Christie

You take good care of yoir drive train, better than most, imo. The casette is most likely to be your problem. If it is only slipping in one gear, that sprocket may be from a faulty batch. My guess is that the factory in the East got the heat treatment (hardening) wrong. This would be easy to test for - find a machine shop with a tool that can measure hardness. (Any repeatable measurement will do). All the sprockets should have similar hardness, except If the problem sprocket has lower hardness, it is a factory fault. Hardness and strength are related for steel, as a general rule increased hardness means increased strength. If you have data, you can try to convince the local agents to exchange it,

Can be repaired, repair usually stronger than original, but a bit heavier (if competent repairer )

Perhaps he has lasting damage from the crash - but then his team director and medical staff would have seen it in his fitness parameters. Imo it is a bit weird that CF got dropped before some sprinters on big climb days during the last season or two. Or was it a matter of "we pay you more than Jonas and Primoz put together, you shall race!"

I was at Stellenbosch square today. They feel heavy, like the other ones I have at home. I think my other set was about R300 per cup and R200 for a saucer - R175 for 6 is a steal.

Whitehouse cups marked down some more, R175 for 6. There are still some Acme left, some followed me home again. But check the bottom, Acme mixed with other brands on the shelves.

JV is looking 🤬 dodgy in my book. When last did roleurs like WvA outclimb climbers? And his climbing only gets "boosted" at the TdF. And the same team getting 1-2-3 sweeps in the classics like Geweis. 🤔 I like WvA, but this is pro cycling

Btw, a lot of the route would have been used for st6 of Epic, those interested can watch youtube and decide if it is worth the money

Perhaps we need to blame Marcus Jooste? Everyting at Lourensford got more expensive after Steinhof crashed.

Perhaps they offer lots of hand built singletrak 🤷‍♂️

Most common thread protection is called a helicoil. The other one I am familiar with is a Keensert.

This is incorrect. Cycles are not allowed on a freeway, but The N2 is not a freeway from Somerset to Grabouw. Cant be a freeway if it has intersections with traffic lights afaik.

Road rides: Stellenbosch to Kleinmond along the coastal road and back. (If the wind is not blowing). It is one of the top scenic road routes in the country imo. Road surface is nice and smooth, too. Go early to avoid traffic, and keep to the side of the road. Do Baines Kloof pass oitside of Wellington. You can decide if you want to ride there from Stellenbosch. Perhaps go out to Cape Town. Start in Hout Bay, ride Chapman's Peak, past Cape Point and back via Simon's Town. This is a major cycling route for Cape Town roadies. Four passes: Stellenbosch. Grabouw, Franschoek, Stellenbosch loop. Leave early to avoid traffic on the first pass. (Sir Louwry's Pass). Stop for a pie at Peregrine Farm stall outside Grabouw.

+1 for a nice lugged custom Mercer

Lekker place to use a base to explore, nice people too, I can recommend it.

A bit off topic, but what happened to Paul Cluver? I dont see it listed.