Longbarn Killer

Yes, Merida is one of the biggest brands in the world and are known for their quality. When it comes to second hand, bear in mind that it is not the brand that counts, its how the bike was looked after. You might get a Merida second hand that is as good as new, then again, you might get a Merida that is a piece of scrap metal.

How much laughter has this man brought to the world? RIP

"The problem is that I would not really know what to look for in a secondhand bike and obviously do not want to spend money on repairs." There, you have answered your own question. Go and buy a new one.

I bought a cheap airbrush and used some model paint to airbrush scratches out. Worked a treat. Not sure if it will work in your case, that looks a little more sinister than just a paint chip. There appears to be a crack in the carbon at the top of the chip. It may just be a crack in the paint, but if I was you I would take it to one of the carbon guys mentioned above for a proper analysis and if needed, a carbon repair too.

It's quite difficult to prove who is at fault, so I suppose that you should be grateful that at least one of the scratches are being fixed. Back in 2006, when the wind at the Argus was so bad. The race was stopped. They arrived with trucks and the bikes were loaded on top of each other. They were stacked in massive piles, probably 20 high. There is no way in hell I would have allowed that. I am very pedantic with my bikes (or any of my possessions for that matter) and they must remain scratch free. My 2007 Raleigh looks like it came off the showroom floor yesterday.

My helmet came with a visor, never attached it. Then for one mtb event, I decided to use it. It was the most irritating thing out. Took it off half way through. Having this shadow permanently over my eyes was too much.

Most manufacturers sell "comfort" orientated road bikes. They generally have a shorter top tube and taller head tube giving you a more upright position. If that's still not enough for you, you can always fiddle with the stem to make your bars even higher (turning it around is the cheapest option). Bikes that tick the comfort box are: Giant Defy Specialized Rouxbais Merida Ride Trek Domane Scott Solace (I think that what it is now) There are lots of others I can't think of right now

Growing up as a kid, I was pretty fat. I blame my father. I was like a trophy for him because it was his way of showing the world that he could afford to give me lots of food. He really did. He boasted at every opportunity that he was feeding me well. Then again, if you look at his upbringing, you might understand why. His father died from lung complications (was a victim of mustard gas in WW1) on the same day my father was born. They grew up very poor and his mother couldn't afford to feed the family properly. So I guess by the time I came along, he didn't want me to suffer the same fate. I cannot actually recall being bullied or teased for being fat, other than the odd snide comment.

A colleague's husband is involved in some or other way (municipal employee) and he sent the same message to her a few minutes ago.

November......PE's windy time of the year.

These are probably the guys that don't like the road closures on the day. Good excuse for a petition

I've heard that the Pro14 has been canned for the rest of the season. Saves the Kings another 8 losses.

If you want to be part of the crowd, go for the T-Cross, everybody has them. The Venue is a lot less common, but sales will probably pickup. Nissan has the new Kicks coming out as well as a new Juke.

What about the medical insurance that CSA forced us to take out a few years ago? Can you not claim from this for the medical costs? Is CTCT sanctioned by CSA? I know there was an issue a few years back.

I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but you seem to be rather tech savy. Maybe, you can advise me on my problem. I have a JVC smart TV. Other than endless problems to get it to connect to wifi, some of the apps have expired. The TV will not allow me to update them and won't allow me to download again. Google shows it to be a common problem. My biggest gripe is that one of the expired apps is Youtube. I'm just biding my time until Netflix and the browser suffers the same demise. Any idea on how to fix this issue? I have been in contact with JVC (Nuworld) and their support is as useless as an A cup bra on Dolly Parton. I have found some solutions on Youtube, but none have worked.

Yip.....I made the exact same comment a few years ago and some bloke called be a moron.

It was Momsen and then I'm sure it moved tp Rush Sports in PE. The same guys that do Santa Cruz. Just checked their website and there is no mention of Cervelo.

Check your saddle for cracks.

Post a photo

That prep stuff can cause dehydration. I'm no doctor, but I doubt that you will be hydrated enough for that training ride. My wife has been through this and all the toilet comments made here are 100% true. Take the advice of the guys above and get an opinion from your doctor first.

I haven't followed SA champs for a few years, so I can't comment on the last 3 years or so, but this problem of depleted fields for women is not unique to this event. The remoteness of this event is probably compounding the situation, but there seems to be a bigger problem somewhere else (cue the WTF CSA thread).

I only saw your post of the specs after I posted the above. The specs look pretty decent and it is definately better than what you get at Makro.

Diamondback make some very good bikes, however, the only ones that we see in SA are the cheap and nasty ones that you get at Makro. It's possible that this one is a special import and is one of the better ones, however, considering that they are prepared to give it to you, I'm thinking that it is one of the cheaper ones. (for a non-cyclist, R2 000 is considered expensive). But hey, as you said, it is for free, so take it.

I can't think of any 8 speed that comes with a 1 x drivetrain. 8 speed is normally on entry level bikes which generally have 3 rings upfront. I could be mistaken though. I thought maybe you (or your wife) had done a conversion. If you had the old crankset lying around, you could have just put that back on. But as someone said, buying a new crankset is probably not cost effective vs the cassette options.