Murrob

GX AXS, with the Csixx cage upgrade, puts you within a few grams of XX1 AXS. Super reliable shifting with no issues. For the best shifting, run a shimano 12 speed cassette and chain.

Thanks Jono, super happy with a nice neat solution which works on the Selle San Marco saddles as well.

Support the bontrager light options mentioned, but first prize is definitely the varia light combo, pricey, but auto adjusts to light conditions and buys and extra hour in the mornings and evenings if you run a bit long.

Paarl mountain dusk vibes a couple of days ago

You can actually hack them and remove the speaker, there’s a YouTube video to take you through the process, so no chime. Also Mucoff has a really cool solution that put the tag in your tyre by your valve.

So, I have further proof of my theory and efforts. Bike was in for dropper, shock, fork and general check today. I previously as explained was replacing seals every 50 hours, also as an aside pivot bearings did not last with me. Now after washing with bike specific products and only washing the bike myself as described above. Voila, no seals or bearings required. Happy Friday Y’all

I feel hijacked…😜

Similar protocol on my side. But with the weather the last 4 months in the Cape it has been wash after virtually every ride, mtb or road. I have bought some waterless wash spray to do a quick wipe down if appropriate to try save on a full wash. I will say though, my chains and cassettes do seem to last super long because of regular cleaning.

Looks like on the entry flyer it says 200 Zupta's. Super cheap to gain access to Lourensford, which I understand is super riding. Would be keen to check it out.

Stellenbosch to Banhoek via Botmaskop. Does anyone perhaps know anything about the construction as you go up Stellenbosch side? They are felling huge amounts of trees and have destroyed a whole bunch of trails. Hope there’s a plan in place to rehab everything. View from concrete bridge in gale force winds yesterday afternoon

Interesting, because to add to my detailed theory, I also had a set of conti GP5000’s on one of my bikes that did this weird perishing thing. Tried to warranty, but no luck, and this was also when I was using the shield car wash soap and or Ecologic (admittedly too strong)

Agreed, that was my thinking as well, but perhaps it’s a combination of the soap which is rinses off though and Brunox stantion lube? Like I said, it’s a theory and my ‘empirical’ research is really just me now sticking with particular brand of cleaning product. Also washing the bike myself may mean a better process or less other chemicals. The other option is maybe the seals were exposed or had issues before being fitted? But twice seems odd.

I also used Ecologic, but I think the concentration was too much as it seemed to impact the paint on a Fox fork on my Giant Anthem years ago, making it dull. I still use it for other jobs and it work great for getting stains out of clothes and degreasing.

External rubber seals are the ones I’m having issues with.

So, for the last few services on my bike, I could never understand why the dust seals on my fork and in particular the shock are not lasting. I hear when a 50 hour service is near as the rear shock would start to squeak and Fox refer to much longer service intervals as well that just don’t seem to happen in SA. Now before everyone runs off in the direction of my bike shop fleecing me I inspect the seal myself and there is no doubt that they are toast. So I started thinking about potential external contaminates, also as I understand the fact that the rear shock is inverted also plays a role in the seals getting dry. I have been a fan of stantion lubes and have always been meticulous in terms of cleaning and lubing. But still had issues, so I have been conducting a bit of empirical research. I have recently been only washing my bike with Mucoff and using the products as directed. Whereas before I had been washing with Shield Extreme car wash soap. It looks like it was the car wash soap that was causing the problems as we are well into the latest block without any squeak or dry seals. So use it, don’t use it, but I am pretty convinced that car wash soap, in particular it seems Shield X-treme car does not agree with seals on forks and shocks.

Great question! So you use the degreaser first, then dry off using their super micro fibre drying towel and then finally apply the super smelling chamois cream.

I’ve become quite the Mucoff fan over the last while. Their chamois cream is amazing and smells super as well, but it’s a bit pricey, but like all things Mucoff seemingly works really well.

Personally I have on both mtb, road bike and an indoor trainer. If you were training on the road with your mtb (I have the qaurq) then sure, actual trail however it is really hard to maintain constant power, so more just interesting data. Road bike, different story, I’ve got the Garmin dual side pedals which while nuts with their pricing (insert discovery or momentum for better price) provide far more useful data for and road cycling in general allows you to really focus on pedal stroke and technique which the pedals can then confirm. I would only do the power pedals on a road bike, mtb I reckon you are one pedals strike away from tears. Indoor training is really just for recovery spins for me at this stage and the power allows me to maintain a consistent level for as long as I can stand (about 80 minutes is my limit)

Tough crowd @Jeroen Swart. So just for the sake of variety, I only have good memories of our interactions, in particular how generous you were with you time and knowledge back in the day with us wannabe elite riders. I also spent a significant time with you in the lab for testing and remember you as a scholar and gentleman always. Getting back to the topic, a good bike fitter is critical I reckon, and has solved a good number of niggles of mine, especially now that since the after 40 switch was flicked and my body seems to actively fight me with my old injuries coming home to roost. But at least I am super comfortable on my bikes and do believe a bike fitter should take the time to know you in order to be able to assist better as is the case with mine. It’s also an ongoing process as things do change, so I consult often when upgrading/fiddling.

Still the seller I would think as bikehub pay is just facilitating the transaction safely for both parties. There are of course possible avenues to pursue if you paid by card, but that would be within specified time frames and based on the rules and or insurance products linked to your card from the bank. The question would be what could be further done to better police this? Perhaps the seller needs to put the serial number in when loading up the ad and it can be checked against the database of stolen items on the hub? You probably would want this behind the scenes as I wouldn’t necessarily want a serial number available on a public ad, just now someone gets clever with it. Then the next question is, how many people keep individual record of all of their serial numbers for all their items on their bikes? Electronic stuff is easy, as it’s generally linked to an app of piece of software, but other items will take a little bit of admin.

They might not have a choice, unlikely that’s saps will. But if you have been found to unwittingly bought stolen goods, you forfeit, saps takes it as part of investigation and ultimately it should go back to original owner/insurance as I have it. So more like buyer beware

I’ve always had a hard time believing that fellow cyclists could be part of the problem. That you could cycle yourself and then still profit from stolen goods hurts my brain.

I actually fairly recently went from Mavic Rsys rim brake bike to a 45mm carbon disc brake bike. I was super ambivalent about the expected braking improvements as the braking with exalith mavic rim brake was just super, could lock a wheel up super easily (Which you would know) The rim profile however is a different discussion, the bike just wants to fly, being based in the cape, I would not do any more than 45’s, would not like the bike to be any more twitchy in windy/gusty descent and have not found the wheels to be more difficult to climb with, maybe a bit more effort to get going, but once you are going, your going…

You might think you need the pro wall, but you don’t, I initially bought a set with pro wall, mixed for front, a hard pack for rear, tyres ran great, but the sidewalks are heavy. Got the RC lites and thought I would train with the pro wall, and race with lights also worrying about reliability, but the 2.4 race lite are great. Couldn’t be asked to swap them, so gave the prowalls to the bike shop dude who needed new tyres.