Craig Armstrong

Thanks so much. Just the article I needed!

Well one issue is that I'm not in Cape Town, so incl. shipping it'll be R400 for that bottle. Yes, R400 isn't absolutely unaffordable, but if there's another oil that's the same thing, but for R100 per litre, why wouldn't I buy it? I don't believe that the Shimano sticker gives it any special properties. If someone has done the research to work out that Castrol LHM or some other oil is the same thing, then I'd rather buy the oil thats 1/4 of the price.

Believe it or not, I've actually found it kind of difficult to find Shimano oil at bike shops. And the one or two that have it on the shelves charge so much that its actually cheaper to just have them bleed your breaks than to buy a bottle. For example: https://www.cyclelab.com/product/shimano-mineral-oil-50ml That'll last you probably 1 set of brakes. At my LBS, I can bleed my breaks for R80 a side. In any case, its not like Shimano oil has some magical properties that no other oil has. Its just a matter of finding a cheaper oil that has the same properties.

Hi guys, So I've searched and found that you guys suggest Castrol LHM as the cheap alternative to shimano mineral oil. Unfortunately from the 4 stores I went to, I couldn't find it. I eventually found Total LHM+. From the data sheet, it's 18cs at 40 degrees, as opposed to 20 on the castrol. I figured that's close enough. Especially since they're advertised as being for the same thing. But here's my concern, from what I could find of the shimano oil, it's about 8cs at 40 degrees.. Why the discrepancy? I fear that I got it all wrong, and I wasn't supposed to be looking at LHM+, but LHM... If that's a thing. So, is it supposed to be LHM+ or LHM. If LHM+ is right, is shimano really 8cs vs 20 on the castrol lhm?

Thanks so much! That was it. Problem solved

I was just busy doing a bit of maintenance on my bike when I realised my cassette has some free play in it. Is this normal? I noticed it because when I shifted to my biggest gear, the cassette actually moved a little. Seems like it might mess with the gear indexing. Or should I just ignore it. Video to demonstrate: https://s.amsu.ng/aouApYyK3vzN

Does anyone else use the Garmin Edge 25 with a Wahoo trainer? I haven't been able to get the Garmin to connect to the trainer. Wondering if its possible at all

So, while we wait for this new integration feature which will hopefully be released soon, what is the best workaround? I have a Garmin Edge 25 that I use for my outdoor cycling. Are you guys suggesting that I should hook my indoor trainer up to the Garmin as well as my PC (Which I use for Zwift), and then the Garmins data will be accepted for Vitality? If that's correct, is that generally the best way of doing this? I've got my Zwift set up to sync to Garmin Connect, but Vitality doesn't seem to accept the rides that way. Is there a trick to making it work that way? Or must I do the previous solution

I saw that tyre as well, but I wasn't convinced that it was worth twice the price of the other slick I'm looking at. The other concern I had was that they don't advertise the width of the tyre. As far as I can tell, the 700x35 tyre is pretty wide, as far as slicks go, which is ideal for putting on a MTB rim. Do you have any idea how wide that Conti is?

I am wanting to put a slick tire on a 29 inch MTB wheel for use on a trainer. I have a 29 inch 19mm inner diameter MTB wheel, will this (https://www.cyclelab.com/product/chaoyang-viper-29er-700x35c-slick-mtb-tyre) tyre fit onto it? I'm assuming it will, since its advertised as a MTB slick. But am intrigued by this 700c thing used on road wheels. Are they the same diameter as a 29er MTB? And then what does the 35 part of the 700x35 mean? The tire is 35mm wide? I have a second MTB wheel that I might also rather use since it has an XD driver, but that one has a 32mm inner diameter. Will that be too wide for a 700x35 tire? Or is x35 wide enough? Final question - Assuming the tire will fit at least the 19mm wheel, what kind of tube should I be putting in there? Should I be getting a MTB tube or a road tube? I suppose this one should work (https://www.cyclelab.com/product/kenda-700x28-35c-36mm-av-road-tube) or do I not specifically need a 35c tube

I recently found out about the Helderkruin DH track. Is the track open for public use or only for events? Are there any other DH tracks in Gauteng that are open for public use on weekends?

What type of trail can one expect when going to Van Gaalens? The trail is a bit of a mystery to me. I've heard about it, but couldn't find much on trailforks or elsewhere on the internet. I've moved to Gauteng from Cape Town this year and really miss the Cape Townian trails (ie. Trails that aren't as flat as a pancake). The best trails I've ridden in JHB are Wolwespruit and Kingskloof (Because they have fun descents, rather than just a gradual 300m over a 40km route). If I ride at Van Gaalens, can I expect fun/fast descents? Or is it more of a marathon type trail?

