MrJacques

The pros don't have to pay for their bike if they break. (just stirring, hehe) Carbon can be tougher than alu if it's put together right. The ghost should be plenty tough, it's a German company and they build quality stuff. And you should get a warranty with it too that should cover it accidentally breaking.

Good question, I was wondering the same thing. I saw one of those cheapies at Midas the other day and wondered if it would have enough oomph to seat a tubeless tyre. I'm guessing it wont be able to pump fast enough or output high enough pressure. The local petrol station is always an option too.

I recently bought a BMC Fourstroke 03 from a hubber. I can see it's a quality bike. Very happy with it and I can just imagine how nice the FS01 must be

Size! A lot of people forget to mention the size of the bike they are selling.

How did it work in the training session? Risky to try something new in a race.

Get a sweat bandana from sportsmans, it helps to evaporte some of the sweat. But you will still get a little bit in they eyes...

I think the weight difference is 90g per rim for the Arch vs Crest. You are well under the max weight limit of 85kg for the Crest rims, but seeing that you do some light jumping I'd say rather go for the stronger ones and have less worries about potentially breaking a rim. Have you considered the American Classic rims?

I've read some articles that soy proteins may have some hormonal (estrogen) effects. Be careful and do some research before using those.

Makes much sense, especially point #2, thanks! It seems like bmc's frame and swingarm design has enough structural support to use the 'rotating' shock and still be stiff.

Cool, thanks for the reply. I was curious and took the shock off and noticed the conical bearings you mentioned. Good to know that it's supposed to be like that. This is an alu one, so I hope it will be fine. I'll ask my lbs to find out how much the service costs are for the dt swiss and fox.

Is it normal for a rear shock to be able to twist / rotate a little bit from side to side? I'm able to move it about 3mm in either direction. No real lateral movement, just clockwise / anticlockwise. I phoned a friend who works at a bike shop and he says it's fine, they have it happening on lots of bikes. It's a DT Swiss xm180 on a bmc fourstroke. And while we're getting technical, is this a good shock? I've only seen a few reviews on it and it seems like its not too bad. There's a Fox RP23 advertised in the classifieds, would it be worth it to rather put that on the bike? I'm also thinking long term for serving costs etc.

Agreed, they shouldn't treat you badly for asking for discount. Most bike shops will give a 5-10% discount if you pay by eft. I'm sure their profit margins are high enough to give you a bit of discount and thereby ensuring you come back for more goods in the future. In general customer service is notoriously bad in SA. It's not all bad though. I was pleasantly surprised last weekend when I went to Cyclo Pro in PE and asked about the size of a 29er that would fit me. They quickly measured my height and inseam, explained some technical stuff to me and were very helpful. I'll definitely go back there. Shops need us as clients and actually they need to earn our loyalty.

Maybe I should try and contact him and get him to swap his bike for my unicycle

BikeRadar gave the Sparks good reviews. I think last years models are discounted to about R24000, so that's maybe a little out of your budget. If weight isn't a problem have a look at the Ghost AMR (link in my previous post). Otherwise, look in the classifieds, you might get lucky and find a scott for a good price.

Have a look at the Ghost AMR, now seriously discounted, R15350: http://bbt.3z.co.za/store/products/2011-ghost-amr-5900/ Some nice components on there, but a little heavier than the scott.

I'm in a similar situation (except I don't have any Morewoods... yet) Looking for a new xc bike and I've also seen the Nomad, specifically the FS 20. Looks like a nice bike for the price.

@rich_mark: yeah, that sounds like the most accurate description of what I'm experiencing. It already feels a lot better, but I know from a past injury that shoulder injuries can take a while to heal. I have noticed that it 'clicks' a bit more now than it used to as well.

@Witkop: Thanks for the book recommendation, it looks good. @Noneking: Quite possibly an ac joint injury, although I don't feel any elevated points so maybe it's not too severe. Deltoid a bit tender, but it already feels better than yesterday

So I went over the bars today (too much front brakes on a rocky downhill) and instinctively stuck out my hand to break the fall. Fortunately I didn't break anything (could have been a broken wrist!), but my upper arm and shoulder are pretty sore. I guess all the force of it went up my arm into the shoulder area. It doesn't seem swollen, it just hurts when I move my arm above shoulder height, so hopefully it's just a sprain that will heal with some rest. I've hurt this shoulder before by doing dips and it took a while to recover. Anyways, I'm sure someone here has had a similar injury and could share some advice on recovery or what was broken / torn? What exercises can I do once my shoulder is healed to strengthen it? Is it possible to fall the 'right' way so you don't injure your wrist / shoulder?

I went for a bike fitment today and I'm at the upper limit of a medium frame. They told me I could ride a medium or a large, but it's better to go for the smaller of the two. As you mentioned, the bigger bike was uncomfortable. A smaller one might be uncomfortable in other ways, sitting too upright and having to adjust the saddle to a very high height to make it work. You could also put on a longer stem, but that will affect the handling. Ideally you want the right size bike, but going a bit smaller is better than taking a bike that's too big. A small from one manufacturer also won't be exactly the same as one from another manufacturer. See if you can demo the bike you want to buy

My Tread mag was in my postbox when I got home, the postal service was just a bit slow. Anyways, back to the topic. The ones advertised in the magazine are the XXIX+G and XXIX. More info here: http://www.raleighusa.com/bikes/mountain/2011-mountain/xxixg-11/ For the frame material used, is this a steel framed bike?

Sorry to hijack, but when did you receive the latest issue? I'm a subscriber and havn't received mine yet. Not the first time either, the postal service sucks!

Correct you are, the site sucks. Try this, it worked for my city: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-za/dealers/

That would be Dragons Sports http://www.dragons.co.za/

The Giant Anthem 29er Carbon looks cool too: http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/article/interbike-2011-giant-anthem-xo29-first-ride-review-31706 It will probably only be available next year though.