Slack Randoms: Lemon-Powered Transmission, Testing a Lahar DHV M9, eBike Street Sweepers & More

 Unfortunately, when gradients are too steep for most grades of trail, there's often not much can be done other than switchbacks. Isn't ideal, but often it's the only practical solution to the issue. There's a reason you don't get switchbacks like that on rolling, low gradient singletrack trails.

 @inked-up-metalhead: Thats false. Grade reversal before corner to naturally bring speed down to a slow roll without braking. Make 110 degrees of your corner at the highest, slowest point so your facing just a bit more than falline out of the berm. let it accelerate downhill into another berm that is long and open to bring you back to a traverse. Keep it fast until you have to repeat for your next "switchback". No more brake bumps or 180 corners with that method. You can divide the 180 into 2 or 3 berms, shark fin, anyway you need as long as you make the biggest change in direction at the slowest point. It's faster to build than stacking some giant 180 berm. I've built on the tallest steepest BC resorts using that method. No brake bumps, G-outs, or shitty switchbacks. Always better to traverse further if you have the option though.

 The man has a point

 @luckynugget: couldn't agree more, grade reversal counter-turn opens the radius and slows riders down without braking. Splitting a 180 into 2 open turns with a short steep section in between creates such a better riding experience. If you have easily eroded soils put in an armored rock feature.
Too much trail building being done by handbooks and people claiming "that's the only way my machine could do it".

 @luckynugget: the grade reversal can be done into a 180 berm too, and effectively eliminates braking bumps in that situation too, where I've built there was limited space plus desired terrain features meant to do that would have lost about 30% of the trail length on a section to gain 1 corner being a touch faster and smoother. I'm not disputing that they're not ideal, but to maximise hill usage (I'm in the UK, we don't exactly have the same scope of mountains that you guys have unfortunately) a few switchbacks are often needed.

 All those switchbacks and not a single nose turn! What a waste!!!

 @tralebuilder: And no berms. Pointless.

 #frenchlinesmatter

 @danstonQ:

 Goldstone and Greenland goon racing a Lahar in 2023 www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SUEppEpS90

 Fellow RM'r

 @integralnz: That’s actually an M8 the one before this model. The owners of that bike have an M9 the same as too in there shop!

 That was a good viddy. Hope everyone Subs and Likes - that was his first video on that channel.

 Nobody's returned yet, so there is no news on the safety situation.

 There looks to be lines shortcutting those switchbacks that look very fun.

 Ride within parks and you're generally okay , not always.

Ride in public adn these days its 50/50 most of the time.

Lots of epic trails are on private land so not accessible outside of the event.

Cape town and the surroundings seem to be the worst of the bike focused violence and crime now.

... don't believe media that try to paint this place as some glorious heaven , it's mediocre and getting worse yearly

 As a South African living in the USA, all I can say is I can't wait to retire and ride my bike out in the Western Cape again one day. Don't believe the media that try to paint it as some murderous violent country. Of course it's there, but you're more likely to get pickpocketed if you're not careful than to get shot en masse like some other countries, won't say who...

 @ruckuswithani: it’s pretty funny when Americans worry about violence in other countries … like maybe consider your own country and perhaps, just maybe, get rid of the guns??

 @sanchofula: I don't think getting rid of guns will do anything, personally. We as a species are just so full of hate and brainwashed that we'll always pick up weapons (whatever we can find) instead of working for solutions. Always look for the cause behind the cause instead of the symptoms. We have a long way to go in evolving and gaining wisdom and intelligence before peace would be a tangible thing on this planet. Anyhow, back to mtbs!!

 @ruckuswithani: getting rid of the guns would do a lot. One thing is that e.g. police always has to assume that the other party has a gun. So it's who shoots first.

 @sanchofula: Totally. The criminals will willingly hand over their guns. “Turn your guns over to the police because they’re illegal now” will be the first law they decide to follow. Almost as silly as gun free zones.

 @bikeryder85: yeah, the issue is that people think they need a gun to defend themselves against pretty much anything. They are afraid enough to shoot at somebody turning around in their driveway, because they may be communist aliens or whatever.

Getting rid of the guns, educating people, and giving them some sense of security would 100% solve the problem. But that doesn't work in a society which is focused on profits for big corporations by any means possible - keeping people in a constant state of uneducated fear is part of the plan.