Thanks guys. I didn't realise how far apart the trails would be in KZN. Looks like the best thing to do would be to stay in Hilton and ride Howick and Karkloof. Will probably also take a day to go to Giba as well.

I moved from Cape Town to Gauteng at the start of this year. I have been feeling very uninspired by the trails here in Gauteng, and I've heard that Durban has some awesome trails. I will be going to KZN next weekend with a friend from Cape Town, and was hoping you guys could give me some advice for which trails I should do when I've got limited time. I'm hoping for trails with fun downhills, like the ones we've got in Cape Town. We will be there for about 5 days. Also if anyone has any suggestions for areas to stay in that are central to some of the trails. Not sure if Airbnb is the best route or if there's a cheaper alternative for a trip like this.

Thanks guys. Relieved to hear that. Don't know why I never noticed it before

I'm servicing my 2017 Revelation. As said in the title, the dust wiper and foam ring don't sit flush on each other - there is a 2-3mm gap between them. Is this okay? Picture attached

Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I hope, whatever the cause is, that I haven't caused any damage. I have been wondering if there are any air tokens, but that surely shouldn't be reducing my travel like this, would it? My understanding is that air tokens change the pressure ramp, but not the travel. I will admit that I've never used them though. Great news. I'm glad it sounds like this isn't a catastrophe. I thought my fork was a goner.

Funny, my bike is a Camber too. Thanks, will just do a service then and hope it sorts it out.

I have a Rockshox Revelation 120mm fork and I noticed that I'm only ever using about 50% of the travel. I figured my pressure was too high, so I reduced it and it didn't help at all. Eventually I removed all air from it, and to my horror, its bottoming out at about 50% travel. I've only owned the bike for about 6 months (bought second hand), but I'm fairly certain that at some point in the not-so-distant past, I was using all of the travel.. So I suspect that its not an issue of too much oil or something, because I haven't serviced it since owning it. There's a slight chance that I just didn't notice that it was always behaving this way, but I think its unlikely. I suppose the obvious answer is to service it, which I will most definitely do, but I was hoping for some opinions on what I should possibly look at in the process.

Jirrre I don't know how you guys have any grip on such high pressures. I run my tires at 1.1 bar. Any more than that and I feel like I'm on ice skates. Mind you, I only started running so low when I went onto wide rims. Don't know what the science is behind it, but the wider the tire, the harder the tires feel at the same pressure. I know wider tires allow lower pressures due to having more support against the tire rolling sideways, but even aside from that, the tires just feel harder on wider tires. This may all be in my head though, but it's just my experience

I've just requested contact from an AON broker. At the moment, I'm still riding off of my dads policy with PSG. He's not having much luck with them, so he's said its time for me to get my own broker. I have no idea how any of this works though. Anyone got any suggestions aside from AON for an insurance broker?

I'm still waiting to hear back from our broker to see what they can do, but my thinking is that Cyclesure might be better than the insurance the broker can arrange, since they're a bike-specific insurance.

I believe this topic has been addressed a few times in the past, but I'm hoping for a more up-to-date discussion regarding who you insure with. A few of the threads I've seen are outdated and mention insurance companies who seem to not exist anymore (i-Cycle insurance being one of them). I've also seen a few threads where guys are saying they're with Cyclesure and love them, but then some other threads about how Cyclesure doesn't cover theft unless it was violent, or something along those lines. Is that still the case with Cyclesure? Or have things changed since then. Other companies that I'm looking at are OUTsurance (Out and about policy), Discovery and MiWay. I'm particularly wanting insurance that will cover for damage/repairs, not just theft. Not sure if that changes the discussion at all. To start off, I've got a quote from Cyclesure for R200 for a R35k mountain bike. That seems pretty good to me. What are your guys' thoughts?

Does anyone know roughly how much ascending is involved in the 35km race?

Well I must admit that my sample group is very small, but the guys I ride with here in SA are all XC mal, like Grease Monkey said. They believe 100mm XC bikes are all you need, even for shredding the single track trails, jumping, etc. This is in contrast to the guys on GMBN and other EU or USA riders who are all riding 140-180mm travel bikes and sort of look down on the XC guys in their lycra kit. With that said - Clearly the vast majority of voters on this poll have also opted for the trail bike route, so maybe the Saffas that I talk to are just the minority. PS: This post has made me feel very happy about the 2017 Spez Camber that I just bought.