Rouxenator

I did notice some new berms on Mongoose and other single tracks, lots of maintenance happened the past month, however they are still a bit dry and in need of rain. Had a lovely ride yesterday, took some nice pics and I found the tap at Goede Hoop! Just in time since the one at Kaapzicth was dry.

That is where it used to be, however since that gate is locked they moved the signage to the other side where you come off the single track - I have yet to find the tap. But I know of the old one behind the locked gate. Anyone know what the deal is with the fence setup at Ribbok?

Had an excellent ride yesterday - thanks so much for the recent maintenance that was done on the single tracks. Just two questions. 1) Is Ribbok getting fenced off? 2) Where on earth is that tap? I rode up that road for about 1km but could not find it. Thanks

Right, so those of you that had the value 130KM in mind - correct. I did my usual afternoon dash on Thursday. Klapped a lekker Bottelary yesterday. Just after G-spot and Tikbos it went. Still managed to nurse it home the last 8km in a very wobbly fashion. But that's all she wrote rode.

I wonder when us mere mortal will be able to buy 4xxx APUs.

Interestingly a crack is starting to develop on the other chainstay as well. This poor thing is telling me it's time to go to frame heaven. I'll see how long it lasts, might be taking it a little easier on the jumps.

Any day now.... place your bets.

Flipflops also needed a clean this time.

Through the mist.

We'll find out soon enough when I get the wheel back from the LBS.

Very good point LWB - yes you should remove the BB! I totally forgot about the BB and the welder (no bike expert) told me he was worried about "this silver bit here" because aluminium transfers heat very quickly (I know, I have a few PCs). Thankfully I can confirm doing a 60km ride of Bottelary hills today, the BB runs as smooth as ever. Did find an annoying spoke click when I pedal up hills, might have the rear wheel taken in to get tensioned and true.

Back to my favourite hills on the 31,000km welded frame. Worth it!

The one reason I am doing this is because everywhere on the internet you are told not to. So it is just all the more compelling for me to do it - and as with everything - see how far I can take it. Initially my plan was to see how far I could ride with a broken frame, but that does not really gain anyone anything. Getting it welded and then seeing if you really can weld an aluminum frame and get good use out of it seems more fruitful. So I shall keep you all posted as to how this goes. I googled for aluminum welding, found http://www.stainlesstech.co.za/ and emailed Willem to enquire if they can do a weld to fix the crack. After sending some pics I was delighted at the low price so I dropped it off on Monday and told them it is not high priority. They did the weld this morning and the bike rides again.

I bought it used in 2016, not sure who the previous owner was, but the factory warranty only applies to the original purchaser. This battle scar looks nice, let's see how well it lasts. Only cost me R430.

.... you guys did not seriously think I would leave it at that?

Thanks, I saw those and soon as payday comes I'll get one of those Momsens. Snuck in a sneaky ride on the cracked bike yesterday, nothing too demanding. I started off gently but as I went my confidence grew as the metal weakened. This is a perfect disaster in the making

I might go titanium next.... Oh, I left out the 2 other Giants that also went before I bought the Silverback.

Always flats with tekkies. If I could find a dishwasher large enough I would

Yeah, I must admit I also think it is a very stupid idea... so I am still contemplating if I should do it. Might wrap it in duct tape to soften the blow ? I don't want to mess up the nice Mavic wheel that is getting fixed now. Or mess up me, as you pointed out. That said I do recall the time when I was riding Porcupine Ridge MTB in 2016 and 5km into the race this happened : Knowing what lied ahead, with that hellish down hill at the end, I looked at my options. I could ride back and quit - smart, or I could push on and possibly have the bike fold open emasculating me - dumb. Ima just leave this here.....

Strange you should mention those, apart from Signal I have dealt with Titan, current have a Sunrace 10sp Cassette on my 26er (had 8 ~11 speed cassettes of them before) and when I took my roadbike to 1x9 I used Microshift shifters on it. All good products in my books. I'd love a Signal bike though. Just dropped off the Mavic 29er wheel at the LBS, the lip seal is noisy. Once I get it back it'll go back on the cracked Sola and, as per usual, I'll see how far I can take it.

It's been on since last year April when I upgraded to 11 speed. Still same cassette/chain/RD/chainring. I should have replaced it after it broke in the pouring rain on last years K2C but I figured I'll see how far I can take it. I just removed the broken links on K2C so the chain was a bit shorted. In May it broke again and this time I added a 10-speed link.

2015 Opel Astra 1.6t cosmo. It's a known Opel issue, my 2010 Corsa went through two coilpack in the 6 years I had it. Included in that R5k was NGK Platinum spark plugs though.