Aurora

R675 to race 110kms on the M4? No thank you... Not worth it. I understand the reasoning behind the change of route but the entry fee needs to be justified as well. You are no longer having to close multiple routes and have fewer water tables, marshals etc. The road service is also terrible, I did an event on the M4 last December which I couldn't finish because I hit a hole and destroyed my front wheel.

Did I miss something? R295k... How is that bicycle worth more than this motorcycle?

I ran them in September. Besides dodging a massive Puff Adder, they were great.

1 - Pace yourself in the first 15kms, it catches up with you later on. 2 - Make sure you are drinking and taking in carbs as it can get very hot and windy on that route. 3 - Check your tyres are up to the job before starting. Some of the surfaces get a bit rough around Cato Ridge and Inchanga and old tyres could puncture easily here. 4 - Most importantly... just enjoy the ride

I am trying to find a decent set locally but seriously struggling. I was after a set of Swissstop but nobody has stock from what I can find. I would like something that works well in wet conditions as its now rainy season in Durban. What are you guys using?

Ah thats awesome, thought it would be a Swissstop pad, thank you!

Hi All, I need a new set of these pads but struggling to find any. I believe you cannot use anything else on these rims. Anybody tried?

Race organisers love to use social media marketing, which is great, if you understand how it works and how to get your marketing seen by potential entrants. Just posting a poster to your race page doesn't get you any views now days, the algorithms have all changed. You need to pay for this advertising which barely any of them want to do. I have personally been involved with quite a few events and the organisers hold their marketing very close to their chest and don't generally accept the advice of others. If you can reach your market and give them a quality product, they will come. Also, stop marketing to racing snakes. The top 10% on the results sheet are not the ones bringing in the money or buying power for sponsors. You need to be focussing on the 90%. Your event will survive without the racing snakes, it won't survive without the weekend warrior.

I have a few things to point out here: Sponsors are pulling away because of a few factors (my personal experience): They are not getting any ROI for their spend. My company put R350k towards being the title sponsor of a big road event last year and was promised the world by the organiser, to which we received absolutely zero in return. The entries were also extremely poor. Because of this, we we didn't do a 2023 sponsorship. POPI - I know this may seem silly, but the main aim of an event sponsorship for a business is ROI - companies no longer have money to waste on "brand building" ventures. The main source of the ROI in the past was through the entrants and emailer database that the event has. Companies used to be able to direct market for their sponsorship spend. Now, you cannot do that. The landscape is changing and event organisers need to adapt and find new ways for sponsors to reach the market. Events are no longer attracting the crowds of the past. The general local road events used to get between 2000 and 4000 riders pre-covid each weekend. Now, you are lucky to see 1000 riders take to the start line. The price to enter an event is a lot higher now than before. People are becoming picky about which events they are focussing on for the year. I looked at the cost to enter the Amashova classic this year and once you have factored in the transport and entry fee, you could be close to R1500 to ride 100km on rubbish roads.

If something looks too good to be true, it generally is.

I have mine with Everything.Insure (www.everything.insure). They have a line of cycling specific products within their Personal offering. I insure my vehicles, contents, bicycle and a few other things and also get great cycling related benefits. And yes, they pay claims!

I can see why, the performance and ergonomics of their groupsets are not on par with the SRAM or Shimano. I went from Super Record to Ultegra and the difference was immediately noticeable. The R20 000 groupset out performed the R80 000 groupset in almost every single way. The Campag wheel technology is also lagging far behind the rest.

Maybe he wanted to be based at home in the USA with his wife? They have the same issue Saffa's do where being based in Europe for the season isn't great for home life. Maybe she's not being paid the same as she was when she was winning so she cannot afford his salary anymore?

Looking at buying one of these due to the mounting system being so much neater than others. Is it worth the R3000 purchase price?

Agreed, I have an Anatolian and they are not to be messed with. They are loyal as anything but mess with their territory or flock / family and you are in trouble. They can weight anything from 40 - 90kgs and can run faster than you can cycle on a dirt road.