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Some advise please.
With electricity prices going up and the frequency of outages in my area I'm strongly considering solar and gas geyser to be as much off grid as possible.
The thing is, I'll need to do one of the rent to own options as the bank wont approve finance for me.
What I want to know is, will it be cheaper month to month renting solar vs paying eskom.
Currently using around 25 kwh per day
Geyser is around 12 of those, so gas will right away drop that. Our showering/bathing times means either running geyser from batteries or going gas, so I'm leaning to gas even though it will be more costly in the long run than solar.
Big power items like pool and dishwasher are easy to schedule to run once batteries are full, so no problem there. I do have a bunch of lights on the outside wall that run all night, but all are LED so power draw wont be to bad.
A quick google tells me I can get a rent to own option that will power everything but the geyser for around 50% of my monthly eskom bill. Obviously cloudy/rainy days or weeks will change the balance, that will need to be factored in.
Before I go down this route I just want to hear from those with experience on what pitfalls to look out for, anything I'm over looking etc.
22 minutes ago, Danger Dassie said:Neighbor down the road got their delivery last week. Some running, outdoor stuff and casual riding gear.
50/50 split on the quality and longevity, as well as the blatant counterfeit gloves.
For me personally I’ll give it a skip.
I dont mind using this type of online store (same as wish etc.) for stupid little things where I'm not concerned about quality or brand, but the moment I want a branded or semi decent quality item I will source locally where I'd hope I'd have some recourse if its a fake item or the quality is not what it should be.
Eidt.
I dont know why all of a sudden there is a big hoo haa over Temu when the likes of Wish and aliExpress have been around for ages, and by the looks of things they sell the same stuff. Although Temu made it way to easy to part with my money and the Buffalo shipping for free left me feeling at least somewhat comforted that I will get my goods.
11 hours ago, IceCreamMan said:I never played it much but I played a lot of Tetris back in the day. I even started dreaming I was playing Tetris and realised it was no good for my mental health so quit. 😂
I'm convinced Tetris helps in day to day life like packing dishwashers and cupboards.
If I look how my wife and kids who've never played tetris stack things it makes sense to me. 
5
Based on this thread I’ve ordered some stuff off Temu.
I actually can’t remember all the stuff I ordered (will have to check my account), but they had a minimum R300 order, so I started off with some screw in bar ends, I know of threw in a box of nitril gloves, some little thingies to hold shifter cables and I’m not sure what else.
garuanteed delivery in 10 days or you get some little peace offering.
let’s wait and see.
My youngest, now 8 going on 18 has been expressing interest in doing races with me, yesterday my facebook feed popped up with a fun ride at Midstream Estates. A nice short 8km, a distance she has done before.
Asked her last night if she wanted to do it and she's very excited. So I entered us in.
50 minutes ago, Shebeen said:I suppose cyclists (sport and/or commuter) choose to not use lights for a combination of reasons:
* they are not there/charged when they go riding early morning and don't feel like fiddling
* they can see just fine, and don't care about being seen
* they just don't own them.
As a cyclist you can get irritated by these ghosts in the dark either because they are a hazard to you, or you are concerned for their safety (or both). The official stats from road accident deaths are sobering. ~43% of deaths are pedestrians.
2022 - 12436 deaths, of which 5347 where pedestrians. about 15 per day.
Many of these will be drunk pedestrians, walking into the road - we're not changing that habit in a hurry. but some will just be walking in the darkness and are impossible to see. If only black label gave away free beanies with reflective strips for every case sold these numbers might come down.
The simplest upgrade for cyclists which has no battery requirements is 3m reflective tape.
I use the white one, put it on chain stays, seatpost and even small bits on pedal as that moves.
and if you dont want to stick this on your bike, dischem (and I'm sure many sports stores) sell a reflective band in packs of 2 that you can put on ankles or wrists or both, when I bought from dischem about 2 years ago they were R10, so should not break the bank.
4 minutes ago, RustyHWR said:And then you get the guys with the pulse/strobe on in pitch darkness????????
The pulse strobe at the rear is fine, I think is more visible/recognisable in pitch darkness, strobe in front is a no no.
9 minutes ago, MongooseMan said:It's a constant gripe of ours whenever we ride out on that path before sunrise. I've shouted at more than a few cyclists and runners, it's just plain stupid in my opinion.
the other gripe is rear lights that are hardly noticeable (im sure it was mentioned in this thread, its been a while since I read through it).
The converse on group rides is rear lights that blind you.
