Longbarn Killer

My man cave is my garage. 2 of my bikes, 7 radio control cars, all sorts of spraying, cutting, grinding tools and a fridge with warm beers in it (it hasn't been switched on for ages). It also doubles up as my wife's woman cave. There is a washing machine and a tumble drier.

Huh? looks pretty good to me.

Haval has been getting rave reviews in the motoring press. Good value for money My problem with Haval (and most Chinese brands for that matter) is how long these vehicles will last. They are too new on the market to see what problems they'll give in a few years time. They are made by GWM. Most GWMs after 5 years start looking tatty. Paint is starting to fade, lights get that greying look and body panels out of alignment etc. That points to poor build quality and poor quality of components. I realise Haval is the luxury arm of GWM and is expected to be better, but is it better? I would like to see what the current crop of Havals will look like in five years time, with 100 000kms on the clock. If an Haval will still be in the same condition as what a Japanese, Korean or European car is after 5 years, then they are worthy of consideration. The only way to find this out is to wait 5 years. Personally, I would rather get a used Japanese, Korean or European car with low mileage before I go with Haval.

Pretty fair question. I understand why bike shops would want you to book it in. Space is often at a premium and managing the amount of bikes in the shop by booking them in at any one time would also alleviate having a pile of bikes in a queue waiting to be repaired. It's also is a question to manage a client's expectation of when his bike will be ready. Shop: "have you booked the bike in?" Client: "yes, booked in for today: Shop: "great it will be ready this afternoon" or Shop: "have you booked the bike in?" Client: "no I haven't" Shop: "great, but we already have a number of bikes booked in for today and tomorrow, we can look at it on Thursday and it will be ready for you then."

Insist that they repair the scratch at their cost.

The big issue for me is the scratch on the top tube. If you haven't already, make them aware of it, preferably in an email (so there is evidence). The longer you take to inform them of the damage to your bike, the more chance they've got to deny liability. They must repair that scratch.

The eBike of skateboards

Keep fighting.......your spirit is an inspiration. This whole thread is an indication that you are not alone. I shouldn't be posting this as you don't need negativity, but I kinda need to. My sister passed last night.

I've been watching this thread with interest as my sister was diagnosed around the same time you were. I can relate to your experiences as I have seen her go through similar things. Keep going..............keep on your bike.................it seems as if all is right for you. Sadly my sister is not going to make it.

Depends on the reason for paying the race entry. If you are a company paying the entry for a pro racer, you could argue it is advertising and is in the course or furtherance of your business. In which case you could claim. If the business pays for the entry of it's owner or friend or owner's family, you are going to have a tough time trying to convince SARS that it is not entertainment (VAT cannot be claimed on entertainment).

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SARS has 60 working days to respond to a dispute (not 21 days). If these 60 working days have expired, you need to lodge a complaint via the CMO (Complaints Monitoring Office). Those call centre escalations are not worth the time spent on the phone. They end up in cyber space. It's best that this is done via eFiling, however, you have the option to do this via telephone. If you do it electronically, they will probably tell you that eFiling is your only option. Having said that, if your objection was only partially allowed, you have to do an appeal for the balance. If you have lodged an objection again, SARS will disallow it and tell you to appeal. Then the whole process starts again.

That is one of our biggest complaints that we have in the industry. SARS never sticks to their own time lines and often exceeds the 21 days, but the majority is within 21 days. As soon as the auditor reviews and finalises the audit, the refund will go through for payment. They don't hold it back for 21 days to expire. Most of the time, payment runs go through nightly. Refunds over a certain amount may need a second approval, in which case it will take a bit longer to hit the payment run. SARS also selects certain audits for quality control, meaning a second person must look at it. This can also delay the process.

Mine took about a week to finalise the audit. The finalisation was done last week Thurs and I got my money today.

This brings another dimension to this topic. Is it alright to flame someone's ad? The reason I started this topic was because a "well known" seller with a 100% positive rating was selling parts described as "mint". The picture actually showed very badly scratched parts. My first thought was to reply in a sarcastic way. But I thought about it and then figured that maybe one person's definition of "mint" is different to another's (that's why I asked for the general consensus). Besides, anybody buying the parts could see for themselves it was scratched and make decision accordingly. I try not to comment negatively on people's ads, but sometimes the temptation is too great. I also make sure of my facts before commenting. Like the guy selling a road bike claiming it was a 2014 model, yet it had a quill headset (these all but disappeared on bikes in the 90s). Some googling showed his bike to be a 1999 model. In that case I commented, but also try not to directly accuse. I try to use words like "are you sure" etc. I've also seen people make negative comments on ads and it is clear that they have no idea what they are talking about. I once saw an ad for a Raleigh RC9000. Some chump chirped that Raleigh never made an RC9000 and that is was probably a fake. (Team Microsoft rode RC9000s). There's a fine line between ruining a potential sale and exposing a dodgy seller. Your comments on the expander plug were probably justified.

My eldest brother is a real slob. He dresses like he lives on the street and I cannot recall him ever brushing his hair. One day a woman actually paid for his groceries at the Spar.

The one with the massive M30 spanner will find a way to steal irrespective of how fancy your lock is. Then your next best protection against theft is insurance.

I've been out of the loop for some time now and haven't really kept up to speed. I see Louis Meintjies is not in the team. Is he injured or just out of form?

When somebody advertises an item for sale as describes is as "mint" condition. What would you expect it to be? I would expect an item to look brand new, work perfectly and have no marks or scratches.

eFiling seems to be sorted out. I have about 6 profiles and the system still hasn't merged me, but the individual profiles still work on their own.

Rule number 1. Never spend a SARS refund until the cash is in your bank. I've been working with them/for them for 25 years and have learnt anything can happen along the way.

Depends on which versions you are looking at and what specs they have. All things being equal, I'd choose the one that looks the best to you. You won't go wrong with either of them.

Cannondale has stuck to their design for too long now. A revised shape for the Supersix is a refreshing change. And the best of all, there are no mountain bike brakes on it.

Bringing 12 speed to the masses? Even Chorus pricing brings tears to the eyes of the more affluent. If they really want to bring 12 speed to the masses, make Centaur 12 speed.

Potenza as in Campagnolo Potenza groupset?