Backyard Bike Checks: Show Your Bike Some Love and Win

[Kalahari Vegmot]

My first 'real' bike. bought in 2011 from Kloppers... Haven't seen the need to upgrade yet(like anyone needs a reason), but I prefer the money going into the roadie anyway(it's waiting on a few bits&bobs hence no pictures).

 

The wheels, pedals, fork, seatpost&saddle were all gotten for free courtesy of leHub over the years...

 

Ghetto tubeless and NX/GX 1x11 with a bombproof Hone crankset and chinese NW ring.

 

I do like the old girl...

 

 

 

I challenge anyone to a Clean Cockpit Battle....

Edited April 14, 2020 by Kalahari Vegmot

[Spoke n Bean]

Hey guys, hope you're keeping safe and servicing those steeds!

 

Here's my 2019 Merida One-Forty 800. Absolutely adore this bike, although very difficult to photograph!

I got creative and named her Zarachah which I made from the Hebrew word Zarach, meaning: to rise up, overcome, or make light, but most often used to describe the exact moment the light of dawn overcomes the darkness, followed by 'ah' to denote it being a 'she'. 

 

For now she's mostly stock except for some small accessories:

Crank brothers mallet E Pedals

Ryder slug plug and bomb mounted kit

Rockshox Mud guard

Custom Mixed sealant - fug it mixed with a dash of water and Joe's with ground black pepper granules (works well so far)

I still need to fit my Spank oozy 350 rims and hope hubs, I have the parts, busy saving for the build.

 

[worm1970]

Hi There - my baby is called Sinead -  a modified Cannnondale bad boy ultra 2002 model. I changed a lot out - new long carbon fork, new brakes Shimano M7000, 11-46 Shimano gearing with 42T Sram Apex crank  , a big 203mm front brake rotor to give some more stopping power, a comfy saddle Brookes B17 and some sturdy tyres 35mm plus the topeak panniers. All this to make a comfortable ride from cape town to Windhoek which I did in Sept 2019. Not 1 puncture and only 1 broken spoke for the entire 1600 km! Very impressed especially with the stock std mavic cxp 21 rims and the load they had to carry. She is resting now but I am planning more touring in the not too distant future.A big shout out to "Cycle logic "bike shop in Hillcrest KZN esp Andrew who gave me a lot of advice and made sure my bike was in top shape for the journey.

Keep pedalling ! 

[Rush786]

Very nice build! Interesting in that:

 

• Stocky flat pedals on a purebred XC race machine.
• Seatpost is set pretty deep into the frame.

Is the frame not slightly too large for you? Or have you dropped the saddle and put some flats on to up the radditude level of your riding?

Thanks guys @riverintheroad, @bos and @tyron im actually a Roadie that got hooked on MTB still finding myway on trails hence da flats lol, the stem had to replace it for shorter 1, i jus loved how the colour matched with other red on the bike. For the seatpost im 1.6m tall bike is size S its very hard finding a XS bike with Dealers.

[Bikeguy]

To resolve the eternal issue of n+1, and hopefully also stem wallet hemorrhage, I committed to buying three bikes for the stable.  I did allow myself a three year period to complete this project as the bikes are all self-build on a fixed budget.  The “Trinity”, was thus a long term commitment to choosing three bikes that I would be happy with for a number of years.  So after a great deal of research, sourcing parts from all over Hubland, as well as stranger places in Tennessee, Portland and Massachusetts (US is big on hand made gravel bike associated parts), the Trinity is as follows:

 

 

The Bianchi

Being a bike racer in the 80’s, the Bianchi brand always stood out, and I promised myself that one day I would own one.  So after almost 45 years, the Sempre Pro made its appearance in my life.  The frame is 130 year anniversary edition, graced by with the necessary Campangonolo groupset. 

 

The wheels also have a story and I’m currently using a Darkhorse wheelset obtained from our local Zwift Academy triathlete.  I also use a set of Spinergy Xlite wheels for those beastly crosswinds here in PE.  The only future upgrade would to rid the bike of that 53 tooth monster chainring, one day should it wear out, which maybe a while.

 

 

The Momsen STF

After several cracked alu frames, I decided that my final mountain bike would have to be steel. Essentially for the purpose that if it breaks, it can easily be repaired.  This frame is probably also the one of the three that will evolve overtime the most, playing with different forks (going lighter definitely, ridged maybe).  The first successful experiment was replacing the stem with a short 60mm KCNC unit, coupled to a Spank Spoon 785mm wide bar.  The bar is too wide at times, but this bike doubles as a gravel tour bike so the additional space for the handle bar bag is welcome.

The groupset is XT 11 speed, and the most significant upgrades has been the oval chainring upfront and the South Industries / DT swiss wheelset.  The wheels replaced a long suffering set of Stans Crests, and can already say wider rims have improved my cornering ability.

 

 

The Lynskey GR260

As one can see, my search for the Trinity, included a definite theme, Carbon, Steel and Titanium.  All I can say, this bike was worth the wait, as it was close on two years of sourcing the best available parts and then making them work together.  This bike has now the daily go to bike for training, gravel cruising and exploring (Blessed to work in the Karoo and Northern Cape)

 

The frame is the GR260, 2018 model, paired with full Ultegra with the widest gearing possible.  The wheels were locally built by The Wheelbuilder (Thx Nicholas), that can deal with the terrain and bikepacking loads using Nextie rims and Aivee hubs.  The tyres, are currently Panaracers Gravel Kings SK+ in the unusual colour, but are long lasting and still quick on the tar.  The most unusual purchase for this bike was the $4.00, 12 to 15mm adaptor from Ti Cycles in Portland.  The Lynskey fork is 12mm dTA, while the hub is 15mm.  This is on purpose so that I can swap  wheels between the Momsen and this bike should the need arize.

