michaelbiker

Not sure if Google is the same but on Apple when you add a credit card they ask for a billing address, which then becomes your country. There might be a way around this but I haven't figured it out yet. I have three accounts, US, SA and UK. SA is way cheaper for things like Spotify / Netflix etc. My UK account doesn't have a cc associated with it.

I can't say for certain with the UK as I wasn't asked for an address when checking out on their website, but this was for Germany with a German credit card. If you try checking out via something like the AppStore / Playstore you will be asked for an address. Maybe try going through the payment flow and see if they ask for an address. I tried this exact approach with a Wise card but they rejected it.

I don't think the location of the card matters, it's the address attached to it. Also on a UK account the price is a lot higher because you have to subscribe to the month-to-month option but "beggars can't be choosers". You will need to get an iTunes UK account too to get the app if you want to watch on your phone. All of the races are there as far as I can tell - just like GCN - and On Demand. Whether they are streamed in their entirety I think depends on the broadcaster. They even have the lame Breakaway show before and after the race. There are zero ads. It's pretty much the same as GCN but I've only had it for a few days. You can just Airplay from your iPhone / Mac with VPN rather than install anything on your Apple TV. Works well. If you are on Windows / Android - I am not sure.

Friend of mine in Germany kindly provisioned a virtual card on Revolut to buy an annual subscription to Discovery+. There is literally only cycling worth watching but it works - even though the app is in German. The commentary is in English. Everything works well over VPN. I would say better than the GCN app ever did.

Have been using a Polar H9 after my TICKR died. Solid device, just wish it had some sort of indicator it was on / off but never had an issue.

Safe. I ride on my own there a lot and have seen others doing the same. Never had an issue. Red and Blue routes are almost back to their former glory. Enjoy!

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but why don’t we need to replace the oil in our car brakes every year like it’s recommended on DOT oil bicycle brakes? Is this a requirement on motorcycles too?

I know it’s off topic but you can order from r2-bike and ask them for DHL Express shipping. Just ordered a whole bunch of stuff and the shipping came to €100. Shipped today - should be here Tuesday. It was a lot of stuff though and was fairly bulky - bars, saddles, tires. You need to put EXPRESS in the comments and then they get back to you with a price etc. If you don’t it goes through SAPO when it arrives in the country…

Just bought a Curve Kevin Ti. Can’t wait until it arrives. Kevin is really great to deal with.

If you are prepared to wait these ones on Aliexpress work well. Replaced a mangled spring on an XTR derailleur with it. You can get them here: https://a.aliexpress.com/_omoAqbC

Pretty good set of interviews on all of this from a number of people working behind the curtain: https://pca.st/episode/10b4333f-07ee-4590-807f-af57c427f978 Seems obvious to me why this is happening. Anticipated and actual demand dropped as massive supply came online.

They are massive. I have driven passed their warehouse near Girona, Spain. They can take quite a bit of time sometimes to ship but their system is flexible enough to cancel and update your orders up until they actually ship.

Another vote for the Hammerhead Karoo. You can configure it to show larger size fonts and the screen is particularly bright. Garmin software is abysmal. Particularly their sh@$ty phone apps. Thought they’d improved recently and bought my wife a 130 - I can’t even open ConnectIQ on her phone. It just crashes. My advice - keep the bolt or get a Karoo.

Love seeing these as long as I see them long before I get near them.

I have the 238s. Most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn. They are pretty tough too but I do give them a good clean and polish every now and again. That goes for any leather shoes though. The abrasion resistant material on them gives good coverage and works well.

Greyton

It sounds like you either need to replace the spindle or the ball bearings. Check if you can see any pitting on the bearings or grooves on the spindle. I have a pair of XTR pedals that need new spindles but they are like hen's teeth.

Back in Hemel-en-aarde on the Hermanus trails. Tons of work went into fixing up these trails after the devastating floods. Happy to report they are still tons of fun and almost running at 100%

Rekon / Rekon Race is a good combo for this area. Really enjoying the Specialized Fast Trak T5 at the moment on the rear and like the Continental CrossKing Protection. Both are really light and roll fast. Perfect for the dry, rocky trails. Schwalbe Wicked Will SuperRace or Specialized Ground Control T7 on the front are good alternatives to the Rekon - quite rounded profiles so roll fast but are relatively tough for the sharper rocks and give good grip. If it's going to be a muddy year this year, then ignore all of the above tires...

I found that if I ride a lot then comfortable saddles are instantly comfortable. In other words, it takes time for the soft parts to toughen up if I've been off the bike, but it's usually only a ride or two not 200km. Good shorts also help but get the saddle and fit of your bike right first. If you want to do this right and save yourself a ton of time and money, I'd suggest getting a professional bike fit. Good bike fitters also usually have an array of saddles that you can test at their studios.

Oak Valley. Good to be back home.