RobynE 🚵‍♀️

@ChrisF worth a shot, even if it’s a long shot, but could it be that the barrel adjuster on the remote is acting up? I have no idea if it even has one, but I just had the same issue with my fork and it turned out to be the issue (in my case Rockshox X-Loc). Edit: to clarify, the barrel adjuster was in the wrong position so it was locking and unlocking the fork with the switch, but only making a marginal difference to the stiffness between locked and unlocked. In essence the fork felt extremely unforgiving and I was getting headaches etc and being bounced off the bars with zero small bump compliance. A Judy Silver was more compliant than my SiD. LBS turned the adjuster to the correct position, reset what I’d changed on the rebound to compensate, and I have my mountain goat back (and it’s been flawless since).

Kim 8th at Worlds today! 👏 👏 Chapeau!

Usually either fake POP and people release the goods not realising the money will never appear in the bank, or overpayment scam which is another fake POP, followed by contact from the buyer asking you to pay the balance to the courier/driver. But you don’t receive any money and you’ve lost your item and possibly extra cash. They typically get super pushy about collecting the item once the first POP is sent. Often bring “godly” things in to garner trust. These days they seem to use Uber a lot - I’m on the fence as to whether the drivers are actually involved or not. Essentially they rely on there being a delay between Paypal and your bank account, but there’s never any money in the first place.

Sorry to derail but did you just group British and Irish in the same category, Chris?!? Them’s fighting words, to be fair.

I think Outsurance has completely skewed your perception of what insurance is or isn’t. Insurance should cover - end of story. It doesn’t matter where the item is at the time and you shouldn’t have to pay a premium to insure something for being able to take it out, but then at the same time not have it converted for theft at home. There shouldn’t be (and isn’t, with Old Mutual) a clause that says you are only covered if the item is in a specific place. Note: I am not expecting my insurance to cover my fridge stolen off the back of my bakkie. I am however expecting them to cover them my watch whether I’m mugged on the street or there are sticky (criminal) fingers in my home.

I insure it because it’s mine and it should be covered whether it’s in my bedside drawer, on the roof of my car or down a drain. By their logic and now your logic - you’d be happy to not have a claim if your Garmin watch was stolen from next to your bed while you slept?

By their logic you should be wearing all your wearables and jewelry while riding your bicycle outside of your home address in order to qualify for a claim for any of those items? Imagine all the rands and cents they’re getting each month through forcing this “logic” on all their clients - and then not paying out.

No first-hand knowledge but a client of mine in Dubai is on my Strava and his road rides are pretty much zero elevation and doing loops to get his distance. Like 9 loops to do 100km with 120m of elevation. One of his July rides was in 59 degrees where he did 57km for 94m of elevation. Almost all his rides seem to be the boardwalk at Palm Jumeirah and then an area called Meydan. In terms of elevation and scenery, it’s there, but like a 3 hour drive out of Dubai. As I understand it.

Our outlet and their outlet! 🐾 A little 5km in the veld by our house this morning. NB the gate exit is more carefully planned than it looks viz other people out and about, and vehicles 😝 The big guy (Kangal) always burns all his matches in the first 1km and then he mostly walks home 🥱 The rest can literally go for hours. The little red rat (JRT/Dachshund/Chihuahua/Whippet) isn’t even warmed up after 5km, not even after keeping up with me at 30km+ in some sections. He’ll still be nipping the side of my foot after 15km wanting more and faster. copy_208BBD1B-0B4A-45EC-A5CA-86AF2E78CB45.mov

PS OM doesn’t require specification of every single bloody thing you own, and the premiums are less. Outsurance hides an awful lot under that carrot of an Outbonus (we had a zero contents claim record before our home invasion).

Agreed. After our armed robbery they wouldn’t pay out for Ouma’s gold ring. This was a ring that she had had bitten off her finger during the war, and had managed to retrieve. It had been passed down for generations. They said they wouldn’t pay out any value because it hadn’t been specified and there was no proof of purchase. In short: everything needed copies of invoices/POP/needed to be specified or they wouldn’t pay. We ended up being paid out 1/3 of our claim. NB the criminals took the kettle and kitchen clock, microwave, bedding and curtains (they loaded all our vehicles and took them as well). We were quite literally cleaned out of everything that could be carried. Everything. In order to get to the 1/3 we had to sit with their auditor or whatever you call it in our house with her laptop for 3 days as she asked for proof of everything we were claiming for. While we stood there in the literal clothes on our backs at the time of the invasion (they took our clothes, too) having endured 3 hours tied up in our home only to face the Spanish Inquisition of “prove to me you ever had that kettle/ring/duvet”. We moved to Old Mutual after that, with a broker. Not helpful to you Mike but they are absolute scheisters. Give em hell.

