my_intense

Never did I realise that a menial little musing about the price of a coke could lead to an intense (err..) debate on free market forces, exploitation of consumers and the nutritional value of carbonated sugar water :-) Ok, so briefly: 1. Free market forces. If it's too expensive don't buy it. Easy, I get that. Consumer exploitation still irks me. I don't mind paying 12 bucks+ if I sit down and get served. But a can out of a fridge over the counter.....There's a business opportunity here for someone with a big cooler box full of choccies and coolies on any weekend at Tokai/Jonkershoek/Hillcrest/etc. 2. Coke in general. I used coke as a metaphor. If I buy canned sugarwater, which is very seldom, it would be a green Ice Tea (also R12 in Tokai :-). However, somewhere in the middle of the Malutis on the Freedom Challenge, you arrive at a leetle spaza shop, and you have a choice of coke or carling black label. period. Those cokes we call "the little red ambulance"...man it's heaven after all that luke-warm water that tastes of plastic and old energy drinks. (Hard to resit the Black Label though :-) cheers!

Anybody lost their bike tools on the pipetrack up to Constantia nek recently? I found a pump, multi-tools and odds&sodds scattered around the 1st big hill going towards Constantia Nek from Fytnbos close, Bokkemanskloof. SO if you got home and your saddle bag was empty, let me know.

was just musing.... {backs off under the heat}

Am I behind the times or is R12.00 for a can of coke at the coffee shop a bit steep? That's more than at the airport.

Ventana makes a 27.5er as well as a hybrid 26rear/29front...me..I'm have too much money sunk in my 26er and certainly don't feel inadequate. Mountain bikes seem to be becoming like laptops and cellphones, gotta keep upgrading to stay on trend.

The CapeStorm softshell vest is my life-saver, worn under a windshell or a serious weather-proof jacket in extreme conditions (Malutis in winter on the Freedom Challenge). I like the Vantage from Capestorm. http://www.capestorm.co.za/products/detail/18?cat=14&activity=30 And a Sealskinz skullcap to keep head and ears warm. http://www.sealskinz.com/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/KJ631||~@c~@b|0|user|1,0,0,1|53|

My Stans strip cracked up, and when I baulked at the R250 to get a new one, my LBS suggested the Stans tape. Looks like thick shiny masking tape. R40 later and a tubeless valve and I'm still riding 2 months later. Downside is if you take it off, you must chuck away and replace with new tape (ie. if I need to replace a spoke) Lotsa talk about bombing the tubeless in this thread. Be careful, it shrivels all your Stans fluid instantaneously into a solid piece of gloob (I guess it's the cold??. The footpump always works for me.

Never tried this myself, but I know a bike techie that swears by adding a tablespoon of mieliemeal to the stans when he fits non-tubeless tyres. He was specifically referring to the cheapie Kenda Karma vanilla tyre (wired bead not folding). Been planning to try that some time, but for now I stick to UST.

I also found out the hard way that using a bomb to reinflate a tyre causes the Stans to goo up into a ball instantaneously leaving nothing to plug holes. Stewie, do think non-ammonia sealants will avoid that problem? Which non-ammonia sealant can you recommend?

The old-school patch is bit too stretchy I think. I use a patch cut from an old UST tyre with a thin sidewall, ie. Hutchinson, and superglue that to the inside to reinforce it. I has a similar gash in the place you describe it, it happened when I tried to clear a ditch and the back wheel hit the edge of the ditch (it was dark, saw it too late). I guess the tyre was also running a bit low on pressure (a kenda sml-block8). I'm still riding that tyre as a backup/training/close to home at times.