RodTi

Terrible news this - our thoughts are with you and your family.

That Sir, is one fine stick!

Madness - that's one hippy Alice TW! One of my very first threads up on the Hub, was me looking for info on my old frame. A fellow Hubber - might even have been TitusTi(?) popped up a google images' pic, of a DBR frame with the Michelin man on the front... It kind of stuck with me from then on... When Tyerone started his decal sales - I figured 'why not' - I needed something to cover that huge headset space ... Glad I never went with the cyclocross option - since you clearly had 1st, proper dibs! Oh - and of course, me in lycra occasionally comes close to Mr. Michelin! You still got your ride? I must be honest in that I've toyed with the idea myself... Especially with the cantilever brace at the back - reckon it wouldn't be too difficult, I'd need a rigid canti fork up front, and bob would be my uncle...

Pffft. Bamboo, people. It's the way of the (green) future.

Was that it's original fork? Sweet!! I see thatbike and I think of those orange Ice-cream suckers, and the beach... That would be awesome up and down the Seapoint Promenade! Well done on saving her. I have a similar looooong-term project lined up for an old-skool Invader tandem...

You should see it with the front mud-guard on... Looks ridiculous - although... if I knew I was going to be doing a particularly wet/muddy race/ride, I would consider it... The big plus point of the one I have on, is that it's connected to the fork, which means it 'tracks' the wheel as it turns. Previous guards, though less obtrusive in sitting underneath the downtube, only helped when you were riding in a straight line - which is not very often... Will be taking it off tonight, and having a looksie. Don't be surprised if I pop up one last pic, sans guard...

Force of habit. Was 'blinded' once by mud etc. coming down a fast section, and nearly met my maker, sort of decided then I would rather avoid that if possible. In my defence, I exercised a modicum of common sense, by not putting on the front fender, as was provided... Looks fugly, yes?

Thanks Eiger - but me'thinks that's not going to be happening soon...

Spend some time on mtbr.com forums, and you will notice this is not a once-off issue... Many, many similar complaints have been lodged against Litespeed of late, with seemingly very few resulting in a happy outcome... Pop across to the Litespeed website, and you will notice they now only offer 3 mtb's - of which the Sewanee is now the only full-susser... This compared to 4/5 years ago, when they had several... This, imo, already says something - since their sale, Litespeed simply isn't the same company. They've clearly had many comebacks on their models - and I suspect the Lifetime Warranty, which subsequently changed (and now supposedly only applies to Original Owners) - has brought them a world of trouble... Flaming them probably won't make much difference. My 2 cents.

Signing off on this thread now... Went for my first ride this afternoon - been almost a month since I was on a bike - and "wow". On the HT - when the front used to be locked out, it still ran softer in the front than at the back. Corrugations in particular used to give this lard-arse grief. Today, they disappeared... Geometry is way better, which is not surprising since the previous frame was probably just too big for me. Front is more grounded, doesn't lift as easily - and I'm able to spend more time in the saddle... Going down - when standing, way less vibrations. Had a check when I got back - and just used more than half of the inch I have at the back, which means I'm pretty dialed in. Good times ahead!

Ja thanks TM - my first cursory glance had me thinking it was limited to the mtb events listed after using the drop-down arrows on the left! Will take a proper look when I'm at the pc again... This is actually going to get the wife excited about my mtb'ing!

Oh boy - that changes things. Thanks! Will go back and have a decent look now.

Pity it's limited to so few mtb events, at least in this part of the world... Would be awesome if Discovery could extend this approach to other online registration sites, no?

Hey TW - though about doing that. Decided against it since he appears to be doffing his hat to the Cyclocross boys - and I'm not there... yet... The pic below was from a series of pics, if I recall correctly. The the one I saw - and the one you're presumably talking about - had the bike he's on over the shoulder. Googled it now - and it appears to have disappeared... The sticker that I do have on, is similar to my avatar, with him running [oh the irony].

Good call this - and good luck!

I'm thinking of either trying my hand at home-made "lazer etching" (which in all likelihood would involve me covering the relevant parts with a thin metal layer (aluminium can etc) - with the cutouts in place - and then taking some very, very rough sandpaper to the exposed parts.... OR - going for a bit of airspray loving... PM'ed a Hubber to hear if he's happy with his paintwork sticking to titanium...

