Dear Trail Builders

[PhilipV]

56 minutes ago, YaseenEnos said:

whats wrong with Tokai?

Nothing, but if he's bored of Tygerberg, Tokai will be much of the same..other than the Broken Road/Donkey trail and the DH line that is.

And the gnarlier stuff is outside of Tokai. 

Edited May 22, 2022 by PhilipV

[Yyyy]

13 hours ago, PhilipV said:

Nothing, but if he's bored of Tygerberg, Tokai will be much of the same..other than the Broken Road/Donkey trail and the DH line that is.

And the gnarlier stuff is outside of Tokai. 

So every other trail besides Snakes and Vasbyt?

interesting perspective and each to his own but to me Tokai and most of Jonkers is pretty much the same when it comes to skill level required except Jonkers trails are like 3 to 5 times the length in distance which puts Jonkers in a class of its own.

Tokai is just short and that can become a bore overtime.

I do qualify this statement as I havent ridden Status and the Plumber yet.

[Jewbacca]

3 minutes ago, YaseenEnos said:

So every other trail besides Snakes and Vasbyt?

interesting perspective and each to his own but to me Tokai and most of Jonkers is pretty much the same when it comes to skill level required except Jonkers trails are like 3 to 5 times the length in distance which puts Jonkers in a class of its own.

Tokai is just short and that can become a bore overtime.

I do qualify this statement as I havent ridden Status and the Plumber yet.

Iron Monkey also has MASSIVE features like a 20m gap throw and a couple of huge drops. Most people don't hit them. 

The Jonkers trails also have step ups and more trail side features in general. 

But I do agree that if you eliminate Plumber and Status, Jonkers and Tokai have a similar feel to them and in general are just fun to ride. Nothing to trouble the scorers with if you have decent skill. 

I don't really regard them as 'gnar' 

Stage 5 at Ezelenduro, the chute at Klipheuwel, some sections on Plumber and Status and some of the home made janky stuff on table mountain/devils peak is 'gnar'. 

You mostly have to go out of your way to find it

[MTBeer]

13 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

Iron Monkey also has MASSIVE features like a 20m gap throw and a couple of huge drops. Most people don't hit them. 

The Jonkers trails also have step ups and more trail side features in general. 

But I do agree that if you eliminate Plumber and Status, Jonkers and Tokai have a similar feel to them and in general are just fun to ride. Nothing to trouble the scorers with if you have decent skill. 

I don't really regard them as 'gnar' 

Stage 5 at Ezelenduro, the chute at Klipheuwel, some sections on Plumber and Status and some of the home made janky stuff on table mountain/devils peak is 'gnar'. 

You mostly have to go out of your way to find it

please don't ride it. we don't need k@k with TBMNP

[dave303e]

19 hours ago, OVERDRIVE said:

Dear trail builders, please remember as you repair, flatten, and make trails easier for the e-bike and gravel crew, thats there were those who supported and came and liked them the way they were. Also ok to add onto the trail to accomodate, not make them easier. 

Just a thought, with love. 

You can always go ride motocross or hard enduro. 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Go play at the new Polkadraai Pump track, it'll give you a proper workout 🤙

[Headshot]

16 hours ago, Eddy Gordo said:

This is how I feel when friends say they wanna go away for a weekend mtb trip. When I unpack my HT at the trail, then they like where is your dual sus. LOL. 

Just so. We rode at oak Valley for the first time in December. I thoroughly enjoyed it on my 26er HT. I reviewed it on Trailforks as "ideal for small wheels and HT bikes". 

[Yyyy]

29 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

Iron Monkey also has MASSIVE features like a 20m gap throw and a couple of huge drops. Most people don't hit them. 

The Jonkers trails also have step ups and more trail side features in general. 

But I do agree that if you eliminate Plumber and Status, Jonkers and Tokai have a similar feel to them and in general are just fun to ride. Nothing to trouble the scorers with if you have decent skill. 

I don't really regard them as 'gnar' 

Stage 5 at Ezelenduro, the chute at Klipheuwel, some sections on Plumber and Status and some of the home made janky stuff on table mountain/devils peak is 'gnar'. 

