DJR

If this was a Capie thread, it would have been 25 pages by now

BLACK bibs, of course

People in black cycling kit live colourfull lives

The K.I.S.S. principle should apply to any possible rating system for MTB races: 1) For BEGINNERS 2) For INTERMEDIATE riders 3) For EXPERIENCED riders 4) By INVITATION ONLY If the organizer knows his mountainbiking he will get these definitions right and make it clear in the route discriptions. No need for complicated judging and computing power, just COMMON SENSE, something (often) lacking both from participants and (sometimes) organizers. Take MEURANT BOTHA of DIRTOPIA and AMARIDER as an example of someone who GETS IT RIGHT. Their event descriptions make it clear what fitnes and skill levels are needed and if last minute weather (rain, mud or heat) interferes, they change routes or cut off times and make rider safety the priority. Although they have had their fair share of critisizm, I've personally never seen that his outfit got it wrong, perhaps Meurant can give an opinion? Does someone know how to get his attention? I think that over-regulating anything deminishes the freedom and that can only detract from the ride and that already some MTB races are starting to feel too controlled. Perhaps that's why lately more and more JUST RIDE events have become so popular as opposed to MTB RACES ? One last thought, a lot of riders, even very fit longer distance guys, need to brush up on their TECHNICAL SKILLS. Too many train like roadies and then show a serious lack of basic skills on even mildly challenging terrain.

Hi Johan I hear what you have to say about paying peanuts etc. Just so that you know, my wife has 2 degrees and several diplomas in nursing and she gets paid R65 per hour by our government to train new nurses. She is dedicated and love her work, but that is what I call peanuts especially as she gets no medical, no pension, no housing subsidy. That's why things are the way they are in our state hospitals. If you need a new hip joint, talk to your LBS?

No, don't feel like some!

I travel to and from work along Main Road between Rondebosch and Claremont and, being a cyclist myself, came to the following conclusions re. red traffick lights: Recreational cyclists on training rides jump red lights a lot more than commuters, it feels like the majority do so. On any major intersection you can bargain on an average of 4 cars jumping the red light too. Most motorists get pissed off with cyclists when they sit stuck in the traffic while the cyclists simply ride on and through the red light. Some motorists will then have a lot less patience and be more aggressive towards cyclists, not leaving a safe space for them. If you politely ask a cyclist not to do it again, you get a flood of swearing, wheter you are in a car or on a bike. Motorists like to watch a cyclist do a track stand, I once got applause from a truck full of workers, we should do it more. The traffic situation has deteriorated so much that I do not use Main Road for my commute anymore but do a wide ride up, along and down the mountain in stead or ride along the Liesbeek River trail.

If Zero Flats work as effectively as their spellchecker (see the Halo link) then it will only repair about 35% of the punctures in my opinion. Are there any teachers out there who care to give them a mark for that bit of writing? Am I the only hubber irritated by apalling English where you expect better? (I'm sure there is something wrong with this post as well, so do your damnest to give me stick over it!)

Just put a wrap like that on your road bike and your roadie mates won't notice your unshaven legs! (Nice job, exactly how it should be done.)

Stick to a 24 inch bike for another year or even three. Around 11 or 12 they are normally ready for the bigger bike. Even a XS 26 inch bike will be awkward to handle, both in size and weight, for even a large-ish 8 year old. On the smaller 24 inch wheels with a lower centre of gravity, their bike skills will improve much faster that on a 26 inch bike. The lightest stock 24 inch bike I could find (a year or 2 ago) was from Specialized, with V-brakes and a so-so Suntour fork, it sold for R3-4000 back then.

I often travel with my whole family and carry up to 5 bikes at a time on the roof. If you think that you want to carry more than 2 bikes, I've found that roof rack mounted racks work better. Both boot and towbar mounted racks battle to take 3 bikes without causing damage and securing them not to rub is fiddly and a pain. Not having easy access to your luggage is also iritating. The additional fuel cost is minimal if you look at what the total cost of the holiday or weekend away is. As for remembering not to go into parking garages, the first few times I cable-tied part of an old fishing rod with a little red flag on the end to be visible from the driver's seat to serve as a reminder. Soon it became second nature.

