Best buck for your bike

If you’ve shopped around a lot, you’ll know that it’s possible to spend a small fortune on a bike. According to Discovery Insure data, the bike with the highest-insured value on its books is the Time Alpe d’Heuz with lightweight Meilenstein T-wheels, at a cool R253 000 – yes, the price of a small car. Other bikes with high insurance values are the De Rosa SRAM Red, at R249 851, and a 2018 Cipollini RB1K at R240 000. The highest payout made so far by Discovery Insure was R180 000 for accidental damage to a Pinarello Dogma.

The most commonly insured makes with Discovery Insure include:

• Raleigh, with insured values ranging from R1 500 to R80 000
• Trek, with insured values range from R1 500 to R150 000
• Merida, at an average insured value of R22 000
• Giant, at an average insured value of R25 000
• Scott, at an average insured value of R30 000

As with most things, the better the bike you want, the more money you’ll spend. But unless you’re a serious competitive cyclist, you don’t need to spend a fortune. It’s possible to find a bike within your budget that offers a good balance of speed, durability and comfort. Once you have a budget in mind, the next question is around what’s most important to you.

Of course, if you’re willing to spend a quarter of a million on a bike, it is certainly not going to be a standard model. You will have had it customised to your unique needs, including the colour, saddle, handlebars and grips. You will have done a lot of research and will be getting a bike that fits you, suits your style of riding and delivers the balance of speed/comfort/durability/longevity that you’re looking for. But for those who can’t afford to spend that kind of money, it’s about getting the speed, durability and comfort you can afford. A very lightweight bike will cost more and deliver on speed, but it won’t be as durable as a heavier bike. If comfort is more important to you, you may have to compromise on aerodynamics and speed.

Your best bet is to find a bike specialist you trust, who can help you find the bike that ticks the most boxes, within your budget.

Which bikes do Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka ride?

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka, a Discovery Vitality ambassador and the first African team to compete in the Tour de France, has chosen to use bikes from BMC of Switzerland from January 1 this year.

The team needs about five bikes per rider in a time trial race, which amounts to a total of around 40 bikes, but it obviously needs to have spares. The whole team, can use about 300 bikes in a season.

Asked why they chose BMC, the team says: “We need world class bikes that meet all high-performance standards, from stiffness and aerodynamic efficiency to weight balance and compliance. BMC are market leaders on all fronts when it comes to innovation and new bike technology. From BMC, our riders are able to choose between their TMR and SLR framesets during road races. For time trials we are on the Timemachine, the ITT world championship winning bike from 2018.”

Each member of the Qhubeka team has two bikes at home, a road bike and a time trial bike, in addition to the five bikes that are made available to them for a race. Not too surprising when you consider that in one year, a single rider can cover as much as 30 000 kilometres.

That requires a lot more bike quality than the average recreational rider needs to pay for. So don’t worry if your bike costs a fraction of what a fellow rider’s costs. Simply do your research, understand your own biking needs and then find the perfect bike for you, your pocket and the way you move.

Whatever your move, whatever your bike, move more at the Discovery 947 Ride Joburg. A unique Joburg experience awaits at the 23rd year of the race. www.947ridejoburg.co.za