Murrob

This is terrible, when I started cycling again a few years ago after a long hiatus I bought a bike from him. I remember it being a good easy experience. Still have the bike which my wife now uses. Hope he can recover from this.

You wouldn’t need loadshedding to have a power surge, the fluctuations in our power is quite something to see, if you care to monitor it with the right tools. I would also try claiming from insurance.

Looking online and for ease of reference From Wikipedia ‘The puff adder (Bitis arietans) is a viperspecies found in savannahs and grasslands from Morocco and western Arabia throughout Africaexcept for the Sahara and rainforest regions.[3] It is responsible for causing the most snakebite fatalities in Africa owing to various factors, such as its wide distribution, frequent occurrence in highly populated regions, and aggressive disposition.[4][5] Like all other vipers, it is venomous. Two subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspeciesdescribed here.[6] German naturalist Blasius Merrem described the puff adder in 1820. The word arietans means "striking violently" and is derived from the Latin arieto.[11] The type locality given is "Promontorio bonae spei" (Cape of Good Hope), South Africa.[2] Normally a sluggish species, the puff adder relies on camouflage for protection. Locomotion is primarily rectilinear, using the broad ventral scales in a caterpillar fashion and aided by its own weight for traction. When agitated, it can resort to a typical serpentine movement of surprising speed.[4][12] Although mainly terrestrial, these snakes are good swimmers and can also climb with ease; often they are found basking in low bushes. One specimen was found 4.6 m above the ground in a densely branched tree.[4] If disturbed, they hiss loudly and continuously, adopting a tightly coiled defensive posture with the forepart of their body held in a taut "S" shape. At the same time, they may attempt to back away from the threat towards cover. They may strike suddenly and fast, to the side as easily as forwards, before returning quickly to the defensive position, ready to strike again. During a strike, the force of the impact is so strong, and the long fangs penetrate so deeply, that prey items are often killed by the physical trauma alone. The fangs apparently can penetrate soft leather.[4][12] They can strike to a distance of about one-third of their body length, but juveniles can launch their entire bodies forwards in the process. These snakes rarely grip their victims, but instead release quickly to return to the striking position.[4]‘ The above certainly increases the nope rope status for me…

So my wife nearly stepped on this Puff Adder at Boschendal on Sunday while trail running up the mountain side. Super big fat lazy guy, he raised up and all with the normal warning signs, at which point she rapidly backed away and took this video. Strange was that this was well past mid day, perhaps because it was a bit cooler (23 degrees) it was out longer in the sun. Fair warning, there is some swearing! IMG_8017.MOV

Yup, also keen to try running a dropper, but am not convinced of the benefits, they seem super heavy as well. Not keen on crowding up the cockpit again. I see you can also run the Fox remote inverted on the right side to free up space on the left side.

The things you learn I bought a new FOX 120mm SC remote lockout - as one of the final pieces for my MTB build a few months ago, when assembling it, I soon realised that it was push to lock and my rear shock was push to unlock.I had asked the salesman at the time and was assured it was standard lockout, on further reading I found that FOX had indeed changed it up for the 2022-3 forks. This resulted in me setting up two lockout levers, which looked terrible and crowded up the handlebars of course. I then started making enquires at a number of shops, some had no suggestions and others had very costly ones, the one that stuck out was to replace the entire damper setup at a cost of R4,500, this seemed excessive. Come service time and with me now being based in the Cape, I eventually found myself at Knipe Racing, Louis saw the two lockout lever setup, offered a solution for R950 and hey presto, sorted. So now you know... you can in fact rather cost effectively change the fork from PTL to PTU. Also, as an aside Fox does recommend 125h service intervals on the newer forks and shocks. It would seem our SA conditions require more regular servicing though. So good to get your servicing guys to check suspension and forks at the "normal" intervals.

Over the years I have tried virtually all platforms, and always go back to Shimano XT. I do replace the cleats every now and then to prevent play and also run them quite tight and the rubber treads on my shoes are also generally good to make sure there is nice engagement. XTR the seals keep on backing out, so not a fan. So not sure why you would be having such a different experience as my XT’s are great! By far better than the other options I’ve tried and bomb proof as well.

Thank you. Much appreciated, coffee on me if we ever meet. Cheers M

Hey, from the big smoke and keen to understand this detour, as we want to ride the route this weekend, did look on the map to try figure it out, but not getting it. Could you elaborate or better yet, draw a picture for us geographically challenged folks please, would be most grateful.

I was based in Gauteng when CBR Durbanville assisted. Couple of emails up and down to confirm design and one postnet later I had my three colour variations.

Yup, super service from them, selected my option and got colour options to match my frame.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery! I hope the bike is covered and you can get it sorted/new one. I was looking at the new Varia radar with the camera that records what comes from behind, thinking that I would not think there is too much use for it. Guess this would be the use case that justifies it.

