RobynE 🚵‍♀️

Looked like a number of candles were burnt at both ends yesterday - going to be an interesting day today! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mvdp look so utterly depleted.

Ben Healy solo with a minute on the breakaway, 5+ minutes back to the peloton with 22km to go

Bicycles open up a world you thought you’d left behind. I found this shiny red Kent trike at Cash Converters and my MIL who will be 82 next week got spinning after 40+ years, 3 hip replacements, various other surgeries and having cared for her husband with MS for 20 years in their twilight. Imagine doing something you thought you’d never, ever do again. She was so empowered, just full of adrenaline and dopamine and all the good chemicals! copy_A0AEE53D-7171-4BBE-9D7A-BA277BC4DEE7.mov

Today’s podium turnaround was very fast 😂

Jasper: “Preliminary diagnosis for Jasper Philipsen following his crash in Stage 3 of @letourdefrance : Displaced fracture of the right collarbone, surgery will definitely be required. At least one broken rib, possibly two. He will be as soon as possible transferred to the hospital in Herentals, where he will undergo surgery. We wish Jasper all the best and a speedy recovery. #AlpecinDeceuninck #TDF2025” I reckon he must have a helluva concussion as well.

Do what I used to do with my parents. Write a motivational letter then wait for the perfect moment to give it to them and run away.

Yours is the opposite question to the norm here 😊 I don’t think too many complete 2nd hand 2x setups exist anymore as a lot of people have changed them to 1x10 or 11 or whatever they were originally. So you might find the whole setup in pieces from different sources. There can be a real difference in experience depending on the cassette though. Can you tell us what cassette you have currently on the 12 speed?

I stand corrected but I think the 7 speed is a freewheel so you need a freehub body that is compatible with your hub, and no, the stock derailleur won’t work with 8 speed. If your hub won’t accept a freehub body then it’s a new hub (and wheel build). If you are very determined to go this route then you’d be better off doing 1x11 or 2x10. You can get those parts fairly cheaply. Going from 7 to 8 speed would be a hella waste of money for pretty much no gain.

Clever dude! But delete the parts about how you got the info, because POPIA.

Neither can Malils

The irony is that this guy doesn’t ring the usual alarm bells. I’ve seen his name in the classifieds for a while, the profile had a good review, he is definitely South African, uses a Standard Bank account, and the name Roelof Coertse (as indicated in the linked thread) is still the name he uses now. Truecaller has him as his actual name. Hopefully he’ll refund my money. I’ll use it to buy fire wood. Edit: story to me was that he was going on a rugby camp, would send the goods, then the goods broke.

Definitely too good to be true. Either stolen bikes or stolen photos.

That’s my vibe on the MTB Pete 😂

I first learnt about it on a horse tack (equipment) group. People received boxes of pasta and old shoes instead of the saddles they’d bought. I’ve since seen the same MO for car parts as well. The fact is that the items don’t exist in the first place. Scammers just work out what is of interest to buyers and “sell” those items. Sometimes they ask you to pay half to secure the item and you can pay the other half when you receive it, or, they tell you you can pay once they send you the tracking number and confirmation of the item being sent. But they never had those items to start with and all the money you’ve sent them is pure profit. Seems like a great business concept for people devoid of a soul or conscience. With POPIA I don’t think you can ask for any info without a subpoena, but I guess it’s worth a shot. Sad part is that it results in legitimate sellers facing the Spanish Inquisition, and known lowballer dealers (across all industries) getting business because people don’t trust individual sellers.

See now, I have to go and enter another bloody gravel race. Sigh.

Ja getting through cable isn’t nearly as easy as through chain. Even a cordless Dremel will get through a chain fairly easily (and very quietly).

I find that the hanging rack has a better centre of gravity and doesn’t bounce up and down as much from the weight of the bikes. Maybe it’s just my own brain 😂 But I’ve done some 4x4 roads with the hanging rack and felt super comfortable, whereas I regularly cringe going over speed bumps with the platform rack.

With enough force I think any cable lock will be breached - the weakness being either in the crimped sections or where the cable meets the locking mechanism. I’d probably stick to Yale or Master or Abus for the purposes of insurance. And check your insurance fine print as they may specify that cable locks don’t count. I seem to remember a story (might have been on here) where someone’s bike got ripped off their Thule rack, which was locked but the thieves pulled the rack arms off as well (where the locks are), and insurance said additional mitigation was required and wouldn’t pay out. I mean you’ve got a rack locked onto the towbar and bikes locked with the arms but insurance found a way to say no.

