the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[Shebeen]

Just now, Dappere said:

I think we can all agree that the organisers will always find themselves between a rock and a hard place. We can also acknowledge that some of the frustrations being raised here existed even when Kevin was still running the event.

That said, I’m genuinely curious—what were your motivations for taking on the Cape Epic? I get the sense that this might be the point that prevents us from finding common ground on certain aspects of this discussion.

do you work for Epic/Ironman?

[DieselnDust]

3 minutes ago, Dappere said:

I think we can all agree that the organisers will always find themselves between a rock and a hard place. We can also acknowledge that some of the frustrations being raised here existed even when Kevin was still running the event.

That said, I’m genuinely curious—what were your motivations for taking on the Cape Epic? I get the sense that this might be the point that prevents us from finding common ground on certain aspects of this discussion.

Motivations? None really. I was asked. I accepted , I rode, i completed. The epic is not a motivator for me. Being fit and ready to ride anything is my motivation, obsession even 

[Dappere]

Just now, Shebeen said:

do you work for Epic/Ironman?

No, just here to have a discussion like everyone else.  

[Dappere]

3 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Being fit and ready to ride anything is my motivation, obsession even

I completely relate to this—staying fit and capable of riding anything, while also connecting with like-minded people on the bike, is a major motivator for me. 

[DieselnDust]

11 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

is it just me, or where there basically no mechanicals in the elite fields this year? I know jobert/nortje needed to swap out a wheel from their backup team in one of the early stages, but that's about it. Didn't follow it as closely in the past, but can't really think of any that affected the racing. 

 

Things getting more reliable, or riders going for more durable stuff (ie. tyres/wheels)?

 

The prologue and stage 1 delivered fairly high sealant consumption according to Lance from Daisy way. I will just add that Squirt need to rethink their sealant, Dan it’s awful. Once they switched my tyres bsck to my regular Enduroseal I stopped getting latex showers.

there were unseen mechanicals. Some issues with electronic gears and suspension and fine dust getting into the system. 
tyre choices were fairly conservative across the board with Rekon Race and Pirelli Scorpion XCRC Prowall being very popular choices. 
overall I think SRAM had 90% of the drivetrain field captured with a few challenges relating to dust that they know how to solve. The tech zones seemed quite quiet wrt to broken wheel. Mechs were mostly busy with cleaning battery contacts and then the system worked again. I think mechanical Transmission will be perfect for Cape Epic going forward.

some broken pedals , can’t say if it’s more or less than previous years. SPD s still don’t work in mud yet remain the most popular system. There seems to be a resurgence in TIME ATAC uptake.

gripshift scale and well and probably most trouble free shifter for cape epic. 
broken saddles were also popular in the amateur field. Those 3D printed jobs from you know who don’t appear to be sttong enough for Mtb 

[DieselnDust]

7 minutes ago, Dappere said:

I completely relate to this—staying fit and capable of riding anything, while also connecting with like-minded people on the bike, is a major motivator for me. 

I’ll add that during the event I added observing others behaviours as a learning opportunity became a motivator. Make use of the opportunity right. Chatting to riders about their prep, how teams formed , how they trained etc it was a big learning for me. I think I can say that we South Africans are the most well prepared for ultra events out of all other nations outside of the professional field. We seem to sink more headspace into our preparation than the euros or Americans I spoke too. 
the Spanish are the most quasi pro. I mean aero socks, tight fitting kit , low bmi but somehow no durability tells me they spend a lot of time only on road bikes and those who spoke English confirmed that. 
I took a lot of mental notes 😂.

you could say that as the event wore on, learning more became my motivator for each day. Riding behind people to observe instead of wanting to pass for free space and max enjoyment of the trails. I can do that another time 

[Dappere]

9 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

The prologue and stage 1 delivered fairly high sealant consumption according to Lance from Daisy way. I will just add that Squirt need to rethink their sealant, Dan it’s awful. Once they switched my tyres bsck to my regular Enduroseal I stopped getting latex showers.

