Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2020 i Bicycling South Africa

LATE LAST YEAR, THE CORONATION DOUBLE CENTURY HAPPENED FOR THE 27TH TIME. But it never happened for me… again! The DC has it in for me, I’mconvinced. // FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS, I’VE FAILED TO FINISH. In 2017, I blew out at 160km; the next year I only got halfway, because of illness; and in 2019, a recurring back niggle (courtesy of along gravel ride two months before!) made the Ashton refreshment area my 2019 endpoint, at 120km. // I’M PART OF A – LARGELY – SOCIAL GROUP LED BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE CAPE TOWN CYCLE TOUR TRUST, DAVE BELLAIRS. For most of our team the CDC is a grand weekend away with mates, and a constantly pinging WhatsApp group awash with banter, pictures and memes. // BUT…

You know the deal: when it comes to the holiday season, it’s cheat day… every day! And before you know it you’re packing on an extra 3kg, and your favourite climb has turned into a slog rather than a joy. This is the time of the year in which you can explore and discover new foods and concepts. Visit local farmers’ markets, and those new eateries sprouting up all over the place with creative fare incorporating a spectrum of foods from plants to insects (really!). Many ideas can be recreated and adapted at home; so if you see a festive salad, pumpkin flapjack or black bean brownie you like, make a note; and when you’re home, search the internet for recipes that meet your healthy-eating criteria. Then get organised, so…

Not long after my friend Gina outfitted her Pivot trail bike with a new set of DT-Swiss carbon wheels, she took it to a bike shop for atune-up. During the service, the mechanic noticed distortion in the front rim, so she emailed DT-Swiss’s USA office and was told it was most likely caused by exposure to exhaust while transporting her bike on a hitch rack. That got me thinking. I had noticed something similar happening to my carbon wheels. Twice, after just a 10-minute commute, the rim closest tomy car’s exhaust was warped or buckled. Until now, neither Gina nor I considered our car’s exhaust, specifically the location of it, tobe the culprit. And if we didn’t know, it made me wonder how many other cyclists aren’t aware of this…

Apple’s new AirPods Pro are packed with features, but one facet sticks out for cyclists: Transparency Mode. Despite using sound-blocking silicone ear tips, the new buds let you hear your environment while you jam out, employing a microphone to amplify nearby sounds. Other truly wireless earbuds have included the feature, but on a bike, sound quality tends to suffer as wind noise increases. So we organised atest, pitting the AirPods Pro against Jabra’s Elite Active 65t – a popular earbud with an ambient awareness mode. We used a decibel meter to set each set of buds to 70dB and simulated the sounds of an outdoor ride – Bicycling photographer Trevor Raab rode behind me, ringing a bell and shouting, “On your right!”…

THE THRILLING, MOMENTOUS, life-altering, rapturous, almost inconceivably soul-satisfying event of buying a new bike has an essential requirement: finding something that fits your needs, but within your budget. The financial calculus is up to you, but we have you covered on finding the absolute best bike for your needs. Our experts have researched and tested dozens of bikes. Then, we looked at each component – down to the tyres and bottom brackets – to identify the ones with game-changing performance at an exceptional price. And we ended up with 45 of the greatest bikes out there, arranged for you by price. You’ll also find answers to your most vexing bike-buying questions, and illuminating opinions on bike tech. Whether you want to spend R5 000 or R50 000 – or more…

I wish this bike had been available five years ago when I was at university, working part-time to pay the rent and buy a road bike; it would have made my life so much simpler. Instead of worrying about the validity of an 'AWESOME DEAL' on Gumtree, which I did for weeks, I could have gone straight to my local bike shop, bought a new bike, and saved thousands of bucks. Testing this bike was a daily reminder that price doesn’t always determine quality. Five years ago I paid double the cost of the Contend 3 for a bike that was less comfortable and not quite as lively. Sure, a 16-speed Claris group, Tektro rim brakes and an aluminium fork aren’t going to make this bike a favourite for the…