Anything that stops them being able to yank the bike off is fine. I’m in Joburg and never lock my bike onto the rack, unless I know I’ll be passing through or stopping in dodgy areas. These are mostly outlying semi-rural areas like Hammanskraal. I have two black Decathlon coded cable locks for that purpose. What I always do without fail though is use Velcro straps to secure my front wheel or fork to the carrier, and another strap to secure a crank arm or seat tube to the carrier. I also use a ring of old tube to clamp my brake levers on both sides. I do this mostly because I don’t like things moving around when I drive; it distracts me. But it makes me smile when I think about someone trying to yank the bike off and if they succeed, having the brakes clamped as they try to pedal away. A visible deterrent is to put a padlock on the chain. I use the Ryder gear straps. They last forever and have a rubberised backing. They have lived on my Jimny ladder for 3 years and haven’t perished yet even though it’s mostly parked in the sun.

Bidvest is another favourite of theirs. If it’s not one of the Big 5 ie Nedbank, FNB/RMB, SB, ABSA, Investec, I’m very leery to trust based on reports I’ve seen online (there are a bunch of FB groups about SA scams which I keep my eye on). Capitec doesn’t seem to be as bad as the very small guys but lately I’ve seen a few about them so keeping them on my leery list.

Some people have received packets of pasta, old books, magazines - these guys just chuck whatever they feel is a reasonable weight into the packaging and happily send you a photo of the parcel at the courier company. Only way to avoid it is due diligence - don’t trust any FB profiles that are locked, or are joined in 2023/2024/2025. Ask for a video call with the item - which is not necessarily a guarantee but it’s a step. Watch out for words and phrases like “my dear” or “buddy/any other overly familiar words” or “dood reg” or “I’m Christian/a person of God” etc. None of these suggestions are fail-safes but they could help. A lot of them use smaller banks like Tyme Bank, African Bank, Grindrod. A photo holding the ID - a definite nope. In fact even a willingness to send the ID is a nope from me. That’s someone who doesn’t care what happens to “their” personal information. Because it’s not theirs. You must get hold of their bank with your SAPS case number. I suspect that ChatGPT helps these scammers a lot - they can just translate whatever they want in whatever language they want.

I’m not sure where one buys a Qhubeka these days 🤔 In the link is the bike I started with a couple of years ago. I bought it to accompany my daughter on her rides to school on her BMX and I loved the upright riding position which didn’t put any stress on my back (pre-surgery at the time) plus I could see my kid clearly without losing my balance. I didn’t have to think too much to ride the bike and I could look around at the scenery as well. Riverside 700 I see it is on special at Decathlon in M and it’s well worth the price. I can really strongly recommend it. It is commonly used for bikepacking in Europe (and there’s a version of it over there that comes pre-specced with things like rear rack, dynamo hub, etc) and the range is known for being robust and reliable. I really loved this bike! I sold it to a guy who was going to use it for bikepacking type stuff last year and I believe he’s still very happy with it. You would need to change tyres to go tubeless, which I would recommend, though I must say I didn’t have a single puncture in mine in stock form. I only changed the tyres to do more MTB type stuff and I wanted to run lower pressures. The only “significant” issue I had with it was needing to replace the rear hub - bearing in mind I was doing proper MTB stuff with it at the time and it really isn’t made for that. It coped admirably overall. I would definitely recommend that you get a bike fit done before you head out. A bike fit gives you the best chance to get going comfortably and correctly without putting stress on your butt/lady bits/knees/shoulders etc. If needed you could upgrade the wheelset to any non-boost 29” or 700cc rims but the stock wheelset held up for me under somewhat trying circumstances lol. Might be worth a look for you.

Trek Marlin Another Trek Marlin - gearing isn’t perfect but it will do - the rims and fork are a totally different league to those on that ATX Here’s a filtered list of bikes in similar price range to the Giants here on the Hub - hardtails with medium frames.

It’d be a no for me for the following reasons. V-brakes - fiddly and insufficient stopping power. You want at least mechanical disc brakes. 28mm fork stanchions - insufficient for your weight. While it likely won’t suffer a catastrophic failure riding up and down the road it will probably get stiff and squeaky and weird in a short period of time and replacing a fork is costly. Generic hub. These are silly expensive to replace when they fail. Bearing in mind Komati/Malelane is not really the bike mechanic capital of SA 😊 Better to start with a stronger hub. 14g spokes - not strong enough. They *will* break. Gearing - complicated. Assuming new Giants are accessible to you and a new bike would give you peace of mind, the Talon 3 (converted to tubeless) would be a better entry-level Giant with a more suitable fork, better gearing, better brakes, but the hub and wheels will still be questionable IMO. My money would still be spent on a second hand bike with better/more suitable specs.

You need to lay a criminal case at SAPS and inform your bank. Unfortunately there’s a very slim chance of you getting anything back, and the ID he used is most likely stolen. There are lots of these types of scams across all hobbies, interests, baby items, you name it 😞