madmarc

Not sure, but from memory in one of the entrant packs they indicated % and Western Cape were in the minority

We live in a free market enterprise. why is there anything wrong with buying something for R 1 rond and selling for R1.5 ronds. It's called business and business runs at a profit. If I buy something off the HUb because I can see it's a bargain and then resell it for its proper market value and make a profit, why begrudge me.

It's interesting reading all the different views on the this subject. One thing that i'm seeing is two distinct camps on the issue. 1. The competitive rider i.e. Racing Vets, elite and or Pro riders. 2. The recreational cyclist. Camp 1 needs and organization like CSA as the national controlling body of the sport, they may even see benefit from the member fees and other monies they need to pay to belong or be licensed by them. The will have to play by the rules set out by the controlling body if they want to RACE on a provincial, national or international level. In any country in any sport, a controlling body needs to be established to ensure the playing field is level and the rules and standards are adhered to. Or the sport will simply go to POT. Camp 2 don't need a controlling body like the CSA (In my personal opinion). A recreational cyclist simply wants to enter a fun ride of his or her choosing and ride the best possible time they can and have a good time. We are not there to challenge for a podium finish and win money or even have any aspirations of racing overseas. The only racing that goes on is the individual racing to beat their last time or a bit of rivalry between riding mates or other club members, hell there are even some clubs and companies who have their own little internal race competitions all in the fun and spirit of cycling. The problem is that camp 2 is being taxed to maintain the controlling body, and not seeing any benefit. why would you pay and not receive goods or service in return. Camp 1 is far too small to finance their own controlling body so that burden is placed on the recreational cyclist. Which I have no problem with as i'm happy to contribute towards the professional part of our sport in the hope of seeing our country represented on an international level. But this is not happening, virtually every cyclist going overseas or even racing on a national level has to pay the bulk themselves. When CSA can show me, how my club or me as an individual recreational cyclist can benefit from being licensed or a member, then I will gladly pay and support them. But until then they can get knotted, and go to provincial or national government for their funding, because that's where it should be coming from.

I service my own bike, so I remove the suspension links and swing the rear triangle without the shock attached, to see if the bearings are seized. I also listen carefully for any binding or grinding noise in each bearing. the best way is to place a screwdriver on each bearing and push the handle against your ear while you move the rear triangle. this way you can clearly hear if there is any grit in the bearing. If you hear anything there are 2 ways you can fix this. 1. check out the following link. But you will need to remove the bearing. I'm not a fan of this as I don't believe a bearing should be stripped and cleaned, but the manufacturer says it can be done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io755VQhBm8 2. Buy new bearings and replace them. I do this every 3 - 4 months irrespective of what condition they in. You will need to get proper bearing pullers or make your own. they can be tapped out with a hammer and punch, but you run the risk of damaging the frame if it's not done properly. My frame is full carbon so I don't risk the hammer thingy I made my own pullers. Also visit Enduro bearing website or check out their videos on youtube. I only use their bearings as they are designed for bikes I suppose you can save a few ronds at the local bearing shop, but if you work out the endure replacement cost in cents per km ridden its nothing. Their suspension bearings don't have cages (MAX Range), but they have more ball bearings as they are designed to take higher loads from all the hits your suspension takes. whilst normal deep groove bearings with cages are designed for a certain load and high RPM. On a suspension the focus is on load as there is very little rotation

Good point it's always the lawyers who complicate things

PPA and CSA: The way forward In February 2012, CSA wrote PPA out of its constitution despite PPA being granted entrenched rights in perpetuity in CSA’s founding constitution of 2004; PPA having been a primary motivator for unification prior to 2004. Amongst others, the CSA founding constitution granted PPA the rights to register our members and run our affairs as we have done since PPA was formed some 30 years ago, including the right to coordinate our funride calendar without requiring pre-approval or sanctioning from CSA. Since February 2012, PPA has been trying to resolve the issue with CSA through various meetings, emails and other forms of communication, with no forward movement on the matter. In an attempt to finalise the matter, PPA has now filed an application in this regard with the High Court of South Africa. “We are concerned that cyclists, and cycling as a whole, will be penalized through the lack of finalization of the current situation,” said PPA Chairman Steve Hayward. “We again want to reiterate that PPA did not ask to leave the CSA fold, and are resorting to legal means since all other attempts to resolve the matter have been unsuccessful. We simply want to continue as we have done since 1976, promoting cycling and the rights of cyclists in various ways.” The founding affidavit can be found at this link. The Notice of Motion can be found here Speaks for itself!!!!!!

