bike will be stuck to the trainer and never leave the house. I've been looking at 2nd hand bikes. (old 3x9 road bike or a Rook One fixie)

Hi all Building a budget bike. SRAM Level brake set or the Shimano BR 355?? Which is better/best? Thanks in advance