RobynE 🚵‍♀️

Having owned an Avalanche Reflex 3.0 the above two comments are spot on. My first ever post on the hub (might have been my second) was asking about this bike. What you will likely find is: - brakes will need frequent tinkering. You can help by bedding them in properly when you get the bike, but they’ll still need tinkering - rear hub and BB won’t take much rough stuff. By that I mean tree roots, pavements etc, not drops. The hubs don’t like being rattled around. - gears will need frequent adjustments, at first and then every 3rd or 4th ride. - your drivetrain will retain a lot of grit, grime and muck, so make sure you clean it well after every ride. - it is very much an “urban” fork and doesn’t like too much trail or mountain. Expect it to start squeaking or clunking as soon as you’ve roughed it up a bit. Again I mean tree roots and and a rock or pavement or two - not “real” trail stuff. If you pay 5k new it will be worth 2.5k after you’ve ridden it for a month and if you tried to trade it in on something else you’d probably be offered 1.5k. Now all that being said: I gave mine to a staff member who rides the h**l out if it commuting, doesn’t lube it, doesn’t wash it, with tyres way harder than they should be, and for some reason it just keeps going. It’s a pig to ride in my opinion but it gets him from A to B reliably. Or should I say “got”, as staff member is an ex-staff member and sold it to another guy in the area who still rides the h*ll out of it with no problems a year later 🤷 For 5k it’s about the best you’ll get for your money, but if you could add a few grand to your money you may be able to pick up a Trek Marlin or Silverback Stride and they would probably serve you better. Then you’d have a decent frame on hand and could upgrade components as you want or need to and you’d sell the bike easily down the line for closer to what you paid for it than you’d have paid for the Avalanche. I paid R4000 for the Avalanche, had it for a few months and wouldn’t have gotten more than 2k for it, hence I gave it away. I’d already spent close to 1k on servicing and caring for it. Conversely I wash and lube my 10ish K Giant 29er and fling it around, over annd through all sorts of things and it doesn’t complain and hasn’t actually “needed” a service in the year I’ve had it. The “false economy” aspect is really something to factor in.

You’re a braver person than me 😂 Having now been back on a bike for the past two years having last ridden a bike as a teenager (I’m 43 now) I can’t imagine ever using rim/V-brakes brakes again, even on a relaxed kerbside ride! Even cable-actuated disc brakes make me uncomfortable once I’ve been on one of the hydraulic brake bikes for a bit. I went and looked at your previous posts about getting a new bike - are you still riding the Giant 26er? What brakes does it have?

I have the same bike but a 2021 model and I’ve kept an eagle eye on bikes with the same fork. It seems that discolouration is pretty normal on the Judy RL. I’ve seen a few forks on different bikes with the sort of hazy effect in the black coating. And even the same fork for sale as parts with the same discolouration. However the OP’s stanchions are scratched after 3 rides on a brand new bike and fork - and then immediately the same thing on the replacement/repaired fork. It’s not the same thing as discolouration. The discolouration, for me, is already bad enough. It already looks like there’s something wrong with the fork, even if there isn’t. But scratches are way worse because most people won’t even consider a fork with scratched uppers. So in effect the fork is worthless even if it’s perfectly functional - it may as well be a Zoom fork. This isn’t fair - it’s a brand new 20-24k bike and my two non-Trek new 10-15k bikes have done hundreds if not a couple thousand kms with Suntour and Vaxa coil forks with no scratches and less than conscientious care. Not a single scratch on either. Likewise on my Rockshox SIDs and Fox F100 - all probably 10 years old if not older. The OP needs to escalate this and Trek needs to pull finger, even if it means they fit another model or brand of fork to the bike to keep the customer happy. He’s not being unreasonable here IMO.

Just to add - the wheel size isn’t important but the frame size is. If you’re feeling a bit stretched out on the Raleigh it could be that the frame to too big for you. Eg I’m 1.66m and ride a medium 29, but I can also ride a small depending on the frame geometry. I’m a large 26 but can also do a medium depending on the geometry. If your frame is too big but it’s what you have you can do things like change your saddle position, fit a shorter stem, adjust the angle of your brakes and shifters, etc. Second what @droo says - my yard is full of dead Raleighs (and not old ones either) as I systematically upgrade my staff bicycles with good quality “old” 26ers with decent components - just like what you’ll get on that Tyax. Depending where you are there are Hubbers who deal in good quality second hand parts who could sort out any niggles you have on the Tyax for not much money.

You’re a better person than me. I’d give them one more chance to upgrade with pay-in and then I’d take it to social media. Honestly, you didn’t buy a Makro bike, you bought a Trek, and the damage you are seeing is not only aesthetic but functional as well.

Chat to Bike Market - you can at the very least ride their bikes in the parking lot lol but in all honesty they have just about every type of bike available second hand and you’ll be able to get a really good idea of what you would like. NB factor in the price of a platform carrier that will work for the bikes you choose. Some dualsus bikes won’t fit on a hanging carrier. You’ll be looking at 8 (good used) to 25k (top spec new) for a suitable carrier with sufficient width between all the bikes that you don’t have damage to them when loading.

