River Rat

Famous last words .... Yesterdays stage was awesome two superb athletes giving it everything. I would was a pity Andy didn't put some time into AC which would have made tomorrow's TT more of a spectacle.

I am not 100% sure of this but I believe you will have to a registered financial service provider with the FSB. I think you may find that you will be effectively applying for the equivalent of a banking license.

The ethos of Le Tour has always been - winning is not the apex but to win with honour is. It is also true that whether the win is a honourable win is the most debated and subjective topic. This is what makes Le Tour the best soap opera around and I'm reminded of the Lemond / Hinault battle when they were on the same team and Hinault reneged on his agreement to support Lemond. Public opinion swayed in Lemond's favour and he won the next tour and Hinault retired. AC has missed the opportunity to get the public on his side and with it the chance of being hailed amongst the greats of Le Tour. But what the heck looking this thread and hearing the booing from the public in France the soap opera is alive and well. We are in for a great couple of days.

THanks Lee I'll give this a try.

The traditionalists are going to slaughter Contador for this. He might win the race but he has lost rthe respect of the other riders. Watch how the peleton work against him it'll be subtle but its going to happen. It's popcorn time!

Is it possible to mark a path on a Google map and import it into a Garmin 305. If not, is there another way of loading a route onto my Garmin?

Welcome Edwin. The course you found is indeed the downhill course that was used on the weekend and a mean mother at that. As far as I know there are no formal MTB routes currently at Fort Klapperkop a better bet would be Groenkloof and Fountains have you tried any of those?

Sharkie I have heard this comment before. But what it does not answer is, what does this mean for me? How will government funding benefit 90% of the field who have very little chance of competing on the international stage? CSA need to be more visible in what they do for the weekend warrior before their fees will carry any justification arguing that it is a UCI regulation means zip to me personally.

Please post the link.

It's interesting to note the refrain from some of the old hubbers namely it's the same pooh different day and it got me thinking why has this not changed? As someone new to Mtbiking what struck me was the fact that most races are organised by people / organisations with a profit motive (I don't know the landscape well enough but I have struggled to find a race organised by a club or the cyclists themselves). Please don't read this as a criticism of those with a profit motive as they are simply filling a gap and they will continue to do so while cyclists are responding by doing the races. We could respond by boycotting races but my guess is that the response from the current race organisors would be to take their labour elsewhere and we would have less race options. It is useful to reflect on the structure in other sports such as road running and canoeing. In both of these disciplines the majority of weekend races are organised by clubs with the premier events being organised by professional race organisors but under the auspices of the provincial body. The provincial and national bodies also play a vital role in determining the race calendar for the year and ensuring a logical spread of races with a minimum of date clashes which would split the potential participation. In canoeing, the members through their clubs elect the office bearers on the provinical bodies and therefore have a direct say in the affairs of the sport. Having being part of the organisation of a number of weekend races I can tell you that it is hard work and almost without exception the organising club loses money unless there is a generous sponsor onboard. So why do we do it - well because we know that we are ensuring the future of the sport by keeping the costs as low as possible by donating our time and collective efforts. Coming back to mtbiking I cannot see how the current scenario is going to change unless we create a structure that allows us some say. As I see it nobody sees any value in CSA or PPA, the % of club membership very low and most of us (myself included) are quite prepared to just do the races and pay someone else to organise our sport for us. In the meantime we see the likes of PPA /CSA trying to force our hand by imposing a license fee on us without first offering value andmy response has been to do less races and if I am a reflection of the prevailing attitude this cannot be healthy for the sport.

I was there in April ( got my Red Shirt to boot). Visited a number of bike shops and had a long chat to the lady that runs the Cannondale shop in Bangkok. They import everything and their prices are arguably more expensive than in SA. What we did that was great fun was book a day cycle tour there are lots of those depending where you go. Enjoy its a great holiday.

The real value to us will be an open market system. This means that supply and demand will determine what the market related mark up is and not something determined in a secret meeting attended by a bunch morally inept so called businessmen.

The 310 has GPS. I use the 305 and it works absolutely fine, the 310Xt is an upgrade on the 305 so you will find the 305 at a discount compared to the 310XT. I can't see any real benefit comparing the 310 to the 305.

