Straight Line

A flat tyre will squirm on the rim which can result in severe friction between the rim crotchets and the tyre sidewall just above the bead area. Check this area of the tyre (inner and outer) for material sidewall damage, normally long cuts in the fabric just above the tyre bead. Sidewall damage further up the sidewalls to the shoulder are could also result, usually evident as diagonal casing threads being visible under the rubber film og the casing. Trash the tyre if any of these is evident.

It's a red lipped snake. Wiki never fails... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotaphopeltis_hotamboeia

Should have read "Note it" on tyre pressure.

This link to Conti's website gives pressure ranges only, no rider specifics. And they use PSI. Divide by 14.7 to get bars. https://www.continental-tires.com/bicycle/tires/race-tires/gatorskin This rule of thumb (tried and tested!) is used universally; you need a helper to set it up: Inflate the tyre to a pressure (say 8 bars). Measure the tyre height from the where it's seated on the rim to the top of the tread (ie no weight on the tyre). When you're seated on the bike (your full riding weight), the tyre should be re-measured from the same rim seating position to the contact patch on the floor. If the tyre flattens out by 15% against the unweighted tyre measurement, it's correct for your weight. You may have to increase/decrease the pressure to get the 15%. This applies mainly to the rear tyre so if you want to run slightly lower pressure on the front, experiment to find your comfort zone. Going forward, you should now meadure the tyre pressure and not it. Always use the same gauge from now on as gauges can vary shitloads and you want consistency.

Conti's new generation Shieldwall Cross Kings and Race Kings are also worth considering. They've now got reinforced sidewalls and bigger volume. Handling is tops and they're a lot cheaper than the Protection Conti's. Fitting was a breeze with just a hand pump needed to seat and seal the beads.

Take a look at the Lazer range. It's huge and the importers seem to have brought in just about every model.

There are guys spending over R100,000 on bikes. Puts that ancient Peugeot and the rest of his equipment into a different cycling perspective. When the Africa Games were staged in Joburg a few years ago I saw a bike from Morocco or Sudan or some such that had a derailleur which had been welded in two places. The owner said changing gears was "a bit diificult"...

If you have no luck getting a replacement check with an engineering or machine shop. They should be able to straighten it.

Seeing that this is the first (so far) incident like this in what must be huge numbers of CO2 bombs incorrectly stored over many years, it's probably a chance in a million. But it's a warning. Check this link for the warning in writing: https://storage.googleapis.com/slime-com/uploads/20277_CO2_Inflator_Instructions.pdf

A bit of 94.7 history. In 2006 Team Konica Minolta were unable to get sponsored tyres from the importer of the specific brand they were using due to shipping delays. Team owner John Robertson found a few entry level Continental Ultra Sport wire bead training tyres in his garage and they were fitted to the bikes of Martin Velits and Yolandi du Toit in last minute desperation. Velits won the Elite men's race and Du Toit won the Elite women's race of the 94.7 on these low cost tyres ahead of all the fancy pro race tubbies and high-tech fold-ups used by the riders who finished behind them. Says a lot for the brand...

In this day and age one would expect CSA to at least have the courtesy to post an auto reply message so cyclists know where they stand regarding their requirements.

Patchelicious is almost certainly right about bike and shoe set-up. For the doctor try this man who is a cyclist and knows what he's doing: Dr. Dion o Cuinnegan Tokai Medical Centre Tel. 021 712 9367

Never heard of those tyres so they may not meet international specs which could mean cheap materials and poor tyre bead/casing uniformity which will result in difficult seating/inflation and high puncture rates. Continental released a new generation of their tyres last year and these can be inflated and seated easily with a hand pump. No compressor or bombs needed. Race King and Cross King models in both budget line (Shieldwall) and premium (ProTection) will all inflate with a hand pump. Make sure they're new generation models as the previous models don't have this capability. Bomb inflation can affect the sealant and shorten its lifespan. Sealant should in any event be replaced every 4-6 months as it deteriorates with age and riding conditions.