6 minutes ago, MTBAustria said:Yes I've found the guy who sold it yesterday. 100% my bike.
https://web.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2463593787167919/
https://web.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087205186803
I wonder if any of the other stuff he sells is stolen
the way he goes into detail on the bike makes it look pretty legit
7 minutes ago, Danger Dassie said:I love the place and what Decathlon does/stands for. But it feels like the actions aren’t aligning with the principles of late
I think the same thing can be said for Leroy and I guess many other stores/brands.
My parent often shop at Leroy in Greece, whilst most of the prodcuts are the same, the shopping experience is worlds apart.
Boils down to what I often say, your company/brand is only as good as the person your customer is interacting with.
2
4 minutes ago, RossTopher said:Completely agree on Leroy, starved of a decent one stop home&outdoor store. Would certainly shake Builders up.
but they havent shaken buildesr up in jhb. There was an initial shake because they were new, but they've turned into just a green branded BW. I often see the same cars going between the 2 stores.
I think the problem DC will have in SA with cycling goods (and possibly other sports too) is that the perception of them being a makro or Mr Price Sports style store, i.e. mass consumer type of product and not good enough for the golfer turned cyclist type who think they need the best.
5
2 hours ago, Shebeen said:get one of these for every 6 enclosed loos. will really free up the queue.
assuming it's a mtb race, make sure the route is marked with both lime arrows on the ground and direction boards.
only release the gpx of route once you have confirmed it. If you don't have 99% confidence of the route then get that sorted first if possible. Nothing worse than someone loading version 1.2 of the route on wednesday to their garmin when you have version 1.4 on race day. people will think their electronics will never lie.
x1000 on the urinal. such a simple solution that will resolve alot of the queueing issues
If its a road event, or an event that will impact the publics coming and going, make sure the areas that are impacted are communicated to. Well in advance, and through different channels.
2
measure the length against the chain you took off.
I'll wait for the experts to chime in, but based purely on the first pic, I'd say the chain is to long.
B.T.W. I'm sitting at just over 11 000km on my KMC 11spd chain and its still not showing signs of wear according to my chain checker tool.
4
On 4/14/2024 at 9:56 AM, madmarc said:My view on cost of maintenance for cycling, especially with MTBing and more so MTBing with FS bike - You need to learn some basic service skills - there are lots of resources online like University of U Tjoob and even on some OEM websites. Invest in some time and try them out yourself you will realise it isnt rocket science and will save you 1000's of ronds
So what should you be able to do yourself
Wheels - Fix a puncture; Change a tire; replace rim tape and gorilla snot; do a complete tjoobless conversion; True a bent wheel; Depending on which hubs you have you should be able to to service and replace hub bearings
Brakes - Replace brake shoes; re-cable brakes - A bit more advanced, but brake bleeding is not that hard.
Drive Train - Remove the cranks; remove and reisntall a BB; Measure wear on a chain; be able to break a chain to correct length; replace a chainring; replace a cassette; RD setting and tweaking; replace RD jocky wheels. Re-cable gears.
Suspension - Oil Service -I learnt this online and done it many times - Now i just send it off to RBC and pay them to do it, but i can do it myself if i have the time.
Bearing replacement - This is doable yourself, at most you will save on labor, but you will need to have the bearing puller tools for removal and reinstalling. I made my own from threaded rod and some different size washers, which work great. When i change bearings, i dont skimp i replace them all even the ones that still look okay.
As far as tools go - there are not that many that you would need to add to your toolbox
Bike service stand (this is a must) - Spoke wrench - Allen Key set - Torx set - tire levers - cable cutter - 15mm pedal spanner - Chain whip - chain break tool - chain wear gauge - Cassette tool - BB tool depending on your BB type - Valve core removal tool - shock pump (you should have gotten one with the bike) - big bottle of Stans - some syringes - proper grease, I'm sure some can add to these baisc tools needed
Over the years i've gotten more and more adventureous and made a lot of bearing tools - Park wheel building stand with all the bells and whistles (which i never use) Built my own bike service stand - Air compressor (Makes tire maintenance a pleasure) air gun and digital tire inflators. I even have the L/R thread taps and inserts for crank repairs.
So over time you learn basic service skills and eventually you will be stripping and rebuilding the entire bike saving you lots of money at the LBS
The best part is if something isnt done right you only have to argue with yourself and not some A/hole wannabe bike mechanic
and yet somethings are not worth the frustration and its easier to pay the mechanic to sort it out.
Did a sealant topup yesterday. I've been putting it off because my wheel and tyre combo are a PIA. Always one tyre that wont seat.
I thought I was in luck, my neighbour started his compressor up before I started, I asked if I could come and use it and was given the thumbs up.
