Mecnic

Get your LBS to contact Dragon Sports they were the importers for Alex wheels I am unshure if they still bring them in as they do mavic now, maybe they still have some stock laying around. Alternatively search for Ghostface here on the hud he is involved at dragons send him a pm and i"m ssure he'll be able to steer you in the right direction.

Ja there would be especially to those forks Your handling would be alot better the Recon is a great fork but obviously the solo air has its limitations and the dual air system on the rock shox has a more tuneable ride and the fox also has its advatages. I would say as you mainly ride Marathons the Fox make take it on Smoothness of the ride but it is as far as I can remeber it is more expensive than the REBA but don't get me wrong the REBA is also an amazing fork and if tuned right can also be super smooth, I am obviously FOX but its up to you. What rear shox does your GT have on it?

Both the fox and Reba are great forks, there a subtle differences between the two of them: Reba: Uses dual air both a postive and Negative air chamber so the ride can be tuned to perfection, iy has a remote lock out and rebound, Rock Shox puts alot of technology into there forks and parts a freely avasilable in SA Fox F120: the fox runs an air positve spring and a small coil negative spring, the dampening on fox is spot on and it is in itself a tuneable fork. Fox now has a remote lock out and rebound dampening. Parts are also freely available. I have ridden all 3 forks in question I started on a Recon had a reba on my bike for a while and now have a fox, Both the Reba and the Fox forks are more tuneable thn the Recon which in itself is a great fork. I find the ride on te fox to be a bit smoother and more forgiving than the Reba and I prefer the manual lock out my Fox has. Basically in short the reba and Fox are more tuneable and smoother than the recon, I prefer the smoother ride the Fox offers but I would in the same breath not say no if someone gave me a reba to ride. Hope this helps you anything else you want to know let us know.

When a newby asks about a pm or bump send him here

Bought an Anthem x came with a pump, Go back and claim it.

KNow its off topic nut I use perple Extreme so far its great

Mine are old specialized going for year 7 now and still going strong and it's not like I don't ride they are just not dieing but are showing there age. Will be replaced eventually

Work on it myself, Have a mentor here and there as you are never finished learning but do all the work myself

Depending on the model of rock shox you'll have to buy a new dampner and a remote lockout kit.

A good helmet is an essential thing to have, I wouldn't say spending R2000+ is better than say R600 I agree that shelling out money on a helmet is money well spent I personally don't feel safe in cheap helmets I think the point trying to be made is that a helmet from the "Big Brand" (Bell, Giro, 661, Limar.....) which complies with the saftey standards is a good investment. Unfortunately most people do not understand that R600+ on a helmet is alot cheaper than the ICU with a head injury it seems they buy cars with safety in mind but wont drop some money on a helmet. It's the attitude of " I never ride with a helmet or being stingy on the helmet wich gets people killed and injured I myself had had a few nasty falls and written off completely the follwing helmets: 661 Full comp (went straight over the bar on a big jump, now have naeck and shoulder issues but my head was okay) Giro, got my wheels tapped and ate tar. Bell Slant, hit a tree in an XC race helmet shattered but I was okay I am thankful that I bought good quality helmets in the first place.

What I use is a mix of mineral oil and a rubber specific grease so that the seal doesn't expand, the rubber grease is thick so mix it with mineral oil to make it thinner and useable. Mavic Freehubs can be tempermental so servise them regularly

The smoking anti-smoking debate hijack may only start on page 2 and not go past page 3

Mineral oil can be ordered from your local bike shop, if they don't have in stock already.

I ueed to have an old VRX was the start of good things. I would say get the missus a new bike, one that is exactly her size she'll enjoy riding it more anyway unless you have sentimental value attatched to the bike I'd probally sell them off to generate some money. BUt post some pics of the bikes then we can see what we are dealing with

Usually the chain and casette but sometime the middle blade goes aswell, if you ride there most of the time but don't worry I know for a fact deore blades fit perfectly on those LX cranks I'm a student and have the same cranks they like R120 for a middle Deore blade so worst case chain casette and middle blade Personally I would replace the midle blade anyway just to be safe I've once replaced my chain and cassette and it was skipping on the middle blade anyway so had to replace it anyhow.