Cannondale is undergoing a complete overhaul in 2019 and 2020, including a new wordmark, new platforms (five of which have been released in South Africa in the last 12 months), new colours and graphics, new athletes and ambassadors, and new content. The company’s new identity breathes life into its personality. It’s a whole new Cannondale, reaching more riders with its message and product. We recently attended the launch of their 2020 bikes – here’s the back story to Cannondale’s brand-new look. It’s been a journey that began almost three years ago, and it started with asimple principle: “Our product is your ride.” Cannondale have made a massive investment in innovation, resulting in 14 new platforms across the range, and including no fewer than seven new e-bikes. While not all of…

This is the bike most of us should be riding. It's entertainingly sharp and sporty, and smooth, smart and versatile enough for most forms of road riding, paved or gravel. It's more aerodynamic than the outgoing Domane, with refined tube shapes and new hose and housing routing. Apparently, this saves 12 watts at 40km/h – about one minute per hour. It has clearance for 38mm tyres, and it has hidden fender mounts and sleek internal storage. There are compliance-enhancing de-couplers front and rear that work well to improve rider comfort and control, and they don’t detract from the bike’s pedalling efficiency or handling. The steering's light, and handling is precise, but with a mellower edge and more stability than an all-out racing bike. This helps make it one of the…

If you’re a fan of e-bikes, your relationship with Cannondale’s Synapse NEO will be love at first sight. But if you’ve already claimed your disapproval of these zippy machines, then whatever you do, do not take this bike for a test ride – you’ll probably change your mind. Bosch’s Active Line Plus motor delivers up to 250 watts of pedal assist, to a maximum speed of 35km/h. It does so in such a smooth, seamless way, you can allow yourself to forget that you’re getting a little help. Of course, if you crank it up to turbo mode, it will be hard to ignore. But to cruise in eco mode is to get a sneak peek at what it feels like to be really, really fit. The motor kicks in…

The Trek Supercaliber was the worst-kept secret in mountain biking in 2019. It was rumoured, spy-shot, and raced throughout the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup by high-profile Trek pro riders Jolanda Neff and Ellen Noble, top-secret rear suspension shielded by a fabric sleeve. That Trek designed a custom sleeve just to disguise the Supercaliber’s rear end tells you something about the black magic at the back. Now the secret’s out, and its name is IsoStrut. The Supercaliber is an unapologetic, uncompromising XC-race machine, and IsoStrut is what separates it from any other bike you can buy today. The structurally integrated system uses a main pivot and a custom-designed Fox shock that lives within a Kashima-coated strut. There’s no pivot at the rear axle; the thin seat stays are designed to…

Our January/February issue of Bicycling has always featured our Bike Buyer’s Guide, and it’s developed over the years, in keeping with the times. My brief to gear editor Jon Minster was to choose ‘the best bike at every price’ for our 2020 edition – given our economic times. It may sound an easy job; but in reality, with so much choice in every category, choosing a ‘best’ winner is like picking your favourite child. There are literally hundreds of choices within our price categories, but Jon – helped by our testers in the US – has produced an outstanding BBG that should help guide your bike-buying decisions in 2020. Within the BBG we also delve into some of the bike tech, and tackle some of the most Frequently Asked Questions…

DAVE AMBROSE, A 34-YEAR-OLD venture capitalist, had a problem most of us can relate to: work got busy, and his time toride outside evaporated, resulting in low energy and weight gain. By the end of 2016 he was the heaviest he’d ever been, carrying 86kg on his 1.70m frame. His friends suggested he try indoor training, but he thought it seemed boring. Finally, Ambrose agreed to test Zwift on a friend’s Wahoo Kickr. “I did 45 minutes for the first ride, and thought, ‘This is amazing,’” he says. “You actually feel like you’re outside. It changed everything I thought about indoor cycling.” Hooked, Ambrose got his own Kickr and Zwift subscription. He soon began riding 160km a week - twice as much as he ever did outdoors. He got inspired…

1 / MAVIC KSYRIUM PRO UST DISC / R13 100 The Ksyrium is a workhorse aluminium wheelset with bladed aluminium spokes. It’s tough, versatile, and feels quick. It’s also tubeless-ready (tyres are included) and compatible with centrelock disc rotors and thru-axles. 2 / HED ARDENNES BLACK RIM BRAKE / R13 200 One of the nicest alu wheels going, the Ardennes is a wide (21mm internal), tubeless-ready rim with a treatment on the brake track claimed to reduce wet stopping distance by 70%. Other premium details include bladed straight-pull spokes and a carbon front hub. 3 / STAN’S NO TUBES CREST MK3 WHEELSET / R1 550 (RIM ONLY) A light (1 579 grams, for the 29er) and reasonably priced…

