mountain_lion

Thanks BigBen If you say it lasts, I will try my new kit and see if I can rescue a fairly new tyre, or is there a better fix to use at home with time and tools at hand? Did not have the kit last weekend so had to stick in a tube to finish Eselfontein....

How long do these tubeless repairs last? i.e. is this just a get you home fix and you replace the tyre asap. or do you keep on using the tyre normally?

You have never seen one, but pronounce hybrids to be a waste of money ??? Horses for courses... You need to consider the riding style and/or use of the bicycle. If you are a serious cyclist or may want to get into into more serious MTB riding later, the leisure/comfort hybrids are not be the best buy, but for others it might make sense - a do all bicycle. You have to look at what you get for the price tag to decide if this is a worth while option. A "performance type" hybrid is something totally different and this is what Mrs Fandacious should consider. mountain_lion2007-09-13 06:23:33

What? You should have gotten a refund. STI are way more expensive then flat bar changers. Even flat bars are cheaper then racing bars. On a new bike I agree. However this was a 2nd hand bike at a 2nd hand price. Can't remember what shifters it had on (it was a few years ago) but was nothing fancy. The bar & components that the LBS fitted were all new, so we were happy with the deal.

That is also a good option - mrs mountain_lion is riding a road bike with flat bars. She went the other way: already had a MTB and wanted a bike more suited to road riding, but with a comfortable riding position. LBS changed the bars and shifters etc. for her at no extra cost. Some manufacturers are now starting to offer what they call "performance hybrids", which are road frames with flat bars. Don't know if any are available in SA. (I think Raleigh had some a few years ago). If your intention is not to have a dual purpose bike that can be used for on and light off road duty, this is the way to go. mountain_lion2007-09-13 06:28:36

No need to choose. Get a hybrid!!! Comfortable riding position without the cons of a MTB on the road. Eventually you will need to buy her a proper MTB as well, but for now the hybrid will do fine. I don't own a "road bike". My hybrid is the bike I use on road and for commute. Will also be used for my 11th Argus in 2008.

What you gauties also need to realise is that there are so many places available to ride your MTB in the Western Cape with many of them open to the public all year round. You don't have to enter an event to go for a spectacular ride if you are able to find your way without following a marked out route. (This also explains why Marius enters an event when all he wants to do is a short Saturday ride.. ) Marketing is a big factor, but so is the winter weather in the Cape. For the Stellenbosch Challenge early Aug. it was wet before, but beautiful sunny weather on the day. For the Stellenbosch West ride it was raining early morning in Cape Town on the day, so the wimps stayed in bed...

The PPA website only shows the results for paid up PPA members who wear their winningtime transponders for the race. I guess about 50% of entrants are not listed on the PPA results page for most races. Also the two examples that you mention above are among the hardest on the calendar - not suited to the "roadies" and thus attract less people. mountain_lion2007-09-11 07:04:23

http://www.pedalpower.co.za (die wat met transponders gery het)

According to the PPA results, even I beat him in the 40km! And that is after my 20 minute stop trying to get the Stans to seal a cut in a tyre and eventually having to stick in a tube! Better luck next time Marius!

The money is supposed to go to a good cause... (at least some of it). I too was wondering if I wanted to face the masses again, but mrs mountain_lion decided that entering will force us to do some training, so I will be doing number 11 next year (on my hybrid - that is as close to a road bike that I get )

If you can get it to turn on, check and update the firmware if needed. Garmin often fix bug like that in firmware updates which are free downloads from their website.

That is the Garmin mount. Glad it works for you. It has failed for others when used on serious off-road trails. The price has also come down - was R300 when I last looked, but still R200 for a piece of plastic???

Popeye, that does not sound like the Garmin mount. Perhaps a RAM mount? Those are much better than the Garmin offering... mountain_lion2007-09-10 08:15:14

Like most things in life, you get what you pay for... T4A is not free, but it is cheap (much cheaper than the Garmap products). It is sold in modules, so you only need to get what you want. See their website (See earlier post). Add AfricaTopo and you have all the maps you need for MTBing in SA! Plus, if your favourite trail is not on T4A, record the track and send it to them. They will add it to the next edition of the map. T4A Pro is published 3 times a year (you get one free update). mountain_lion2007-09-10 10:04:54

I never used the Garmin mount on the MTB - looks very flimsy and is expensive considering it is just a piece of plastic. I made my own very simple mount for my Legend. Just a bent plate cable tied to the bike stem. It has a tab that fits the little hole where the lanyard is attached. Unfortunately don't have a photo of my mount handy, but it is similar to this one from the internet: http://members.aol.com/dirtroadie/EtrexMount.jpg http://members.aol.com/dirtroadie/EtrexMount.jpg By fastening the lanyard to the bike it makes for a nice tight fit and also acts as a safety cord. Never had the Legend come out of my mount not even with a few hard falls. I did get my first mono Legend replaced under guarantee due to the dreaded "lines accoss the screen" problem, which could have be aggravated by vibration on the MTB. Replacement unit is still fine 3+ years later.

If you really just want a datalogger to see where you have been, have a look at http://www.ohararp.com/products.html The T4A forum is looking at ordering a batch of these, slightly modified to our specifications. Expected price approx US$175 plus shipping, insurance, VAT. mountain_lion2007-09-10 09:59:30

Popeye That is the tracks4africa map. http://www.tracks4africa.com The Jonkershoek tracks are mostly my doing... Recorded with an old monochrome Etrex legend. I have recently upgraded to the Legend HCx (I think they have just become available in SA; ordered mine from USA and saved alot). The H (high sensitivity receiver) is definitely worth it. The Edge range also have "high sensitivity" receivers. The 60CSx is a very nice unit too if it fits in your budget... As you can see T4A add contours in certain areas (but for some reason they do not include the contour elevation labels). This was not good enough for my mountaineering needs (my primary GPS use) and a few years ago there were no other contour maps available for SA. So I made my own: http://madmappers.com/AfricaTopo/ This is a hobby project and I don't actually do any marketing for it, but every now and again Madmappers do sell a copy - some pocket money for me... mountain_lion2007-09-10 08:27:24

What you need in a GPS on the MTB is very much a matter of personal preferance. Some people want a complete training device including features like HR and cadence monitoring while others are happy with GPS type functions only. As others have said the Garmin Edge range is good for cycling. See https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160 If you want mapping in a cycling GPS, then you could wait for the new Edge 605 / 705 due for release end of the year. If you just want to log your track, then the basic Edge 205 or even one of the Forerunner models will do. Track log setup is not customiseable on the Edge as can be done on the GPS models more suited to navigation, but it does a good job. Note that if you want to use the Edge on an indoor trainer, a model with a cadence/speed sensor is recomended else you can only train per time.