If you fit gravel tyres you will probably be able to run a 26” air fork - I swapped the Suntour 80mm coil fork on my 29” hybrid for a 26” Fox F100 series fork (old but good) and it works a treat with my Pirelli Cinturato 40s on the aero wheels that came with the bike. The weight saving was immediately noticeable. And a huge difference in handling. Not sure what fork you currently have on the bike. I have a Cane Creek Thudbuster on the bike and the drivetrain isn’t light (Microshift Advent plus Prowheel) but the bike itself isn’t noticeably heavy, climbs well, and is “gravel plus” lol as it did Cradle Mountain Challenge and Lion Man before I accepted that I needed a bike with more mountain in it 😂 But mostly came here to say that you can probably run a lightweight 26 air fork on 700c gravel tyres, and these forks are cheaper and pretty common.

I am not a fan of LTwoo, simple as. To me the shifting is ok-ish but the crud retention and constant tweaking is enough to drive me mental. Maybe you have a better version than mine 🤷 but I don’t like mine. It is simply incomparable to my SRAM GX 11 speed, Deore 12 speed and GX 10 speed. (PS. Bought brand new and fastidiously maintained at home and by LBS and now 1 year old)

My view as someone who buys both new and second hand is: I like second hand good quality parts because they don’t need tweaking. I don’t like needing to tweak every second or third ride. There is a massive, massive difference between “cheap or mid-range new” and “good condition mid to upper tier second hand”. Massive. They are scarily the same price. A well-maintained RockShox SiD WC that is 5-10 years old is more plush and fun than a brand new Rockshox Judy SL. An “old” SRAM GX 1x11 outperforms a new Microshift Advent or LTwoo 1x10 any day of the week and twice on Sundays. All hydraulic brakes are not created equal even at the same price point. “Shimano” means nothing - the model numbers matter and how it makes you feel matters most. All in all it’s a good quality second hand bike for me in the 10-20k price range. I have sat on a few 40-60k new bikes belonging to mates and I keep coming back to my “old” Giant XTC from @RobertWhitehead - it’s the perfect bike for me and he read my need so well when I reached out to him a year ago. He has built bikes for family and friends as well and they all LOVE their bikes too. This is not a plug for Robert exclusively but there are very good bikes to be had for 10k if you are not seeking “new”.

Little NY circuit at Lion & Safari this morning

A little outing down the road with the dogs late afternoon ❤️ So much easier than walking 😂

@RobertWhitehead will be able to sort you out with a second hand fork (serviced and good to go) and he’s in Pretoria. He is very familiar with the X-Caliber as well and has done his fair share of bike riding lol so you’ll get the right fork for the job. But - see what Trek/the bike shop can do for you first, as it will probably be cheaper to pay in with them as an upgrade, than buy a different fork outright and sit with the old one. Or maybe Robert would do a trade on your fork but it would only be worth the value of its lowers I would think, as he’s not going to sell or fit a fork with stanchion wear.

This is a great suggestion (to upgrade with pay in)

