I have a weekend coming up in Capetown and wondered if anybody could recommend a decent hire shop and a good route for a few hours riding. I am looking for XC rather than technical downhill, and I am not afraid of a bit of climbing.

Thanks

Speak to Daniel at irideafrica.
I used them to hire a bike earlier this year, for bike hire and a guided ride around Tokai Forest it worked out around £100 or so. It was money well spent!
The choice of trails around Cape Town is pretty good with some on Table Mountain and if you’ve got the time to get there then Stellenbosch has some fantastic trails as well.
If you’re only looking for a few hours though, I’d stick with Tokai. It’s all fairly XC orientated but with plenty of climbing.

+1 for irideafrica. They will even deliver and pick up the hire bike. Get a road bike too and ride down to the Cape if it’s not too windy. Tokai is good but you may want to do it twice for a few hours. Watch out for baboons!

I can highly recommend just renting a road bike or hybrid and taking the ride from capetown to cape point. We done this two year ago and bumped into christoph sauser and Bury Stander who where just out for a leisurely ride with friends. The ride its self is lovely with magnificent views.

+ another 1 for iRideAfrica crew! Tokai Forest and Stellenbosch both worth a trip – although you may need to find your own way to Stellenbosch (about an hour away). It’s mostly XC oriented around Cape Town – 26 inch bikes are a bit of a rarity!

A ride up chapmans peak and around that side is a must – take lycra, they don’t know what baggies are?

Don’t ride alone 😕

p.s. if you enjoy whisky, get yourself to bascule bar at the cape grace – 400 whiskies!! 😀

Thanks all for your suggestions – JR

Tokai is a great place to ride. Certainly the only place I’ve ever ridden where you have to watch out for baboons on the trail!

I rode alone at Tokai on a number of occasions – not sure why you wouldn’t. I hired a bike and drove myself over there – you don’t really need a guide as it’s just a big hill with multiple trails down it.

The ride up to Silvermine(?) from Tokai is nice too…

Thanks to everybody who suggested iRideAfrica. I had a great Saturday morning out with Jennie in the Jonkershoek near Stellenbosch and I would definitely recommend them.