Jules

JB' date=' I hope your tongue is in your cheek here. This happens with virtually all bottle cages, not just Spez. Mine were Bontrager, Epoh's were Spez. How bad was the damage on the 'Dale? [/quote'] ? No, I'm serious. This smacks of bad design and testing. Bontrager should then also recall theirs. The one I saw was Spez, hence my comment. ? The 'Dale's downtube was abraded half-way through on two spots 5mm apart. I'd say the hole was 6mm in diameter tapering smaller the deeper it got. Definitely into the carbon weave. ? I don't blame the local importer, but he/she should take note and cease to sell the rubbish. ? ? Very interesting. It's not very important for guys with metal bikes, but for us poncey carbon fibre riders, this sort of damage is very annoying. The guy must have been distressed when you pointed the damage to him. Is he going to get it repaired, like I did? Did you offer him advice?

JB, I hope your tongue is in your cheek here. This happens with virtually all bottle cages, not just Spez. Mine were Bontrager, Epoh's were Spez. How bad was the damage on the 'Dale?

Agreed it's not always roses, but the description should state if it includes hoses etc. I've bought two sets of disc brakes from CRC and they have both come pre bled with hoses. You will usually have to cut the back hose (unless you ride a tandem). JB will do this for you at a very reasonable price. He has no problem working on CRC stuff, because he doesn't have the vested interests that a bike shop does. I find the CRC/JB combination provides me with much greater satisfaction than the average LBS. Jules2010-02-12 03:26:01

The point is the buyer still has money in his pocket that he wouldn't have if he bought local. That has to be a good thing. When it comes to "buy local" campaigns and other protectionist policies, I stand with the great English economist David Ricardo. I don't enter into nonsensical economic transactions for the sake of some fake sense of patriotism, which is why I don't pay "car guards" and why I don't buy goods from the LBS.

Thanks for the replies

GoLefty, we're talking about imported goods, so the majority of the value (in cases where the total mark up is less than 100%) leaves the country regardless. Your argument also fails to mention the benefit of lower prices at CRC. This is a tangible benefit felt by ordinary cyclists. It goes straight to their bottom line, and is likely to remain in the SA economy. I'll give you a simple example. At breakfast today Flex told me his colleague was looking at buying a pair of cycling shoes. He went to the Lab and was looking at a pair for R1800. Nothing fancy, no carbon sole, etc. Flex told him we're putting a CRC order in this week, why don't you add a pair of shoes to the order. He put a pair of Shimano carbon soled shoes on for about R650. Sure there will be duties and VAT to pay, but it'll still be much cheaper than the LBS. Bored girl recently bought a pair of gloves off CRC for R150. LBS price was R450.

How about a free Whasp for every vote?

I find that most valve extenders do not seal nicely. What I'm looking for is the type of extender that can screw into a valve with a removable core. In other words, remove the core, screw in the extender, screw the core into the extender if it doesn't already have one. Does such a product exist? What is your experience with valve extenders? Which ones do you use/recommend?

That must be a trick question because there isn't one

Sorry, it's taken so long, but here are the pictures of the repair. I'm not sure it's worth a respray so I'm going to leave it as is for the time being. The guys there were adamant that the frame had been weakened, and that there was a risk of the damage spreading via a crack. http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs238.snc3/22531_488841650640_868120640_10903549_5878319_n.jpg http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs298.ash1/22531_488841675640_868120640_10903550_266088_n.jpg The bike was ridden to victory in the sub vets category at the EP Herald, so I don't think the extra weight has a material negative effect

That's a lot of loot to save a few grams each pedal. Interesting that Lance likes no float. Mr LOOK, do you the preferences of the other Radio Shack riders? I road no float for many years and preferred it to the normal red cleats. Only started riding with the standard grey Keo cleats because they were all I had at the time. Perhaps it's time to change back to black... If it's good enough for Lance...

Sram on a Colnago is a mortal sin.

Ayoba to that! Kiwi once dropped stuff off at my work as part of his great service.

Christie, it's a pity I didn't get a chance to show you my bike in the flesh. If you feel the damage you can see how deep it is. As Mud Dee pointed out, a plastic bottle can do a lot of damage when combined with a paste of water and sand. Just look at what relatively soft nylon bushings can do to hard anodised fork stanchions under the same sort of conditions. As for the fugliness, i think the position of the damage combined with the fact that it's already clear coat will count in my favour.

Carbon fibre - it's all nonsense! I'm not a ponce, I don't mind a bit of a change in the weave pattern

Here are the pics he mentioned: http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs218.snc3/22571_471715970640_868120640_10801102_4421612_n.jpg http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs218.snc3/22571_471715985640_868120640_10801103_395132_n.jpg http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs238.snc3/22571_471715990640_868120640_10801104_7899286_n.jpg

After reading Christie's response, I'm starting to feel like a bit of a woosie. However, the thought of a Cycle Art job is appealing...

I stand corrected, but I think Linden will do that fork for under R200. It's much easier to service than the more expensive Rock Shox and Fox forks. It's also really easy to do yourself.

Wrap around. Apparently that's the best way to strengthen the tube.

Update: took my bike to Macarbi, the carbon repair specialists, and they say the carbon has been weakened there. A patch was recommended. The cynics might say that's like asking a hairdresser whether you need a haircut, but I reckon it's better to be safe than sorry, so I'm having the patch done. Will post pics once it's done.

Still on a rigid. Mine has v-brakes too. I view it as a no-nonsense, low maintenance work horse

Ja, I've got one. It's a sweet ride. Speak to Kiwi. His steel On-One bikes are probably the closest match to the Peace. He should be able to do the same price or even cheaper.