You mostly have to go out of your way to find it

Its always interesting to read other peoples perspective of what is technical and gnar. The rocky bit of Iron Monkey doesnt "feel" anymore technical or daunting compared to DH0 at Tokai and the rest of it feels like a flow trail - Although i did give that massive drop a pass 😁

As for Table Mountain, seems the only Gnar you find are those, as you said home made jank or hiking only trails that they send it on..... whether thats right or wrong (legal or morally) is another debate.

I think what OP and similar like minded people need to realize is that they are unfortunately the 1%.  Even if you were to convince the glorified gravel riders to invest in skills, many will never join that 1% because people are just built differently........ not everyone will be as technically gifted no matter how hard they try.

Edited May 23, 2022 by YaseenEnos

[capediver]

Get a gravel bike....all trails will be "gnar"🤣

[Yyyy]

20 hours ago, OVERDRIVE said:

Dear trail builders, please remember as you repair, flatten, and make trails easier for the e-bike and gravel crew, thats there were those who supported and came and liked them the way they were. Also ok to add onto the trail to accomodate, not make them easier. 

Just a thought, with love. 

as many has alluded to here, are we just not overbiking in most cases?

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Or we should start a  "Go fund me" account to build a proper shred trail like they did at Berm Peak 🤙

[Jewbacca]

52 minutes ago, YaseenEnos said:

Its always interesting to read other peoples perspective of what is technical and gnar. The rocky bit of Iron Monkey doesnt "feel" anymore technical or daunting compared to DH0 at Tokai and the rest of it feels like a flow trail - Although i did give that massive drop a pass 😁

 

If you hit all the features on Iron Monkey it's big. I'm not talking the drop off in the trail, that is 1.2m at it's highest. I'm referring to the huge 2m+ drop off on the right of the left hand corner just after the 20m+ gap throw. 

There is then another 2m+ drop off to the left a bit further down. Both are 'off trail' so you have to actually hit them and mean to hit them. 

1 hour ago, MTBeer said:

please don't ride it. we don't need k@k with TBMNP

Like I said, I have given up shredding gnar or doing illegal bike things. 

That ship has sailed in my life. 

But back to Robbie and Overdrive, I guess what I'm saying is that there are enough technical trails and big features in some places to keep you really honest as a bike rider. 

It just might not be your local, which sucks but is also cool if you are still inclined to chase bigger features and gnar.

 

[MTBeer]

2 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

If you hit all the features on Iron Monkey it's big. I'm not talking the drop off in the trail, that is 1.2m at it's highest. I'm referring to the huge 2m+ drop off on the right of the left hand corner just after the 20m+ gap throw. 

There is then another 2m+ drop off to the left a bit further down. Both are 'off trail' so you have to actually hit them and mean to hit them. 

Like I said, I have given up shredding gnar or doing illegal bike things. 

That ship has sailed in my life. 

But back to Robbie and Overdrive, I guess what I'm saying is that there are enough technical trails and big features in some places to keep you really honest as a bike rider. 

It just might not be your local, which sucks but is also cool if you are still inclined to chase bigger features and gnar.

 

sorry wasn't pointing fingers at you. just okes in general

[Newbie321]

I enjoy not having broken bones. I would rather ride safe 12 months of the year than risk months out for a quick adrenaline fix.

[PhilipV]

2 hours ago, YaseenEnos said:

So every other trail besides Snakes and Vasbyt?

interesting perspective and each to his own but to me Tokai and most of Jonkers is pretty much the same when it comes to skill level required except Jonkers trails are like 3 to 5 times the length in distance which puts Jonkers in a class of its own.

Tokai is just short and that can become a bore overtime.

I do qualify this statement as I havent ridden Status and the Plumber yet.

I totally agree.

Tokai, Jonkers and a lot of the Tygerberg trails have much of the same flavor. With some differences here and there (Donkey Trail, Plumber and Contermanskloof Rhino) basically the black trails being the differentiators. 

I'm not breaking Tokai down, I won't travel from Somerset West to to Tokai if it wasn't worth it. But if you go from Tygerberg hoping to ride something new, and you only ride the snakes at Tokai, then you are missing the boat. 

The post I quoted bemoaned that all was the same and progression was needed, I suggested traveling away from the same-same to where these trails can be found. 

[TyronLab]

24 minutes ago, capediver said:

Get a gravel bike....all trails will be "gnar"🤣

One of the main reasons I ride a gravel / rigid bike in Gauteng. You only need 1/2 the speed of a mtb on a tame trail to feel like you're shredding. Same fun, much less risk to collarbones.