Don't use cheap rim tape. There's some real junk around with variations in thickness, width, and just lousy material which degrades quickly. Make sure the tape is the correct width for your rims. If it's too wide the tyre beads will sit on the tape instead of on the rim surface under the rim crotchets, This can make fitting/inflating really difficult if not impossible.

Here’s what actually had to be done for thermal fitment of Shimano shoes: The process was to remove the inner sole and put the shoe in a special Shimano oven for 2:30 minutes, then take the shoe out and insert the sole back and get the rider to fit the shoe. A special vacuum pump and bag was then used to suck out the heat and mold the sole to the foot shape. Lastly just the inner sole would be placed in the oven for 90 seconds, removed and reinserted into the shoe which would then be refitted to the foot followed by the rider standing in the shoe to get inner sole to mold to the foot bed. This of course would be done for both shoes. Shimano discontinued this technology a couple of years ago so if you bought the shoes recently you may have a problem getting the thermal fitment done with the correct equipment. Maybe some offers of help will come your way via your post?

The online shops generally discount to levels that established shops can't match. Fingers are pointed at them amid accusations of profiteering. But consider their overheads compared to online shops: * Commercial premises rentals * Workshop personnel * Workshop tools and equipment * Counter sales and admin staff Lots of talk doing the rounds about the shrinking of product sponsorships to cyclists. Wholesale distributors of recognised brands have had to reduce margins to compete with online retailers who import grey products and sell at discounted prices. They spend no money on promotional outlays or advertising of the back door brands they import. Net result? Product sponsorship programs for young up and coming cyclists are disappearing. Fast.

Low the tyre pressures can have benefits in the right conditions. But if pressures are too low and terrain changes from soft to harsh, a couple of negatives emerge. 1. Increased tyre movement (tread/sidewall squirm) will reduce tyre life 2. Potential damage to tyres and rims in the case of impact on rocks etc is pronounced 3. Increased puncture rates on tread and sidewall areas Find a happy balance at the hardest pressures you're comfortable with and use these as much as possible. May feel strange initially but your riding style will soon adjust to higher pressures. Tyres will last longer, and downtime will be minimised.

Disc pads which are contaminated with oil/grease/washing additives can cause squealing. Clean them with Bel Ray Brake & Contact cleaner which should be available at most off-road motor cycle shops. Some years ago I read an article on this problem in car disc pads where it was stated that the squealing is actually a harmonic caused by high speed vibration between the pad and the disc. One of the remedies was to apply a thin layer of heat resistant grease on the back of the pads (ie the metal base of the pad to which the pad is fixed). Not sure if this is relevant but maybe? This link to the problem is pretty comprehensive: https://www.liv-cycling.com/global/campaigns/how-to-fix-squeaky-disc-brakes/20209

Just take note that fitting wide tyres on narrow rims will mean they compensate by higher profile so frame and fork clearance could be issues.

The Afrikaans saying "Goedkoop is duurkoop", is underlined by the English version "The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of a cheap price". Tyre choice is critical if strength, reliability, and performance is needed. If not, buy the cheapies but bear in mind that there will be more downtime and replacing them more often means not much saved in the long run.

Coolheat expect arrival end November

Can't argue

Spot on with the observation that performance is dictated by tyre pressure. Tyre sidewalls flex (distort) progressively more as pressure is reduced. This gobbles up rider energy and increases rider fatigue which is exponential in long rides or difficult terrain. It's also destructive for tyre tread and casing. Work on the premise that if you increase your tyres pressure from "too low" (ie. below 1.5 bars nominally) to the hardest you're comfortable with, you'll conserve energy and be able go faster for longer. Do it incrementally and give each pressure enough riding time to get used to the change in handling. You'll eventually find the "Sweet spot" DieselinDust is talking about. You'll ride better and your tyres will last longer.

Nope. Nice try!

Run the highest pressures you can within your comfort zone. Tyre casing distortion increases progressively as pressure is reduced. The net result is a higher wear factor all round on tyre casing and tread. Tyres with reinforced sidewalls and/or bigger air volume are almost mandatory for any rocky surface riding (ie Cape Epic, Cape Pioneer, Attakwas etc).