Brighter-Lights

Cinturato Gravel H in 40mm if the gravel you ride is in good condition, else 45mm...

Solo unsupported gravel bike ride from Uitenhage to Steytlerville and back... 20230603_072500.mp4

+10 for Continental Race King Protection 2.2. From a gravel bike perspective - When I got my gravel bike, I was disappointed at first as it wasn't much faster than my MTB. I've experimented with tyres on my gravel bike and here's what I found. 1) Gearing will make you overall faster than using different tyres - gives you a real advantage on rolling courses where you reach higher speeds on anything downhill. 2) On a gravel bike, most of my fastest rides were on 650b x 2.2 Conti Race Kings, as in my area the gravel roads are rough and with 650b x 2.2 I don't have to hold back on downhills. With 700x40-45, I have to be alert constantly, or aim and pray - they are a bit faster on smooth sections, but slower on rough sections. I'm saying the difference isn't huge, unless you have perfectly smooth gravel where you can run 35mm slicks. 3) Your MTB will be fine with fast rolling 2.2s and if not already - make a 10-52 cassette a future upgrade with a 38t chainring, or keep those as your 'gravel' setup, fast enough to change. 4) A good leg day on my MTB is still faster than an average leg day on my gravel bike...

I recently took a photo of my Merida gravel bike on a bikepacking trip, and as I turned around to adjust the tripod, the wind blew the bike over and the derailleur hanger bent. I managed to straighten it enough to ride and contacted the Merida agents right away when arriving home. They gave me the retail price for the hanger and the local dealer to contact. I phoned the shop in PE, told them what I needed and what price the agents gave me. A little argument ensued about the price and I was told that they would come back to me, but never heard from them again. I realized that the effort outweighed the profit for them, but was frustrated that they showed little interest to help me. I contacted Bike-Addict a week or so later and had a price within the hour, and the same week 2 new hangers arrived. Tops! I bought a Garmin from Bike-Addict and wanted to return it for an issue after about a month of use. It was just before 36ONE and I was worried that the replacement would not arrive in time. I communicated the urgency to Bike-Addict and they arranged for the replacement to be sent directly from Garmin, and I received it in time for my race. Stressful situation to peace of mind.

I started riding from scratch this year after several years of inactivity and gaining weight. All on my old 26er mtb...

Sent you a DM...

I plant a 7m x 13m area in my yard. I use 2x 5000L tanks to irrigate by means of my DIY low pressure drip irrigation. With 20mm plastic pipe and 1.2mm holes every 30cm, you could supply 85m of pipe if it's reasonably level - only using the pressure from one 5000L tank, even with only 1000L in the tank. Here's some photos of this season's harvest... I planted in mid August near the EC coast. The +- 90m2 area is good for: 12 rows of sweetcorn (expected yield of 400 cobs) 120 lettuce heads 50 mature spinach plants 20-40 sweet pepper 15 tomato 2-4 rows of bush beans Once a year I add 1 ton of chicken manure to the area. I use diluted Sunlight dish soap for aphid control. I apply 5kg hydroponic fertilizer once in one full 5000L tank mid season. I'd like to start planting vertically and experiment with hydroponics next. One of my clients in Mexico City produce 80-100 lettuce heads per week on his roof.

I've used the Compact and Compact pro which are basically the predecessors of the Compacto. They are light weight but are not as deep as other helmets (weight saving?) and that becomes an issue if you're riding with a bigger light on the helmet because you have to really clamp it down so it doesn't move with the weight of the light. Good value for money if you want a lightweight helmet.

Beautiful! Congrats!

Yes... def gold plated... tubes are welded alu...

I've seen various Maxxis tyres delaminating in the past but I have 1000s of km's into LUST tyres with Stans and other sealants and never had any issues...

There's a Scott Scale 30 in the classifieds on the HUB with LX parts for R5500 - great buy...

I was quoted R3000 end of 2013...

I'm 1.72 tall and have always used 175mm cranks. I can't say that I was unhappy with them but I DID on numerous occasions wonder how shorter arms would be since most bikers taller than me also use 175mm. I then by accident bought an XTR crank with 172.5mm arms and I much prefer the 172.5mm - the most noticeable difference for me is when standing up attacking a hill... much more efficient pedal motion. I also tested a 170mm crank and it felt much shorter than the 175mm - personally I like the 172.5mm better than the 175mm, but the 170mm felt too short. - on a mountain bike.

Karl Platt, while commentating on TV during the last stage of Epic said that he can't feel a difference between 26" and 650b when asked about wheel sizes...