Karakoram

I agree, the Ergon grips are quite hard.

I've found that most ergonomic grips work equally well and they are a vast improvement over regular grips. Ergon ergonomic grips have a really good grip surface, comfortable shape and a good clamping mechanism, which retains them in your favourite position. Normal push-on grips tend to move down over time as you apply pressure on them. HOWEVER, the silver bullet for resolving wrist pain and hand numbness (in my opinion) is a set of On-One Mary Bars. I've had them on both my MTBs for the past 6 years, and like a Brooks saddle, these get transferred from old bike to new. The bars may seem to have a radical shape at first, but they work like magic once you get used to them. This usually only takes about 5 to 10 minutes. Fit any type of comfort grip to a set of Mary's and you will never experience any hand numbness problems again.

Depends on the bicycle brand, I guess. MEDIUM Momsen steel 29er frame has virtually the same dimensions of my LARGE Silverback Segma 29er frame. Dial in your body dimensions on the bike fit calculator page (see http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/fitCalculatorBike.jsp) and work from recommended results. Most bicycle brands also publish a bike-fit guide.

Hopefully my build will be ready by the end of today, if the LBS does not encounter any snags. Transplanting as many as possible serviceable parts over from my outgoing bike to the new 'electric-blue' Momsen steel frame. New tapered Reba fork. Carrying over my old Brooks saddle, Mary Bars fitted with comfort grips as well. Business Lounge on two wheels. Build complete, maiden ride done and dusted, still smiling.

I was amazed to learn that my bike's Reba shocks actually require a service after 80 hours of use or about once a year. I'd like to do it myself. Seal kit and oils about R250, labour R500, (quote given with the caveat: 'provided nothing else is wrong')

Hiya RobBarker. I've also been Googling 'bicycle maintenance courses' in SA and not much has turned up. It seems like an opportunity in the making. In the UK there are quite a few accredited courses about. There are courses for technical maintenance, wheel building, bike assembly, maintenance management for bicycle fleets, cycle tour / mtb leader courses which includes trail maintenance and setup. On successful completion of the courses, recognised certificates or diplomas are issued to the candidates. It leaves me wondering how the local bike shop maintenance technicians obtain their qualification to work on bikes. As bikes become more expensive and sophisticated, surely a formal certification would be a prerequisite to work on them and to uphold the warranty? I am interested in a shock absorber maintenance and tuning course. A lot of YouTube movies are available, but it is difficult to decide which contains good practice or just somebody posting a way of doing something. See the Park Tool Big Blue Book of Bicycle Maintenance http://www.parktool.com/product/big-blue-book-of-bicycle-repair-3rd-edition-BBB-3

On Wednesday afternoon I stopped and handed out club business cards to 5 "roofryers" on the Helderberg trail. Three riders were club members but had other boards from a previous ride obscuring their Wannabees bike boards. Another rider claimed to be a club member, but mentioned that he does so many races that he forgets to replace his bike board. Another rider promised to join the next day because he liked riding the club's trails. The last guy was a fellow club member all good and I gave him some business cards for re-distribution. He mentioned that he just passed three riders who were very snotty when he inquired about their bike boards. I think having a business card to hand out is better that simply shouting the odds in passing. It provides the opportunity to interact and explain the situation. It will also help to get a name and identify the rider. Perhaps the final step (if the previous fails to curb the scourge) is to get a picture or somehow identify the rogue riders and report them to the provincial cycling governing body to ban them from entering cycling events.

I am not aware of a day rate system for the route. It is a members only route. The club has an annual, as well as a discounted half-year fee should you decide to join after mid-year. Seems to work well for the 650 members of the club. Main member including a bike board for 2014 is only R350. Additional family member including a bike board is R250 per member. See http://wannabteam.co.za/w/annual-subs/subs-select/ Members can enjoy the trails as much they like. The club has riding events (mtb and road) 6 days of the week.

As club members, who very much like riding the Helderberg MTB trails, we are currently seeking permission to man random checkpoints on the route. The club has to regulate their own trail usage, or stand to lose them. The idea is to cycle out and spend an hour or two at a random point and to engage with unregistered cyclists attempting to pass the checkpoint. This is a voluntary exercise, but we hope set the trend for other club members to follow. The club has built infrastructure on the route, i.e. bridging ditches and streams and the idea is to request non-club members to join the club and not to use the our infrastructure until such time as they have become members. Effectively they have to turn back or find another way to cross a ditch or river.

Good. One rogue-rider less to worry about.

That would be nice, but what are you going to do with all the wheels? How about marking rogue cyclists' bikes with neon spray paint. No board, you and your bike gets sprayed. Eventually the marshals will only have to confiscate the wheels of the neon marked bicycles. : )

Yes Dirtman, we have rogue riders out on the Wannabees Cycling Club's trails in Somerset West too. The attitude and behaviour of a few cycle tjops have already cost us the privilege to ride on one farm. Our club have about 650 members and perhaps this could be used to an advantage to pester/harass rogue riders. I've proposed that we implement a 'EACH ONE TO ASK ONE' campaign. Each club member aught to ask every 'anonymous' rider encountered on the trail (not displaying an appropriate bike board) why not. Hopefully the constant nagging will have an effect, like Chinese water torture. The other idea is to have regular random checkpoints. At least two club members to wait a while at a spot on the trail and hand out club joining info to non-members. (We have club business cards with contact details printed on them). Take about 30 minutes out of your ride and wait for any rogues to stray your way, talk to them hand over the card and then continue with your ride. Perhaps talking to rogues will also provide an opportunity to 'evangelise' these brothers and sisters about the evil path of rogue riding they seem to be following. Judging by the equipment they ride, I get the idea that it is not an affordability problem, but an attitude issue.

