Yesterday afternoon saw me taking my bike out for a ride on our wonderful roads. It seems I’m going to have to fork out for some braided hoses as the stopping power of my front brake leaves a bit to be desired. In fast straight stops I tend to augment it with my rear brake. Generally a bad idea, but especially bad on my current bike.

It seems my back brake has a tendency to bite, and with the tiniest amount of pressure it brakes with full force, thus locking it. Braking dynamics on a bike make the rear brake almost useless, which is why it only has a tiny little disc compared to the massive dual discs usually on the front. So this would mark the second time I’ve managed to lock the rear wheel. The first time, I left a nice black line on the tar and essentially ruined my tyre. I had to change the tyre anyways, this just moved the plan forward by a week or two. Yesterday’s little incident left my tyre completely unscathed. The first thing I did when I got home yesterday was to lift the bike onto its paddock stand and check. Not a single scrape or flatspot in the tyre, even though I went fishtailing for a good 30-40m. Guess I’ll be budgeting for those braided hoses sooner than I expected.

Otherwise, I still maintain there are no corners in Joburg. I can see why JHB riders are notorious for high speeds. The few corners I’ve seen on my breakfast runs are just glorified straights evidenced by the fact that you can easily do 200kph+ with minimal lean through these so-called corners.