100Tours

If that's a circa 2016 frame then those are for an external Di2 battery

Anyone other than bike market who rents at the moment? (they are short on stock) I'm looking for a 58cm gravel bike, or perhaps a hardtail if I don't come right on #1.

Much respect for the upgrade project. On the wheels, the rebuild is only justified by wanting those hubs. You should find some cheap and very decent 26 wheel options listed for sale. Rebuild rims and new spokes will come in around R3000 (a guess), so do have a look at the classifieds. You crank options are multitude. There are various external bearings options from Shimano or SRAM that will fit your requirements, so don't feel too tied to the old school bb. Look for a second hand triple and a pair of threaded bearing cups on a MTB standard and that should work, and also gives you a few extra options. I wouldnt go for loose bearings unless the vintage matters. Loctite on your BB has been done before..

I've used Pudo many many times with no issue. If they say the locker was empty then it was empty. Now to figure out where the deal went wrong I guess.

My 'bike of mixed parents' is this one. It's a Ragley 26" Titanium trail hardtail with 700c wheels, gravel fork and an Ultegra 11s drivetrain. Making the 700c wheels fit was the least of the challenges - I have a 45mm gravel tyre in front and a 2.0" 29er on the back (more volume to take extra weight). Wheels are a new age thru axle up front with a flat mount Shimano caliper. The rear runs an old school 135mm QR axle with a Magura brake caliper on an IS mount. I had to carefully cut down the 142mm axle to fit the 135mm dropouts, but this now runs just fine. The resultant chainline was a mess. I've eventually settled on a 119mm square-taper BB to push the crankset out a bit, and I drilled in a pair of rivnuts to mount the FD (plus a spacer to move the FD out ontot he new chainline). The drilling also fixed an issue where the band clamp FD's were interfering with the rear tyre. I used a brass pulley to reverse the FD cable from top pull to bottom pull (at the base of the seat tube). And I put a few more holes in the frame for extra bottle cages.

Happy Christmas. Book now while flights are cheap. 29 March - arrive Oudenaarde and register 30 March - RVV sportif (257km). early morning event buses to Antwerp. sportif back to Oudenaarde. EUR100 entry fee. 31 March - RVV proper. The climbs are all close in to Oudenaarde - drive over to one of the big climbs and enjoy the atmosphere. 1-3 April - do more Belgian cobbled climbs. Stay in Oudenaarde until Wednesday. Drive down to Lille. 4 April - the pros will be doing their Roubaix dry run. Go out and ride the last 40km of the Paris-Roubaix course and see who comes past. 5 April - register in Roubaix. spend some time in the old velodrome, visit the famous showers. take photos. get your bearings for the sportif finish tomorrow. 6 April - Paris Roubaix Sportif (170km). early morning bus to Busigny for the start. 30 sectors and 50km of cobbles gets you home. EUR 80 entry fee. 7 April - Paris Roubaix proper. Drive 170km to Compiegne for the pro start. Relocate to sector 29 (the second one they cross) once the pros are underway. Make sure you are back in the velodrome for the finish. 8 April - head home

Do it! This is an awesome event, and inexpensive. You can easily do it without a tour operator - the organisers will put on buses to get you to the start if you are doing the long route (or to get you home - check website). Also if you stay a week then you can do Paris Roubaix as well. Few thoughts - 1. we usually rent a car. you will want to get out and watch the pros racing the next day, and it helps with ferrying bikes around. 2. take your own snacks. 240km is a long way to go on the mostly pure carbs available at the support stations. 3. beware the Belgian beer. that stuff is strong! 4. Hope for good weather.

I don't think that is a cycle lane - it's the emergency lane/hard shoulder

2 batteries? I would be interested to know where he found them

Did you ever find those 18650 batteries? I tried to import some a while back but customs said no.. I have one old unit that I'd like to have a go at re-equipping

The gate is just over 4km in from the T-junction on the Northern end on seweweekspoort. There is an interkom and it opens on a motor.

