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My son rides a Transalp 750. He uses it for commuting and it has over 120k km on the clock and counting. It is a nice bike and very reliable. But a bit heavy if you thinking of "enduro" style action.

I fear this is not the best example to invest the required time/money. I bought an old Yamaha 180 2-stroke when I was in 1st year varsity. It was complete and could run for a while on a good day but it had a list of ailments, not quite as long as the list above. I was late for an exam once when it took 20 minutes of pushing to get it started. In 2nd year I scrapped it and I invested my end of year vac earnings in a slightly bent Honda XL 250 4-stroke - which I rode for another 5 years. The 180 2-stroke might be quite valuable if it were still around today, so would the XL 250. Would the KTM ever yield some collector interest?

Thanks! I have sent a whatsapp. (I have noted your number, maybe you should edit it out from message above). I will pay things forward when the opportunity arises. 😏

I will finish the back wheel and see how that goes. But, it looks like I need 36 off silver, stainless steel, 266 mm spokes, without nipples and I will also have 36 off 263mm ones left over...

Just don't finish faster than the "max permissible e-bike time". Note new in 2026 is that there is a minimum e-bike time for each timing section, so you can't go fast then wait 1km from the end for your allowed finishing time. Most important, be VERY POLITE, wait for a clear gap and don't shout when passing us Hamish cyclists up Smitswinkel and Chappies etc. Otherwise the combined Karma of 1000's of suffering back markers will descend upon your tyres or cause you premature battery failure. (Italics 'cause I cannot find comic sans).

I need some advice. My old steel frame MTB's originally galvanised spokes are now totally corroded. I bought some stainless steel spokes from Temu with the intention of replacing them. Plan is to replace one spoke at a time so I don't have to work out lacing etc from scratch and I can keep a check tension and alignment as I go. A professional would probably cut them all and start from scratch and get it done in a fraction of the time it will take me. But my plan is working for so for for the first few spokes. But I made a mistake measuring the spoke length when I ordered the new ones. I measured them in situ and I thought they were all the same size. But I was wrong, now I have taken some out and measured vary carefully, I found: Rear wheel drive side 262 mm Rear wheel non-drive side 264mm Front wheel 266mm I ordered 263 mm for all of the spokes. This does not seem to be a problem with the rear wheel - they fit nicely and there is no protrusion from the nipples. But I am concerned for the front wheel. I can fit the spokes and tighten the nipples about 5 turns. But the original spokes had about 10 turns of thread engaged. Is this safe and practical or should I look for some other spokes? Thanks for suggestions.

Motorcycles in China must be scrapped when they reach 13 years old. So the Chinese might not have the motivation or feedback to build bikes that last any longer than that. ☹️

That's positive news for the 1st time in xxx days? Don't panic about the filters - I am sure they can be bought (again) for an (un)fair price. But make a detailed list of the missing hardware items. Even small ones are going to cost you hours of hassle trying to find, make, improvise etc. One or two too many missing might make the project unviable.

You can safely assume that what was paid is gone. You should focus on salvaging as much value as possible. First you want a complete bike with all the parts to assemble it back into its original condition. Even if some of those parts are damaged or scrap - you need the old ones to repair or replace. If parts have been sent to subcontractors, get details of the subcontractors and go and collect the parts and be prepared to pay outstanding amounts to the subbies for work done on them. If you lucky, none of your parts will have found there way onto other customer's bikes.. Smile and wish the man Merry Christmas, you may well need to contact him again in the New Year... Then comes decision time - sell it as a project, or keep it as a project....

Go hire a bike trailer, borrow a tow car if necessary. Take tie downs, ropes etc and somebody to help load...

You don't want your assets lying in his garage over the Christmas break. Rather just go pick up the pieces before he closes. Never mind what you may have paid in advance.

Old fashion pedal mounted reflectors are simple, convenient and very effective. But unfortunately not in fashion on competition style clip-less pedals.

It depends on what you enjoy working on and what you will enjoy riding when you are finished. The Guzzi is quite a simple bike, many parts did not change over many years and some parts are still available. It was all made in Italy, in relatively low volumes - which is both positive and negative. Are you in the mood to build Japanese, Italian, metric or imperial? The V50 is a shaft drive with lots of torque, very comfortable in town and country, It handles like it is on rails. But it is short of reserves on the freeway and does not hooligan well - don't expect it to pull a wheelie. Keep the battery charged and the carbs clean and it is an easy bike to own. (I am biased so I won't express an opinion). Too many bikes, too little time. 😃

Why not just runs tubes with sealer inside the tubes? (Works fine on my old steel MTB which has non tubeless rims.)