I had something very similar, ignored it initially which made it much worse over longer term. It’s now taken significant effort to rehab and get strength back. It’s worth a few visits to a good physio and get them to loosen whatever has tightened up to protect the shoulder. Then a combination of exercises and stretching has seen me make great progress, nothing crazy, couple of stretches daily after shower and some normal exercises after activating the shoulder with stretch bands.

I understand that Carbon Bike Repair can do cosmetic repairs of groupsets. I remember seeing a pic of a derailleur they had redone. https://carbonbikerepair.co.za

Went GX AXS in October with a new build, at the time simply could not justify added expense of XX1, didn’t see xo1 available, had a wet ride and the pulley wheels seized (did service the bearings, but any reason to upgrade…), so just replaced with Csixx cage and pulley wheels, which are now easier to service with the cage being lighter as well (if you are in the that kind of thing). From what I hear guys have been breaking the carbon cages on xx1, so Csixx for the win. Shifting has been faultless, but I have needed to tweak on occasion, which I would expect with normal wear etc.

I have been trying out the Schwalbe’s for the last while, started with the Ray 2.35 on both front and rear and really liked it. I’m running 30mm ID rims so really like the extra volume and lower pressure. Then I stuck a Ralph 2.25 on the back and must say that while it grips and does what it’s supposed to, I am tempted to put the Ray on the back again, as the Ralph makes the rear end feel a bit loose, but that could also be tyre pressure. So far super reliable over mixed terrain and conditions, run the Stans race sealant which seem to perform really well. But I am a stickler for replacing sealant every 3 months (Hubtiger for the win). I am also very keen to try the Pirelli’s, but stock seems to be in short supply of the xc pro wall versions. However the Pirelli rear specific tyre might be a bit narrow for 30mm ID at 2.2

Bike shield for the win, easy to apply and remove when you need to, and thick enough that it really does protect and nicely mouldable with a bit of heat from a hairdryer. Used it to enhance protection and cover the typical areas that get whacked, rubbed, scratched. Rather get the big sheet if you can find it and spend a bit of time cutting sizes and fitting rather than the precut kits.

I think an important point to note is that it’s not Shimano that does not honour warranties in SA but rather the SA distributors. Same can be said for a lot of SA distributors of products in my experience. If you look at the overseas forums most warranty issues are handled quickly and without fuss. But in SA a completely different story, maybe due to market size and/or proper warranty processes not being in place or costs of shipping back and forth, nett result being a distributor who pushes back hard on claims. I also find it weird that bike shops do not push back harder against the distributors, because these ridiculous warranty processes hurt the relationship with the client at the end of the day. But apparently we are all thieves and liars when it comes to claims.

I’ve gone 12-14 in a bottle, more if I use a 950 bottle, then would take extra 32GI hydrate tablets to add to water along the way. I would also certainly eat some far bars, the more fruity long distance one, and generally if we stop at broodblik or Bronkies would stop at a cafe to eat some solid food as I agree the racepro could get tiring, but it works! Don’t think it means you can’t eat other things if you are using the racepro.

I also had the GP5000 tubeless which perished, that being said I never had any flats that the sealant couldn’t handle, and there were some pretty serious bits of metal etc that I picked up on our delightful roads, but I am pretty religious in making sure to replace/top up sealant. Was pretty annoyed that I was fobbed off in terms of warranty on the GP5000’s. Switched to the Pirelli Zero tubeless 26mm I think they are awesome, no issues, but continue to make sure sealant is fresh. Been using Otoe Seel made by O.B from Epic Sports, works super well in the road tyres.

I’ve run shimano XT m8000 and the m8100 on my bikes for the last few years, faultless in my opinion, with the m8100 being even better, easy to bleed yourself, with less consequences if you mess due to mineral oil. Have been sniffing around for XTR m9100 the last while, but also got lots of reports that it’s very different performance. I’ve now fitted some Hope’s and will see how they go, the Hope’s are gonna need to be very good to beat how happy I was with XT’s though.

Garmin Fenix 6 watch mount, tried to reply with the pic… but it works super well, allows you then mount your watch on the out front mount or handlebar with quarter turn. Luckily it works with the Fenix 7 as well, at least the large mount does with the 7x solar.

Really like how the Garmin light mounts on the out front mount, also can be mounted directly on the handlebar, comes with a couple of options.

I have the mountings on both road and mtb, I find on the trails at dusk and night it works really well, and as stated it buys you that extra bit of riding time when you sneak off late afternoon. Especially how it changes brightness automatically based on your speed. But yes, certainly the combo of the rear and front make great sense on the road bike day or night, especially as the radar light goes brighter when vehicles pass, I’m pretty sure it seems to pull driver attention and motorists do seem to be more aware.