RocknRolla

Fun Gaalens today. There was a 24h event on, but this did not bother us, as we were headed towards concrete climb. that little bump went surprisingly well. Amazing what one can achieve with the modern technology of gears. wife had a little tumble in some soft sand in the one corner, but nothing serious. We then decided to give pomphuis a go, at the option of turning right to complete pomphuis, the missus ( I am blaming her completely for this) decided we should try snakebite trail. Something neither of us have ridden before. All I can say is, go and experience it for yourself, it’s quite something. Frankenbike behaving. after more switchback climbing, and more climbing. At this stage I heard the sentinel of a baboon troop barking laughter at us. He was clearly aware of the foolishness of these humans, taking their machines where only baboons can leisurely stroll… We almost gave up, temps were just above 30°, and water was running low. (This is only about 25kms into the ride) After climbing forever, one is rewarded with some gnarly down sections, the arm pump was a deserving reward. We decided to go back to the shop at skeerpoort, and fill up on some water, I had coke and a bar one, as my breakfast was burned up on the concrete climb, nevermind the snakebite ( redubbed JMSP climb, by me). onwards to the river section, it was great, shady, cool and flowing. I could taste beer and smell pizza at this stage… We jumped in the car and high tailed it to ale house. and pizza So much for easing back into it. My garmin suggested 4 days of recovery. I know the beer and pizza will have reduced that….

Short ride with the youngest at Avianto today. Complaints from start to finish. But I’m hoping the “time spent with dad” memories will be worth all the complaining. Ugh.. Frankenbike… Not even the dual bottle cage can make me like this bike.

The only reason I had to remove the seatpost, is because it broke off at the seat tube, there was about 5mm of aly sticking out, not enough to properly get a grip. I proceeded to use a hacksaw blade to gut a groove over the course of 2 days. The last little bit of the post I thought I could persuade to shear along the groove with a hammer and an very long flat screwdriver. The Aly had a different plan. Seat tube cracked due to the screwdriver and aly having had a disagreement over who is giving up. I’m getting the frame back on Monday, will post pics before I take it to Steve’s guy. I still hurts that I did that to my frame. Pic attached of broken seatpost straight after accident and More or less position of the crack in the seat tube.

Thank you Steven, a fountain of knowledge as always. I think these guys may be exactly what I’m looking for.

I Loved my 650rotax. Put 120k kms on till I sold it on. That motor had such lekker low down torque. The 800 twin is a sweet motor, but I still miss the thumper.

Thanks for the replies. I dont have photo's at this stage. I will try and get some. The weld is not required on a join or existing braise or weld, it's on the seat tube kinda 10 to 15cm from where the seatpost inserts. I'm hoping a simple braise will do the trick.

I hammered my steel frame into the repair section of the DIY isle, while trying to extract a stuck seatpost. Does the hub oracle have a recommendation of steel frame repair in JHB that is reputable? I am fully aware of Dave mercer in CT, however, I do think it may be like asking an F1 mechanic to change the oil on a Fiat. Hopefully it’s only a small braise required, but I am skilled in Wood, and my knowledge of metallurgy, is on par with my fear of the invisible magic that is electricity. If this post does not make sense, I apologise, Klein saterdag has gotten the better of me.

Also working on a bike rack design. Time/money equation is currently out of whack

I always had a soft spot for the BMX. You got a stellar deal there Andrew, I'm quite envious. I had to see a client on the other side of pretoria on friday, man alive was I excited to get to go somewhere other than the office and JHB sites. Then I got sad because I got excited about going to Pretoria. Did final drive replacement last weekend. The previous chain & sprockets lasted around 30k kms. Not bad for someone that does chain maintenance erratically. I am not enjoying riding bike in traffic at the moment, the amount of close calls due to cage driver error and general inattentiveness is up to about 3 a week. I'm worried that my spidey sense will let me down soon, and I'm dreading the consequences. I have reduced my general speed to a lot lower, and I'm basically trusting no-one to drive predictably. Uber scooter drivers at the moment is 1 on my sh1tlist, followed shortly by soccer moms in big suv's , uber/bolt cars and taxis last on the list.

Been a while. I stuffed up my on-one frame, got C-19 recovered, got URTI, recovered. I managed to put something together from the on-one and some bits n bobs from the garage. I present, the Frankenbike. 1x 10, 32 ring upmfront with a road casette at the back. Not sure what ratio. It doesnt matter anyways. deore rear derailleur matched (mis) with a zee shifter. the bike handles quite a bit different to the steel frame. And I miss the comfort of the steel bike. Aly is an unforgiving b!tch, I suddenly understand the lure of rear suspension. Do I like Frankenbike? Not particularly. But for now, It’s all I have. So our relationship is like a forced marriage currently. I’tll do the job to bring balance back to my activity/beer drinking ratio, which has been a little off lately. This morning’s 25kms felt like a 50.

Thank you for sharing. A really good read. Well done on completing. It is an achievement most (me included at this stage) will never have the opportunity to experience. The fact that you overcame the intrinsic human need to make everything easier and more comfortable, and chose to carry on to see how far you can push yourself, is commendable.

is USN still a thing?

I have compression socks with those printed on...

I was thinking, Tony Stark (Robert Downy JNR) body in a speedo, with the Iron Man mask (Helmut.. whatever) On my calf.

That's it. I'm getting an IM tattoo...

Is Monday the new Friday?

Gripshift on 12 speed seems like the motion similar to that of a moto throttle…. was never a fan of gripshift.

16 pages.. has it been justified or not?

One can see by the dual bottle cage mounts that this is a brilliant bike.

Lemme know if you need an address in the US. I have a mate in seattle, and we can make a plan from there. Alternatively Aramex global shopper is another option.

There is the problem right there....they are just humans like us, and their **** still stinks (albeit a bit more enhanced)

I just had a pantsident.... Congrats. I'm very keen to hear how the bike climbs. Please post some details of that rigid fork. What is the suspension compensation? Where are BOTH of your Bottle Cages???

I have always liked momsen, my mate has a steel momsen since 2012 (IIRC) which has been put through its paces properly. I was expecting more from the brand, to be clear, are you talking to momsen directly? or Twho Wheels Trading? (My other pet peeve is distributors pushing the latest drivetrain as an essential, citing nonsense like "old technology, not made anymore BS" (I'm looking at you coolheat...)) I do think however taking the steel frame and selling it as Phillip said may be a better option, and using that money towards a new frame. Your faith in the brand has been destroyed, and it's time to move on. No bike wants to be the step-child. a bike deserves to be loved.

"For one to be a goo liar, one has to have a perfect memory" - Not sure who said this, Confucius or some such clever quote maker...

If I was that mosquito, I will probably pick up the stick and try and fight with the rock, for "just lying there"