michaelbiker

The best way to make a chain last is to keep it clean. Oil-based lubes attract major grit and dust so will get dirtier quicker. They are also harder to clean - degreasers etc. Wax-based lubes like squirt and smoove etc are a lot better because they are easier to clean and don’t attract as much dirt. Am on approx 5500km on my Eagle X01 chains on my gravel bike and no wear showing on the gauge.

Looks like a scam. The official SA Sidi site is: https://sidi.co.za/ I hope you didn’t pay Sidi prices for your shoes. You can likely however, do a chargeback on your card depending on how easy your bank makes it.

Yeah I always have two very beat up old bike bags. Was only stopped once and was using a box. I just told them I was leaving with the bike again in a few weeks and they were okay with that.

I’ve tried both the Geoid CC600 and the Garmin Edge130+ and I have to say the Geoid beats it in every department - battery life, screen, features - even OneLapFit is a much better app than that piece of trash Garmin Connect. I paid R900 for mine on AliExpress. I suspect Garmin aren’t releasing an update to the 130 because of these Chinese units.

Came in two weeks ago and nobody batted an eyelid. Albeit with bikes bought in SA. They are looking for cigarettes and booze.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2025-12-26-if-cyclists-are-willing-to-fund-project-idries-the-state-has-no-law-enforcement/

Oak Valley

Drove passed Oudekraal this morning at 7am. Tons of people still drinking and partying from last night. I think it’s best just to avoid that stretch of road this time of year. It’s not going to change unfortunately.

Whenever friends overseas ask me about the road riding here I just tell them to rather pack their mountain bikes. It’s too dangerous to be on the roads. Such a sad story…

My last pair of Assos lasted a year before the leg grippers started coming apart. Local agents refused to honour the 2 year warranty and just offered me a 15% discount on a new pair. Same thing happened to my wife’s bibs. Leg gripper started coming apart. Assos locally can go f$&k themselves. Their bibs are comfy but with the price of some Chinese brands at nearly a 5th of a pair of Assos at a similar level of performance it just doesn’t make sense paying the premium for a white logo.

I like using the drops on descents - the steering feels less twitchy and the leverage on the levers is stronger for braking. They’re also nice to use if you are riding into a headwind and get tired of aero tucking on the hoods. Seems a bit silly to remove them just to save a few grams.

So it has auto pause and it does work with the varia. It doesn’t show the actual speed of traffic or I haven’t looked for that field but it does show the red / yellow / green bar down the side with number of vehicles etc.

I have had the Karoo 2 and just upgraded to the Karoo 3. It’s an excellent device. I had the Karoo 2 for about 4 years. Standouts for me are the screen, navigation, the extensions, easy to use - it’s Android under the skin and the size. Its also not Garmin, so you don’t lose 6 years of your life every time you want to change a setting. They release new stuff with bug fixes every couple of weeks.

I don’t think the size is incorrect. You just need to get used to the position on a gravel bike. I also had to get used to mine after quite a few years away from a road bike. The difference is learning to rotate your hips more forward and also consciously moving your hands around more often. It eventually becomes second nature. A bike fit helps too but getting used to the low stretched out position just takes time.

Yeah not sure. My wife’s wheels are still on their original bearings and seem fine. She’s done about 8000km on them through very similar terrain. But she’s lighter than me.

The coolest thing about these derailleurs is that you can repair quite a lot of them with SRAM making replacement parts available. So they might be more expensive than Shimano but they should last a whole lot longer.

Nice. Been running a set for over 10k km and taken on some pretty broken roads / mtb trails and they have been pretty good. Had to replace the bearings on the front and rear but that’s eventually expected when riding in the rain and mud.

This place does my head with how beautiful it is. On top of that all the farmers and people in general always smile and wave and seem generally happy to see the two weirdly dressed “farangs”on their bikes.

Pics from the weekend

Top of the range is 10.46kgs without pedals or cages. Doesn’t look like it’s going to be a cheap bike in Europe with the high end at €12499 and the low end version at €4500 for deore level spec and alu wheels. Nice looking frame though.

Near area, new adventures

Yes we’re very lucky. I don’t document anything but you can follow me on Strava if you like. We post all our photos and rides on there. I’ll DM you my details.

Newish loop. Typhoon on the way so likely no riding this weekend.