there were unseen mechanicals. Some issues with electronic gears and suspension and fine dust getting into the system. 
tyre choices were fairly conservative across the board with Rekon Race and Pirelli Scorpion XCRC Prowall being very popular choices. 
overall I think SRAM had 90% of the drivetrain field captured with a few challenges relating to dust that they know how to solve. The tech zones seemed quite quiet wrt to broken wheel. Mechs were mostly busy with cleaning battery contacts and then the system worked again. I think mechanical Transmission will be perfect for Cape Epic going forward.

some broken pedals , can’t say if it’s more or less than previous years. SPD s still don’t work in mud yet remain the most popular system. There seems to be a resurgence in TIME ATAC uptake.

gripshift scale and well and probably most trouble free shifter for cape epic. 
broken saddles were also popular in the amateur field. Those 3D printed jobs from you know who don’t appear to be sttong enough for Mtb 

Squirt sealant isn’t great—I tried it once and never again. It struggles to seal even the smallest punctures.

I can’t recommend Pirelli’s Scorpion RC XC Prowall tyres enough. I’ve used them extensively across multiple races without any issues, though unfortunately, they’re now quite difficult to find in South Africa. My riding partner runs the Rekon Race and has had a similarly positive experience, with minimal problems. I stand to be corrected, but I believe the Rekon Race has been the most successful tyre at the Cape Epic, at least in recent years.

Regarding SRAM AXS issues, particularly with the new transmission, bent connector pins appeared to be a significant problem. I’m not sure whether this was purely due to mechanics having to service many bikes before the next stage, but it seemed to be a recurring issue.

[DieselnDust]

3 minutes ago, Dappere said:

Squirt sealant isn’t great—I tried it once and never again. It struggles to seal even the smallest punctures.

I can’t recommend Pirelli’s Scorpion RC XC Prowall tyres enough. I’ve used them extensively across multiple races without any issues, though unfortunately, they’re now quite difficult to find in South Africa. My riding partner runs the Rekon Race and has had a similarly positive experience, with minimal problems. I stand to be corrected, but I believe the Rekon Race has been the most successful tyre at the Cape Epic, at least in recent years.

Regarding SRAM AXS issues, particularly with the new transmission, bent connector pins appeared to be a significant problem. I’m not sure whether this was purely due to mechanics having to service many bikes before the next stage, but it seemed to be a recurring issue.

The XCRC is very popular. CCS are lapping up what they can. The Scorpion Sport H is also gaining traction in our market but the Rekon Race is stupidly popular. 
with the Transmission and FA units the spring behind the pin corrodes and then breaks. SRAM warranty the unit but a permanent fix is coming. It’s ok under normal use but with bikes being jet washed at stage races this accelerates the problem. Add some dust and the pins jam which adds a different issue of intermittent connectivity. 
a regular clean out with electrical cleaner and then silicone spray should help reduce the issue in the short term

[Dappere]

20 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

I’ll add that during the event I added observing others behaviours as a learning opportunity became a motivator. Make use of the opportunity right. Chatting to riders about their prep, how teams formed , how they trained etc it was a big learning for me. I think I can say that we South Africans are the most well prepared for ultra events out of all other nations outside of the professional field. We seem to sink more headspace into our preparation than the euros or Americans I spoke too. 
the Spanish are the most quasi pro. I mean aero socks, tight fitting kit , low bmi but somehow no durability tells me they spend a lot of time only on road bikes and those who spoke English confirmed that. 
I took a lot of mental notes 😂.

you could say that as the event wore on, learning more became my motivator for each day. Riding behind people to observe instead of wanting to pass for free space and max enjoyment of the trails. I can do that another time 

Extremely interesting observation regarding South Africans not being as well prepared for ultra events.

Do you think this could be due to the accessibility of our trails? Instead of committing to structured training, we might get easily distracted by single tracks—and to be fair, what’s better than a flowing single track?

