droo

I feel I should qualify my last post - if you're listening to music while riding, they make a great budget alternative to Shokz and the like - none of the bone conduction headsets I've tried have any useful bass response IMO. But I don't run or ride with headphones on, so I don't need that combination of sound quality and the ability to hear what's going on.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/int/power-pro-power-meter-ultegra-r8000-2020 There's a newer one as well, can't find it on the Giant site though.

Already happened, Giant branded Ultegra PMs have been around for a while. And substantially cheaper than the Stages ones.

Poo. These aren't even bone conduction, they're air conduction. I use mine for phone calls in the workshop and they're great for that, but for music I'd rather look at an in-ear option. That said, I'm a 3rd generation audiophile so YMMV.

Yup. They dropped them about a year ago, no useful spares to be had anymore. Import or fabricate, sadly. I'd love another GoPro mount for my 1000lm roadie / headlight, but sadly it's not gonna happen locally.

If you don't look after your stuff you forfeit your right to bleat when it breaks. I have seen many a bike wrecked this way, and the perpetrators are usually the ones that make the most noise about the repair quotes. As to your second point - show me a mechanic that rides anything fancier than GX or XT.

I think you'd need to compare in dollar or euro prices to get an accurate assessment of this, SA real income has been declining for years. I suspect the trend will be the same, just not as steep a gradient as what we experience here.

Z2 will beat a Reba with a stick. Basically a Fox 34 with a different damper. Reasonably easy to service too, and a 34 damper will fit if you ever feel the urge to upgrade the stock one. The equivalent in Rockshox's range would be a Revelation 35, and the damper on those (and the reba) is agricultural at best. The Marzocchi one is a similar architecture, but has a shimmed compression valve rather than a port orifice valve which makes it effective at a much wider range of shaft speeds.

Never argue with an idiot. Not only will they drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience, but also from a distance it's hard to tell who's who...

Tektro M285 also an option. Less than 2k with rotors, take standard Shimano pads, and will last roughly 3 lifetimes. Not the most powerful things out there, but neither are the other 2 options. If you want power on a budget, the Shimano non-series or Deore 4 pots will beat anything else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galling Lubrication (anti seize, grease or loctite) will generally prevent this, which one you use will depend on tightening torques among other things. On brake bolts, low strength loctite is the way.

Found one, have sent you a PM.

I'll check with my people on Monday. Maybe a rabbit can be pulled from a hat,

Any Spez store should be able to get one of those - just make sure you hang on to the nuts on the RHS, they don't come with the axle.

RS don't do spares. The smallest assembly you can buy is a complete damper. My magic remedy would be to go to the seller's house and kick him in the shins. I have no fix for the actual scratch, only the dodgy sale.

Depends on your budget and your route to work. If that's reasonably flat then a SS is great because your maintenance will be tyres, brake pads and a service once a year. You'll also get a much better bike for your cash cos it's got way fewer components, and many bike thieves will be put off by something that looks hard to ride or sell. You will get strong, and quicker than you think. As you get stronger you can change your gearing to suit. I'd definitely go with nathrix's suggestion of starting small and building up, although if there's a public transport option and somewhere at work to stash the bike overnight there's always the option of doing one way each day for the first few days (weeks?) until you get strong enough to do the other direction as well. I rode a SS for years and there's a lot to be said for the simplicity of it.

Never ridden one, but from a maintenance perspective the internal everything is no worse for the shock than any other bike. Just keep up with servicing and all will be good. The internal headset cable routing thing is a bit of a faff, especially when it's time to swap out the (proprietary) top headset bearing, so expect some extra labour there at service time.

This. There's a green tick on the scroll loop.

And the SA market is utterly insignificant in the international scheme of things. Still annoying. Although I have been called cantankerous more than once, so YMMV.

It's part of the supplier agreement, you can't sell outside your region. Who told who has nothing to do with it. It's annoying, particularly considering the local stock levels, but it is what it is.

But that's exactly what I said...

If the threaded insert is loose take it to a professional. If it's an ovalised shell, WheelsMFG make thread-together BBs that solve the problem permanently and for much less money.

Yeah, I'm never going to win a race so I go with what'll get me home. Calling an Uber is a massive blow to the ego of a mechanic. Also I haven't used a tyre lever (on any of my own bikes anyway) in many years.

Me, cos mine's got a valve core spanner on it.

The bearing journal is the seat, yes. If you used decent bearings they should still be fine, but I don't know your riding habits so anything's possible. If you use bearing retainer you need to let it cure for 24 hours before riding, and removing just takes a bit more persuasion.