Mamil

We should take up that symbol and start spreading around our cities

If you are mechanically inclined (which I am not - I walked into the bike shop on Friday afternoon and the mechanic said "Ah, back so soon, have you been playing with the wrenches again") then youtube will be a good place to learn how to replace the gear and brake cables. Then take a chain rings off and the casette and given them a good clean and that creaking from the back might be coming from the freehub or from the terribly rusty chain grinding things down on the sporckets at the back. All of those components are likely to need replacing but if you have any mechanical aptitude at all you could restore it to reasonable condition enough to enjoy slightly longer rides. If you can learn to do this it will save a lot of money in the long term. IF you have budget a new bike would be great - this one is never going to be fabulous no matter how much love you give it - the brakes have a fraction of the stopping power and control that new or even newer second hand ones will have - the suspension fork is likely toast and that saddle looks mighty suspicious. On the upside - if you ride this one for a bit and then get a new one it's going to feel like getting into a mercedes after driving a datsun 120y with badly balanced wheels. EDIT: Just looking at the photos again - getting this bike roadworthy is actually a huge job - if you keen to ride soon, the sooner new bike day comes the better

This is terrible news. So sorry to hear it. What time of day was this?

Devils choice. If the operations committee goes ahead and there's wind related fatality(ies) its a calamity. If they cancel its a disaster for the event and anger and disappointment for the athletes. Wouldn't want to be the one to have to make that call. Its enough to see me scrolling through zwift events in lieu of planned peninsula loop, a much lower stakes decision

Great notion

No but I do a passing good impersonation of a breaching whale followed by a dead ringer for a brick.

Dunno - I've not been at my best halfway up that pass on quite a few occasions

As I know you are a downhill fan I'm tempted to tell you that after 50 it's all downhill but you'll be disappointed to hear that after 50, it's all uphill and from what I can see, pretty much continues that difficult, rocky incline to the end.

IT definitely is - the answer, beyond quick jokes is that your chain will need to be longer and there are various commonly available chainring sizes - compact, super compact as well as casette sizes at the back.

... and how hilly your neighbourhood is.

Except there are no funds to settle - we are all tied last in a race of creditors

There is little that can be done - the reasons for this discussed here. We are all tie last in a long line of people hoping to get something back - take solace that you didn't, like some mamils, enter this event, the tour du cap and the boland gravel monster.

Better option that the Trek mounts which I have found prone to failure.

Yup - you gotta buy the rebuild kit - serves me right - "As jy dom is moet jy sukkel" At least I'll have spares

thread

Because I'm not clever I stripped the little red spindle bolt on my favero pedals. People say don't be hard on yourself but really sometimes one just deserves the internal lambasting one dishes out to oneself in these situations. Does anyone have a poked pedal / one lying around etc cos it appears on the favero website that you have to buy the whole set of nuts and bolts they calling a rebuild kit. The one I'm looking for is the little red one in the image attached - yes the one indicating left hand thread with a nice arrow on it.

Strava produces no data - it's only asset is its userbase and their data it relies on that userbase to provide permission to connect to their data sources. The only thing Garmin lacks is the interest in using their platform for the performance comparisons with peer groups and social aspects - and that looks easy to remedy by switching off the taps to Strava and opening them to other hardware manufacturers. There are two things strava does better than Garmin - one is route planning available on the Strava premium and the other is UI interface. Unless there is something we don't know about the NDA between the two companies and the patent information I would say Strava's move is borne out of fear and a realisation that, despite their dominance in the data aggregation and social aspects, they are actually really vulnerable. If I were CEO of Strava, I'd stop wasting money on lawyers and I'd put big resources into developing a Strava head unit and watch. IS there a parallel with the Zwift / Wahoo argument that loomed and got resolved a while back? I stopped uploading to Strava after their API anouncement because I'm getting curmudgeonly about companies who start thinking that data I give them is theirs rather than mine. (Looking at you Google, Meta et al) I don't miss it. I still have a premium membership but that's for the route planning feature.

If I was CEO of garmin i would apologise to users and kick strava to the curb. Then i would allow wahoo bryton karoo and all other head unit and watch manufacturers to upload to garmin connect and open the platform to those users. I think strava overestimates its power here.

Munga 2026.... But I will be watching your dot with a fair dollop of fomo

That's an excellent idea

One of my favourite events - No 5 in 2026

It costs me entry fee only - I ride 6km from home t0 the start - I mooch away from the start to meet my S.O. on her ebikeby sneaking on to the freeway at Searle street and waiting for her start group to roll by (yes this mamil is that fast) - we ride the short one and then go have breakfast somewhere on the ride home. MY biggest problem is do I pay the weight penalty of attaching my headlight to the bike for the ride into town.

How many of us are faster than a rhino? I suppose it doesn't matter as the old joke has it you only have to be faster than the other bloke

Do rhino's like mountainbikers?

Go for it. The smart trainer was a gamechanger for me - particularly because the gamification of zwift races works for me. As the roads get worse and the crime risk gets greater I find myself training indoors during the weeks and going on long gravel and mtb rides outdoors on weekends. Post snaps of your setup when it arrives