The valve cap has had a bad rap over the years. In home garages and bike shops everywhere, those little black bits of plastic are banished to the bin with every new tubeless installation. But at Bicycling we still believe in valve caps: they keep out dirt, and stop moisture getting into the valve core and causing corrosion. Luckily, the team from Spanish brand Momum agree, and are making valves and valve caps that are cool and functional. This set-up comes with a valve cap that also doubles as a core-removal tool, and the bright colours add bling make it easy to find a valve when conditions get dusty or muddy. . MOMUM TUBELESS ALUMINIUM VALVES AND BOOSTER KIT PRICE: R435 CYCLINGSTORE.CO.ZA…

Don’t set price blindly. Get a data point. “I’m biased,” says Martin, “but I think it’s a good idea to research your bike online and see what they’re being advertised at.” Take really good pictures. Provide clean, uncluttered images, and always betransparent about scratches and wear and tear. Expand your market. Due to the prevalence of scams, Martin says, he advises using platforms like Gumtree, which has policies that protect the buyer and seller, and also reaches beyond your local market. Facebook groups can also work. Freshen it up. “New grips, new bar tape and new tyres go a long way,” says Martin. “Replace the saddle, if it’s worn.” If you meet someone locally, agree on a price first. Rather than set it high and expect to negotiate downward, agree…

A balance bike is the best way for your child to learn how to ride. They’ll pick up crucial skills such as balance and bike handling without having to worry about pedals getting in the way. Then, when they’re ready for a bigger bike, they can focus on the pedalling part, since all the other basics will be second nature already. No training wheels required! The FirstBike is the best balance bike around. You can get competitor models from as little as R500, but the frames are made from what feels like cast iron, and the unsealed wheel bearings soon clog up with grit and seize. You wouldn’t buy a heavy, slow bike, so why get one for little Caleb? This German-designed fun machine has all sorts of features that…

A single-ring drivetrain simplifies shifting, since you’re only changing gears at the back. That’s a huge plus for beginner riders. Ditching the front mech reduces the chances of dropping your chain, and means you’ll never have to adjust a finicky front derailleur. But 1x drivetrains still cost more than 2- or 3x systems, which have been around longer and have less advanced engineering. That means you don’t often see them on bikes at the lower end of the market.…

Not at this price you don’t. While full-carbon forks are lighter, more compliant, and better at damping road vibration than aluminium, you’re unlikely to find one on a complete bike that costs less than R10k. And if you do, it’s probably made with as much aluminium as carbon – most have carbon legs with aluminium dropouts, crown and steerer. Those forks are typically heavier than full-aluminium ones and don’t ride as well, even though they still cost more. On bikes in this range, that money’s better spent on a wider range of gears or a better saddle.…

Ask any mountain-biking-skills coach if you need a dropper post, even on a comparatively ‘cheap’ mountain bike, and the answer will be an emphatic yes. A key to manoeuvrability is being able to get low on the bike, particularly on steep and technical terrain. Dropping the saddle out of the way with the flick of a bar-mounted lever is probably the easiest way to increase that manoeuvrability. Indeed, a dropped seat makes learning how to ride, and continuing to love doing so, much easier. While the Titan Drone Comp doesn’t come with a dropper post, it does come with the necessary frame ports to route a dropper-post cable if you decide to add one later. (The Lyne Contour XL dropper for R2 899 is a good, reasonably-priced option.) If you…

Depends. If your choice is between an inexpensive carbon bike and an expensive aluminium one, you might be tempted to go with carbon. But an inexpensive carbon frame is typically made up of lots of lower-end, lower-performing carbon fibre. It just won’t have a dynamic ride. If ride quality is important to you, the aluminium bike is the wiser choice. Carbon is a little sharper, a little crisper in its ride quality, and – especially in a road bike – it will increase responsiveness and reduce fatigue on a longer ride, as a result of its lower weight. But those are small gains for such a significant price increase.…