And this is seweweekspoort.

Agreed that that would be a wonderful route. Boschluiskloof is a pretty pass, as is Seweweekspoort, and neither seems to get a lot of attention. If you need any encouragement to put them on your list then this is Boschluiskloof (we rang the bell on the gate and the lodge was perfectly happy to let us in)

Bosluiskloof was an old Bain's pass built to access Prince Albert from Laingsburg. But then the Gamkapoort dam happened, necessitating the construction of the road into Die Hel and Bosluiskloof became a dead end. So the short answer is no. There is however a rumour of a ferry across the dam that I intend to explore further some day. I'd love to have the number of the boatman if anyone has it

From Matjiesfontein to Laingsburg you'll have to follow the railway service road, and it is very rough especially after rains. I did get through there earlier this year though. Think about Ceres - Op die Berg - Hartnekskloof (full day), and then Tankwa via the Karoo Poort junction. I rode that in the opposite direction and it made a nice route. or if you want something wild have a look at droelandskloof.

Your day 5 route looks quite short and mostly downhill - you are doing seweweekspoort, and then down the Huisrivierpas to Calitzdorp - there's a little climb on the huisrivier, but otherwise this is a really short day. Maybe look to push further out to the Cango Caves and then just have Swartberg for your last day., or do the Bosluiskloof up and down to the dam. Its a great little pass and there's a lodge down the bottom to stop for a coke. Lastly both swartberg pass and the road out of Calitzdorp are much better ridden in the other direction. just saying. you may want to ride home too

Good route this - although I've ridden it in the other direction. Look for the Dirt Road Cafe and stop there for lunch. preferably phone ahead to make sure he is open - they do a really good roosterkoek.

I am looking for a braze-on front deraileur adapter for a 50mm chainline - you see these on tandems, or even wider options on fat bikes. anyone know where I'd get one. Happy to pay.

Bit of a grey area - at one point I had 3 Di2 bikes sharing a single charger. They only need charging a couple of times a year. I've sold Di2 equipped bikes to folks who haven't needed the charger too, so I'm not sure it is automatically included in the sale. Also not including the Di2 charger doesn't indicate a stolen bike IMHO. The cellphone charger example is a bit misleading as well - do you really expect to sell your cellphone with the old charger cable.

OP asked about 9 to 10s compatibility, which works according to your link 😁

According to this chap you're good. And I learnt something. Tech - SRAM Exact Actuation - Parts compatibility | Tokyo Cycling Club (tokyocycle.com)

A cheaper option? - Bicycle Drive Chain Cover - Chain Baby (cycle-africa.co.za) assuming your drivetrain is where most f the problem is.

Understood, but there's a whole selection of youtube videos that basically say that the reason your Magura levers are still spongy is that you haven't been trying hard enough, and you're only a few bleeds away from having them actually work properly. They are overdue for a redesign.

I have learnt that Magura makes the world's finest calipers, and pairs them with the world's most impossible 'carbotecture' levers. After watching a lot of Youtube the only failsafe way to bleed Magura's is to remove the levers, throw them away, install shimano levers, and suddenly you have the worlds best brakes.

Lots of decent advice on choice of bike, My suggestions 1. A lot of riding depends on who you are going to ride with. If you can find a buddy or a convenient cycling group they may have a big influence on what bike you choose to ride. If a cycling friend, then it helps to learn together and to motivate each other. If you're riding bikes of similar capability then you'll stay friends too. 2. If you like the sport you'll graduate from one bike to another. Over time you'll learn what you want in a bike, and you'll want to change things. e.g. start with a hardtail - there's a lot to learn, later on you might want to go to a full suspension bike, or lighter/faster, etc. A 26" bike is a cheap start, and perhaps a very good option in the sub R10k price range if you're riding on your own or with other 26ers. But If you're riding with a bunch of guys on 29ers you'll struggle. 3. You're probably an XL. go bigger for bike stability (this is good initially), go smaller for tighter, sharper handling.