100Tours

I'm not a mech eng, but there's this.. Fatigue life Nf is the number of stress cycles of a specified character that a structure sustains before failure occurs. For steel, there is a theoretical value for stress amplitude below which the material will not fail for any number of cycles. This value is called a fatigue limit or endurance limit.

Most likely Yes. It depends on 1. Can you find chainrings for that crank, and 2. Will the new rings fit on your frame (you may have issues with the chainring hitting the rear stay on some frames). Nevertheless this is a great upgrade, and you can generally make up for any new gearing shortfall with an appropriate choice of cluster. Have a look at Sheldon Browns gear calculator to get an idea of the impact.

I've done some lovely gravel rides from that inn though. Don't know the race, but there's a lot of good gravel from there, and the inn is a good place for a cold beer.

Yes - G3 is Greenside gravity garage

My vote - get to know grant at Greenside bikes (gravity garage these days). Despite the branding. Also he is local to you. He is a very careful and engaged mechanic - frequently does wheel builds for me for unusual applications. You don't need a tri specialist as much as you need a mechanic who will listen to your wants and needs.

We rode George - Cape town 2 years ago via Matjiesfontein. From Matjiesfontein we crossed the N1, through the windfarm to Karoopoort and then turned North up to the Tankwa farmstall. We stayed over at Hartnekskloof. There is nothing along this road between Matjiesfontein and the farmstall. Hartnekskloof hospitality was fantastic. From Hartnekskloof we climbed Pereboomkloof / Katbakkies pass (*****) aka Skitterykloof (for the effect it had on the sheep), thorugh to Op die Berg (coffee), and down to Ceres over Gydouw pass, then Mitchells Pass and over Bainskloof to Wellington, where we slept over again. Finally Wellington to Melkbos/Blouberg, and into Cape Town along the west coast cycle route If you wanted a 4-day version you might push up to one of the lodges in Tankwa, then sleep at Op die Berg and Wellington. the final day would be the same

duct tape over the holes in the underside of your shoes. Stops the venting. solves the problem

Follow the washing instructions - wash in a separate laundry bag. My castellis are 5 years old and this has made all the difference. I put the shorts in a laundry bag when I take them off, and that goes in the wash.

I usually use masking tape over the area I want to cut. a fine blade hacksaw should work fine. Use a mask. Don't inhale!

Hansa is my go-to SAB beer. Around Jozi, Mad Giant 3pm, in a returnable bottle. Lovely light craft beer and after you've taken their returnables into account, just over R30 a beer.

you shouldn't have any issue going from 25 to 28, however if you want some reassurance measure the inside width of the rim - it should be 19/20mm or up. The older standards were around 14/15mm, and then the tyre tends to bulge out a bit. I've never seen that cause an issue, but it doesn't give you much or an aero profile.

I've Pm'd you

Yes, in theory. Aluminium has a finite number of fatigue cycles until it will break (unlike steel or carbon). I'm still riding a 20-year old aluminium cannondale however, and it hasn't shown signs of damage yet. Might happen during my lifetime, might not. I've seen fractured Titanium frames that are only a few years old, but not Aluminium. Alu was the material of choice for h/bars, pedals, and so on for Paris Roubaix up until a few years ago because it is more forgiving than carbon (carbon will kill road buzz, but not corrugations), and it likely represents a lot better value as a gravel bike material at the moment. If you have 50k+ to spend then go Carbon, if you're in the 10-20k ballpark then Aluminium is a really good choice.

True. I'm a snob - I like the hydraulic routing on the ultra levers better 😁

Has happened to me before after a long week riding in wet weather from Knysna to Stellenbosch. The bearing shell being carbon, and the gritty conditions creating a perfect grinding paste. I don't think you can fix it