Johan Bornman

Propedal is just a form of compression damping and to understand how that works, you first have to understand damping in shocks. Damping is a resistive mechanism that determines the shock's speed under compression or rebound. Compression damping controls how fast the shock can be compressed and rebound damping the same, but only for rebound. The two systems don't have an effect on each other since they're completely different circuits (where hydraulic fluid flows through)inside the shock. Damping does not determine the end position of the shock when it is loaded or unloaded. It simply determines how quickly it gets there. Thus, no matter how you set the sag, the Propedal or rebound damping systems will not have an effect on sag. As for the PROpedal system leaking oil. This is serious and will very quickly kill all damping in that shock, since it is damping oil leaking out. Have it seen to. Unfortunately it is an expensive (labour intensive) repair. The parts are dirt-cheap though.

DT Swiss shocks are mounted on conical bushings that allow a bit of rotating play as you describe. Other shocks are mounted on straight bushings and don't allow such play. IIRC come Manitous are also mounted like that. It is neither here nor there and doesn't make or break the shock. Is it a good shock? The carbon models are seriously crap. The fine thread strips right out of the air cannister and, they tend to leak along the head-to-toe seam in the canister. Certain materials are just not appropriate for certain applications. The alu ones seems fine. I have no idea what spares cost though. That's another indicator if you want to own one or not.

Your view on this is pretty cynical. If you've ever worked with these wheels you'd know that it isn't unreasonable to quote a customer the cost of all the spokes plus considerable labour. Should the job then work out a bit cheaper 'cause you didn't have to replace all the spokes, then you invoice down from the quoted price. To fix a wheel like this could easily take four or five hours of labour. On top of that, you can't say how many spokes will be required or how much labour, until you're actually finished with the job. I once posted a workshop story here with pictures, of the labour and effort required to save a wheel like this. Look it up, you'll be surprised. The spokes acorss the range are not standard and to keep stock of all the spokes in all the fancy colours for all the wheels is impractical. The agent is in Cape Town and it takes a good two days and R80 plus VAT of freight to get the spokes to you. Because you don't know how many you'll need, you overcompensate. Put all of that together and you easily come to a R1 000 job. These wheels are nice when they work but totally crap when they start to give trouble. And they do. I hope this helped you see the bike shop's point of view.

Moer him.

That is really, really nice looking. Everytime I see your photos I drool.

They are 700C. On E-bay they now go for $50. I'll sell for R300 each.

Sorry, I don't. But I do have a stock of Mavic MA2 rims for bikes from the mid-70s to late eighties. These are plain, box section, silver, double-eyelet rims. I also have a bunch of new 6-speed clusters waiting for a good home.

If it is a creak, it could be serious. If it is a creek, give it a paddle. A creaking fork could simply be a headset issue but it should immediately be removed and the steerer checked. Remove the fork, clamp the steerer in a big vice and pull and tug on the fork to determine where the creak comes from. Look for cracks or movement where the steerer goes into the crown. Al other speculation is moot until you've done this.

Please include Blue Yamalube Extreme Pressure WaterProof Tinfoil grease in my list of fancy grease that is an overkill on a bicyle. Al those bogus additives have the same effect as the Whiter than White additives in your washing powder or toothpaste - ziltch. Yes, it is hokus pokus that stanchions should be lubricated. In fact, they cannot be lubed. The wiper seal is designed to wipe any lube away - piling it up at the top of the stroke. Stanchion seals re self-lubricating. They adn teh stanchions are designed to allow a very thin layer of oil oil to pass through from the inside, thus lubing the seal as it moves over the stanchion. Otherwise it will burn away in ten strokes. It is a one-way seal - allowing oil from the inside to pass, but not dirt from the outside. Grease suitable for bike use is whatever grease is on special at your local Midas. Pay no more than R40 a 500g tub. Wash and love your bike, go ride, drink beer and stop reading bike magazines.

I'm building an 11-speed one into a wheel and bike for a customer right now. You're welcome to come over and have a look at it and kick the tyres. I've done several Rohloffs but this is the first Alfine. They both weigh a bomb though, even by my standards.

Edman, you're right. O-rings and many other seals are made from Nitrile or Buna. Two names for the same synthetic rubber. This rubber is impervious to hydrocarbons and compatible with most greases we can buy from automotive and similar suppliers. Fork seals, depending on the brand, are made from either Nitrile or polyurethane. Again, both are compatible with most household/automotive greases. The one exception is when the lubricant contains chlorine, such as in many "silicone" sprays. This makes the nitrile swell to a point where it jams the device. As someone mentioned, you can buy special rubber grease but there is no need for this in any bike part other than brake components. Here standard "soap based" greases are incompatible with the brake fluid. As a rule of thumb, bicycles don't require any special grease. No need for gun grease, Boeing grease, turbo charger grease, special Judy Butter, White Thunderstorm, Crystal magic or any such expensive greases.

