Jump to content

Butterbean

Members
  • Posts

    2083
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Butterbean

  1. Anyone know who/where I could go to get my assos bibs repaired? They’re 8 years old and have served me well, still fit great and work perfectly, but on a recent muddy ride I must have got some grit or something caught near the gooch, and with many kms on this abrasive paste, I have a little patch of missing Lycra under the pad. I emailed the team at Vye but no response, so seeing if anyone knows who could put a small patch in the bibs? CT is first prize but I don’t mind shipping if necessary.
  2. I started riding seriously around 10 years ago. I had a rep job so could train and race regularly, and while nowhere even close to fast, I could ride far and lost a good bit of weight doing so. a few years back my job changed and I travelled a lot. Covid happened, and a new job means even more travel - I spend about half the month away from home, all in different locations around SA and the SADC region. I’ve lost my fitness and gained a lot of weight. Currently over 20kgs heavier than I should be, and while i can jump on the bike and ride a good 50-60kms without completely dying, I’m not finding any chance to build fitness or lose those kgs. a health scare with a bad cholesterol reading has made me take things seriously - I’ve changed my diet as best as I can, and got back on the bike when home. But my struggle is - what to do when I travel? I don’t have consistency in gyms, and travelling with a bike is next to impossible with the work I do. anyone out there have some ideas and advice to build and maintain some form of fitness going forward? I will be attempting to keep travel trips to Tuesdays - Thursdays in the week, but not sure if inactivity during those days will massively hinder my progress. Any help is appreciated!
  3. Um, unless you’re insured, it’s a very expensive accident that. repairing carbon rims is almost a no go in most situations. Repairing carbon rims with an alu brake track is worse. if you’re insured, claim and replace. If not, sell the good wheel and salvage the hub, and replace when you can.
  4. I had to resort to bringing one in myself from the UK... Sold it here a couple years back now... Good luck with the search, they are out and about.
  5. Yeah this sounds more like a car issue than the rack. I've seen many racks can sag slightly from the weight of the bikes when fukky loaded, but the towbar moving itself is an issue and you'll wanna get to a service centre to assist you in sorting it out. Will likely be a quick and easy fix, but there are some cheap or pirate towbar fittings that exist and you don't want to be dealing with those at all.
  6. I hate specialized but their saddle range is just too good. They have a fot for everyone. Go to your local spez dealer, wear your bike shorts, and sit on their assometer. Once you have the width, they can recommend some shapes to suit your body and riding style, and will generally let you buy the saddle to test and allow refunds for those that don't work. So buy one, try it, bring it back and try a few more. They also have trick little saddle attachments so I'm a big fan of their range. Worth the money.
  7. Another vote for anatomic, they have regular human sizes.
  8. I have a free entry for anyone who needs it, you must handle the transfer. WhatsApp me on 0728622805.
  9. No. Obscuring your headlights will be the biggest issue that you won't be able to get around without major modification. If you need the rear towbar, get roof racks.
  10. The Mavics. But they cost a little more on the maintenance end, but they're lighter and stiffer, have better hubs.
  11. Ypu could use a heart rate monitor as a stop gap until you get a PM. Heart rate will usually correlate to power oj most days, but affected by factors like sleep, recovery, and caffeine and medication can affect it. Its still a good enough indicator. Do an ID session, and note rhe heartrate zones you're in while in various power zones. On the road, you use this as a guide. Power meters measure immediately, but HR monitors will take a few seconds to catch up to the effort, so get used to this too.
  12. Yeah i got roof racks because trailer, and bike always arrives clean. It can also leave dirty without worry, which was a pain when packing it in the car. Plus, with towing, no chance of stones bouncing off the trailer and hitting bikes, so all round happy!