Man, reading these minutes leaves me with the opinion that these guys are totally ignorant of what it takes to run a good business and we are paying for it! Even Lolly Jackson could've taught them something - "The Customer always comes first". To those retailers who believe that they are hard done by when the fine hits them (and it will) you might want to remember that being a great cyclist will not mean you will be a great businessman. My advice to you is go get yourself a business education, attend the JSE Alt-X course for directors, read the King 3 report and work hard at delivering what the customer wants. As I see it, the fine is the least of your problems you have lost the respect of your customers, you will lose business to online retailers and those retailers that do not have to pay the fine will be able to undercut you.If you ignore these simple truths you will not survive. Good Luck

I think this is all good news for the future and remember the past cannot be changed. It is going to be tough for those that colluded but imagine how tough it has been for those retailers outside of this cartel who were being boycotted by the wholesalers. It is a sad fact some of those retailers that are faced with a 10% fine as well as open competition are not going to last but perhaps they shouldn't be in business in any case. For me it is not so much about the quantum of the mark up as long as it a market related one (not something conjured up in dark and smokey room. A free market related mark up will be determined by the best in the industry not the laziest because to be able to offer lower mark ups takes hard graft. Holy as for your sentiment for those that were caught unawares and attended the meeting under false pretences. If that is indeed true they did have civic duty to report those involved, the fact that they did not is what they are paying for. The old saying about "When good men do nothing" comes to mind. As for the call for a boycott I do not believe that will achieve anything but what will help is simply being a good consumer by pricing around and allowing free market principles to take its course. I'm of the opinion that it will take about 2 -3 years for this to sort its self out and we will have a better industry at the end of it. Just my 10% worth!

My apologies to all. It goes to show what happens when you take the manual at face value. I was unaware of the supplementary manual until yesterday. I guess I should add a crank extractor to your tool list JB.

Will do Flowta. However, I will only be able to post on Wednesday as I am travelling on business at the moment.

Guys thanks for the replies and insights. But a bit more info for the guys that were sceptical of how the LBS was capable of greasing a sealed BB unit. Well I was doing some research on the Cannondale website as to what size BB to order and I noticed a supplementary manual for my Rize 5. This document notes that the Rize 5 has BB shell that is compatiable with BB30 standard and I did some research on how to replace this type of BB and noticed this from the following website:- http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=162 The BB30 is a threadless bottom bracket shell system using two pressed cartridge bearings. These bearings are replaced when they wear out. However, it is possible to lift the bearing seal while the cartridge bearings are in the shell to clean and grease bearings inside. So I suspect this is how the LBS serviced it albeit for a temporary repair. I am still confused as to what to replace my BB with and have emailed Cannondale for some guidance.

Thanks JB, I agree its not optimal but at least my dog ain't ugly!

Erm, me too. The thread on the wear has been an interesting but any thoughts on my options?

Trying to pull all of this together I have three options: 1. Replace my sealed BB with another Shimano or similar and replace with Hollowtech compatiable crankset when the chainrings go. 2. Replace my crankset with a new Shimano XT including chainrings. 3. Replace my crankset only and use my old chainrings. Any thoughts on which option?

Kosmo, do you mean new crankset and used chainrings? If so that would seem an option depending on price of the new crankset. May I ask why you went for the Hope BB and what size BB fitted your Cannondale. My ride is also a Cannondale but I can't seem to find the size in the manual.

Sorry, just to add to my last post, JB I believe that your guess might be correct in terms of the service on the BB it cost me R60.00 which would suggest a fairly superficial attempt. But I will enquire further. River Rat2010-06-18 03:25:16

THanks JB, whilst I don't doubt the advice given is sound in terms of the Hollowtech solution, I don't have a strong drive to be able to service ny own BB. I am the quintessential weekend warrior and for me spending time riding is more important than trying save a couple of bucks on a DIY option. As it stands the bike I own is 2nd hand and I have done about 1000kms on it, my guess is that the previous owner did at least double that. By my calculation that relates to about 3000kms per Octalink BB at say R300.00 a shot (incl labour). Looking at the crankset I would say it still has at least 3000kms left. My logic tells me to replace the current BB and when it fails again (hopefully after at least 3000kms ) I will replace it with the Hollowtech solution. Is my logic sound or have I missed something? River Rat2010-06-18 03:18:17

Thanks Mampara, this changes the cost of a crankset to R900.00. But my real question is more of technical nature namely, am I stuck with a sealed BB unit unless I change my crankset? From a finacial perspective does this mean I can replace the sealed BB unit 4 times? Or maybe less after I have factored the cost of the tools into the equation.