splat

Now that I have a gravel bike, I can comment on a few things. One: They are terrible on corrugated roads. But a dual suspension 29'er is not a magic carpet ride either. So corrugated roads are either really *** or really bad (depending on your bike), but never great . A Redshift shockstop stem is helpful on the GG. Two: If you get a gravel bike, ride the widest tyres you can. 45mm Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H has worked well for me. Three: If you are thinking of getting a gravel bike and are talking about gearing etc, remember that they come in 1x and 2x versions. And the 1x could be a 10-42 or a 10-52 cassette, so wide range there which you can play with by changing the front ring. I ride a 2x11 with 11-40 cassette and reckon that is brilliant.

Any idea if this is good ? The cast looks pretty solid. Silo

Perhaps you are undervaluing yourself (skill and time)

Its hard to compare one puncture against another as the offending items is usually different and there is no way of knowing how a different tyre would have coped with the same incident. That said, I use Dynaplugs and rate them quite highly in my road and gravel tyres. I just leave them in. Not a cheap little item, but I don't know well others compare - Stans Dart for example. That said, I still carry a tube and gator for a sidewall slice or something that a plug cant fix.

Miller's Point

New bar tape has a similar effect 😎

Ask Dave where he got his from

I see that the Arch and Flow rims come in 28 and 32 hole format. What does the number of spokes do to a wheel ? Is the stiffness or durability and or strength ? I am wondering why I would go for a burly rim and then go light on the spokes. I have a set of 29" MTB wheels planned for later this year and am wondering what to go for seeing as I weigh about 100kg. I am no hard core trail rider, but do enjoy some 'downcountry' single track. Travel may be 120mm rear with 130mm on the front.

I was going to suggest that too. 120 or 140mm options (its on my shopping list)

I bought Shimano stuff from Merlin in the UK last year. SJS cycles also has a ton of Shimano spares, but don't know about their shipping policy (geoblocking). Don't know if your list is worth the Aramex Globel Shopper route.

Cool Video I was fascinated by the blow torch on the brake rotor. I have never seen that before

Is there truth to the story I heard that South is making rims for Tune ? (i,e. the Tune carbon wheels are actually made by South Industries?)

Please elaborate

I was going to blame the bearings in the rear hub. Mine were cup and cone type and were slightly loose. A bit more attention on the preload sorted that out. But this was back in the days of 26" wheels are QR skewers...

I wonder how many sets are in SA https://www.instagram.com/p/CrbLiNaKN88

I think that needs a bit of context - like how often and for how long ? There was talk of 'stage race tummy' on the Epic thread about carb intake, so I wouldn't use that figure as a recommendation for us non-pro's.

And / Or bananas ? or go really old school:

People have mentioned Aramex Global Shopper to try and get around that. Not sure if its worth it on 2 x road rims...

And places like Bike24.com ?

Pidcock must be feeling a bit bruised after being dropped in that fashion 2 weeks in a row,

For interest's sake: What sort of distances are you doing per ride and per week ?

@nick_the_wheelbuilder And / Or @David Marshall Would be good places to start locally. https://wheelbuilder.com/ is a fun place to go window shopping

Who was the last world champ to wear full white ? Tom Boonen? Paulo Bettini ? Someone more recent ?

Looks like we wont get a chance to find out after he abandoned following a crash

She bagged the Ardennes triple !