 @bikeryder85:
There will always be violence, violent individuals and a variety of reasons for it, but guns enable an individual to impact a disproportionate number of other individuals, hence the random horror of mass shootings.
Anyone who thinks loosing their 'right to bear arms' is loosing their 'freedom' is sorely misguided, the mass proportion of hand gun ownership is for the myth of self protection, that doesn't sound like living in freedom to me, its living in fear.
There's obviously no quick fix, (it's a lazy argument to say theres no point stopping selling guns seeing as there is already so many out there) but the process has to start somewhere, voter power is the only way to counter the political fear of making a stand that won't be supported.

 @Obidog: you're right, there is no quick fix. But I'm against taking away people's freedoms. The conversation does need to be had, and I'm not saying that gun control can't be made better. But outlawing them is not the answer. If you outlaw guns in a nation like ours then only gangs and criminals will have them. There are plenty of cities that have outlawed them, to very poor results.

My argument isn't that everybody should have guns, my argument is that there needs to be a discussion, not shoving a gun-free Utopia on to those who disagree. You guys can download me all you want, but I promise you guns will not be the last thing that people will come for.

 @gnarlysipes: this...i wish we lived in a world where that was a possible solution...but I see the world for what it is.

 @bikeryder85: obviously the world you see is the only one you see but... it has been molded by decades of gun loving propoganda and is not a complete truth of the world we live in. The Europeans have not grown up where the gun first belief does not exist and still live in a place with criminals who have guns, still have immigrants from poorer countries but yet their murder rates are lower than ours and their mass shooting rates are virtually nonexistent. The American gun culture is a product of decades of effort to make it that way but it's not completely true. But your view is already set and this reply will do nothing to change your view. Back to the bikes...

 @Sscottt: to your points...Yes gun-culture is over the top here (but so is most marketed culture, including bike culture)...I can agree with the facts of the data from Europe, and appreciate your view, but that is still an apples-oranges argument, and doesn't address the liberty/law balance act that we try to play here. My replies were to simply offer a counter-argument to the anti-gun radicalism that loves to build a straw-man out of guns/gun owners while failing to look at the failure to enforce current law in favor of banning civil liberty. Again, the discussion should be had...but that should lead to compromise...on BOTH sides.

But enough of that, I will gladly bow out and get to bikes

 @mi-bike: can you say lions!!??

 @bikeryder85: Joke's on you, I grew up and live in a country that borders the iron curtain. My home town was under Russion occupation following WW II. Ukraine is less than 400 miles from here. Kosovo 500 miles. So we have plenty of refugees coming over - also from Syria and Afghanistan, for example, plus literal boatloads of people from Africa. We are not and Island with a tiny border with a fairly well developed Nation - we ACTUALLY have a lot of refugees and people coming over to earn a better wage.
And you know what - Austria is one of the most peaceful places you can be. Nobody needs to carry - because we don't have herds of people struggling paycheck to paycheck. Out homicide rate is about 1/7th that of the US - despite being "surrounded" by "Mafia Badlands".
FUD and wage inequality is what is making the US a miserable place to be - not immigrants.

 come ride bikes. Cape Town and surrounding trail networks are fantastic. There are isolated crime incidents in public trail areas like on Table Mountain etc... but you'll find dozens of people to ride with here and you'll be fine in small or bigger groups. But in closed areas like most of the trails you see - it's perfectly fine. There's incredible riding all over.

For the above people saying "f*ck switchbacks" blah blah... they've not ridden the trail in the clip. There is literally no other way to get up there, and down there. It's fun, nothing too amazing from a trail POV, but the sheer views and getting up and then bombing back down is awesome. If you do the whole Welvanpas loops below it, it's some of the best singletrack riding and downhills out there.

I was in a meeting with Cape Town Tourism last year and said I cannot believe they dont spend more effort marketing us as a global summer (your winter) riding destination for MTBers.

 The name checks out, though (a violent flow of mud and debris).

 thanks XD

 @cedric-eveleigh: This is a great idea. I hope the lower buy-in catches the attention of municipalities. Maybe they could get bike cops to haul them around. It would be nice to see them do something useful.