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I agree Porky, its nothing but a charade and no need to keep it up any longer. Us regular cyclists will never see any benefit for our money, so just cut the c**p, ask for the R70.00 as a donation, you can still get all our details etc, and send us a nice pre printed, generic thank you which we can use as a license, its greener as we use less plastic and most of us dont even need or use it anyway. I lost my card last year, and I will probably loose this one as well, shows how many times I needed it.!

Fit can be an issue, but lower back pain can have very serious underlying issues like mechanical damage, spinal misalignment etc. Before fiddleinig on fit etc visit a doc and ask him to check for mechanical issues which may need to be addressed. If all is well, MOST back pain is not fitment issues (this is commonly thrown around for every bicycle problem) but mostly caused by pushing too big a gear for too long for your current lower back strength level. Runners get exactly the same problem when running too far and overworking the lower back which is a stabilising muscle and easily overworked. ..............and runners have no fitment issues.! Anyway, its basically just overworked muscles like any other. Except the lower back gos easily into spasm takes much longer to recover from the inflamatory process than other muscles and when you continue working it hard it just gets worse. The only remedy is rest and anti inflamatory medication, and building up the strength level of these muscles.

There is NO other reason Slowbee, believe me, I am in the import and distribution business myself, not cycling but we hold the distributorship for a number of international brands which we either manufacture and / or distribute under license to most of the major retailers and hundreds of independants. We have a concept store where the customer can walk in, see the entire range, and buy what he wants at retail. NO MANUFACTURER cares two hoots, they want numbers and how you get it is up to you, and believe me we represent manufacturers 10 x the size of the cycling industry. Anyway, as an aside I have sold the company which has been in my family for over 50 years to a mulitnational distributor, and, as of 30 Jan I am semi retired, at the ripe old age of 50.!! So lets get involved with this discussion, I am not someone guessing here I know what I am talking about, and furthermore - "I have all day to beat THIS drum".! widget2009-01-17 02:32:41

Isnt there another Harrys Pancakes in Sabie? Pretty sure I went to one there last year, but never go to Dullstroom, for me, its just a tourist mecca of cheap knock off animal curios and an odd assortment of retailers selling overpriced food and silk bedding. Anyway, I dont think there was anything initially wrong with the motivation behind the Hello Peter site, it had good merit and helped a lot of people who were fairly powerless before. However, over time it has been abused and now the motivation behind the site is financial from both sides. Unfortunately without some mechanism to verify complaints posted and ensure they are factual and not padded with emotion, the site has degenerated into a "gripe fest" with few people paying any attention. Also remember when the site came into use, the idea of a customer care centre was foreign to most SA businesses and "Hello Peter" filled that gap nicely, however, nowadays, most major businesses have there own in house complaint resolution centre and deal with customer issues there, so they seldom even bother to respond to these posts.

This scenario is been played out all over the world. Worldwide (and dont let anybody tell you differant) manufacturers are trying to get CLOSER to their customer base, many open concept stores (similar to Adidas, Nike etc here) so that they have their finger on the pulse of whats happening and can showcase all the latest products. SA appears to be moving in totally the opposite direction with distributors doing their level best to not deal with clients ( I crashed and broke an STI some time back, took it to the shop and was told the Shimano distributors only sell pairs not singles) so I phoned coolheat, they treated me like a pariah - so I spent 10 minutes and bought on-line ex USA. Sorry, Steve, but those are the facts - anyway, water under the bridge, the fact is it wont be long before distributors will be forced to sell to clients direct through channels like concept stores or on-line, the local market is in recession and as prices climb customers will look for cheaper alternatives, the attrition in the Cycle business will start comes winter, only the strong businesses like Cajees, Solomans and the like will weather it with a smile, but I predict few other boutique stores will survive. I spend 5 months a year travelling internationally, SA is still clinging to the old supply chain of manufacturer / wholesaler - distributor - retailer, this is as old as the dinosaur, today distributors / wholesalers all over the world are selling direct - I see it happening here sooner rather than later.

For a company thats been pushing franchise stores, to now alledgedly be selling (or already sold) their flagship store,.......................... is not a good omen to me.!

If you paid R100.00 you showed commitment, there is nothing they can do to you legally at the present. Obviously it cannot continue indefinately, but no creditor will get judgement against you for at least 6 months if you continue to pay something every month. Chin up, it will get better.

You have notified them of your predicament, but they can still proceed legally against you if you do not pay something, you need to show some commitment as well, make an effort to pay anything, even if its only R50.00 - as long as you pay something, theres nothing they can do.

I actually like to buy in a shop like that.! It shows me they are prosperous and moving stock which means generally they are busy. The best dive shop I have ever been into was in Marseille in France, it had a similar system, boxes everywhere, bits all over the place, stuff stuck in the ceiling etc, compressors roaring in the back, empty cylinders all over.......... if you wanted something you called the assistant (he never came to you) who looked like a hobo in short pants and a scruffy shirt, asked him what you needed, he scratched his head, dived under a few boxes and comes out with your requirements!!. As for pricing it was a similar affair, he would scratch his chin mumble something, you tell him its too expensive, he rolls his eyes and gives you a better price, you haul out your card and pay. Great fun, and the shop is ALWAYS packed full with stock and customers. You can keep your glitzy half baked shops, give me a real experience anytime.!

I think Mr Els and Pro -Bike are running for cover, 70% increase is plain unheard of. As someone else said, Pro-Bike is a big supplier to the chains, like me, Mr Els will deal with these buyers and I can assure you they will NOT tolerate a 70% increase, he will be laughed out the door. So watch carefully, Pro-Bike products at these stores will go up by about 15% if he is a top negotiater, they really like him and he gives them a nice 2009 calender, the losses he makes there will be passed onto the high end bikes sold in the glitzy chrome and glass shops. Pro-bike can never afford to loose the chain stores, they move big numbers, payment is guaranteed and they keep Pro-bikes volume up at the manufacturers - these products will not be moving much, price wise.!!

Be like me, - I dont have any tools. ..................Sorry, I do, a bent screwdriver I use to open paint cans, an old claw hammer I use to close paint cans and a pair of pliers, I use that to straighten the screwdriver occassionally.! I also have a paint brush, I think, I may have lost it in the paint can.