Steady Spin

It goes on really smooth though. Really worked its way inside. Penetrated with no friction.

It has a learning curve I guess. Either dumps too much or too little. Time will tell. So far i’m not blown away.

Caved and bought two. The lady and I prefer different brands of lube. Will test and report back.

We worked out a route at Red Barn that isn't that bad as it skips the worst mud hole and swimming pools but even with that we need at least a day of sunshine to dry enough to not sink everywhere.

Thank you sir. This changes my plan quite a bit. You can't ride VG and not do the River Trail. Damnit man. I'm gatvol of mud already. I like the cooler weather but jeez...

Also getting gatvol of hearing my gears grinding themselves to pieces and washing my bike after every single ride. Rumor has it that Van Gaalens drains well. Will swing by there on Saturday. I assume Hennops will be dry as well.

Confirmed as I thought. Under controlled test the XTR reported 4000km but I can’t see that happening in real world scenarios. I’m loving my ShiRAmanoM frankenbike drivetrain and I should see the best of both worlds.

What is the solution then? Chains on both bikes are lubed every third or so ride. Both chains are run through a Park Cyclone chain cleaner using Prepsol or Ecologic to clean before rinsing and drying in the sun. One uses Bat lube and the other Muc Off C3 Dry or Squirt Chain Wax for wetter rides On the one we replaced the SRAM NX chain at around 1600km One the other a KMC entry level chain lasted 600km and then the XTR at 2000km Checked with Park Tool CC-3.2 and replaced when the 0.5% side drops in What am I doing wrong that I don’t get 5000km from a chain? Maybe it’s a 12spd thing?

Interesting. Could have been why i got only 2000km on mine. About a 1000 less than what others reported on the same chains. When I replaced my chainring in December I found that a 32t got dangerously close to the frame. Turns out the driveside spacer on the bb was skipped bringing the chainring closer to the frame than what it should have been. Hopefully the spacer sorted out the slight misaligned and will increase chain life. Who knows. Waiting for @DieselnDustto give his feedback.

Moral of the story? Bike specific lubes kill chains?

Managed about 2000km out of an XTR 12spd chain. Replaced with an XX1 for about R1500. This should hold for 3000km I hope.

5 year plan here. We are planning a move to the KZN Midlands and e-bikes will definitely be in our future. I'm all about the descents and dragging up those hills kills the body. I did my time on the hills during my XC days. Now I ride to relax and 100% for my mental health. I want to extract the maximum enjoyment out of a ride.

Mine was pulled of at a traffic light. I pulled away before he could get the wheels out of the straps. That part takes longer than removing the locked arms on a Thule. Now I have a thick ******** of chain with a u-lock going through both bike frames and around the base of the rack. Only way is to steal the rack off the car with both bikes attached. Still working on a solution there by welding a shackle to the towbar itself so I can run the chain through that and through the bikes. That leaves stealing the car.

The lodge will have all sorts of disclaimers and indemnities. Insurance will cover you at least. Not sure they will need proof that it was locked.

Trails are quite wet at the moment with some section being just too muddy to ride. Everything seems to be in good condition with regular maintenance done. A new (old) section was recently opened on the number 3 trail with some fun flowing berms extending that piece of trail with a couple of meters. Jumps lines are fairly wet so you can't comfortably do the full line. Wishlist: 1: More wooden features. Especially over the mad muddy sections like the Poplar forest. A nice long wooden bridge will be superb. 2: Some more challenging drops and hops here and there won't hurt. Chicken runs around them are easy to add.

Buy from www.trailtechcycles.co.za

By the time you've paid shipping, duties, vat, and disbursement fee you might as well buy something like the OneUp droppers. Local warranty and overnight shipping. BikeInn catches you with low prices but the shipping they charge is insane.

Driven up and over Breedts before with a Suzuki Grand Vitara on slightly deflated road tires. Low range and diff lock dragged me through safely. Safe to say I had the AC on ice cold because this boy was sweating! In fact…. sweated more than my last trip up there with the bike

Should I even say where this is? 😂😂

A very very wet Red Barn Bike has never been this muddy before

I now take these things to my local shop to deal with. Last year a pivot bolt stripped. Normally this is an easy fix. Drill a hole into the bolt and use an easy-out to extract the bolt. In this case the drill bit broke and went straight through my finger. Not my finest hour.

Itching to build one but my spare parts bin is very very empty and so is my bank account.

Same here. But most importantly, how close I am to Wolwe and Red Barn

Try a 27.5” model. Avoid 26”. You are going to struggle to find good enduro/trail tires unless you import. Same with rims. At some point he is going to pretzel a wheel and them you’re stuck.

But overall your health is much better. Heart will also be stronger I guess making the blood pumping easier? Biggest problem with being the traditional kind of obese is that little thing called visceral fat. That is a killer.