I bled my avid elixers last nite and some how a bubble sneaked in. Half way in my rear brake lost alot of power and pulled to the bar,so always check your work with a small ride if I didn't test it it would have been a disaster in racing. Also bear in mind that after you've drained the system some air could get trapped in the corners of the caliper or levers so alway alway check it. One more tip when the pads are out put a small block of wood between the piston and then bleed them the block will stop the pistons sneaking outward and make the bleeding easier.

There are a few things that can cause performance to dip. 1. The brake fluid degrades over time as a result of the heat generated by the braking itself the oil goes kind of watery and thin and looses its pink colour therefore needs to be replaced from time to time. 2. the pads wear down and the pistons stand further out as a result to make up for the pad wear the oil for this is taken from the reseviour slowly emptying it. 3.Small amounts of oil is lost through the seals as the oil also lubricates the seals These are just a few reasons there can be many others. I have a general rule of thumb, when my pads wear out over a long time (not as a reasult of one muddy race) I replace the pads and re-blead the system because you'll have to push the calipers pistons back anyway to accomadate the new pads with the thicker braking surface.

Yes MIneralOIl only its a pink oil from shimano DO NOT use Normal Dot4 as this will mess up the internal seals. Basic technique: open reseviour cap on the lever make shure it is parallel to the ground, use a syringe with a plastic tube on the tip and put it over the bleed nipple, open the nipple, suck out the old oil and dispose of it properly. Bleading is the same technique but in reverse pushing oil in from the syringe into the caliper through the hose to the lever. don't get any air in the syringe when you bleed as it may cause a nasty bubble and a dip in performance. if the reseviour in the lever get filled up suck some oil out with a different syringe. Here are a few tips for you, Remove the pads and don't get oil on the, Push the pistons back into the caliper. Bleed the brakes with new oil. Close everything back up

This is just my opinion and I only have experience with the older Aeroizine bbs the olders one didn't last but I am not shure how the new versions are. Hopefully the newer versions have sorted the old models problems.

Check that the bead matches up properly had it happen to me also on a kenda and the beads didn't match up properly

All it will cause is for the bearings to become even more shot or if the bearing totally seize the crank are will rotate in the bearings and cause some damage how long must you wait for the new bb? Personally I wouldn't ride it until I get the new one but thats just me others may argue otherwise is it a mountainbike or road bb, Rush sports do do replacement bearing kits from enduro for shimano bb check it out at rushsports.co.za

Heres the BBB one the part number is BHP 21 and is available in SA if you can't find one let me know and I'll try to get hold of one for you. Its called an Extender (Steerer Tube Adaptor)

I assume you are referring to external cup BBs In generl truvativ GXP has a narrower inner diameter on the non drive side cup Race face, Shimano and FSA are in general cross compatible or "Shimano" compatible if you want to use that as a standard of sorts. Ohter manufacturer such as KCNC,Chris King, Hope and aeriozine and a few others make bbs which are mostly shimano compatible (Hope offer spacers which fit in the non drive bearing for GXP cranks, not shure what the case is for chris king) Ranking them from best to worse (This is my opinion so don't get offeneded anyone) 1) Chris King 2) Hope 3) Shimano 4) AeroZine(the old ones atleat)and FSA (Renowned for not lasting)

Use an the old threaded heaset and get an adaptor I think BBB makes them or if the 1" headset is threadless simply use a space inside the 1 1/8" stem.

Fortunately now Rush sports does do replacement bearings for Shimano BB's so when the new Shimano eventually goes the bearings can be replaced, but still FSA BB's aren't that great.