Longbarn Killer

Insist that they repair the scratch at their cost.

Good advice. The same thing applies to parents buying bikes for their children. Just a funny story......my friend is a passionate cyclist, his wife's idea of exercise is sitting on the couch watching tv and smoking herself to death. She has no interest in exercise and no interest in cycling. She has told him this many a time. Despite this, he truly believed that she would cycle and bought her an expensive bike for Christmas. Come May, she hadn't even sat on it. He was convinced that she didn't ride because the saddle was not right for her. He bought her a new saddle as a birthday present. 10 years later, the bike and the saddle are still un-ridden.

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.

Move over Bogus.........here comes Christian.S

You are going to feel pretty awkward on your first ride. The different position, the narrow bars and this skinny wheel in front of you will make you feel unstable on the bike. Also, with road bikes, the gearing is much higher than modern mtbs, so you may not be used to that. Don't give up, just persevere and before long you'll be loving the speed that a road bike give and you'll be used to it in a jiffy.

I read in today's paper that 2 cyclists (father and 13 y/o son) were attacked on Victoria Drive and stabbed quite badly. Please guys......there are signs warning cyclists that this is a high crime area. Please pay attention to them, they are there for a reason. Father and son are recovering quite well.

The eBike of skateboards

I disagree. If they get you a new frame and parts don't fit, it is not fair for you to cover the costs. They must cover the costs too. It's their product that failed, it did not last as long as they promised it would.

Probably some sort of recall............. A friend had a similar thing happen with Raleigh. Except he wasn't happy at all. He bought the bike initially because he liked the frame design and the colour. It was replaced with a completely new design and colour which he didn't like. He sold the bike with the new frame and bought another brand.

The right thing is to make sure that they have enough stock to honour the warranty. Charging a person for something they have already paid for is not the right thing. When bikes are sold, the manufacturers/distributors budget for a certain amount of failures/warranty claims and factor this into the price of the bike. This means that the purchaser has already paid for a potential warranty claim and should therefore not be charged again.

I'm in the same boat. Trained every weekend and commuted to work 3 times a week to get some mid week training in. It started with a fall and a broken arm. 3 months off the bike (problems wit the healing process), then my daughter started high school and had to drop her at school (no more commuting). Then the weekends became a challenge just to get out on the bike. Now I'm down to the odd jaunt to the shop to buy milk and bread. But, I'll be back soon.....................

Good luck.......I tried about ten years ago to get a set and not even Coolheat (the Shimano distributors) could get them for me. You may be better off buying off eBay or Chainreaction

ChrisF............did something similar for his God Child and turned him into a bit of celebrity on the Hub in the process. You'll find some interesting info on ChrisF's post. It's probably more cost effective to buy a complete used bike, but it is more fun to build one.

This is the best option. Momsen is a great brand and well supported.

Everybody is referring bikes to you, but some have not considered the fact that you have stated that you are a short person. First thing, before buying a used bike, determine what size bike you need. Then start looking from there. There are lots of sizing charts that you can Google.

Stay away from all of them, especially the ones with the rear shocks. These bikes will frustrate the heck out of you. They break very easily, the brakes will squeal and the gears will struggle to shift. The wheels will be out of true after hitting the first pothole. Of your list, the Raleigh Razor from Game will be the best option. It will outlast the others, as long as you don't do a lot of off road type of riding. As someone mentioned, you'll be better off buying used. There are also some entry level brands that are better than others. They'll be a tad more expensive than whats on your list, but infinitely better and well worth the extra amount. Look at bikes like Avalanche and Axis.

I've just heard that Port Elizabeth is hosting the Africa Cup in less than two weeks. It is apparently a UCI sanctioned event where 20 nations will be sending their riders and points can be earned towards the next Olympics. I'm quite excited on the one hand as the criterium is on my door step, walking distance from my house. On the other hand, I'm disappointed. This is an international event and I haven't seen any advertising, awareness, marketing or anything. Maybe I live in a vacuum, but I've seen nothing in the press (and I read the paper every day) or heard anything on the radio. The only reason I found out about it, is because my cycling club sent out a request for volunteer helpers. It seems as if the criterium is piggy backing on the Lorraine Cycle Tour. There's also a TT and road race on the Sunday. I suppose this is why cycling is in the state that it is in. Host an international event and keep it quiet so we don't get any fans or spectators.

My mother in law lives in Hamburg and my brother-in-law in Wuppertal. At our last visit (in March), I also wore shorts and the family also thought I was crazy. Walked around the house barefoot (that's all I know) and was told I was crazy. They bought me a pair of slippers to keep my feet warm, which I never wore (much to their disgust).

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.

Pearson is still the best for waterpolo. It's kinda like a religion there.

DF is a good school, but is quite small. They are traditionally an Afrikaans school, but due to low numbers have been forced to take on English kids. My daughter goes to Alexander Road High. She loves it. A friend's daughter was also there. The mother had some issues (still not sure what they were) and they moved her to DF. They are happier there. I guess what I'm saying is that we all have our preferences with regard to schools and reasons for choosing certain schools. You need to explore each one and decide for yourself. Pearson may just be the right one for your kids. generally, all the "Model C" schools are good schools.

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).

Pearson is a dual medium school, but seems to be getting more English. They are very sport focused, to the point where I believe it becomes a negative factor. There is too much pressure to perform (ask the girls 1st Waterpolo Team who were chastised for not winning a national tournament). I have very close family, very much involved in school mountain biking and they have not mentioned that Pearson has this as a sport. Perhaps it is something new. Pearson is the flavour of the month in terms of schools in PE with people tearing each others eyes out to get their kids in. Considering what they offer, their fees are very low. If you move to PE, don't choose a school based on mountain biking and dance alone. There are other schools that offer this and if you can't find one that offers this, there are plenty of mtb clubs and dance schools your kids can join.

This is not a warranty issue and actually has nothing to do with Specialized, although it seems like they are trying to help.