Some people say that cycling has become too serious, and I tend to agree. Especially in South Africa: everyone is so obsessed with speed and performance. Even on the less expensive end of the spectrum, we’ve been conned into believing that we need a race bike when we’re probably never going to enter a race in our lives. As a result, almost every mass-produced hardtail mountain bike is basically the same: a cross-country 29er with aggressive frame geometry that puts the rider forward over the bars, in a position best suited to guys mixing it up at the sharp end of the Cape Epic. The Silverback Slade Trail, on the other hand, is that mysterious kid at the party who is so sure of himself, he doesn’t care what his…

It’s a matter of preference. While a 1x gives you simple shifting and easier maintenance, and allows for extra tyre clearance in the frame, there are limits. Most wide-range cassettes, like the ones you’ll find on gravel bikes, have big jumps between gears; if you ride your gravel bike on the road, or race it anywhere, a 1x might leave you longing for more gear options to smooth out your pedal cadence. The extra chainring on a 2x gives you more gears to shift through, minimising the jumps between them. That can make it easier to find the right one.…

Your decision comes down to three things: which bike you want, whether you know which size fits you best, and how good you are with bike assembly. If you can install wheels, adjust bars, and tweak brakes and derailleurs, you can put together a bike you bought online. If not, get yours from a shop. Same with sizing. Web-based size calculators are okay for kids’ bikes and some mountain bikes, but less ideal for road bikes, which come in more sizes and are harder to get right. Then factor in which bike you want. For a brand like Canyon, your only choice is to shop online. And it might be easier to find a specific model from some boutique brands such as Evil or Colnago from internet retailers. Want a…

Yes. But any bottom bracket can creak. Keeping things quiet down there is a matter of proper parts installation (with the correct tools), and keeping your bike clean and properly maintained. That means regular service intervals (check your owner’s manual, or ask your favourite mechanic), and using the lubricants or bonding agents recommended by the frame manufacturer. That said, it isn’t by accident that press-fit systems have a reputation for noisiness. They have a greater propensity to make noise, and when they do make a noise, they tend to make more noise than athreaded system. Also, press-fit systems are more likely to be found in frames with large-diameter, thin-walled tubes, which are great at amplifying sound. Some brands, such as Specialized, are moving back to threaded BB systems in some…

Norco Optic C2 | R64 999 | norco.com Canadian company Norco is one of those brands with an entire subculture of devoted fans –a bit like Subaru in the motoring world. The Optic is their fast-pedalling, short-travel trail bike, with 110mm of elegant travel at the back and a 130mm fork. Don’t let the ‘lack’ of travel deceive you: it’s a supremely capable enduro machine that will eat your local trails for breakfast, but it’s also nimble enough for the odd XC stage race. The chain- and seat stays are aluminium, but the front triangle is carbon to keep the weight down. And how’s that burnt-orange paintjob? Scott Spark RC 900 Team | R69 990 | scott-sports.com Can’t afford Nino…

E-bikes have introduced a whole new lexicon of jargon to cycling. You still have to understand gear ratios and tyre sizes, but now you also have to know your watts from your watt-hours. The power of an e-bike motor is measured in watts. More power means there’s more pedal assistance, which allows you to accelerate more quickly or carry more weight up a steep hill. Most e-bike motors are 250W. This extra oomph, combined with your normal pedalling power, is ample assistance for most riders in most applications – a good compromise between weight, power and efficiency. The term ‘watt-hours’ (Wh), though, refers to how much energy the battery can store, which directly affects the bike's range. Most mid- to top-tier e-bikes come with a 500Wh battery (e.g. the Synapse…

Factor O2 Disc | R79 900 (frameset and wheels) | factorbikes.com Factor is a British brand helmed by retired pro riders Baden Cooke and David Millar. The design of the O2 has a beguiling interplay going on: it’s no-nonsense but beautiful, practical but desirable, a bit like an Aston Martin. It’s a thrilling bike to ride, with a racy geometry that gets you down and forward over the bars. Black Inc is Factor’s in-house carbon parts brand. Frames ship with a Black Inc seatpost and an integrated Black Inc bar and stem. You can order Black Inc wheels too, in all-rounder 35mm or aero 50mm depths. Get this bike, then start saving for a trip to the Alps… Specialized Epic Expert Carbon |…

