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rburger

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Thanks for all the help

It will be my first time and i am also in Pretoria (Centurion) i want to know what bike i must get or can i use my soft tail marida

I also need to get all the gear

Get a soft saddlebag and a framebag (look at Apidura or Revelate for examples) rather than a trailer.

 

Lighter is better and you can get everything you need for a 3-4 day trip into these.

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I am in Pretoria (Moot) and keen to do some tours but it's been difficult to coordinate with other riders, what did you have in mind?

Hey, am in Kempton Park, I guess we can hook up sometime?

 

First am not a competitive tourer, 'kinda like a slow paced tourer. More about the route, scenery and the destination and not much about the time it takes one to get there - all serious factors taken seriously that is.

 

So if these points bounce with you, we can get something going? From short distances, and who knows full blown expedition?

 

Like in the boys scout.... be prepared, I will try to be

 

Till then, keep pedaling! Chao

Mr Dominic-Mary

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Thanks for all the help

It will be my first time and i am also in Pretoria (Centurion) i want to know what bike i must get or can i use my soft tail marida

I also need to get all the gear

Start with the bike you have now, upgrade as you get more experience and as your distances increase. My reason being that you are attracted to bike packing now, but on getting to tour off-road, you may find that off road touring (bikepacking) isn't really clicking for you.

 

But then you have gone far buying up bikepacking specific gear, selling them will be like giving them away. So spend a good time reading up information on the two or should I say three forms of touring ie. Bicycle Touring- Panniers and such, Bike packing- Frame bags etc then your current consideration-trailers.

 

Check out these websites:-

 

www.bicycletouringpro.com

www.cyclingabout.com

www.bikepacking.com

 

I learnt a lot from these hardcore tourists i can tell you.

 

Remember, reselling touring gear in South Africa is like giving it away, they have very low resale value. So think well before you purchase. Northing feels better when you finish your setup exactly the way you want it.

 

Have a look at my final setup (Touring Specific) below .... check it out.????

 

What ever you do, just keep pedaling!

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I also think i will maybe start off with a trailer where can i get one in gauteng?

Suggestion! Before you go and purchase a trailer, try to get one and ride with it around to feel it's handling before you buy.

 

ONLY YOU can decide if it's good for you or not.

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Hey, am in Kempton Park, I guess we can hook up sometime?

 

First am not a competitive tourer, 'kinda like a slow paced tourer. More about the route, scenery and the destination and not much about the time it takes one to get there - all serious factors taken seriously that is.

 

So if these points bounce with you, we can get something going? From short distances, and who knows full blown expedition?

 

Like in the boys scout.... be prepared, I will try to be

 

Till then, keep pedaling! Chao

Mr Dominic-Mary

Yes I was also in the scouts but from your photos I'm definitely not as prepared as you! Looks like you like to tour heavy where as I tend more to the minimalist side, but we could definitely make a plan to tour.

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Thanks for all the help

It will be my first time and i am also in Pretoria (Centurion) i want to know what bike i must get or can i use my soft tail marida

I also need to get all the gear

It won't help you locally, but there's loads of tips and advice on the UK based "Bear Bones" website and a good forum for discussing things.

 

http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk

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rburger, it seems like you have a bit of a dilemma in terms of spending the cash to kit out a trialer, or getting a touring specific bike with panniers...

 

a trailer will cost you R6k - R10k (and you have to be very specific these days with the different axle designs, Boost geometry etc. to make sure you don't buy something that you'll have to ditch when you upgrade to your next bike).  It means you can keep your existing bike and play around with gear, because you can pack up to 25kg's worth of stuff on the trailer.  Good for shorter tours but you'll likely have to shorten your daily distances by say 20% compared to a tourer.

 

dedicated touring bike will be much better for long distance point-to-point tours and (if you sell your merida and build your components over to a touring frame) can cost you anywhere between 5k and R50k and then the panniers, frame bags, seat post bags etc. might add up to another R5k- R10k ontop of the bike alone.

 

I guess it boils down to what you're into.  If you want to do massive tours and dedicate most of your cycling to this, get a touring bike.  If you want to fool around on your MTB all year and do a 5 day tour each december, then go the trailer route.  First prize is to try and borrow gear first and see what you like, then buy when you're sure.

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Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but speaking of 2nd hand touring goods... Have anyone seen any good advertised?

 

We are considering going the Amazon route, it is someways cheaper.

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Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but speaking of 2nd hand touring goods... Have anyone seen any good advertised?

 

We are considering going the Amazon route, it is someways cheaper.

You can try ebay as well, just make sure you ask for courier postage otherwise you will wait until 2019 for the PO to either deliver or steal your stuff.

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Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but speaking of 2nd hand touring goods... Have anyone seen any good advertised?

 

We are considering going the Amazon route, it is someways cheaper.

Hi, I have a brand new Arkel XM-28 front pannier set. They are unused as I went bigger. Should you be interested, PM me I will sell at a lower than new price.
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