River Rat

Jaco, I have just recently changed to 10 speed ( came with my new bike). It is a 3 x 10 and I get the feeling that there are too many gears, if that is possible. I've only had three rides one of which was the 77km at the Induna so maybe my perception will change with more rides. It might be that a 2 x 10 is more effective but I won't know until I've tried it.

Dirt Rider I hear you and the content of these minutes have left me with a great amount of discontent and ill feeling towards the individuals involved, regardless of the comp com's reluctance to make a case. What I feel won't change until I see a satisfactory explanation around the content of these minutes.

Tumble from your statement that the authenticity of the minutes were never in question but rather the accuracy thereof can I deduce from this that the attendees of this meeting are disputing its contents?

If a president can wrangle out of an enquiry into an arms deal why not the cycle industry? Guys in the construction sector have paid fines on what would seem to be a lot less evidence. I guess the so called minutes must have been falsified.

For those that did the words spectacular and stunning would be understatements. Arguably the best marked route I've seen. For those that did the 40k you would be surprised to hear that the second loop on the 75k was even more spectacular and indeed tougher. The journey up the Sabie river was breathtaking. Ps thanks to the grumpy dude who told me at the 36k mark that I would never finish the 75k. You really inspired me to continue, just a pity you weren't at the end when I finished cause I was going to give you a piece of my mind. Maybe next time!

You can enter the reserve via the Top of Johan Rissik drive which is relatively safe or you can go offroad next to the fence from Fountains circle up to the entrance. I guess that you could do a loop of approximately 10 kms with mix of tar and dirt. There are other tracks from those described earlier but they end up in dead ends, which means you can up the mix of dirt if you don't mind double backing. This would include some seriaas hills though (well seriaas for me that is) the stretch down to the animal waterhole from the reservoirs is quite challenging.

And something woolly to catch some blackjacks please.

There is a trail being naturally enhanced by the Zebras. You can enter it from about 200m from the gate at the R21 on the right hand side of the road and it exits onto the road between the radio tower and the top gate. It is about 3km long but quite gnarly thanks to the Zebbies who are loosening up boulders and just leaving them in the path. There is another path that you can enter just after the reservoirs that heads upto the radio tower it's not long but it is great hill training just keep right and it will lead you onto a jeep track. I rode there yesterday afternoon on my own and felt quite safe. It would be great if more people would ride these paths and if you have to walk kick some of the loose boulders off the path it would certainly help me.

It is not often one gets to compliment great service but when it's due it's due... I bought a Moose 4 Buzz Rack from Solomon's Cycle in Woodmead this time last year and I recently noticed that the weld on the base had come loose (clearly a lack of penetration on the weld). I took the rack back to Solomon's on Thursday last week and their response was that they would send it to the manufacturer and I would have a response by Monday. Monday comes and I have a message on my mobile that my rack was ready for collection. I collect it and attached is a letter from RFA Distributors ( I believe the agents for Buzz Rack)explaining that they replaced the entire foot of the Rack. Less than a week to address a complaint, no quibbles and clear communication. Well Done RFA ( and Sue Fowler who signed the letter) as well as Solomons, a difficult customer is impressed! :clap:

@dubber88 Thanks will do.

I would love to join you but I have yet to invest in lights, any suggestions on what to buy?

Welcome Mario you seem to be about where I was last year this time year and I boast quite a few marathons since then. I see you're based in Pretoria and my simple advice to you is get to Groenkloof Nature reserve as soon as possible and ride the trails there. It gives you the opportunity to develop your technicals skills and before you know it your fitness improves as well. Don't try and keep up with your son though, kids are bullies when given the chance to gang upon their parents.

Garmin Connect because it calculates the elevation from professionally surveyed topographical maps using your route as a reference. Whilst your Garmin uses satellite signals to calculate it which is less accurate, this is what you see on training center. There is an option to enable or disable the elevation correction on Garmin Connect I would suggest enabling it. The correction is quite large depending on the model of your garmin and whether it incorporates maps or not. Theoretically this is because it can make its own correct off the map data loaded on it.

Are you wearing anything around your neck such as a gold chain etc? I find that this interferes with the readings. In fact I have had a heart rate of 324 thanks to my car key on a lanyard!

www.garricvosloo.co.za. I've used him for a bike set up with good results. Just a word of caution in my instance the success is highly dependent on core strength and this is related to the core training. Use it or lose it!

Thanks Taps! Will try them out.

Thanks Patham great help!

@Patham - you've got it! It has a sort of stop start feeling to it ( rather like my training regime!). I like your G clamp idea I'll give it a try. As for the bearings how do you size them? Would I have to remove them to do this?

I have being trying to cure an irritating creaking sound which I believe is coming from a worn bearing where the seat stay joins with the shock link.I have opened it up and I notice that the bearing ain't turning so smoothly. It is a Cannondale Rize 5 and the technical info says that the bearings are not press fit but are installed using Loctite but can be driven out with a dowel. Is this a DIY job? (Just thinking about some uncaring LBS mechanic doing this gives me cold shivers) and do I have to buy the bearing kit from Cannondale or is there a clever alternative?

It is sadly ironic to note that while this thread was hotting up again there were two posts of cyclists killed. In my opinion it shows up many of the shoot the messenger comments in a very poor light and on the other side I suspect that there are many non-cycling motorists who are shaking their collective heads and muttering about how poor road manners from many cyclists are to blame for this sad state of affairs. Hubbers we have to realise that until we get our own house in order we do not have the moral high ground here. It is true that there are many motorists who are totally inconsiderate towards cyclists with some showing downright aggression but there is not much we can do about this. However we can change our own behaviour and those of the cyclists around us. At the very least we will gain the moral high ground which will give us the platform to address the behaviour of the other road users. Until then it is simply an argument of who has the worst road manners and I cannot foresee any meaningful change that would contribute towards saving lives.

Give that man a Bells!

CRC and some of our LBS will continue to get my support. But, I am boycotting all those LBS' implicated by the Competition Commission in collusion. I will not be ripped off by these tin pot businessmen who do not understand the first principles of a free market system that require productivity and customer service as the cornerstones of their own enterprise. Tough luck boys shape up or ship out.

you learn something everyday!

If its not a mono the tread still seems to be in wrong direction. Or am I missing something?

Hey Crasher, I might be wrong here but it looks like the front tire is a Maxxis Monorail but the rotation is wrong. Am I right?