It really blows knowing this is sitting at home, and I haven't been able to hit the trails with it yet... Managed a ride up and down the yard last night, in plakkies, without falling into the pool. But it's kinda not the same... Unfortunately, despite a service of them last year - the back wheel has picked up a wobble/but of play, apparently due to the bearings now needing to be replaced... Here's hoping they can still be sourced locally, or it's going to turn into another few months of effort...

I finally have my frame, after having built up the new softail... Need to spend some time with a bit of light sanding - she needs some TLC... When the Singlespeed.co.za boys get back to me with their stock of Blackspire chainrings - I'll be in business... Here be the frame - very old-skool! This shot sort of shows the ovalisation of the toptube as it meets the seatpost... The same is done down below, where the seattube meets the BB... The headtube is ridiculously long... Took off an inch of steerer when we fitted its fork to the new frame... Here be close-ups of Sandvik's 'window treatment' to the dropouts... When people told me I needed to upgrade my brakes, I used to respond I had already upgraded from canti's... Will pop up some pics after I've cleaned the frame... Not the lightest - weighs in at 1,550kg's - but a decent place to start, I guess!

Ja so look... I got a little bit impatient... Time being such a scarce commodity of late - my initial plans to slowly bring her back to life, via a pictorial, took a backseat... What do my fellow Hubbers think? Not too bad for an old frame that was lying forgotten in the corner of a LBS? Yes/no? Weight comes in at 11,740kgs - which is not great, but not too shabby either... So to cut an already long story short - I'll shut up now, and pop up the pics... The frame in front is soon to be converted to an old-skool SS... It just needs a bit of TLC..

Thanks TW - sorting out some naaice blue bolts through the Singleseed chaps!

Reasonable enough to see me going with them, rather than CRC! Just hope they get stock in soon!

What - you're a mind reader now as well? See below...

Thanks Whistler - just had a bit of email banter with Jerrard over at Singlespeed.co.za... He has advised that I look at replacing the middle ring, since replacing the outside/big ring will move my chain alignment slightly off - which can put undue stress on the hub (as in my rear wheel, not this Hub )... Considering that I am a big boy - and my wheels are, shall we say, old-skool - I'd rather not take any chances... They will be getting back to me on the Blackspire Mono Veloce Singlespeed 7075 blade (they waiting for more stock), and then I can proceed... Building this bloody SS has just about been a 9 month labour of love in itself... Been fun!

Hey Gareth... Welcome to the Hub... If possible, try and save a bit more - you won't regret it. Whereas I'm not trying to dis Avalanche bikes - it's simply not one of the recognised MTB brands... Spend a little bit of time here on the Hub, and you will quickly start picking up the stalwart brands... Mongoose, Silverback, GT, Raleigh (and several others that will no doubt be suggested by Hubbers) are the more established brands, with a long history behind them. Entry level bikes in these brands will only set you back a extra few thousand Rands (if that much), but will be a much better purchase... If you'll excuse the terrible and inaccurate analogy - rather get an entry level Toyota, Golf, Nissan, Mazda etc. than a Tata or GWM (nothing against the latter ), but hope you know what I mean... If you're simply looking at getting a foot in the door - then you don't need to break the bank, but a bit more research and patience (and saving up) will make a huge difference... If possible, go and check out some of the bigger LBS's - the one you've been at might have a reputation for being a bit cheaper - but the bigger stores can often get better prices on the entry-levels, simply because they sell more - and will have a larger variety on display. Window shopping costs nothing - as does surfing the Hub! Good luck - and don't be shy to pop up some more options as you find them!

My limited knowledge on this, gleaned from scouring the net this evening in my attempts to sort out a SS crankset - suggests the following: The BCD of different cranks can be variable - but 104mm appears to be quite a common standard amongst most of the Shimano cranks... Not sure about RF though... I would reason you hit CRC or the actual RaceFace website, and get technical info for your Atlas cranks - you should be able to confirm what the BCD is for them. With this - you can then check out the various chainring options that you're considering - they should also list their BCD in the spec section... I presume if the bolt-number and BCD for your crank and chainrings match - then they should work...