Rolf Hansen

Naas emailed me last week Thursday and apologised for the whole debacle. He did not offer excuses and admitted that the problem was on their side and that the time it took and poor communication was unacceptable. There was a mistake in their inventory system and they did not have the part in stock as was originally shown on their site. They ordered the part for me that would take at least 7 days to be delivered to them. This is the part where they should have communicated with me. I would not have had a problem waiting the extra couple of days if someone had just told me about the order or offered me a refund. They received the part on Thursday morning and it was sent to me with overnight courier and arrived on Friday morning. Unfortunately it was the incorrect part and not what I ordered. Not ideal in the current situation but these things happen. I received a top headset assembly for a 1.5 and not a bottom headset assembly as ordered. This might sound like it could be the same part but the top comes without a crown race and the inside diameter is 38.1 instead of 40 for this reason. The Hope branding on it would also have been upside down had I been able to use it. Just for reference I ordered a Hope EC49/40 bottom headset assembly. They made a plan and collected a KCNC replacement alternative from a supplier and sent it by overnight courier to me on Friday but unfortunately it only got delivered today as it is a bit of a luck of the draw to get something delivered on a Saturday. This is the correct part and I have already fitted it to be sure. Since I had spoken with Naas I was kept in the loop at all times which is exactly what I wanted from the beginning. I do believe that they learnt something form this and hopefully this will prevent this type of issue from occurring in the future.

What was apparent about Semenuk's run was how smooth he made everything look and how seemlessly he moved form one section to the next. Not the most spectacular thing at first but it did look like he'd practised it 100s of times.

Van Gaalen's?

The top spec bikes yes. The reputable brands have reintroduced 26" in the lower end of their ranges.

Heck no. If you want to be seen as the coolest person around then sadly, yes. I myself ride a 26er (admittedly soon to be 26" rear wheel only) and I love it.

I use Motol fork oil for motorcycle forks.

This year's road gap was 21m, ignoring the vertical drop. Absolutely insane. Wish I had the skills to do that.

Probably. If you watch Brage's Hardline run from this year it is easy to see why:

Fair enough. Forks are incredibly expensive. I know, I just bought a 27.5 fork.

Insane!

Brage has such a unique style. I love watching him ride.

I will report back later today. Perhaps they will redeem themselves.

Exactly.

I agree with the stock figures having to be accurate. My biggest gripe though is the fact that they don't contact you. I waited an entire week - 5 working days before I phone them and at that point they had not responded to my email or phoned to let me know what was going on. I would have been happy with a simple phone call or email giving me an update. If you have trouble getting something that you said you had in stock then bloody hell just let the person know. I phoned 3 times today and every time someone else would contact me and give me feedback on something simple like tracking where their parcel is - keep in mind after 12 days they item is still not with them. I would give them an hour or more and then phone again. The 4th time I spoke to them was when Michelle phoned me back. Janos does not phone and neither does Naas. To date the only person that has phoned me is Michelle who I believe is on the admin side of the business. Apparently it was not delivered to them today because of an error on the side of the courier company. Who waits 8 working days for a supplier to deliver something before following up, especially if it was something that you had already sold, received the money for and was supposed to have in stock? Apologies for this rant but I will not ever order anything from them again and neither will I recommend them to anyone. On the contrary I will recommend people not use them.

Nope. Specifically only ordered it because it was indicated as "In Stock" and not "Remote Warehouse". This is what makes it so frustrating.

Might sounds silly but are you sure that you are bleeding the lever and it's matching caliper? I have once before had an interesting situation where I could not understand why my front lever would not bleed when I had the other syringe connected to the rear caliper. ????

Yep I suspect the same thing. Just letting me know what is going on would have been great but up to now I have had to phone and my email asking about it has gone unanswered. The item has also since changed to "Out of Stock"

I placed the order on 01/10/2021. Janos said on Friday that I would have it by the latest this morning. Spoke to Michelle yesterday and today and she has tried to be as helpful as she could but they have not even received it yet after which they still have to send it here.

Has anyone ordered something from them recently and have your lead times been accurate at all? I generally try not to but I am about to lose my **** with them.

Can I ask why you want to upgrade the drivetrain? Are you experiencing issues with it or do you just want to move to something better? If your bike is still the same spec as in the link I'd much rather spend money on upgrading the fork if I were you. Not helpful to your questions but thought I would put it out there. I don't do long marathon ride but I run a 1x9 and I am perfectly happy with it. Will move to 1x11 when the parts wear out.

Bought mine 2nd hand. Was used by the original owner for around 2 years. I have been using it for a month or two and is also has some rotational play but definitely no back and forth movement.

The Reflex 29 (I assume you are referring to the Avalanche) is also an entry level bike and I would have been surprised if it was significantly if any better than your Apex. We were once following a guy on one riding a tame trail at Big Red Barn and he turned his front wheel into a taco when he hit a 3cm high tree stump hidden in the grass. The Silverback Stride can be had in several flavours but the most basic of these is also not much better than the Apex. A have a friend with an Apex A900 and he has done several trails with it without issue and he loves it. It is great that you are enjoying the bike. Any bike can be enjoyed especially if you spend time on maintaining it and setting it up correctly.

Manitou Magnum 27.5+ with 140mm airspring upgrade. Cannot wait for my headset and new wheels to get here.

I think it looks great! Would not have been my choice of colours (what do I know, my bike is black) but I imagine it would have been perfectly suited to the 90s. You will not believe the difference decals will make. It will take it from looking like a repainted bike to a factory paint job. Take a vector of the Cannondale logo and ask a local signage place to cut you some silver or chrome decals. Will not cost much.

Try these guys : https://bmxdirect.net/ I have spoken to them before and they were very helpful. They are based in Benoni, Gauteng.