Bianchi Oltre XR4 | R111 699 | jjcycling.co.za As ridden by team Jumbo-Visma at the 2019 Tour de France – to numerous stage wins, including the team time trial. Our sister mag in the US called it the fastest bike at the Tour. Who can argue with that? It’s a work of Italian aerodynamic awesomeness, and at this spec it comes with Campagnolo’s no-nonsense Chorus 12-speed groupset. Then there’s the Celeste-green paintjob, which harks back to the glory days of Fausto Coppi. This is a bike that looks like it’s moving even when it’s standing still. Cannondale Habit NEO 2 | R120 000 | cannondale. co.za E-bikes often look clunky and bottom-heavy, but the new Habit NEO is a stunner.…

I have owned a lot of bikes over the years. A very lot. Road, mountain, geared, single-speed, fancy, not fancy. My cycling mates probably think they know the bike that really captured my heart, from that storied collection. They would be wrong. The Raleigh 753 I bought from Don Spence in ’83? The gorgeous iridescent-pearl Eddy Merckx I was on when I first broke three hours at The Argus (as it was correctly called back then) in the alleged ‘summer’ Tour of 1987? The red anodised Alan that I first started racing bikes on, after a few years exploring my world on a series of locally-built steel beauties – Lejeune, Diamant, Peugeot… possibly even the Bridgestone MB3 I bought from Bruce Reyneke while pretending to be a soldier in Pretoria…

Most rain jackets are made of waterproof materials, but whether they keep us dry is another matter. Loose-fitting collars, porous seams, and leaky pockets are all places water can seep through, leaving us soggy despite the fact that the high-tech fabrics did their jobs as they were meant to. So we put three waterproof cycling jackets to a real-world test. We picked the shells by price: the high-value Aero Tech Designs Waterproof Jacket, the mid-tier Pearl Izumi PRO AmFIB Shell,and the pricey Assos Equipe RS rain jacket. To simulate a sudden downpour, Iwore each jacket for five minutes of hard trainer pedalling while Bicycling mechanic Joël Nankman showered me with a garden hose. I wore a fresh grey T-shirt beneath each jacket; the wet spots on each shirt showed us…

I wanted to ride as much of that sunny spring Friday as I could, so that morning I’d logged in for eight hours of holiday time; and that’s how it was that alittle before noon, I’d already looped back into town after about three hours out and stopped at the bike shop for an espresso. There were other people there from other rides, mostly people I knew, sitting like me at one of the two rickety wood-slat tables on the sidewalk, or on the concrete steps leading down to the shop door or leaning on the railing, and we had all decided to go back out together on a favourite route once some of them finished eating. Amother and daughter walked in among us, holding hands, both of them in…

YBIKE Session | R1 599 | ybike.co.za YBIKE is a local company that makes a range of awesome ride-ons for little ones, to help with balance and gross motor skills development. The Session has a simple but cunning design: there are two height positions on the fork drop-outs, resulting in two different seat heights, of 36cm and 40cm respectively. Other embellishments are kept to a minimum, so there’s zero maintenance required. It’s a durable, long-lasting bike for kids up to age five. Specialized Hotwalk | R2 400 | specialized.com A different take on the balance bike, with an aluminium frame and airless tyres that will never go flat and spoil your day. With its very low stand-over height, the Hotwalk…

Avalanche Estrada | R7 299 | avalanchebicycles.co.za A R7k gravel bike? You’d better believe it. Get the Estrada if you want a beginner road bike that can also handle some rough stuff. The frame and fork are alloy and the 2x8 Shimano Claris drivetrain does the job, but the secret is the clearance for 700x40 tyres, which makes the bike so much more versatile than a standard road bike with 700x25s. It even has disk brakes – mechanical ones, to be fair; but still unheard of on a road bike at this price. Trek Roscoe 24 | R7 999 | trekbikes.com If one of your kids is showing potential to become the next Jolanda Neff, this bike will put a…