So we have the Titan Calypso 26 which has the 24 frame. We bought it new last year in September. I wouldn’t say my kiddo (now 9) is a shredder but she’s pretty capable. She’s not doing jumps or drops (well, not on purpose lol) and is now starting to learn to wheelie. Previous bike was a Mongoose BMX. She is about 135cm tall and weighs 33kg. She’s tall for her age and quite skinny (wiry). Our experience with the bike in stock form: *** (Caveat: we live on dirt roads and she loves riding through puddles - our bikes are cleaned and lubed after every say 3rd ride or right after a particularly gnarly ride. Bike is meticulously maintained by LBS). *** It was perfect getting her confident on a bigger bike, and one with gears. As she started getting the hang of the gears I found it needed a lot of tweaking or it would get clicky. A couple of times we had it where she would not be able to get into 1 (granny gear) which on an 8 speed made quite a difference on hills. This was a recurring issue. The brakes (Tektro cable actuated) were not great, from the beginning. They just didn’t have great bite. They worked for putting around but weren’t great for “sudden dog in front of bike” type stuff. The chain dropped continuously on the chain ring. That really frustrated her and knocked her confidence going down bumpy hills. And it made me need to stop repeatedly to put the chain back. It didn’t do it for the first 6 months unless she whacked a savage bump in the road, but then started doing it more regularly. The stock tyres were decent - not capable of tubeless though. We did tubes with slime - no issues. The BB started grinding last month and needed replacement. The above being said: she loves her bike, and a new bike was simply not on the cards. So, as things broke or needed replacement I upgraded. First replacement was tyres after she gashed a sidewall. Went with Maxxis and did tubeless conversion. Then did brakes - got sorted with a second hand set of Avid Elixir on 160mm rotors. Amazing stoppage! But possibly too much stoppage for an inexperienced kid without a clear display of how and why. She LOVES her brakes and hasn’t ever fallen because of them. They are absolutely WORLDS apart from the stock brakes and honestly I feel they’re the best upgrade to do on any bike (better brakes, I mean). Tried chain replacement but it didn’t really help with chain dropping. Did chain catcher - no real help either. Happened upon a set of DT Swiss wheels with hubs here on the Hub. Totally changed the ride and those Maxxis really popped on the new rims. Now with a decent hub I decided to change the groupset and she got a SRAM GX 1x10 with longer cranks, new BB and narrow-wide oval chainring. Serious game changer on hills - wow. She actually startles me when I look behind and she’s on my tail on a climb lol. And no more chain dropping - not once. The stock 80mm coil fork worked very well, no problems, but well I love the feel of an air fork and a Rockshox SiD 26” fell onto the bike by accident. Oops 🙊 Then a more comfortable seat - just a junior sport seat from Decathlon. The stock seat was a little hard for her mini-bits. So what have we got left of the Calypso - well, we have a frame 😂 But now we have a bike that will last her probably 36 months or so - so I see all the upgrades as being well worth it. And she LOVES her bike, and rides it every day. I feel that the bike in stock form got her going and doing the upgrades along the way has given her a really light, really manoeuvrable, really fun bike that she enjoys. And I haven’t had to tweak anything on any of the upgrades as they are simply better quality components than stock. She’s done a few races and the bike brings her home safely both in stock form and now upgraded. All the upgrades bar the wheels and tyres were done by hubber @Robertwhitehead (he’s a nice guy - chat to him). I rate the range in stock form for riding around the block each day and light trail use, but if you intend on letting the kid grow with the bike some upgrades are necessary in my opinion. Total spent on the bike excluding tyres is probably R5ish K plus the purchase price, so I think R12ish K if memory serves and I don’t think I’ll need to spend any money apart from maintenance for the next couple of years.

Photos do not do it justice 😞 This bike is a weapon! At R23k it feels almost sinful.

The fork is, yes, compared to a Judy Silver. Is the groupset SX or is it partial SX (eg crank arms and shifter)? SX isn’t held in high regard from my learnings on the Hub, based on durability and precise shifting. But you’d still have 2 more gears than the Advent X, sooooo… Your next step up would be NX, then GX, then you start with the electronic stuff. But if you have SX on the bike now you could upgrade to NX without too much fuss (though it will take some bucks). If you wanted to upgrade to GX you’d need to replace the rear hub driver. But I think an upgrade to NX would be straightforward. I think. I also think @droo must chime in here again as I may be getting myself turned around and confused and talking *** to you. But if the bike looks and feels good and everything works I’d put an offer on it. If it’s got the stock Helix rims, Manitou fork, and has been regularly serviced and well cared for, and the warranty is intact, it may be the one to start you off on a decent base at a good price point and allow you room to upgrade as you feel the need.

On the subject of foot pumps - My staff borrowed my old-but-not-cold Ryder foot pump and now my foot pump is suffering from some severe sticktion and is officially old and cold. I have a Lumeo wireless pump but I also just want a good quality foot pump for when I need to give something a couple of squirts. Any recommendations for a slick and smooth foot pump that doesn’t go R800+?

Use them often (online and collect plus in-store) and no issue overall. Their online simply pulls stock from their different branches to a central DC and then ships from there. You can track your order online. They email you updates along the way. If your stock item is low you may run into challenges, so for your own piece of mind have a look at stock at a couple of branches before committing. If something is Low Stock at a few places you might have a delay being that someone can literally walk in and buy the item once you’ve hit Check Out. Your basket doesn’t reserve the stock (same as Takealot). All that being said I’ve only ever had one delay and that was quite some time ago - and they did keep me in the loop.

Where was this? I don’t have any info about your bike but I’d like to know to avoid places where bikes get stolen as we always take our bikes with us and have never had a problem. Sorry about your bike 😞

All my Decathlon bike stuff works like a bomb and is very reasonably priced

PS here is the sale ad **** hot Pyga

I’m bumping this because I took this bike for a spin today and it is a BEAST. It deserves a home where it will get thoroughly abused, because it will love every second and so will its rider! This bike will give someone amazing confidence. I’d dare say it’s bulletproof. (and its also flippen good looking!)

And another lol https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bikes/688664/merida-big-9-xt

And another, this time in KZN, but has a slightly better spec. Would need to know what the definition of “Used: Fair” is. https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bikes/682289/2021-titan-rogue-sport

Here’s another - it’s in Joburg but you could probably negotiate and get a decent bike for pretty close to what you were originally thinking of spending. It’s a fairly upright ride but gets the job done and it’s a new-ish bike. You could probably get back more or less what you pay for it if you choose to upgrade (and sell privately). Again, no idea of the bike or legitimacy. https://www.facebook.com/share/P5RqUBWZAZtCo8z5/?mibextid=2JQ9oc