Paul Ruinaard

Get them to ship to myus.com, and go there and open an account. They will ship it to you.

So are you saying he had no helmet and was going the wrong way down the single track and then got collected head on. That is a trifecta of mistakes.....

wow this is great news. Faith restored...

I am still waiting for all these guys who are saying "pick me to ask me if this is my bike" to have somebody walk up to them, not to ask them whether it is their bike, but for their bike, whilst standing facing a gun. Then the next thing we will see will be the posts on the hub around crime, the country going to hell in a handbag, immigration and a picture of the bike with "if anyone sees my bike" Always easy to be a bleeding heart liberal when there are no real issues to address, so you invent one. Its not so easy when there is a real problem that needs action not some committee to be convened and tea and biscuits to be drunk. Rant off

did you read the comments below where an engineer explains it in formulas. That is what matters. This demo is also out to prove that physics works. It doenst hold much relevance for wheel sizes over varying terrains...

There are many - 12th avenue, Bryanston shops, Fratellis in Blairgowrie etc. All are with their perils as the access is not where the guys will mug you - its under the bridges and in the long grass. So pay attention when you are isolated in those areas, and try and ride in bunches...

I would be interested to hear what the costs of 1 x 11 after market are - it would be a front wide/narrow chain ring, cluster and chain ? I have been wanting to do this conversion instead of a single speed on an HT frame and was wondering the costs? Also durability - can one expect the front ring to last longer as there is no derailleur ?

You see this all the time in the cradle - many offenders but the most irritating must be the triathlon boys.

Win a. Tough lesson to learn. Use a torque wrench

Hmm - as I said I have had my issues. Concept Store Melrose Arch and at Cedar Square. I have posted here on the hub. West Rand is not my area but in the old days i travelled all the way there to get services (on my Specialized when they did Ventana) because they were so good - so i have no issues with them. And i am an out and out Specialized fan: Bikes x 2, shoes, seats, gloves, jackets. I love their stuff. SO TBH for me to say that the stores are not working is from the heart (of a brand fan) not an idle quote and a snipe at them. Its the same story with the same type of sloppy service. You just need to do some looking on this forum and see the posts - so three of the stores (that i know of) have had issues. Oopsies: Oopsies are what takes you out of business and are what are commonly referred to as good customer service. We as Saffers are too tolerant of lousy servcie and are willing to forgive. Go to a shop in the USA and see what service is about. There is a dealership in Dallas where I spent about 30 minutes getting help, with a pair of cycling socks. After that I came back two days later and spent hundreds of dollars there. And I felt great doing it, because I was king in their world. No amount of trouble was too much, getting me the correct sizes etc.

Specialized Concept Stores are like Mudguards. All shiny on the outside, but the same sh*t underneath. I have had my fair share of run ins with mine up in Cedar Square. Lets just leave it there. Specialized's brand is suffering in country because of these guys and I cannot for the life of me work out why they don't do something.

I have wide flat Dutch feet. Size 10. Dropped arches and all the rest. I had a set of Specialized SWorks MTB shoe with a Boa closure which I found could be controlled in terms of tightness and were the most comfortable I have ever used. I wasn't about to spot for another set so I went cheap and bought the Specialized Pro XC's - also size 45, which have an elasticized insert that clamps the foot. I now have Achilles problems from them. Long story short - I am going back to a set of Sworks MTB shoes. The BOA closures allow a lot of control over the feel and tightness. The BOA do wear but they are the most adjustable IMHO> So my vote is for these

Check that Front Brake....

Would love to turn that in to a Cafe Racer ....

I got in to knives by having a flea market stall (sort of franchise) at Market Theater and Balfour Park flea market amongst others that sold all sorts of security things including knives in the late 80's. Gas Guns, Swords, Batons, Shock batons, butterfly knives, switch blades - you get the drift. I started to develop an understanding and like for them after that. I have a Kershaw, Leatherman x 2, I had a really nice Queen Steel (lost) and some nice lock blades which were locally made. I also have some kitchen knives including a Sushi Knife I got in Seattle on a whim that I am **** scared of, which is a type of Damascus steel. But the funny bit was that stall. Man I had some things happen there. Kids would arrive and play with the butterfly knives. It was always a short space before they drew blood . I carried plasters eventually, cause it was so regular that they would cut themselves. Then there were the stilettos and switchblades - one so big it was like a sword. The guys would open these up and honestly almost slice their mate in half. I had tear gas guns as well as shock batons. I couldn't sell either so i decided to get clever. I used to spray the gas in to a packet and then give them a smell, but as they sniffed i would squeeze the base so they got a bigger hit than expected. The guy would cough and splutter for 10 minutes and then he would cough up money for a spray gun, but so would everyone standing there. Or I would ensure that some got in to the air and then everyone in a 10 metre radius would be hacking and coughing. The other one was the shock baton/Taser. You cant explain how they work, so I used to connect a battery and show them the sparks arcing across the top. One day I was busy and forgot to disconnect it and this guy comes along, picks it up, prods his mate and hits the switch. The guy must have been tasered for about five seconds, he did a bit of break dancing and then fell over. He needed to sit in my chair and we fed him Coke (sugary water) for a bit. But he was so the moer in - as soon as he recovered he wanted to bliksem his mate. And they had a table full of weapons. But the ultimate story was the nunchakas. Lekker hard ash wood, beautifully made. So this oke come up, picks them up and he does the whole Bruce Lee thing from when he was 12 years old, but he isn't as fast as he was and he misses a catch and smacks himself full tilt on the back of the head, knocking himself almost senseless. I saw the eyes start to fade he hit himself so hard. We also had him in the chair drinking Coke. Man that stall was entertainment. I had some really nice knives from it but they have mainly been lost or stolen since then.

