Inspired by the Mountain

When it became clear that AWOL Tours old fleet of mountain bikes were nearing the end of their useful life, we became entangled in the mountain bike debate; what shall we replace it with and equally important, which wheel size? Our requirements for the upgrade of the mountain bike fleet was for a durable, robust bike that can handle any terrain to provide high-end mountain bike tours in Cape Town for beginners to experienced riders alike.

For us, the answer to the first question was quite easy. We always wanted to support a local brand name, like ourselves, proudly South African. During our research, a certain brand name were mentioned more and more, Momsen Bikes. It is by no means a new player in the bicycle industry, having already claimed a top ten finish in the most recent Cape Epic race. Victor Momsen, owner of Momsen Bikes has more than 25 years of mountain bike experience. After learning the bike trade in Taiwan, he settled in Port Elizabeth to start his own bike manufacturing business. To us, this seemed to be the right fit for our requirements.

The second question, wheel size, was a little more tricky. With few of us having much experience with the 29 inch wheels, we just relied on the fact that Momsen believes the 29 inch is here to change the future of mountian biking. So the wait for the new bikes began.

I was fortunate enough to take delivery of the bikes and promptly set about assembling one out of pure curiosity. They certainly looked great, we could hardly wait to get them on the mountain. The first outing was at the Koeberg nature reserve, a fast rolling track with lots of wildlife around. The bikes performed beautifully, even surviving a near drowning! Next we had to take them on a little more technical track. The Deer Park track on the slopes of Table Mountain were next in line. The result? Awesome performance by the Momsen bikes and we are all convinced that the 29 inchers are the way to go! The bikes were truly ‘Inspired by the mountain”, as the Momsen motto on the top tube would suggest.

With Mountain biking being such a fast growing sport, the Western Cape has some of the best riding in the country. AWOL Tours offer outings to most of these tracks in and around Cape Town – Deer Park, Tokai Forest and Jonkershoek Nature reserve in Stellenbosch, as well as overnight trips further afield such as the Cederberg and various trails on the fabulous Garden Route.

As an introductory offer on the new bikes, guests booking mountain bikes tours in Cape Town will be getting 10% off on all day trips booked with AWOL Tours. Tailor made trips can be arranged for any fitness level as well as any technical ability. Our guides will be more than happy to run you through a short skills course before you take on the mountain. Pop into our offices at the V&A Waterfront for bookings and more information about our fabulous trips.