Here’s what our team rode at the Great Zuuberg Trek.
Trail Tested
Our team spent the weekend at the Great Zuurberg Trek, the Eastern Cape’s premier 3-day MTB stage race. With Vittoria as the official tyre partner, we were given the opportunity to trail test some of our favourite products. Our guy Frank The Tank spent the weekend on an e-bike offering riders tech support carrying tyres, plugs, bombs and chain links along the route. Further up in the field Munro rode his XC bike and tried to have as much fun as possible. The grueling Eastern Cape terrain acted as the perfect opportunity to put our products to test.
Stage one was shortened and neutralized as days of rain made a large portion of the route unrideable. Despite being only 26 km in length there was no shortage of mechanicals on the route. Frank had his hands full mending broken chains and bombing tyres. Ahead, Munro tackled the wet jeep track taking in the views and riding as fast as required to stay warm and get out of the rain. Once the boys had completed the stage they tucked into a warm lunch accompanied by war stories of fellow riders. Lunch rolled into dinner and stage two approached.
In the morning of stage two, the queen stage – riders were greeted by mist but fortunately no rain. Frank had to head back into town to pick up some of our Brakco brake pads at the warehouse for riders that had ridden through theirs on stage one. This meant Munro was on tech support. Stage two started with a lengthy but very gradual climb followed by the famous 7 Dwarfs descent – a fast and flowing trail taking you from the top of the Zuurberg Pass down to the river gorge. The trail was surprisingly dry given the previous day’s rainfall. Despite the muddy sections there were no serious mechanicals. The biggest issue riders faced was keeping the sticky Eastern Cape clay off their bikes which would clog up your tyre clearance and derail your chain if you gave it the opportunity making it impossible to ride. With not much trail side assistance needed Munro could enjoy the benefits of the e-bike. The extra travel, paired with a fresh set of Vittoria Mazza’s and Air-liners, the winding downhills became a stress free play ground.
For those not on e-bikes the queen stage had taken its toll on analog riders coming in slowly. The sight and aroma of warm food quickly put a smile on their faces as they started to get comfortable in the race village. To keep things entertaining we hosted an Air-liner Light Challenge where contestants had to fit a tyre with and Air-Liner Light against the clock. Times ranged between a blazing 28 seconds to a rather concerning 5 minutes.
After all the fun it was time for the third and final stage. Stage 3 was packed with trails descending from the race village down to the citrus orchards. This time Frank was back on the e-bike offering trail side assistance and Munro was back on the XC bike. Throughout the 20kms of fast single track traction was key, Munro was running a set of trusty Mezcals ensuring grip through every corner. Munro also ran an almost all Aero setup in terms of points of contact with his bike. Aero’s Silicone MTB Grips and SPD Cleats kept him connected to his ride while navigating the lush trails.
Once the descending was complete riders were greeted with a waterpoint followed by even more single track and eventually ended the stage going up the Zuurberg Pass for the final time.
Our team enjoyed the well organized event and we’re looking forward to the next one. We’re proud to say that not one mechanical was had on our side, despite the far from ideal weather conditions. For us, this is a testament to the quality of the products on offer and builds confidence in the products that we sell. Through testing our catalog out on the trails we can truly say that we believe in our products.