droo

Boxman or LBS.

If you change your chain just before it hits 0.5% the rest of your drivetrain should last forever. In reality though, chainrings are made of alu so they'll wear out eventually just from grit on the chain, especially MTB - they have fewer teeth so the load per tooth is higher, and they get more dirt. I've got a 5000km old cassette on my MTB that's still going strong 3 chains later, and my gravel bike has 5000km on each of the chains with no sign of wear yet. It all depends on how well you look after your chains and how good you are about measuring them. If you pay attention to these things they'll last forever, if you don't you can write off a complete drivetrain in 2000km.

Maturity doesn't always come with age. I still need to break 3 at some point in my adult life, I did it when I was 15 so surely it can't be that hard... I see 99er entries are open so I'll be on that train as well.

Nothing to do with speed limits. Freeways can have limits anywhere from 80 - 120. The N1 into town from the M5 is still a freeway and as such illegal to ride a bike on but it's full of cyclists cos it's about the only way to get in to town from the West Coast without getting stabbed.

And since nobody's asked yet... What's the wind going to be like on the day?

2015 the peninsula was on fire, 2017 disaster management said it was too windy (!) and and there were protests on the route. I was sitting outside my flat with one shoe on and got the message that they'd canned it. Didn't do another one till '22. EDIT - seems I'm not alone, looking at the numbers there were 32k finishers in '15, down to 26k in 2018 and less than 16k in '22. I wonder how much of this was caused by the cancelled year. I guess this goes a long way to explaining the increased entry fees, fixed costs will only go up and need to be shared among a smaller pool of riders. Glad they've managed to get headline sponsors again, hopefully this can bring costs down a bit in the coming years and maybe get numbers up a bit again.

Or, if you're lucky, an Afghan hound.

That'll be a special order, local agents don't keep stock cos they're super slow movers. PM me if like and I'll check lead times - won't be quick though.

In my experience with overextending RDs a SRAM 10sp will do 40T max. Even with a longer B screw you'll destroy your upper pulley on a 42T. You can use a hanger extender but the shifting will suck. I eventually reverted to the 36T and cup of cement approach. But then again I did ride the same bike SS for 10 years, so YMMV.

I've got a MTB based commuter hackaround thing with 650 x 42 tyres, a 38T chainring and an 11-36. I did cannon challenge on it (170km / 2800m) and didn't feel under geared at any point except hacking up the front of Signal Hill at 20% gradients, and held on on the flats at 50km/h+ without spinning out. Chances are you'll need a new RD as well if you go to a 42T cassette, so start on the chainring and see how you go. To keep it 2x you'll probably still find some 44/32 3x chainrings lurking in someone's parts collection, but you'd need a 3x crank to make them fit since they're both 104BCD and the SRAM 2x sets only have space for one.

Fixed it for you.

Drop us a mail or a PM. If we don't have it, either we can find it or it doesn't exist...

Depends on the frame. If it's flat mount you'll only get 160s to fit, if it's post or IS mount you might get 180s in there. Maybe. 160s on properly set up brakes should be more than enough on a gravel bike though. Your tyres will run out of runway long before your brakes do.

Where are you looking? Suspension specialists will always have stock. Online bike shops not so much.

The main issue with the entry level Shimano brakes is the cheap and nasty rotors. Swap those out and size up while you're about it, and you should be well on your way to better braking. Failing that, the Deore 4 pot brakeset is about the best price to power ratio that I've found so far.

Beat me to it. Same okes that copied the look and feel of the Park Tool branding on their tools. I would't buy their stuff just for that. Also, OP, if you've ever snapped a chain under proper load, you'll realise that it's not a place to try saving a few bucks.

4 bikes will always be a pig, especially MTBs. Most carriers' spacing is still designed around 135mm QR frames, so fitting 148mm MTBs on them needs some advanced Tetris, if it's even possible. Generally N-1 is the number of MTBs you can fit on a platform rack. 2 on the roof and 2 on the towbar is probably the easiest, followed by 4 on the roof and a step - especially if you've got a bakkie or SUV those middle 2 will be a joy to get up there. Towbar rack will make towing a trailer impossible if that's a thing you do when camping, and also deletes your departure angle. Roof racks mean you have to keep an eye out for trees and parking garages though, so everything has a tradeoff...

The main issue with most CX bikes is tyre clearance, generally they'll only fit up to 33c which is a bit skinny for gravel. Agree on there being better options out there, but often the best bike for the job is the one you've got...

Depends. If the spoke tension is even all the way around, you should be fine. If you don't have a truing stand, a zip tie round the seatstay will give you a decent idea of how true the wheel is when you're done. And as you say if you get it wrong there's always the LBS as a backup. As long as you don't over tension any of the spokes it's reasonably difficult to break it properly. And a last point - take the tyre off before you start.

https://capegrosports.co.za/products/fsa-gamma-pro-chainring-1x-82x32t Looks like they have 34 in stock.

It depends. If the RD you have has a long cage version, you should just be able to swap the cage out if you can find the long cage version for that specific RD. A hanger extender is a recipe for terrible shifting.

I'd imagine that by the time you've paid a decent machinist to make one up you may as well just have bought the kit.

Not much you can do for those aside from either replacing with an air fork, a rigid fork, or learning to pull it apart and grease it up on a regular basis. If it's got a preload adjuster you may be able to tune the play out. The only things they do reliably are rattle and hold the front wheel on.

I got my last lot from Black Frog Distribution, not sure if they're still at it.

What length are your current cranks, and when was the last time you went for a bike fit? What cranks are on the old and the new bikes? As for the ratios, the 11-32 should work on the new bike with the 53/39. RD range between the two should be the same. Shimano's website will tell you what's what in that regard.