 

I absolutely love this bike for its comfort and durability, as there no paintwork to stress about and ease of maintenance.  The only upgrade being required in the year I have now used it being exchanging the standard rear derailleur with Ultegra RX or clutched version.  The Tankwa roads were brutal on the chain and standard derailleur and gear changing on sinkplaat paaie was impossible, until the derailleur was swapped.

[Hairy]

Hi There - my baby is called Sinead -  a modified Cannnondale bad boy ultra 2002 model. I changed a lot out - new long carbon fork, new brakes Shimano M7000, 11-46 Shimano gearing with 42T Sram Apex crank  , a big 203mm front brake rotor to give some more stopping power, a comfy saddle Brookes B17 and some sturdy tyres 35mm plus the topeak panniers. All this to make a comfortable ride from cape town to Windhoek which I did in Sept 2019. Not 1 puncture and only 1 broken spoke for the entire 1600 km! Very impressed especially with the stock std mavic cxp 21 rims and the load they had to carry. She is resting now but I am planning more touring in the not too distant future.A big shout out to "Cycle logic "bike shop in Hillcrest KZN esp Andrew who gave me a lot of advice and made sure my bike was in top shape for the journey.

Keep pedalling ! 

Nice ... where did you get your tyres from ... those are flipping hard to find in SA!

[Christofison]

#backyardbikechecks

Trek Fuel EX 8 (2018)

Pretty stock standard except for the following:

 

-Maxxis Minnion DHR II Wide Trail (EXO on the front & EXO+ on the rear)

-Sram GX 11 speed shifter & derailleur running the original Eagle drivetrain (downgrade after I destroyed the 12 speed RD)

-Some inner tube dropper protection

 

-Marshguard & some organized cables

 

-DMR Deathgrips in need of replacement

 

-Fizik Tundra saddle

 

-And finally some weight savings in the form of paint removal

Edited April 16, 2020 by Christofison

[samson99]

Nice ... where did you get your tyres from ... those are flipping hard to find in SA!

 

Hey Hairy, i might have a similar pair in the garage. will check and let you know.

[Dexter-morgan]

Here goes, My Scott Genius 950 bought it in 2015, then upgraded the factory Slx 10x2 gears to 1x11 XT, got a 32T Oval N/W chainring from Rapide and SLX brakes, also got some Rapide 30mm wheels from a Fellow Hubber with some proper Maxxis Tubeless tyres, later added a 125mm Dropper post

Edited April 16, 2020 by Dexter-morgan

[Hennie 15]

My Ridley Sablo.

Fox factory fork

Rear fox dps

Carbon truative stylo 32t crank

Xo1 rear derailer with 11/50 11 speed sunrace casette,

35mm carbon rims on fulcrum hubs

Weight 11.2kg

Edited April 20, 2020 by Hennie 15

[Matt]

Well done to our first winner, Duane_Bosch! 

 

The prize: A Muc-Off product hamper 
Muc-Off Bike Protect, Muc-Off Nano Tech Bike cleaner, Muc-Off Wet Chain Lube

 

Backyard bike check 2 of 3.

 

Behold my 2015 Giant TCR Advanced. It's pretty much a standard build apart from the 80mm stem, Mavic wheels and Selle San Marco saddle which is by far the best bike upgrade I have ever purchased. Oh and the black bar tape. Guys if you aren't a pro. Black bar tape. There's nothing worse than siff used to be white bar tape on a bike.

 

I originally bought a Merida 903 as a commuter bike to get to the office and back. I then quickly got upgradeitis and bought this bike from IRide Africa. It was one of their rental units. I donated the Merida to the Hout Bay Cycling Club and I still see it from time to time carrying a youngster up Chappies.

 

This TCR has been an amazing bike. It's taken me to France where we did a few Alpine Cols together and to Italy up Monte Grappa which is truly a BEAST of a climb. It also took me to a rather scorching Sub 8 argus this year.

 

IMG_20200408_090200_resized_20200408_090406219.jpg

 

More prizes!

Since we're all stuck inside for a bit longer we've decided to extend the end date to 30 April 2020. So if you haven't already, show your bike some love! See all the details here.

Adventure Inc., the local Muc-Off distributors have kindly thrown in another hamper as above and a bonus prize: 

Muc-Off No Puncture Hassle kit


We'll draw the next winners randomly from all entries to date and those which come in before 30 April 2020.
See all the details here.

[Duane_Bosch]

Whaaaaaat??? 

 

Yipeeeeeee!

[Pieter1]

Whaaaaaat???

 

Yipeeeeeee!

Congrats man!

[Jako De Wet]

Congrats Duane!

 

I missed the part where we need to take 3 photos! Ai

[DirtyDan]

[The Ouzo]

Congrats Duane!

 

I missed the part where we need to take 3 photos! Ai

arrghhh dammit, me too.

Will take some pics over the weekend