Also had the same problem after The Lowveld Quest on my TREK Superfly 100. The bearings weren't seized but very close to it. I replaced them and now cover all the pivots with insulation tape which I replace every month. somewhere on the Enduro bearing website their is a video showing how you can remove the seals and dismantle the bearing, clean it out, polish the bearing surfaces and re-assemble. I don't have the time so I just replace all my pivot bearings every 3- 4 months irrespective of what condition they in. The problem is, that when they seize, it's not going to be long before the frame cracks. the first sign of trouble is a slight creaking noise in your suspension. the minute you hear this, change the bearings ASAP

Same thing happened to my mates SCOTT full carbon after 3 years. they replaced the frame (well Cajees replaced it)

I'm referring to CSA in it's current form, which is far different from the old SACF. The major difference today is that SACF was there mainly for pro cycling, they had very little to do with the recreational cyclist. Today CSA is climbing into recreational cycling because they know it's the cash cow. Financial gain is the driver, not betterment of the sport. What improvement has CSA done on cycling events or cycling in general for the recreational cyclists. Nothing; nadda Zip, only forced us to pay for recreational lic. and forced events organizors to pay their fees. That is tantamount to extortion in mu book. I go back to my original statement about CSA being another government lap dog imposing a hidden tax on mass participation sport. I wonder when the will start with the golfing fraternity on golf days. We wait in anticipation for GSA to be formed.

and the same for BMX. the world champs are coming up in New Zealand soon, every single parent of every single rider is currently working their butts off trying to raise funds. Where is the money CSA????? Maybe they gave it to Skizo!!!! haha

Not saying CSA must be simply replaced by PPA. But at the moment it seems that CSA simply wants to replace PPA. Their latest move was to write PPA out of their constitution hence the pending court case. Lets not forget that PPA was created for the recreational cyclists and not the pro cyclist,

Just read on their website where they claim 18000 members. I live in Gauteng and when I go down to Cape Town I see a lot more progress and development for cyclists as far as safety and cycling lanes go. I think PPA has a lot to do with this. PPA also seem to be very open with how they conduct themselves, and i'm sure their fiscal discipline is beyond reproach. Yes they have a large bank account i'm sure, but so what!! they been around since 1976 and have the largest timed cycling event in the world as an income generator. there's nothing wrong with that. If you think PPA prize money sucks then tell me how much do CSA contribute to prize money on there so called sanctioned events.

If anyone can start a boycott the MTBers can. Can anyone shed any light on why the no-camera rule exists. Because I honestly cannot think af any reason why they are banned, safety or otherwise!!!!

Biggest timed cycling event in the world, not just the country!!!

This is exactly my point, and i bet the race was on pvt land. so if the organizers told them to take a hike, only the pro's would not have been able to race.

How so has PPA had it easy???? in my personal opinion they done more for cycling in WP than any other cycling body. They represent over 17000 cyclists, and why would you believe that CSA has the right to sanction a race that actually created the PPA. It sounds more like they trying to hyjack the ARGUS because there would be huge sanctioning fees involved. CSA have been their own worst enemy, they have never been able to get their house in order and a lot of money (our money) has been squandered and stolen over the years by people working for them. This is public knowledge I'm all for having a governing body in any sport, but why did they go create a new one to take over a perfectly good one that knows what they doing. surely someone must have known there would be ***. It's like being married, and you come home and find some oke has moved into your home and takien over your house and family insisting that your wife must sleep with him. It's like a black ladies left breast. ït ain't RIGHT and it ain't FAIR Now i'm gonna be called a racist i suppose

Lets not forget how this started. PPA was around long before CSA, when CSA was formed they first took out the VCA and GPPA then tried their luck with PPA but bit off a bit more than they could chew. I hope PPA tie them up in litigation untill the end of time. I have no doubt this will end up in the constitutional court, and i'm no lawyer but i think CSA will lose.

CSA are simply the goverments lap dog, ensuring they have their fingers in every essence of sport. It's just another type of tax from the fun riders license fees and the money raked in from being collected by CSA for the so called sanctioned cycling events. Which is a portion of our entry fees. the more they collect the less they need to ask goverment for. thats why we are so poorly represented in international pro events. Most pro riders have to pay themselves or get pvt companies to sponser them to go race overseas. It will never end unless the fun riders stand up and do something. Just a thought If every non-pro rider refused to take out CSA license and simply boycotted every CSA sanctioned cycling event I wonder what their repsonse would be or how long it would take for them to go bust because of no income. Yes we would lose out on a lot of races for however long it took, but maybe it would work. Imagine if only the elites arrived to do the 94.7 or the ARGUS. Unsanctioned races would mean the pros or elites would be banned from participating. But the masses of fun riders would be there and so would the money and the sponsers. I personally don't ride these events because the pros are riding them, so let them race in CSA organised and sanctioned events. But i suppose trying to organize a road event would mean having the local authorities (which is goverment) agree to it and they could make if difficult. On the other hand MTB events are largely hosted on private land so why do they need to be sanctioned by CSA. A non-sanctioned MTB event would still attract us fun riders, with the elite bunch missing. So the entry fees would be there and the sponsers, because we are the people they are trying sell to, certainly not the pro's. Last week at the USN cup the race com. was very vocal about CSA rules and swore he would DQ any rider caught with a video camera on his body or helmet. I thought WTF!!!! or HTF!!!! cares if i wanna film my race i'll film it, if you wanna DQ me then go ahead. I would still get my stupid medal and i don't need an official time because i have a perfectly good Garmin which will give me my time. Just a thought - use it; don't use it; use it.......