Hi I've had a frame resprayed at the Bicycle Maintenance Company: http://www.bicyclerepairs.co.za/ Also, take a look at Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntubikes.com/ Cape Town based, however.

I checked with DHL's call centre and yep, you have to do an EFT for the duties before they deliver. They asked me for my email address! Surely that is part of the order information with CRC? The call center will now request the Cape Town office to email me an invoice. This is a very sloppy system DHL!!!!

Ha, ha the white Lycra thing was just for fun. The shorts on order are standard black. My outgoing MTB shorts (First Ascent) had seen better days the chamois are worn out after 3 years. I contemplated having the chamois replaced as the rest of the pants are still okay, but it seems to be far less of a hassle to simply to get a new pair.

Ordered two pairs of cycling short from CRC on Tuesday afternoon, opted for the more expensive DHL courier delivery service in the interest of speed. The parcel arrived at Cape Town Intl. on Thursday morning and was promptly routed for clearance, 'click' clearance, 'click' clearance... Current tracking status: Clearance delay - Cape Town. Should have saved money and opted for snail mail. Seems like the customs guys are already on holiday ... or maybe there is something about white Lycra that I wasn't aware of.

On Saturday we were marking sections of the Helderberg MTB route and one of the guys reported that he encountered a motorcyclist following the MTB route on the section he was sign posting. It takes a lot of negotiations and goodwill to obtain the permission from landowners to allow MTBers on their property. It only takes one or two ice-holes to stuff it up for everybody. Already landowners are insisting on a club-members only control due to abuse by bunches of MTBers not appreciating the privilege of being allowed to ride there.

Folk's warped obsession with winning and winners is the root cause for all the cheating and dishonesty. Turns out that winning a race is about being 'better' than the next by mere milliseconds. It begs the question whether all the heartache and suffering for a mere millisecond and two minutes on the podium is worth it? Maybe we should rather have cycling events instead of races. Everybody making certain cut-off times receive recognition, no single winner. The emphasis should be on celebrating cycling rather than winning at all cost. Races have become big business, corrupting all involved. Just look at the fall-out of the recent doping scandals, the cost of equipment, steep race participation fees and the ever evasive optimum MTB wheel size. I don't have to race to enjoy cycling.

Instant gratification costs money. The latest of most consumer products come at a huge premium. If you are prepared to wait only a little while, most of yesterday's brand new toys will be on offer at much more realistic prices. 2013 Bikes are launched just after midyear 2012, and 2012 bikes are already going on special. Check out the Obike site, CRC's end of season sales notices, or manufacturers newsletters. The specials are well worth a little patience. If you have the cash to burn, remember the higher the price, the bigger the fire. Shop owners just love you for generating the heat. Try selling what you have just bought for the same purchase price and see if you can recoup your "investment". It is an unpleasant reality check. Personally I prefer the 'wait a-while' frugal approach and hence are not impressed by magazines hinting that a R85k bike will 'not be breaking the bank'. That is not the reality of the average reader out here.

R15k tops for me.

And one for the 'you can make it up' category, a book shop in Scotland has repositioned, and repriced, their stock of Armstrong books:

I've let my subscription to Tread mag lapse, but they sent me the latest copy as a last or complimentary issue. This print just confirmed the reason for not buying this magazine any longer. Their sense of what off-road cycling is about, is completely out of touch with my reality. They have sold their soul. Flipping through the mag, I also noticed the article on the Scott bike. The R85k price tag in the heading disinterested me straight away and I did not even bother to read the review. Come to think of it, most of the products under review in the magazine seemed way overpriced to me.

Dit is 'n baie goeie idee. 'n Gerieflike bymekaarkomplek is Waterstone winkelsentrum. Die begin van die roete is nie te ver daarvandaan nie.

I was delighted to hear that the new MTB route will start at a vineyard right next to where I live. How cool is that! Volunteering to help landed me a task to assist clearing a servitude linking Somerset West Old Main Road to Steyns Rust road of broken branches caused by a storm a week ago, only to find an even bigger tree uprooted during Friday night's storm right at the starting point. This gave me an insight into some of the obstacles trail building pioneers have to overcome. It is a labour of love. As soon as enough of the trail has been marked, the club will publish more info on http://wannabees.co.za/ Below is my bike at the start of the green loop up to the Vodacom tower and back, the yellow route is to Lyngrove, near Raithby:

Ek het so pas bevestiging gekry dat dit 'n uitbreiding van die Helderberg roete is, maar dit is tans nog werk in proses. Just received confirmation that it is an extension of the Wannabees Helderberg MTB route. Still work in progress but permissions to ride from the N2, to Croydon to Annandale have been obtained and various routes are being marked out. I've volunteered to assist to establish the route. It is backyard territory for me and would be happy to help out.