Canadian visiting Joburg,need advice

[Dieter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

Thaba blue will be great! Showcases the highveld landscape nicely and has a whole bunch of wildlife to look at. Not steep and rooty (like I assume you are used to) but tight and rocky. 

EDIT: https://bikemarket.co.za/#rentals 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Dieter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[GrahamS2]

My suggestion is to focus on drinking our cheap beer and to rather save the riding for the epic trails back in Canada. 

[RocknRolla]

Thaba for sure.

Avianto out west

Kingskloof

Van gaalens (otherside of concrete strips)

 

As for bike hire, not sure where.

 

Pop us your email addy, and I can let you know when we ride, and can show you around out west.

[River Rat]

Hakahana Trails are great for Enduro level riding and you can rent a bike from Bruce Reyneke in Pretoria.

[coppi]

How about the DH trail at the Magalies cableway.............will also get a great view of the surrounding area

[Escapee..]

Maybe OP could also advise what is his idea of Gnarly routes.

[Dicky DQ]

I would assume IMBA Black or black Diamond. otherwise red is just a lekker technical ST

[cbdcaffie]

Beware of the lions!!!!

[CoryV]

From where in Canada?

Im coming from Ottawa,Ontario.

[Brick_Top]

Hakahana - the best place in Gauteng 

[CoryV]

Im down for any technical trails,rocks,roots,logs,water crossings.

[River Rat]

Im down for any technical trails,rocks,roots,logs,water crossings.

http://hakahanatrails.co.za

https://www.bruces.co.za for bike hire

[kosmonooit]

Up here its mostly bushveld (flat with small bushes) not forests and the hills are koppies (small round hills). Most of the hills / ridges here are in fact remnants of a massive meteorite impact crater that happened about 2 billion years ago.

 

For some decent mountains one had to go to Mpumalanga, down the road a few hours. There is a fantastic mtb event / race 26th January at Barberton, which also happens to be the oldest mountains on the earth.

 

http://barbertonxcm.co.za/wp/

 

That IS the most decent mountain bike ride in ZA imho, but you will need the legs, and the fortitude...

 

 

Groenkloof Nature Reserve north of Jhb in Pretoria (easy to get on on a highway) has some cool routes, knarly in places and quite a few animals there. Really nice place. They list bike hire on their website, I am not sure if its still happening and/or on what days. I am sure some people here can meet you there to show you around if you give a time.

 

http://www.tshwane.gov.za/sites/tourism/NatureConservation/Pages/Groenkloof-Nature-Reserve.aspx

 

Hennops just to the north west of Jhb has some nice trails on some fairly decent ridges.

 

http://www.hennops.co.za/mtb.html

 

The might be able to help with bike hire.

 

Thaba Trials is more technically XC orientated imho, not really a journey.

 

Some Van Gaalens routes are great but you need to be familiar with the place, and bit of  mission to get to,

 

Flowing water here is mostly likely polluted with sewerage so should be avoided. 

 

And I'd avoid the cheap beer here (it's not really beer).

[CoryV]

Hey everyone,thanks to you guys I made contact with Alex at Bike Market and he's going to organize a bike and guide for me.

 

Thanks to everyone who chimed in to help.