Just recieved this CSA news letter. wonder how long it will take for CSA to get their hands on the ARGUS Pedal Power Association (“PPA”)/ Cycling South Africa (“Cycling SA”) In line with transparency and good standing, Cycling South Africa (Cycling SA) hereby advises its membership of legal procedures having been instituted by Pedal Power Association (PPA). Cycling SA wishes to inform you, our members, of the sequence of events culminating in the current situation. In November 2011, Cycling SA, under a directive from SASCOC, and under SASCOC’s guidance, was required to alter its 2004 Constitution in order to comply with SASCOC requirements and the tenets of the Constitution of South Africa. In terms of the new Cycling SA constitution, affiliates would be determined by geopolitical boundaries on a provincial basis. Under this framework, PPA could be affiliated as an Associate Member. All listed affiliates, including PPA, were furnished with the draft SASCOC compliant constitution for consideration. A Special Constitutional Congress was then convened for purposes of debatement. PPA, like all other affiliates, were invited to participate in the process. On the 18th February 2012, at its Constitutional Congress, at which a quorum was present, the new constitution, with amendments, was unanimously adopted by the participating Cycling SA affiliates. For reasons of their own, PPA chose not to attend, or vote. Notwithstanding PPA’s non-participation in the constitutional process, Cycling SA, in good faith initiated, of its own volition, negotiations with PPA in order to find a common ground whereby PPA could continue to facilitate, organise and manage their events and members as they had done so under the former constitution and framework. It was, and remains the fervent hope of Cycling SA that the two entities would be able to function to mutual benefit, as they have done in the past. From the perspective of Cycling SA, negotiations with PPA progressed well. In the process however, Cycling SA, as the National Cycling Federation, is committed and obliged to comply with the requirements of SASCOC and, by association, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). PPA is well aware of Cycling SA’s affiliation to SASCOC and the challenge it faces in its attempts to accommodate both parties, to the benefit of the cycling public. Pedal Power Association has now deemed it necessary to file a formal motion proceeding out of the High Court. Cycling South Africa will have to defend its position in this regard. It is unfortunate that there will be legal costs that may detract from the core essence of what Cycling South Africa is trying to achieve for the progression of our sport and our athletes. The above having been said, Cycling SA management have noted that other, non-involved event organisers have perceived the on-going liaison with PPA, as an opportunity to forgo any formal sanctioning and compliance currently in place. Cycling SA reminds any persons wishing to host cycling events in South Africa, that such events remain subject to the sanctioning requirements of Cycling SA, and to all applicable statutory provisions, including but not limited to the National Sport and Recreation Act, 1998 (Act No. 110 of 1998), and related legislation. ENDS

That's why we booked Ambleside farm house for the weekend. will leave the tent thing for the youngsters and racing snakes

Will be there as well, my 2nd stage race. riding under Team Plumblink.

I Know this is fairly flat, but does anyone have or know where to find a route profile for the 70km

i saw those guys must have been about 20 of them following each other like sheep coming up through one of the farms cultivated lands while we were going down some jeep track in the opposite direction. They obviously took a wrong turn and got lost. don't know how because the route was pretty well marked and with lots of riders to follow.

This was the 2nd time i've done this race, i'm mid to back of the pack finisher and always amazed at the amount of racing snakes coming up behind me to pass. I always wonder why these guys are seeded behind me and not in front. It could also be a 30km rider/racer coming up to pass as the 1st 30k's do the same route as the 50km ride. Most of them are pretty cool about it, and i always try move over to let them pass then i hang onto their wheel for as long as i can. BUT you will always get the Asshole who thinks it's his right to push or switch you off the track because he is faster. But i suppose this is MTBing and we have to live with it. One guy in USN kit kept passing me on the strait sections but was like a little girl on the technical sections and would'nt let anyone pass, I eventually had to tell him to get off the track and stop riding like a d#$s.

Phone solomons woodmead, they half the price and will send them to durbs for you