NGM

You too! Such a nice friendly town you live in.

So the swartberg fondo didn't happen but I still went out to Prince Albert for the weekend. I rode up swartberg pass on saturday and loved it so much I went up the next day as well. Who needs the stelvio when you have this in your back yard?

It's a 3x9. I'll try get a pic. I think I've sourced a BB for it though.

Thanks robert! Will message you.

This bike definitely needs a 68mm BB, so maybe not as old as I made it sound.

I have actually just noticed this add (below), which could work. It's like-for-like with the exception of the 113mm spindle. https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/bottom-brackets/486207/square-tapered-bottom-bracket I'd imagine the only real issue is that it will move the cranks 1.5mm out and affect the chainline a bit. Not sure how much trouble that will cause.

I'm looking to replace the bottom bracket of an old mongoose mtb. OK well technically my old man is replacing it for a youngster in his dorpie, and he's asked me to find out what part he needs. The BB in question is a Shimano BB-LP28, 68, BC1.37x24, 110mm square taper spindle. I've done a bit of reading and it looks like the LP28 was just a model number and the modern day equivalent is the UN series of shimano BBs. Something like this: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-un26-square-taper-bottom-bracket/rp-prod34652 except, the spindle is 113mm in the above example. Does anybody know where I can find a local replacement?

"The planet isn’t going anywhere. WE are! .... Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet’ll shake us off like a bad case of fleas." RIP George Carlin.

Hadn't heard of lekkerslaap, good to know, thanks. Another good resource is warmshowers.com. You host bike tourists for free, and can use it to look for a host as well obviously. People are hosts even if they are just offering a garden to camp in and a hose pipe to wash down, but often it's a spare room. There are a number of south africans registered on it.

Great, thanks @MORNE ! Hopefully this is the one, but I'll look into it a bit more now that I actually know what to google. Pretty sure I'm blowing my bikehub credibility to bits though by revealing how little i know.

Hi Hubbers, This may be one of a few questions. My dad has helped out a few less privileged kids where he lives in the overberg and is slowly becoming the de-facto bike mechanic for his town. He can't get parts that easily so he's asked me to source some stuff, despite neither of us being experts. Here's the first one. A replacement hanger is needed for an old Raleigh RC4500. The image below is just a screen grab from another advert I saw (sorry if it's yours) but quite simply, I need buy a replacement hanger like the one in this picture. I've actually got a few lying around and neither of them worked. Err... anyone know what hanger "type" I should be looking for? Thanks!

My opinion: Ortlieb panniers are great and are probably the most popular internationally. They are waterproof. You could spray a garden hose at them and your stuff would stay dry. I've used them a bit for touring, but actually a bit more for commuting to carry my work clothes and other stuff. I ride to work every day whatever the weather and this winter has been pretty wet in the boland. I've been caught in a number of ridiculous downpours - keeping my stuff dry is not really an issue. They have a very simply design that clips on and off your racks. Ortlieb and Arkel are, to my knowledge, the main go-to brands for panniers. My only issue, which I suspect is universal to panniers, is that on a corrugated road they rattle around a bit. I think this is less of an issue with bikepacking as stuff is strapped down, as opposed to plastic clips on steel racks. As for the bike, I'd go with the hardtail as I'd be less precious about get it scuffed.

That's what I went with. Haven't used it much but was OK at -5 in sutherland.

Basically you wont battle to find gear in RSA, I think the biggest stumbling block for people is how to stitch together a nice route that has good scenery and ensures a safe place to sleep. There are a number of routes suggested in the stories here: https://bicyclesouth.co.za/category/adventure/ eg: cederberg circuit, etc. It is quite Western Cape-centric and I'm not sure where you live.

Cycletouring.co.za has been a great resource for me too. But I wouldn't say an overseas import is needed for sleeping bags and camping stuff. I've purchased a great lightweight down sleeping bag from these guys and they have nice tents too: https://www.outdoorescape.co.za/

A Danish passport?

Based on the accent and steady stream of non-sequiturs, I'm pretty sure it was Murray from Flight of the Conchords.

Welcome. I grew up there and still consider it home. One of my favorite places on earth.

I've just checked and sprocket and jack are no longer listed on Surly's website as official distributors, although they were when I checked last year. ie: they used to be listed under the distributors tab over here: https://surlybikes.com/where_to_buy So they may no longer be bringing stuff in, but no harm in asking I guess.

Its actually not that different from a jones loop bar. The whole idea behind that bar is that the nicest hand position somewhere in between your wrists facing forward (like on the hoods of a road bike) and facing sideways (like on an mtb). Hence the 45 degree angle on those (Jones) bars. That and it's nice to have multiple hand positions. So I think these do a similar sort of thing and look a bit nicer IMO. Personally I'm pretty glad companies keep pushing the boundaries with stuff like this. Evolution to a higher state requires mutation (new ideas) and selection (people like us deciding if we like it). I'd give this a try for sure.

This reminds me of a time when I was standing in a bike shop and the sales guy was telling me that bike geometry had pretty much been perfected now and all the would really change in the future was that components would improve. Although obvious, the statement about components was correct. But the comment about geometry being static going forward was a pretty big (and incorrect) call given that this was 2004 and we were looking at a 2004 Specialized Rockhopper. I guess it depends on your frame of reference; a modern day hardtail is very similar to a 2004 rockhopper if you're comparing it to a penny farthing but I still laugh when I think about that conversation and how confident the salesman was in his assertions. I wouldn't even be able to replace the 26inch tyres in that same shop a few years later.

That's fantastic. What was japan like for bike touring? Also I recall somebody saying (on a thread about rapide wheels) that they toured Japan with a rapide wheelset and they held up very well. Was that you by any chance?

"Christian? Hi.. Eddie here. How are the kids? Great... listen, this has gone far enough... "

Clearly a lie. In a clash between Sagan's knee and a pair of handlebars, there is only one winner. He must just be a bit tired.

I could have written this myself.... were it not for my fine beard.