michaelbiker

This was us in Greece last year. Two evoc bike bags, two hard sided medium sized suitcases and 2 carry ons in a Kia hatchback. There was zero extra room available - I had to get creative and take a wheel out of one of the bags and thread it in behind everything to make it fit.

I travel with my bike all the time. Maybe 3-4 times a year. But it’s for long term - more than a month at a time. It’s a faff for just a week or two since you need to be able to travel with a giant bike bag - rental cars need to be bigger, airport transfers need to be bigger etc. Packing is a pain in the ass too and there is always the chance your bike gets lost or crushed. I have insurance for that but it’s another thing to worry about.

Buycycle has shimano 105 12-speed cassettes available. https://www.buycycle.co.za/product/shimano-r-7100-11-34-105-12-spd/

I have both photochromic and prizm trail torch lenses. The trail torches are great for day riding in shaded areas but the photochromic lenses are the best for low light e.g. dark overcast days or early morning / early evening. If I had to choose one it would be the photochromic lenses. They are the most versatile. That being said I have been quite disappointed with the longevity of Oakley lenses. The coating starts to peel after about 3 years of use. I have a set of Smiths that are still going strong after 10 years. It’s a pity because nothing beats the clarity of new Oakley lenses.

Does anyone have or know where I can get two 1.85mm cassette spacers? I need them to convert two sets of wheels from SRAM XDR to take XD compatible cassettes.

Yes, there were no duties on the tires when they are declared with that code: 401.50.00(2)

If you can decipher it, these were the customs workings on 4x TUFO thundero tires I brought in on a shipment recently via DHL. Looks like I was only charged VAT and no additional duties but I do think tires usually carry duties.

I got mine from Ridewrap with a full bike wrap kit but it was shipped to me while I was overseas. So not sure what shipping is like to SA.

I think worrying about plastic is a bit too much. Literally everything we eat and drink went through a plastic pipe or container at some point. Even the pipes in your house or the municipal water pipes are plastic. Go outside, get some fresh air enjoy the sunshine. Stop worrying about this stuff, the stress will kill you before the plastic does.

Unrelated question on those Lun wheels, do you know if they came with the spacer when you ordered them? I have a set on their way at the moment and I'd live to fit them as soon as I get them and not have to drive around Cape Town looking for a spacer.

Is this an XD or XDR driver hub? The spacer is necessary when using an eagle cassette on XDR.

Tokai yesterday.

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.