openmind

Sometimes, when your shifting is bad, it's not the cables, casings, worn chain/cassette, hanger alignment .... It's just that your derailleur pivots need a bit of lube! (Next time will try that first).

You need to declare a bike when you leave - they give you a stamped form with the serial number on it at the airport customs desk. 5min job that could save you a ton of duties if you are pulled over on your way back. They’re not fools and will go as far as looking up your bike online to see what it is worth and tax you accordingly. Tip: take a photo of the serial number on the frame then you don’t have to unpack the bike at the airport. (My experience anyway).

An option is to get a gravel bike and work on your skills:

Done: https://www.ninerbikes.com/products/mcr-9-rdo/

Might be a b-screw issue - check that the top jockey wheel clears the top cog of the cassette properly when in that gear. May be that it hits the cog with enough force to bend it and derail the chain. Then with further pedalling force, the derailed chain rips off the top jockey wheel. If the top jockey wheel hits the top cog, turn the b-screw in to move (rotate in the plane of the bike) the jockey away from the cog. If it's 12-speed, this is especially important. There might be a mark on the inside of the cage that shows where the top cog should be in relation to the cage position (my 12sp XTR has this). This is speculation, may be wrong, but the b-screw is always a good place to start. This explains it in painful detail:

That's what happens in a country with a functional justice system. We're just not used to that. I heard a journalist comment the other day that Markus Jooste was ousted from Steinhoff before SBF even started FTX in 2019. Now Sam is in jail and Markus is still swanning around his mansion in Hermanus while the prosecutors twiddle their thumbs.

You should try the cup-half-full approach sometime. I think PPA did great all things considered, it's not easy to host a 170km bike race on open roads. I had a great ride on good roads in beautiful countryside. Oh, and bring those rubber mounts to the next race, I'm sure they'll take them back and reuse them.

I have an entry for sale - 100 miler - R1000. DM me.

No option here is perfect. Remember that the OP is looking at a bike in a shop with a too-short steerer tube. If he wants the handlebar higher he could: 1. Install that dodgy steerer extender from Ali Express 2. Have Droo replace the fork steerer with a longer one. 3. Use a riser bar to get the right height. Admittedly he may have to change the stem length to fix the reach or have to settle with a sweep that is a degree or two off from where the flat bar would be, but rolling the bar a little might solve that problem too (i.e swapping upsweep with backsweep, depending on the bar). No one is sensitive to fractions of a degree in sweep difference. To me option 3 is attractive. YMMV.

Risers come in different sweeps. And you could fix the reach with a longer or shorter stem.

A 30mm riser bar will put your grips in the same position as 30mm of spacers under a flat bar, surely?

Why not just fit a riser handlebar? It would look cooler than a flat bar to boot.

If you need a lift, this is the best thing I have read all week (maybe even month): https://escapecollective.com/imagining-apple-visma/ p.s. sign up - you won't regret it . Keeps me sane.

Chappies: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxqJ52jK9wF/?igshid=ODk2MDJkZDc2Zg==

Very happy with my Ergon GA3 grips. Has soft little wings that support the palm, much better than earlier versions of Ergon grips I tried. ESI still very good too tho.

I would argue that the beauty of *cycling* is that "it varies from tarred roads to single track...". It's true that you could technically do all of that with a gravel bike but that does not make it a good idea.

Not just talking about this article but gravel bike marketing in general. It's especially true in SA where our dirt roads are often cat 3 or 4 gravel and not the manicured smooth surfaces you'll find in the USA or the EU.

I get gravel, I've had a gravel bike since 2016 and I'm just as excited about this new groupset as anyone, but what really makes me sad about the whole gravel hype is the marketing like in this article that pretends that the people in the pics are having a good time when they are so clearly under-biked and would by any measure be better off on a mountain bike on the terrain that is showcased in the pics. Especially as many people depicted in the marketing images seem to be casual cyclists or new to the sport. I cannot imagine a better way to put someone off cycling forever than to put them on a gravel bike on what is obviously MTB terrain.

Some torque wrenches e.g. Park Tool are finicky as you have to hold them on the black handle part to get the right torque. If you hold them close to the head to get that "feel" you have with an ordinary wrench then you will over-torque due to the way the wrench is mechanically levered internally. That could be why you stopped by feel before the torque wrench clicked. There's a YouTube video on this somewhere.

Dude, that MTB fork is installed backwards!!?! Edit: Ah, I see this has been pointed out already 😎

Specialized has a artificial surface pump track at Blauklippen: https://specializedstellenboschexperiencecentre.com/bike-park Otherwise just pick your routes and ride trail that is stony and drains quickly. I like Botmaskop for this. Firehut in Jonkerhoek also tends to dry out quickly. Eden forest too (well most sections). Even g-spot drains pretty quickly, but ja, like you said, don't (please don't!) ride wet trails where you leave ruts in the mud.

Just a reminder that there is a cool MTB event this weekend and the weather looks good. Come ride Muratie: https://www.entryninja.com/events/79281-muratie-mountain-series#general

The tread is delaminating, possibly in reaction to the sealant, but I've only ever seen that in really old tyres. What sealant do you use? Regardless, if it's only a few months old, take it back to the shop and show them. That should be a warranty replacement.

Every now and then the cops would wait outside our school gate looking for licences. We became pretty good at climbing the fence at the back with bike and school bag My dad is Dutch and refused to buy me a bike license which he (rightly) saw as unjust.