This pic does it better justice.

That’s really not bad for the spec. 1x12 Deore, Marzocchi Z2 (a very lekker 34 fork), TRP Slate 4-pot brakes, Rockshox shock and WTB i30 rims with WTB tyres, dropper. For a person wanting new, reliable and fun, it’s a great deal. I hope they sell lots!

Well maybe the person who bought the bike will see this and reach out.

Thanks droo! Yes it was unlocking and locking, but the difference in feel between the two was marginal. Now it’s back to locked (meaning definitely locked - 100% stiff) and plush and squishy and lovely when unlocked 😁 Took it for another ride yesterday to exercise my dogs (which is an off-piste ride through the long grass in my local veld, not seeing bricks and pipes etc while trying to avoid my 8 lunatic dogs), and it feels like it used to - like an RC crawler if that makes sense? Just making its way over whatever it needs to without drama and with me feeling, well, nothing really.

Nailed them to the ground out there - outstanding!

Would be my first choice but not sure if the 15mm is an option.

Having run the non-boost hub and wheel gauntlet earlier this year, I would recommend you get a Novatec hub and rebuild your wheel. Then you’ll have a decent (serviceable) hub and matching rims. If you don’t want to rebuild your wheel, Jetset rims are decent, reasonably priced, and can likely be supplied by your LBS.

Reviving this because I just couldn’t get comfortable at the front, and was at the stage of getting dizzy over every single small bump, root, and literally blurred vision and a headache over corrugation. I shelved the bike as “not fun” and rode the Trek for a bit. The Judy on the Trek felt like a Bentley in comparison to the Sid on the Giant. But I’ve been doing most of my riding on the trainer because I don’t *love* the Trek for the normal MTB stuff I do, and I need to *love* what I’m riding. Yesterday I decided it was all in my head and that I’m fat and lazy. I took the Giant out this morning with the goal being 50km at Northern Farm. I did not do 50km because I was hesitant and uncomfortable over everything even slightly rough and came back in just over 20km feeling dizzy and head-achey with numb hands. I felt horribly slow and jittery on the descents (descents are very much my thing) and was very confused by all the PRs I got on the climbs while I was feeling so damn slow 🫤 I decided to take it to Mellow after the rugby. Ivo took one look, compressed it once, and told me it was the Flood Gate. I did not know such a thing existed on the remote and while I haven’t fiddled with it it’s possible it got adjusted somehow when squashed against another bike in transit, or a crash, or something like that. By adjustment I mean the barrel on the hose behind the bars ie on the X-Loc remote. It was all the way, er, in the direction it shouldn’t have been 😂 So the bike was pretty much locked out permanently even though the remote was in the unlocked position. Ivo turned it to where it should be, checked the pressure, adjusted the rebound, handed it back to me and I took my bike for a test ride. I have my mountain goat back! Thanks Ivo. 45 seconds well spent at Mellow 😝 This means I did a number of races pretty much locked out, which also explains the higher than normal amount of crashes I’ve had in really questionable circumstances (compared to normal) and feeling so fatigued at the end of every technical ride. So while I am still fat and slow, I’m not crazy 🤪 TL;DR: nothing to do with the rims, tyres, pressure or rebound. The fork was locked out permanently because the barrel adjuster was in the wrong position on the X-Loc remote.

NB the Patriot has 1x12 Shimano Deore, albeit with a Sunrace cassette. The ones you linked to, have what appears to be SRAM SX and Shimano Tourney. The Patriot also has a SR Suntour fork and it’s better than the one on the Silverback. Again, this is good new *value*, but I’d still buy good second hand.

In terms of your budget the Patriot at Solomon’s is about the best you’ll get. The frame is an “unknown” but the components are really good for a 10k new bike.

@Theo Blok01 does your pump have a warranty?

Here today, Juan tomorrow. Link.

If you really want new and are fine with an unknown frame set, then these Patriots from Solomons have decent spec for the price. Waaaay better than the Kerb and priced at just shy of 10k.

Can’t say I’m brimming with confidence at these ideas being that I jumped my front wheel off the block the other day, but they’re something at least. Realistically I’m not sure how much space you’d save. Google “fork stand trainer” for more.