3 orders in last year. Slowest one took 10 days, quickest one 5 days. Fetch from nearest post office. No hassles. Only pay 14% VAT on parts and sometimes they forget to charge you that. Pay about 40% duty + 14% VAT on clothes and shoes, make it expensive unless price is seriously discounted.

Hope you get paid to ride those, like white cycling shorts, they make no sense at all on the mountain, but, I suppose, sense doesn't have to come into it.

Seems to me that GIANT is about the only one you can be sure of!

That picture is called "CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS" and you are about to get splattered when Morewood Faithfull see this, so duck!

USN toothpaste - now that's what I call a wicked sense of humour - you are going to be the next John Cleese!

Reading the thread about riding with/without helmet made me realize that I have 4 helmets, more or less one for every occasion: (1) BELL SWEEP, in white for the road, when feeling stylish and for hot weather (2) BELL VARIANT, in grey , when wearing baggies and for the mountain trails (3) 661 MULLET, skate lid, for when I'm feeling young and ride the jumps with my kids (4) 661 STRIKE, full face, for when I'm feeling totally crazy and feel like breaking something. Am I the only one that love helmets? Please someone out there, tell me I'm NORMAL!

You are probably right, but when he finally ends up in court, a few complaints like that on the record can make it very difficult for him as well as for his boss if he did nothing about it. Somewhere in the future you might just save another cyclist's life. That's how I see it.

Report his attitude to owner of truck / company

Old tubes , handle bar tape, neoprene, as long as it prevents chainslap and makes you silent flying down the singletrack drops and jumps. Best put it around both chainstay and bottom of seatstay too. If you don't ride fast enough to slap that also, you're doing something wrong. The idea is not to prevent chips on your frame, that you should get from crashing if you do MTBing properly. The idea is to enable you to sneak up on the slowpokes and scare the juice out of them! If you sound like you have a cow bell around your neck over the rough bits, you can't do that.

Most of those "unsolvable" rear shifting problems are caused by bent hangers or sticky cables (but you have sorted that already). By all means buy a new one as a spare, but often you can also bend the hanger back. Best way is to remove the derailleur but leave the hanger on the frame. Make sure the hanger is tight on the frame. Then take another wheel, remove its quick release skewer and screw the thread of the hub into the hole in the hanger where the derailleur was removed (the thread is the same). Now you have another wheel sitting on the hanger next to your own bikes rear wheel and you can easily see if the 2 are parrallel. The hanger can now be bent carefully using the second wheel as leverage. When you have the wheels 100% parrallel, unscrew the second wheel and put the derailleur back. The result is a straight hanger. If it does not shift perfectly, set the derailleur up from scratch. It's been messed about so much by this time that it often is simpler to start from square one.

Hi Brighter-Lights I see you've even colour-coded your energy drink to your rear deraileur - wow!

For people who enjoy riding single track and the more technical side of MTB, the middle distances are often much more fun. They mostly have the same single track as the marathons but exclude the long boring gravel roads that often serves no purpose other than to make up distance for the ego-guys.

I did a lovely lone evening MTB ride in the Groot Winterhoek Mountain wilderness recently. The next morning I found the elusive Cape Leopard spoor on top of my own MTB tracks. I regret not coming face to face with one of my most favourite animals, but was also relieved not to have been on it's menue.

See if you can get to one of Ride's "ride before you buy" events. Pay a little money and try a few bikes over the same short route to see which one works for you. Generally, if you are used to riding a certain quality roadbike with matching components, buy a MTB with about the same level of components. If you buy cheap and nasty compared to your roadbike, you WILL hate MTB. Roadies generally adapt well to hardtails at first but often go for full suspension as they get more into MTB. Budget is often the deciding factor. For a basic hardtail, spend R5000, for a midrange R10000, for a great one R25000 and up. For a basic full susser, spend R10000, for a midrange one R15-20000 and for a great one R30000 and up. Any of the well known brands (Giant, Specialized, Trek, Merida, Mongoose, Cannondale, GT) will give you better value for money than the boutique brands.