On a related note, I’ve also noticed that European riders tend to struggle with switchbacks, particularly on climbs. My riding partner and I experienced this first-hand during our first European Epic. That left us with two options—either empty the tank to reach the switchback first or learn to be patient! 🤣

[DieselnDust]

5 minutes ago, Dappere said:

Extremely interesting observation regarding South Africans not being as well prepared for ultra events.

Do you think this could be due to the accessibility of our trails? Instead of committing to structured training, we might get easily distracted by single tracks—and to be fair, what’s better than a flowing single track?

On a related note, I’ve also noticed that European riders tend to struggle with switchbacks, particularly on climbs. My riding partner and I experienced this first-hand during our first European Epic. That left us with two options—either empty the tank to reach the switchback first or learn to be patient! 🤣

I think you misread, I said we are the most well prepared. Maybe not the most single track proficient but we have our logistics down to a T. Maybe because we’ve at it for  longer , more events etc.

[Dappere]

2 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

I think you misread, I said we are the most well prepared. Maybe not the most single track proficient but we have our logistics down to a T. Maybe because we’ve at it for  longer , more events etc.

Ah, I see what you meant now—I misread that! 🙈

Accessibility to trails could also be a factor, along with the number of events that make use of some of those trails in similar conditions, as you mentioned.

[Cardiogoth]

5 minutes ago, Dappere said:

Ah, I see what you meant now—I misread that! 🙈

Accessibility to trails could also be a factor, along with the number of events that make use of some of those trails in similar conditions, as you mentioned.

Also, don't discount (a) the logistics of travelling halfway across the world, and (b) the fact that the ACE is being held at the end of the Northern Hemisphere winter - if I've spent the last 4-5 months training either indoors or on the road in below zero temps (for example a lot of trails here are closed November to March or not safe to ride), you're starting off a deficit. I can personally attest to the impact of training over a European winter and then going straight to an event somewhere 20 - 25 degrees warmer and how completely unprepared I felt for that.  

[NotSoBigBen]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

Motivations? None really. I was asked. I accepted , I rode, i completed. The epic is not a motivator for me. Being fit and ready to ride anything is my motivation, obsession even 

As attributed to Willie Engelbrecht  when he was asked why do you keep riding and so much "Just in case"

Resonated with me!

[Dappere]

23 minutes ago, Cardiogoth said:

Also, don't discount (a) the logistics of travelling halfway across the world, and (b) the fact that the ACE is being held at the end of the Northern Hemisphere winter - if I've spent the last 4-5 months training either indoors or on the road in below zero temps (for example a lot of trails here are closed November to March or not safe to ride), you're starting off a deficit. I can personally attest to the impact of training over a European winter and then going straight to an event somewhere 20 - 25 degrees warmer and how completely unprepared I felt for that.  

Fair—case in point, Georg Egger from Speed Company at the Tankwa Trek this year. The heat played a significant role in his performance.

I’ve seen some European riders attempt heat training by using an indoor trainer in a sauna, but this seems to be far less common among riders outside of the UCI circuit.

[Cardiogoth]

8 minutes ago, Dappere said:

I’ve seen some European riders attempt heat training by using an indoor trainer in a sauna, but this seems to be far less common among riders outside of the UCI circuit.

For sure, I'd love to do more heat training, but that's not really realistic for most people. I'm pretty sure I'd get a lot of strange looks if I took one of the Wattbikes at my gym into the sauna.

I doubt most people even make the time / investment to travel to the race venue a week early to set up properly, pre-ride some sections and do a little bit of acclimatisation (I can't) - but you probably need to do that for something this far outside your comfort zone.

[DieselnDust]

For heat acclimation I simply started my training rides late in the day, around midday. All through summer. Sleep late , walk the dog have breakfast with wifey and kids and on the bike by 10;30/11:00

the trails are empty , except for snakes , and I’m doing intervals. In Tokai , bike park is close by for a refuel and hit it again. 5am rides do buggerall for helping you adjust to the heat and it takes longer than you’d think. 80% of the adaptation is quite quick but that last 20% is where you have to start looking at salt/electrolyte intake and get your energy balance right for the heat as it changes.