Scott Metrix 30 EQ | R14 990 | scott-sports.com In South Africa, we’re often too quick to classify. Is it a mountain bike? Gravel bike? Road bike? What about a bike that’s all three – a really comfortable, good-looking machine that can take you to work, to the shops and into the countryside? The Metrix 30 EQ is that bike. It’s lightweight (11.6kg), it has a 2x8 Shimano Claris drivetrain, 700x35 tyres that can handle tar and dirt tracks, a flat bar, hydraulic disc brakes, and mudguards front and rear. A bike for life, in other words. Momsen GP300 | R15 995 | momsenbikes.com Momsen was one of the first local bike companies to launch a gravel range, and…

Canyon Endurace AL 7.0 | R28 000 | canyon.com This is the endurance-bike equivalent of the Optimo 105. It has the same groupset, and a similarly lightweight, compliant aluminium frame, with a carbon fork. The main difference is the frame geometry, which puts the rider in a slightly more upright position for greater comfort over distance. The carbon seat post and Shimano 105 brakes are improvements over the CAAD Optimo’s alloy post and Tektro brakes, allowing the Endurace to creep in at 8.2kg. But it’s also a few thousand rand more expensive. Your call… Silverback Stratos AL 5 | R20 290 | silverbacklab.com Yes, it ‘only’ has a 1x10 drivetrain, and the narrow rims and tyres are a little behind…

Giant Trance 29 2 | R46 540 | giant-bicycles.com The blue paintjob of the alloy Trance 2 is not to everyone’s taste, and Giant hasn’t done anything radical to the design to make you look twice. But take this seemingly innocuous bike into the mountains, and you’ll discover it’s an absolute animal. The suspension is brilliant, and the slack geometry lets you send downhills faster than you probably should. It’s pure fun, and the spec is great for the price. Specialized Roubaix Sport | R48 000 | specialized.com The Roubaix is a great bike for South Africa. You can mix it up with the speedsters at a road race one weekend, and ride over rough mountain passes on a Gran…

Cannondale Topstone Carbon | R50 000 | cannondale.co.za Cannondale have done it again, lobbing a suspension bomb into the crowded gravel and adventure market. Their ‘Kingpin’ rear suspension uses flex areas in the seat-and chain stays combined with a pivot halfway down the seat tube to offer up to 30mm of active travel. This does wonders to smooth out the road, but it doesn’t affect power transfer at all, especially if you stand up out of the saddle on a punchy climb. Shimano’s brilliant Ultegra RX groupset rounds off a very impressive package. Titan Racing Cypher Pro | R53 990 | titanracingbikes.com The Cypher was launched late in 2019, and it comes in two versions: an RS model for racing…

In most situations, as wide as possible. A wider tyre offers a smoother ride, better traction and more versatility, and is less likely to flat than a narrow one. And testing has shown that wider tyres are also faster in many circumstances – partly because they can be run at lower pressures. But before you shoehorn in tyres that juuuust fit, make sure there’s clearance in all directions so debris can pass through and not jam the wheel, which could cause a crash. If you’re playing at the limits of a frame’s maximum recommended tyre width, be prepared for trial and error. That’s because a tyre’s advertised width is often inaccurate. Also note that the width of the rim will influence the tyre width. So you might find that those…

Gravel riding is no longer a niche pastime for bearded guys with ironic arm tattoos. It’s a massive part of cycling worldwide, and it’s infiltrating normal road riding more and more. Many riders are even ditching their road bikes completely – in favour of a single drop-bar bike that you can still use for the annual CT Cycle Tour, but also for exploring tame singletrack, greenbelt detours, and South Africa’s thousands of kilometres of dirt roads. Curve is an Aussie company, and they also know a thing or two about dirt roads. Their GXR is the perfect ‘one bike to rule them all’. They’ve taken the fun of a CX bike, thrown in some adventure features, and created a do-anything machine to take you anywhere. The frame is made from…

What is VPP? VPP stands for 'virtual pivot point', and it's Santa Cruz' patented suspension design: two opposite rotating links connect the swing arm to the front triangle, creating a 'virtual' pivot point or 'Instant Centre' that moves through the cycle of suspension travel. Why do you need VPP? Put simply, it's a matter of performance. Different riding disciplines have different requirements (think DH vs Marathon), and these change as the suspension compresses (fully extended, at sag, fully compressed). A migrating pivot point allows engineers to fine-tune performance for each model at each point in its travel.…