I have an old school Giant brand cycle "speedometer" with a wireless pickup. It stopped working. I replaced the batteries in the pickup and the computer and tested successfully it on the bench. But back on the bike it was still erratic. Repeated the above, still worked on the bench but not on the bike. Then a new Cateye arrived on my birthday. The old Giant speedometer got sidelined but I was curious what was wrong with it, as it still worked on the bench. Then I discovered the spoke mounted magnet had lost its field! I was testing it with another magnet. I replaced the spoke magnet with an old one out of the junk box and the Giant started working again! I like the Giant because it also has a thermometer function which most bike computers do not have. So the Giant is back on my Giant MTB, and the smart new Cateye has replaced the no brand computer on my steel bike. But I still have a spare cycle computer, maybe the start of N+1....

Hi All Some feedback on this. Switchback Sports did have the hanger, but they do not sell direct to public. So I ordered it through Francois from Manic Cycles in Worcester as that is where the cyclist lives. Francois checked the frame first and helped fit the hanger. Bike was sorted thanks!

Wow an e-bike bun fight. Blink and you miss it! A bunch of posts deleted. Back to E-bikes: The 3h50 rule and 3A start time rules make sense. But they need to be enforced. E-bikes times times should be filtered and anything that looks like it breaks either of the above should not be published until it has been verified and DQ'd (or not). Remember the E-bike event is NOT A RACE. E-bike times are irrelevant, except perhaps for the individual riders. Perhaps they should be sent directly to the riders and not published all? But maybe it is time for some more e-bike rules: Ban battery "swap stations" and external battery support on the route. Besides anything, the Giant station is on the wrong side of the road. All other support stations are on the left, that one is on the right - which seems a bit dangerous. If you cannot get round on one battery, you should carry your own spares or ride the short route. E-bikes should get a different medal. (Perhaps one the size of a coin battery with a plastic coated electric wire instead of a ribbon 😉) That might imply a different finish chute. If the e-bikes had to pull off the route a hundred meters before the real finish it would separate them from the racers in the finish line photos. E-bike riders should be banned from shouting "passing right" (or anything else). If they want to pass, particularly up Smits or Chappies, they should wait until there is a gap in traffic and pass quietly without upsetting the racers. (But that is just my own feeling). For those who want to race e-bikes. I will join you on my EM-Bike, it is a lot of fun too!. I can easily break 3 hours round the course, even on a normal day with traffic, without breaking any speed limits or riding through red robots. I have "sufficient" wattage and no speed limiter device. I can do the whole course without refuelling. A tank of energy juice plus the Chappies toll fee is much cheap than an Argie Entry. The cycle and rider are both licenced (and taxed). I can even legally ride down the M3 on a non-tour day. (But I don't race M-Bikes - that is another story).

I notice that the 2025 medals no longer have "Rotary - Pedal Power Association" in fine print. This was always on the medals in past years. Those organisations have always been responsible for distributing the charitable proceeds from the event. Has there been a change in the structure of the beneficiaries or is this just a minor design change to the medals?

First make sure the bike you buy is the right size for the cyclist.

Don't these riders get disqualified? (Would be a simple SQL query on the results).

I had Biopace chain rings on my vintage MTB 'till quite recently. I have ridden 10's of thousands of km's on that bike and I still ride it regularly. I replaced them with entry level Shimano rings when the Biopace rings wore out. I can confirm 2 things: There is no notable benefit from "oval" chain rings. It has 3x7 gears, oval chain rings make setting and using the front derailleur significantly trickier.

Hi I am trying to help a youngster who has a Silverback Storm 29" with a broken hanger. He has tried LBS's and even the manufacturer but it seems these are not readily available. He also tried modifying another hanger but it is not working and gears do not shift properly. Any suggestions where we can get hold of one? Can one be made (at viable price) if we can locate the broken original as a sample?

How did your ride go?

The judge in this case had a different opinion. https://www.stephensons.co.uk/site/news_and_events/uptodatenews/cyclist-sentenced-over-death-of-pedestrian