Martin PJ

Check out the strava heat map. I saw a mate ride it long ago. Was about 50 km. Most of it looked like riding dirt roads around the dam, nothing hectic or mtb specific.

I recently had the same issue on my hardtail rear brake. In the end changed the rotor and it went away. It was really bad. You need to change something at the back. Maybe try put an adapter with a 180mm rotor. Or change the rear brake totally. I think it is a coincidence that all the components combine in they dampen (or in this case do not dampen) vibration feedback and you see this problem.

Make sure you get the model correct. My right and left levers are different years (2012 and 2013), the right 2012 fits perfect, left 2013 is not great.

I recently bought off Aliexpress, they were very good.

I had stanchion wear on a fork, cyclelab replaced the stanchion / steerer tube part of the fork. Was not cheap, but basically you get a new fork for half the price of a new fork.

There's a large plastic trommel, jam it full. Leave it behind if it doesn't fit. Sani has a list they send out. Other things to remember, take a few charger blocks for your phone / GPS. Take lots of newspaper, very good for drying shoes that are a bit wet. Take an extra strap for the lid of your plastic trommel. Only the first night is cold. The two race villages are great. Sometimes it rains, so check weather report to see what "wet stuff" you need.

The Himeville Notties way is easier. When you get to the end you can ride the last 30 km in an hour, but the other way this is not possible, 20 kays in a hour would be good going. Also the wind can play a factor, riding into the headwind the whole day is not lekker. My times over the years were always a bit quicker finishing in Notties. I think a 46 maximum at the back would be fine. The Notties to Himeville has the shorter steeper long hill (about 6 kay), if you walked a bit on that hill, would be a good break. The 14 km hill from the Himeville to Notties direction is not that steep, just very long. The 14 km descent though, if you ride Notties to Himeville is a highlight of the ride.

Bottom bleed screw. You don't let much, drop or two. I have only done this once, it did work. I think the situation you describe can happen when the brakes are bled with slightly worn pads. Then when you put new pads there is too much oil.

There's two things you can try, put some old pads back with the disc out and slightly push the pads apart with a flat screwdriver. Don't try with the new pads, it may damage them. Second thing is to let out a few drops of oil from the bleed screw. I normally put the new pads in the back, ride them a bit to settle down if it is tight. Older ones put in the front.

I bought some Rocket Ron MTB tires a couple of weeks back.

The shoe glue deteriorates whatever you do, try not to speed the process. On the helmet the netting inside gets a bit tatty, doesn't stick to the helmet anymore after a couple of years. On the gloves, the stitching separates. Gloves I wash properly.

I am not a believer in thorough washing shoes and helmets, wrecks them. Give shoes a quick wash with the hosepipe when you do the bike, (light brush and soapy water, rinse with hosepipe), drip and then dry in the sun. If you have to ride the next day and it's not hot enough to dry them, push loads of compact newspaper inside (remove newspaper and repeat after a few hours for better results). I do the newspaper trick in Sani2C, works well, even when wet and rainy, shoes are 80% dry by the morning.

Buy a few and test them. They have a limited shelf life and you have to shake them well before use. I prefer the Stans, safer option, similar weight.

They don't work. Carried two of these in races for a while. When it was time to use them a small amount of foam came out, did not seal anything. Now carry 2 small Stans bottles, bomb and co2 cartridges with small tool to remove valve core. This is for my tubby race wheels.

Although I admit bias to Shimano, my wife's bike has SRAM NX 1x12, the cable is old too (about a year). It surprises me how well it works still. No issues with gear changes.

I have 1x10 and 1x11 bikes (both all shimano), can't say I notice much difference. For MTB 32 chainring in the front is fine combined with 11 smallest at the back, you won't spin this out on a dirt road, also smaller chainring makes the gears closer together. The older 10 speed shimano derailleurs will work with large cogs at the back if you use a derailleur extender. I use an old XT derailleur with derailleur extender on with my 1x10 and it is flawless. The 10 speed cassettes seem to be more available than 11 speed, also cheaper. I would recommend 46-11 or 42-11 in the ten speed depending on how strong you are. Also stick with Shimano (my opinion), the clutch derailleur is a great invention for mud. 10 speed shimano derailleur will also work with 11 speed shifter / 11 speed cassette and vice versus (11 speed derailleur with 10 speed shifter / 10 speed cassette) , so keep this in mind for future upgrades. I don't like oval chainrings, I have one on the 1x11 speed and the round chainring is better. Also 11 speed SRAM ratios are nearly identical to 11 speed shimano (so you can mix and match here). I would say the two most important things about 1x is that the easiest gear should be suitable for you (i.e. easy enough) and use a clutch derailleur.

This is not supposed to work, as Diesel indicates, I have always believed it should not work properly.

Are you using road shifter with MTB Derailleur? I thought this is what OP meant.

Get a hanger extender and use it with the normal 11 speed road derailleur. Rapide sells them, they also on Aliexpress, but then you wait ages. I don't think 11 speed MTB will work.

I have tried lots of things against dogs, nothing worked. Saved by luck mostly, and the fact that the dog wasn't seriously trying to eat me.

You can use 11 speed SRAM shifter with 11 speed Shimano Derailleur. I have used this on an MTB for many years.

The Silverback Sido's are great value. Nothing on these bikes is cheap, they go for 17 to 20K. I have bought two the past year and a bit, my mate also bought two - three Sido 1's and one Sido 3. Most are medium or large, possibly wait for an XL, try find one in South Africa.

https://bike.bikegremlin.com/1278/bicycle-rear-derailleur-compatibility/ This link says Shimano 9 speed Shifter will work with SRAM derailleur 9 speed, although I have not tried it. I believe Sunrace shifters are same as Shimano.

I had some cheaper rollers similar to Tacx, the roller surface was not round causing vibrations, I held some fine sandpaper on the bumpy section whilst my son rode them, this made a big difference to smoothing the small bumps. The two sets of Tacx rollers I have owned, the rollers were always perfectly round, however, allowing the rollers to fall over I managed to crack two of the rollers, this wrecked them. They make a very loud noise when you ride on the crack.

Check for crack in plastic.