Andymann

Not it it's a PHONAK.......

Ditto - Stem bolts, skewers, BB threads - pretty much anything which you don't want to battle to take out again!

I actually restore old British classic bikes, so unique methods of loosening rusted bolts are well known! My Dad actually was around for a beer that night, and he was quite keen to take a heating torch to my new XT crank-arm. Needless to say he was dispatched back to the lounge pretty sharply!

My guess is that part two is a bush which offers some support to the pedal platform, so that the bending moment on the platform is not all centered on the very small balls in the bearing. But I'm not a pedal expert!

I use an Allen key, and then a 100mm Tube for a bit of leverage - finger tight, and probably about a 5-10degree angle of turn to tighten. I err on the side of too loose mostly. What I think happened here was that my bike had just been to my LBS for it's first service, and they might have noticed the pedals weren't too tight. When this one didn't come off with the usual Allen key and tube method, I went and fetched a longer tube for more leverage, and then the damn thing slipped....

The reason i scrapped the old type XT pedals was because of the clearance between the shaft and the teflon bush. So yup, that does wear - especially because the excuse for a seal/o-ring in the aluminium sleeve which holds the pedal body on the shaft isn't very effective IMO. I'm going to see if I can turn some new bushes. But getting them into the Aluminium sleeve isn't going to be easy....

Set it up on a 4-jaw chuck - it took some time, and you have to grind it, not turn, because the damn thing is so hard. It took a while!

Luckily I have access to a lathe and a bunch of willing Apprentices!

The Allen-Key was a bit more tricky as I had to set it up in a four-jaw chuck, but in the end it worked out fine!

I'm a pretty handy mechanic, so I was suitably embarrassed when I ended up with this problem when stripping my bike a few weeks back to get ready for my trip down to Cape Town - especially since I am religious about using copperslip grease in the threads. I wasn't concentrating, and the allen key slipped, cracking the end of the pedal. Of course there was no way then the pedal was going to come loose, so I had to carefully strip both the pedal and crank and put the pedal shaft in the vice, and turn off the crank-arm. What I then noticed, is that the new XT (and XTR pedals i have found), have a hollow bored into the shaft (saving a whopping 4g - I weighed them!), and the old XT pedal shaft I had as a spare, did not. The old XT pedal shaft also has about a mm more "purchase" on the inside of the hex, so the Allen Key will not slip out as easily as it does on the new XT shaft. (I also noticed the shafts are a slightly different colour - the old XT being more silver than the new yellowish hue of the new XT pedal - I suspect maybe a different heat treatment to allow for the hollowed-out shaft). Anyway to cut a long story short, I had to rebuild the new XT pedal with an old shaft and have subsequently made myself a special type of Allen Key - thought I would post the pics thereof, in case it might save some of you a few headaches!

See replies like this is the reason why even if I wanted to import my own frame I won't - here's a local guy bringing in the frames and who carries stock, supporting local importers and local business. That's got to be worth the extra R2k saved by doing it yourself. We had a very similar issue when I worked for Yamaha SA - guys bringing in either Grey or Parallel imports. One just needs to experience first-hand the harm it does to the local dealerships - I'm sure you local CT guys miss Linex Yamaha....

Well said! - We will most likely be buying 2 BSR 29ers later this year. And not because I can't bring a frame in myself (I also do a lot of work in China and Taiwan), but because Colin has got himself a good business, does indeed support the local cycling (and TRI/DU) community ito sponsorships, and he is much easier to chat to if you have an issue than Mr. Lin and Mr. Chang because a call to CT is much cheaper than a call to Taiwan

No Prob - yup - they are probably right - you might have gained a few grams (WOW) going to SORA, but most likely you will notice a way better shift feel. Worst case you won't even know the difference! Would probably have been a good idea to get them to replace the cable while you're at it - if they are going to have to set the RD anyway, worth doing.

I would get a new RD - it's not worth the hassle trying to fix the spring - there are a two, and if one has gone, chances are the other one isn't that well either....also looks like the older 105 RD, so it's probably nearing the end of its life...

I went through the whole process - got to where they said they would send an "activation email" so that my account is valid. Still waiting, two weeks and 3 emails to the help desk later.... doesn't sound like this is worth the 200 points per workout to me....

oh, and make sure whatever make tyres you get, that they match the size of the ones that you are replacing - they should read the numbers 700 x 23C somewhere on the side. What tyres are on the Merida now?

Not sure about those 'flat spots' he mentions hey - unless someone has been climbing on the brakes and skidding, I find that hard to believe - maybe you need to take some pics and lets see what he's on about. You are probably in for about R250 to R350 per tyre though (if you get them locally) - and if you are not going to race, there are very few bad brands out there - Continental, Bontrager, Maxxis, Kenda - all will be good enough for your type of riding. I know there was a special on a while ago at a few of the PTA shops - R299 for Continental - can't really go wrong with that hey.

From the pics and your description, looks like the torsion spring on the RD Hangar mounting shaft has either unclipped, or broken. If it has unclipped, you should be able to get it back, but if its broken, not sure if you can buy the spring separately for Shimano....

Hows this for a left-field spin-off of the whole DG positive - thanks to his test and the resultant publicity, Drug Free Sport SA has upped their testing protocol to such an extent that my nicely planned SURPRISE honeymoon location for my wife and I has been scuppered because they need to know where she will be in case they want to do a test Thanks a lot DG..........

I bet if you rode the Epic on weed, it would feel like you would be taking the rest of your life just to finish

OK my apologies - you can still get the wear parts, just not the bits you need to do the 9-10-11 sp conversion.....

From my good mate who does the servicing of the Bonitas Team bikes - he's also a bit grumpy because apparently the Super Record bits wear out quite quickly....he was told this by the local importers

Ok, final answer to this question - yes you COULD, but now you can't! Seems like the crafty Italians have realised people like us are building hybrid shifters, and have stopped supplying the parts separately....So where you could order just the two gears and the springs before, now you have to order the whole shifting body for about R1000..... Which is a bit bloody worrying when your indent springs wear out - because now you can't even order those....

Damn right - remember from a few years back when we went up to the Water tower we came back down past Marco Polo, and the guys were dishing out free beer!!!

+100000Just make the critera known for each batch - A: 0% - 15% B: 16% - 19% C: etc etc etc.....so that when you do your seeding race, you at least have an idea where you will end.