Rear wheel. 10 minutes start to finish, no issues.
Front wheel, as I let the air out is unseated. I topped up, then decided I was going to try the old tube over the tyre to hold it under pressure trick. Consequently lost half the sealant out the tyre.
Went next door, compressor was not helping, we bumped the compressor up to 10bar, still no luck.
Jumped in the car, headed to the nearest petrol station. Tried a few times, lost more sealant, still not seating.
So I headed home, drained what sealant was left and decided to put everything in the car and take it to the LBS this morning. I'll pay their R200 and let them deal with it.
Ok I'll play
49 this year
175cm
80kg - down from 85 pre lockdown
32cm waist - down from 36 pre lockdown, currently about the same size as it was in high school
My diet is whatever is in front of me. I also have a serious sweet tooth.
Current Giant Contend is a Large, but ideally I should be on a medium.
Current spotify playlist in the car is Vocal Trance 2024, but I'll listen to most music, depending on mood.
On 4/3/2024 at 12:13 PM, The Ouzo said:
Got back from leave today and the glasses were waiting for me at work.
First impressions,
The frame at the top may be a bit low and a bit thick for road cycling, I'm thinking its going to get in my line of sight.
Changed the lenses and it seems a bit fidly, but it was my first time so maybe I'll learn how it works and it will get easier.
Will hopefully give the yellow lenses a test in the morning and report back here.
There is a reason these are so cheap, but the lenses dont seem to distort my view and seem pretty clear, so if they do what I need them to do then I'm happy, if they dont, well then they were not that expensive and if I land up not using them I'll donate them to one of the guys at work.
Some feedback for @Jaco/ after about 5 rides
Bear in mind this is road bike usage
Fit
They sit very securely on my face, hardly ever need to make adjustments, even after hitting bumps and bunny hopping. This is something that annoys me with my D'Arcs.
Lenses
Only tried the yellow and the clear. Both are up to the task of what I need them for, and that is dark mornings. Both have clear good vision. I've been using the clear lenses the last few rides, and these rides have started a bit later and gone into sun up, its not bright sun yet, but even the clear lenses helped.
Coverage
As predicted the thick frame at the top is a bit of a visual impediment, not as much as I thought it would be though, but especially in the drops its there.
The lenses also dont wrap around alot, so a fair bit of airflow creeps in from the sides, great for cooling, but occasionally if I turn my head I'll get something flying into my eye. So it could be better. Not sure if I went for the larger frame if the lenses would be bigger perhaps.
For R300 they work just fine, I was not expecting great things, but the quality if good and for what I need them for (which is just dark winter mornings) they will do.
1 hour ago, nox1111 said:Dekra's reports for WBC is not independent, WBC pays the Dekra staff - and they do the tests inhouse... Dekra does not recognize said tests when you query them. but that's a whole different discussion.
A new thread just for that is worthwhile.
How true is this ?
I'm aware they have inhouse Dekra inspectors, but was not aware they were not affiliated to Dekra at all. Surely Dekra would have an issue with this ?
Having in house people affiliated to an external company is not unusual, but operating under an external company name and not being affiliated IS unusual.
I'm certainly no expert on this, our resident expert would be @Dale going through something very similar, but my opinion, for the 2c that its worth, would be that the more time you spend off the bike the deeper that fear of being hit when on the road will get.
Perhaps set some goal to work towards, if not a race at least some personal fitness or such goals to keep you working on the bike.
6 minutes ago, ChrisF said:WBC are making a joke of the consumer protection act .....
why? they are not hiding anything.
The flip side of this is that people are all to happy to have WBC buy their heap of rubbish from them when dealers wont offer proper trade-ins because the condition of the car.
Edit.
B.T.W. I dont like WBC, they have screwed up the car market in SA and others have jumped onto the bandwagon.
9 minutes ago, ChrisF said:
Scary thought ....
WBC is listing on the stock exchange .... disconnect between business ethics and business success ......
I did not read the complaints on hellopeter, but what i've picked up is that people are unhappy that they are buying cars with problems.
WBC business model is "Here is an independent report (Dekra) telling you what they picked up, you buy this car accepting this report and the fact that it may not have picked up all the faults."
i.e. Voetstoots.
They dont hide this fact, but people just see the "cheap" price and go gaga and then when the honeymoon period is over they are sorry.
2
Dammit, now I've wasted money on petrol for my pitch fork, who is going to reimburse me ?
What is this world coming to, cant even have a good lynching anymore.
Temu for cycling goods
in Bike Shops & Services
Posted
exactly the kind of silly little things I I dont mind buying from them, that I was referring to in a previous post.