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lloydkayak

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Everything posted by lloydkayak

  1. I was also contacted by a Graham Lewis (email address didn't make sense at all) - same scam trying to pay on something I have never heard of. In connection with a bike I have up for sale at the moment. He clearly catches people if he has been active so long.
  2. Hi All, I wanted to post an update here in case anyone catches this thread with similar queries. I got hold of a set of drop bars and old Sora 8 speed shifters and new cables and housing. The conversion was pretty easy and I can confirm the stock V-brakes on the Giant Escape work fine. The reason for this is that the tekro brakes on the Giant Escapes have slightly shorter arms than the shimano standard v-brakes (I have two of these bikes one 2012 the other probably 2016 or newer). The arm is around 80mm which is sort of between the standard v-brake and the mini-v. The bike rides really well in this configuration, because the frame was slightly small for me, the jump to drops increased the reach to something really nice, a little more aggressive. I will try upload photos once I take them. Nils at Woodstock Cycleworks has helped me loads with the conversion and I would seriously get him involved if you are doing this. He helped me set the shifting to a whole new level and is currently replacing the crank on my bike. (The Sora cables - I think it was the brake cables - are not the same size as mtb ones so know that going in or suffer a second trip to the LBS)
  3. Hi, Anyone got any experience or ideas for converting long pull calipers (v brakes on a giant escape) to something that works with drop bar (sora) shifters? Options: - find mini v brake calipers (cant find any locally)? - do some kind of cantilever caliper conversion? - magic and/or who needs brakes? Any advice welcome.
  4. I am recently back on a bike and would like to train a bit in the afternoons post-work cycling from the Mowbray area. The maps show quite a lot of trails in the Rhodes memorial / Newlands area. What is the best place to access these trails from by bike. I am not keen on cycling that trail along the Northern edge of the memorial because it goes through that very obviously dodgy park. Groups regularly riding these trails after work?
  5. I recently got a mountain bike again and am keen to check out the trails around Newlands/Rhodes Mem/Blockhouse. Access to Rhodes seems to be around that dodgy park on the other side of the M3. Are there any areas I should be avoiding specifically?
  6. Thanks for the useful thread. Does anyone know if a Level 3 permit includes activities under Level 2? Or do you need to buy one of each?
  7. Does anyone know anything about the duties on ebike components? Very keen to bring in a battery pack and a motor conversion kit (Bafang or similar) but I can't work out if customs will nail me? Its likely that the motor kit and the battery wouldn't be sent in the same shipment.
  8. Thank you V12! Sounds like a winner. They aren't big into coffee and I commend them wanting to stay away from capsules and the unnecessary waste they create.
  9. https://www.yuppiechef.com/spatula/how-to-make-great-coffee-with-your-moka-pot/ that is a pretty useful how to guide explaining the few nuances of moka pots. Try get fresh coffee that is ground medium (same grind you are likely to find in the store bought packets) but fresh coffee definitely tastes better. Pair it with a good quality hand grinder and fresh beans to be extra cool.
  10. Anyone here have experience with bean-to-cup automatic machines? A family member wants one and has bought a siemens eq. 8 series 600 for about R12k (on special apparently). Seems solid, all I could say was for that money you might be able to get a Jura which is well known and seems to be well loved. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
  11. If it is for espresso, I would go for the rocky. Dosing into an espresso basket from the encore might be a mission ( I used to use a krupps grinder that also caught the grinds in a container). The reviews for the encore also mention that it is best suited for "occasional" espresso use... whatever that means
  12. Commuted for the first time again in ages. Couldn't believe how much I enjoyed racing cars along the 15km route. Watching for the same car you saw 10km back. Commuting really is awesome. oh and I noticed I am really unfit compared to when I used to commute everyday 2 years ago.
  13. I have been looking a lot at the bafang mid-drives. You could order from luna cycles in the states who sell very quality battery packs and sort out some of the programming issues and land the 750W for about R16k and the 1000W for R21k. Checked out the guys at chilled squirrel, great chaps. Bringing in the kits through them works out a lot more expensive (like R25k installed) but then you at least have a useable warranty. Some of the ebikes they build with the bafang stuff is really great. I reckon this is a huge attraction to those trying to cycles over 40km per day with the wind. I commuted often but the 42km round trip from blouberg to pinelands was too hard for me to do every day. an ebike would solve this issue and make the trip faster and very enjoyable.
  14. I am interested to know if anyone has worked out safe/optimised routes from either city bowl/woodstock area to century city.
  15. Anyone know where I could get a Rancilio Sylvia Steam Wand in Cape Town (preferably the V2 model). I just got my hands on a Gaggia Classic and see that I can mod the steam wand with very little hassle. Just need to find a suitable replacement... That pinarello thing is terrible
  16. it was insured with barker insurance brokers. Not the cheapest but they are very reliable and have looked after the family business for a very long time. I must note that the policy is for a company and is comprehensive. It is a big policy
  17. Thanks for the replies, thank goodness it was in fact insured... The rider went to the warehouse yesterday and chose their brand new turquoise frame from a selection, even got a model upgrade! Great news all around but ja, still had to come from insurance instead of from the manufacturer. As mentioned, I guess it was just really *** luck.
  18. Hi all, A bianchi road bike frame was bought around this time last year through an authorised dealer. This weekend at a race, the hanger supplied with the new frame snapped and the result was that the derailler smashed through the rear seat stay of the carbon frame. Luckily the frame was insured and they are sorting it out. My local dealer told me that the frame will not be replaced under warranty because hangers are working parts and they fail from time to time. If the hanger is a year old and came with the frame, is this the correct interpretation? Surely the manufacturer should be held liable? Just curious, no shaming or flaming planned at all. The bike is owned by a chilled out 60 year old lady that just loves cycling, she is no big racer and rides very slowly (well she climbs rather well but descends like a grandma)
  19. I have been in contact with TFG (the foschini group) who own @home and bring in Breville locally. They are the ones who source parts and they are trying to find stock of the single wall baskets for me. If I come right, I will update the post. The guys that service Breville are Liptronics in Cape Town but they told me that they don't sell parts and that I should contact TFG directly. Hope it helps.
  20. Where do you guys get single wall baskets, I have a feeling that the Breville basket is the same size as my machine's basket. I am trying to go through "the foschini group" who brings Breville into SA... Must be single wall baskets available somewhere?
  21. On a different note... I don't have the budget for a proper manual machine at this point. I have honed my skills well on a Russel Hobbs machine (seriously cheap for what the machine can do). I am trying to find a replacement non-pressurised basket for the portafilter. It apparently would make a very big difference. Any ideas of where I could get one? Thanks in advance
  22. Could I also trouble you for a pm price please SAGecko
  23. Thank you for all the comments... I will put the idea of using a fresh coffee machine over the pod idea. We are also very concerned about what to do with the wasted pods... Not very useful at all, and we are environmental engineers. The trick is trying to figure out how the beans work, but I have some ideas.
  24. Coffee guru hubbers... The boss has finally agreed to consider getting a "pod type" automatic machine for the office (+-80 people). He wanted to go the nespresso route (which I agree with for simplicity) but was informed that the home machines will burn out very very quickly in an office environment with that much use. He is now considering the rental route, we have been offered a rental machine with 400 pods a month for R2700 pm. We don't get to choose the pods we want, they give us a selection... I was told this is a nespresso system but the pods are flatter than the standard nespresso pod. Any other options we should be considering... The office is very cost sensitive, they are simply trying to provide the machine, we as the staff would ultimately buy the pods we end up using. Anyone know any good deals or have a contact for the rental option I should be looking at? Thanks in advance.
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