  13. Did this ride earlier this year - as a normie, it was the longest ride done for me, but was brilliant. The motos coming up Franschoek Pass nearly deafened me, the asses, but otherwise a spectacular drive. We were sound of mind enough to get a friend to drive a support car behind us for the n2 stretch out of Somerset West and up SLP, to Grabouw. After that he played feeding station. Was perfect! Would i do it without the vehicle? Not likely unless in a big group...
  14. Yeah but just cause you can do something, doesn't mean you should. You could likely drive to Cairo in a polo, but id rather have a landcruiser since they're widely available. That being said, the tourde France was for many many years a gravel race, you know, before the roads were paved... So roadies have been doing this since inception...
  15. Yeah the thing is, even a lot of actual built for purpose gravel bikes don't fit 40c tyres. If you want a full on, proper conversion, youll have to find out a way to fit centre pull cantis, or actually, you could cold set the rear triangle to fit a disk hub and weld on a disk brake mount... Its hard, but doable and done before. (just saw a video from Oldshovel on YouTube that did just that). Then its on to get a replacement fork that is disc friendly and you're away with your conversion. In terms of gravel, i reckon wide tyres and suitable brakes are the only REAL difference. Geometry, bars, and groupsets make a small difference, which, when added up will make a big one. But groupset is by far the least important, and im a firm believer in 2x for gravel anyway. Bars are a personal preference but rapide will have you sorted cheap. Nothing you can do about geo, but old steel has plenty of compliance and should ride great despite the angles...
  16. Looks like gravel tyres, maybe 32c or 35 if they're extremely lucky... Gravel bars, and single chainring conversion.
  17. Contact Silverback, they're now in stellenbosch. They will either be able to assist with what exact spares you need, or could even possible assist with some spares in a box or whatever... They're really helpful.
  18. Seasucker roof rack, or look at gooseneck towbar options - they are out there if you're insisting on no roof mount...
  19. I dont like cycle lab. They're elitist and they ruined CWC firesales. There, now that that is out of the way... I used to be a club member, simply because they were the most accessible club to someone who didn't have mates who cycled. Our rides were almost always near perfect. Two abreast on the wider roads, single file through cedar, follow vehicle always way behind helping randos with punctures or following super slow noobs. Pick any club, hell, even a brand that has a familiar and popular shirt, and you'll find complaints. People ride badly. Drivers drige badly. Neither thinks they're at fault at the time, or we would never have road accidents. Now, we can argue all day. Fact is, it seemed your wife was impatient to overtake dangerously, and its been proven many times that a larger group should infact take up the lane to reduce the group length, so pasing cars have more opportunities to overtake without risk, in the usual manner of overtaking in the oncoming lane. Treat the bikes like a slow truck or tractor. You wait, and pass safely, and wave as you go. For punctures, yes people can we unaware of self. Its oretty normal. I've been caught up, pissed that i heard the ol hiss of fate, and stopped asap and got off to start fixing, only to snap awake and realise, tyre loose and tubes in hand, that me and the bike are in the way... You could slow down, offer to assist, and point out their position in a manner that is less entitled, and you'll probably help both of you have a better day. Lastly, riding your bike is supposed to relax you. Its supposed to bring a zen that puts life and people into perspective. I hope you find that with more riding and less aggression. Just try help instead of moaning.
  20. Please name the shop, so we can avoid it?
  21. Leopards can't change their spots, it seems.
  22. I'm sure Andrew @ Stoke in Woodstock will sort you out right.
  23. I'm no expert, but the wavy washer should be on the drive side to take up the gap to ensure the dust seal stays in place. It can be replaced with flat spacers instead but you'll need to assess with your own BB and how it spaces in the frame.
  24. Yeah man sram GXP designed BBs will work, from almost any manufacturer. I would recommended the once off large cost of the Wheels Manufacturing BBs as they're incredible quality and bearing replacement is much easier and cheaper later on. Wavy washer is important. Cant remember if a new BB comes with one, but your LBS should have one around somewhere...
Settings My Forum Content My Followed Content Forum Settings Ad Messages My Ads My Favourites My Saved Alerts My Pay Deals Help Logout