I think the bike shop underquoted you. Good double butted spokes - silver - cost about R10-00 each. Black is considerably more. If you have 32 of them in there, you're already on R320-00. Then they still have to strip the old wheel, prepare the rim, build the new wheel and put rim tape on. For R450-00 they will eiher put rubbish spokes on, use rubbish labour or a combination of both. Further, lots of bike mechanics can build something that looks like a wheel but is actually just a headache with a tyre pulled over its eyes. It is difficult for the laymay to quizz the mechanic and ask the right questions or indeed, to examine his previous wheel and judge it. It is a problem. I say, build it yourself but don't underestimate the task at hand. Make sure you unerstand the issues. Why not get a copy of The Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt and do the job yourself? It isn't actually difficult but a good wheel must have gone through the right steps. If you plan to use your old rim, you also have to make sure that it is still good. Relax the tension on all the spokes and place a new rim against the old one. If there are no gaps between the two, it is probably good to use. If there are gaps, the old rim is bent and cannot be reused.

Chuck, you pose several questions. 1) UST wheelset. Nowadays no-one really cares whether the wheel/tyre has a UST sticker on it or not. UST is a consortium that, like the Heart Foundation, Jewish Board of Deputees or Muslim Council, charges a fee for putting their stamp on the product. Just like a meal can be Kosher without the stamp, a wheel can be tubeless without the stamp. A wheel where hard tape covers the spoke holes and one where there are no spoke holes, works exactly the same. Both have advantages and both have drawbacks. 2) Distinguish between factory and hand-built wheels. With factory wheels you get a recognised brand name with all the frills that go with it - brownie points, resell value etc. There are good factory wheels and rubbish factory wheels. There are good hand-bkuilt wheels and rubbish hand-built wheels. You need to learn to discern. 3) Distinguish between strength and durability. A little bit like speed and speed endurance in training, the two are not the same. A wheel is strong enough to hold your weight if you sit on the bike and the wheels don't fold. A wheel is durable enough for the job if a heavy can ride it for hundreds of thousands of kilometers without failure. 4) As a rule of thumb: The heavier load the wheels have to carry, the heavier the wheels have to be. In the same rule of thumb, heavier wheels are more durable than light ones. 5) 29er spokes are not an issue. We've been using 290+mm spokes for on a hundred years now. It isn't an issue. In fact, it is an advantage if you're after durability. 6) Budget is a function of preference. You can build extremely durable and strong wheels from cheap SLX hubs or, extremely durable and strong wheels from expensive Chris King hubs. The current fashion is Stan's rims. It is a fashion only - there is no essential innovation there at all. Hope hubs on Stan's rims will cost about R6k. SLX hubs on no-name rims will cost about R2800-00. Neither will be better than the other. zI have to ask though - what's wrong with the wheels you currently have?

Nowadays, with hub brakes, there is only one way to build wheels - three cross (3X). Quality wheels are always built with double-butted spokes. Wheel tension is always high. Further, Stan's rims come in 32 hole or 32 hole. Thus, how do they change the way they build for heavier guys? They simply bull***t their way around that one. A custom wheel doesn't differ from a standard wheel built from the same components. Custom, derived from customised, implies that the owner had some choice in the components. However, if a factory and a hand builder chooses the same components and follow the same procedure, the wheels will be similar. What wheelbuilding machines cannot do is bring spokes up to full tension. This is a job that only a hand can do. Hence Easton's Hand Built stickers. American Classic and co may as well also stick those on, they're laced and finished by hand. A spoke machine may come in at the intermediate process and tighten the spokes a little and do the stress relieving, but they're eessentially hand-built. Watching a Taiwanese slave insert spokes at the speed of light is something to see. Custom doesn't mean much. It has a nice ring to it but like a bespoke suit, only a few may notice.

This is a tad misleading. There is nothing you can do tot he build to cater for weight or riding style. The only option you have is to choose the appropriate components, but insofar as the build go, all wheels are build the same.

\ Hey hey, welcome back.

Thanks for all the responses. I'll get back to you during the course of next week. It would be nice if you'd send me e-mail rather than PM. And do include your name, nicknames don't do it for me. Also note that for the senior job I'm looking for experienced bicycle mechanics. If you're handy with DIY and fixing toasters, you are not ready for this job yet.

Oh for goodness sake. Stop phaffing around with scales and reviews. Buy on looks and emotion.

wench: noun 1. a country lass or working girl: The milkmaid was a healthy wench. 2. Usually Facetious . a girl or young woman.

OK, you got the job. Every good workshop needs a torque wench.

Naah! You make that poofter decaf stuff. On second thoughts....are you trainable?

At Yellow Saddle Cycling we require two mechanics. One experienced and one willing to start as an apprentice. We do mainly suspension servicing and repairs, wheelbuilding and specialist outsourced jobs for other bike shops. Training will be provided in-house. Impress me with the skills you can bring to the job before asking the obvious.

Are you looking for a quill stem or Aheadset style stem? What length?

In my experience a fetus turns blue if you zap it with CO2. This one is still alive with plenty of oxygen pumping through its veins. This was discussed and explained here: https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/101621-co2-bombs-dry-up-sealant/page__st__20__p__1384573__hl__acidic__fromsearch__1#entry1384573

If you buy the red one I'll allow you to bring it over and let me take a spin. I may extend the privilege should you get another colour too.