Oh BTW welcome - I see its your first post. Don't feed the trolls and done get scared off to quickly by the "more mekaar" Friday brigade. There are some genuinely good folks here. Don't say i didn't warn you though.

I have done it - I went with the Cylelab guys in 2004 for my 40th. We did the last week. Just remember that the iconic sections are closed very early, it is very hot and the mountains are very steep. A typical day involved getting up a climb 2 to 3 hours before and then sitting there hungry and waiting for the peleton to come through, then going down the other side. There are a number of questions/options you need to answer:I still wnat to go back 1.) Do you want to ride the climbs? 2.) Are you going to do it via a camper van? 3.) Are you going to do Alps or Pyrenees? They alternate the order. every year. 4.) Do you want to do the last stage in Paris. Honestly - my advice - hire yourself a house in a place like Annecy in the Alps (near Grenoble) for a week. then hire a car. You can probably from there and by using trains get to a number of stages. DO a Depart (start), the time trial, as many big mountains as you can get to and then do the finish in Paris. DO a finish somewhere - if you can a sprint. You need to plan everything like a military mission. The Alps are more hospitable than the Pyrenees which are ore rugged, remote and beautiful but also less packed. Any high mountain finish is really packed, so be prepared. If you are in a car you may need to hike for miles. If on a bike take a big lock and a big backpack full fo food and water. Do a ride up a climb just to say you did - but you underestimate how hot it is up those mountains. we saw 38 centigrade at the op of the Col de la Croix Fer. In Paris people will be standing 20 deep, so just wait and they will eventually get bored and move off - but you will be in the sun for hours, so be patient. I was eventually right on the railings and i had started right at the back. Use the tubes to get in and out of Paris. Just wait as the crowd dissipates fast. You can also catch the trains with a bicycle and then cycle to where the race is coming past. Its not a really great thing to see the peleton at high speed, its the whole caravan that comes along with it. And the road is closed. Do not mess with the Gendarmes, i swear they are like foreign legionnaires - they will knock you off your bike happily if you ride down a closed road near them. They have no sympathy. I saw them grab an MTBer by his back pack and whip him off his bike when he passed one of them on a closed road. Just left him on the tar. Other than that there are lots of sites. Start planning and booking now - as soon as the route is known then it really gets full quickly. My 2 cents worth

Also something that always arises with Knives is sharpeners. I have all of these at home including Lanskey's and the handhelds which all work but are cumbersome. Then I came across the warthog sharpener. This is the business and it is actually quite a funky device o it is standing on the counter in the kitchen available for use when needed. Now all my knives are sharper than they ahve ever been. And i don"t get plagued by the wife to sharpen everything as she can do it.

The answer is to take a tire for of Stan's and bomb it with a nitrogen source and see what happens. If you don't post again within 48 hours we will know it was a fatal experience.

Take a bike bag with you - pack it in the bag and come back. Say you were on a cycling holiday. I have done it a number of times. I have been stopped but have always had an explanation plus been carrying a helmet and ensured i have some really dirty chamois in the bags....

I have to admit that we were in the cradle two weeks ago and I also had issues with the HOG boys. notice these guys are HOG boys, not your average Harley rider. HOG= Harley Owners Group. They seem to have an attitude like a seniors motorcycle gang. So now I am two for two. This past weekend and the weekend before. both times riding, in different venues, with the HOG boys and their marshals seeming to think they have more rights than the average joe. So what's with them. What's with the HOG boys that they think they are special. It's not the motorcyclists, nor the Harley riders. I am a motorcyclist too. I ride a Triumph and three of four weeks ago the HOG Marshall's saw fit to stop a number of us on triumphs to let the HOG boys through. So this is not isolated nor Harley specific, but HOG specific.

I couldn't agree more - my incident was with the Pretoria Chapter of the HOG down in Dullstroom over the weekend. The guy with a Marshal jacket on came the wrong way down the street in front of the Dullstroom Inn and proceeded to push me and my wife wide of them - on MTB's? What threat were we to them and their hundreds of tassel bedecked old people. WTF? I am a motorcyclist and these guys even blocked me when i was riding my motorbike in the cradle over the weekend. They pushed me aside at a Stop Street and blocked the oncoming traffic in a turn. Who says they have the rights to block traffic and disobey the rules. I don't get Harley riders in the first place - but hey everyone to their own. But they don't have the right to behave the way they do. Regards

Anyone experiencing upload issues. I get the same error message on my mac and my PC irrespective of what i do. I have delted are re-installed, rebooted etc.

If it hasn't been said before, go to the Chinese Carbon thread and buy yourself one from a supplier there. I love my bike and its a third of the costs.

I have had an issue this last weekend where my Garmin 800 will not display calories. I have updated the firmware (re-burned it actually) so I am hoping that will solve it. It displays HR fine. However i do notice that if the strap is slightly out of position then HR spikes a lot. So I always check the position of the HR strap. Has anyone had the issue where the calories are not being displayed at all?