KDEE

Bustvomit, please keep it up, Im rolling on the floor here... and by the way knuckledragger.... Im no lady...

sickvomitbust.. Wow, you only have 5 friends to play.. and thats your definition of a lot... No wonder you are compelled to post on the hub constantly... There are days that I wish you would go back to the fantastic, luxurious and expensive life you describe every so often.. but many days I wish you would post more.. Its not often that a wanker like yourself comes back for punishment so often So please, do it in shifts, it is so entertaining, but only every few days or so..

Many of the guys and girls use MX helmets, either because they have them already, or because they can get them cheaper. Most available BMX/Downhill helmets in SA are the Bell Bellistic and the Giro. Finish Line In Kempton Park, Cycle Fusion in Weltevreden Park, Northcliff Cycles and Linden Cycles would be good places to start. Finish Line is very much BMX orientated, so should have stock. Expect to pay from R1500 upwards. The Bell and Giro are a fair bit lighter than a MX helmet, but if you have a MX helmet, then a 40 second race wont kill you. Weight plays a bigger factor with the smaller kids. Which area are you and where are you going to race?

LBS = Local Bike Shop ( Linden Cycles, Westdene Cycles, etc ) Also had my kids bikes stolen a few weeks back. SWSUP and myself are in Weltevreden, Fairlands down the road.....

at Gansbay. Nice comeback..

Yip feel pretty crappy. The older one has a race bmx bike, so he still has something to ride. The younger has to wait for birthday in august for his race bmx bike. But eish now, they ride a fair bit at NF and Emmerantia with us so now its a dilemma what to aim for. Weltevreden/Allenenek. 2 blocks of Jim Fouche near Allen Glen High school.

Some bastward/s stole my boys 20 inch Mountain bikes today. They got them for Christmas 3 months back and are now in floods of tears. Have been on the patio at the back of the house since day 1. They ride them every day in the garden. Since we have two labs prowling the property, we have become blase.. Our fault. We cannot afford to replace them and they are not insured. Our first thought was to sell our MTBs to get them new ones, but that wont help as they are too young to ride on their own. Please keep an eye out in this area, long shot I know, but miracles do happen. I will check the local Cash Converters tomm. Will speak to the Lbs in the area as well. 1st bike is a Mongoose Rockadile AL 20INCH. Mostly bright orange with some black. Has red and black Rav X grips.. 2nd bike is a Silverback Eclipse 20INCH. Mostly metallic blue/black with silver 'flames' design. Has metal cage pedals as opposed to the std plastic pedals. Both have Shimano twist grips. Gavin 083 743 9640 KDEE2009-03-26 13:47:24

I wouldnt want to have to portage my Mtb while wearing road shoes....

Agree with MsBehavin... this current notion that fat/overweight/call it what you will people shouldnt ride expensive bikes is puzzling.. Cool stuff is just cool stuff... If I can afford it, who gives a toss.. If my attitude is diff and ego driven BECAUSE I am on that expensive bike, diss me all you like, but not because I have the bike.. And after all that, 5 out of the 7 bikes in my garage were bought secondhand and do the job they were designed for perfectly well. And I weigh 95 kgs! :-)

Holy, apologies if you felt I was referring to you as one of the whistle blowers. Didn't mean to to imply that you were an insider exposing these issues. They were public at the time and anyone could have got them ( minutes ). Was more alluding to the fact that we need whistle blowers in this country to expose all the stuff that that so many would love to hide... in all facets of public, political, commercial and sometimes and private life.

Im currently poor, but may not be on the 25th, depending on the price.. Im in..

I take the hardline view and find myself in agreement with Go Lefty, Porky and Racman. Its the breakdown in trust that gets me big time. And of course the flat denials of what the intention of the meeting was. What would have happened if the minutes and the email were never made known..????????? No apology, no denial, no explanation from Brandon, etc, etc.. Whether the actual increase in margin would have taken place is unknown ( too many players, too many politics ), but I will stake my life that one or two Lbs would been threatened by suppliers for not sticking to RRP... If Probike can threaten another supplier like the verified email did, can you imagine what pressure a Lbs would be under!!! The denials, nice posts, support from some, etc, etc impress me not a wit.. I say it again, if those minutes and emails were never made public, we would be even poorer than we are in relation to cycling. Make a profit by all means, charge what you like, I dont care, I might still buy from you If I need it today. But........ never take me/us for fools... which is exactly what the serious spin doctoring that is going on here is attempting.. Long live whistleblowers!!!

Good post Lefty, Pro Bike email to Silverback may not be classed as anti competitive in law... but I will say that it is classed by me as disgusting... Thats the sort of bully boy tactics that are enough to make me boycott/bypass Probike if I can help it.. And yes, I may not be able to buy anything in SA when its proved that all have sent crappy emails, etc that disgust me, ( sure someone will comment in this vein ) but at the moment I have only the minutes/email and now this email from Pro bike to go on in the cycling industry... When oh when will people learn that nothing of a dubious/bullying/illegal nature will ever stay a secret. Cant anyone learn from the Mail and Gaurdian as regards the scandals that break with insider info every week I am but a tiny consumer in this cycling market, but like others on the hub and elsewhere, when I see things/evidence like this, I vote with my pocket if I can help it.

Quite right Peleton. Many manufacturers also have direct retail shops ( Capestorm for one ). Prices are at the same level as normal retail, manufacturer would be stupid to undercut his main market.. Where the manufacturer has all the retail outlets and supplies no one else... that a diff scenario.. Market forces would/should dictate the selling price.. KDEE2009-03-18 08:46:34

Agreed Cervelo.... I like RRP, but I want to be free to charge what I think I can survive/make profit on/use as a loss leader/buy a new car/etc/etc.. and not be dictated to in terms of supply. Raising a RRP will never be illegal, stopping supply to those who sell below RRP or colluding to enforce that RRP is... Toyota were fined for punishing dealers for discounting too much... This is rife in many industries. But in such a informal/subtle way that most would never know about it. Suddenly your account is COD, suddenly there is no stock in the warehouse. etc, etc.. They do not have to formally stop supplying you, they just make your life a misery. The power an exclusive distributor in a country of a popular and branded product has is vast... KDEE2009-03-18 08:30:01

I have been to many meetings as regards my industry ( NCR ), some by invite and some by gatecrash. I didnt agree with all the stuff discussed, many times I used the platform to vehemently disagree. I need to know whats going in my industry. Just by attending the meeting does not mean that I agree with what was spoken about and would implement it. In this case, we only have the minutes ( very short for what sounds like a long meeting ) and a badly written email from Fritz Pienaar to go on. Some attendees, like Shamus on the hub, came out and said he did not agree with price collusion and would run his business as he always did. And there is the problem, very few attendees are here on the forum and mainly for that reason are being classed as being in agreement with what the minutes said. In my previous post I said that those dissenting voices were being lost in the clutter. For all we know, many attendees might have sent a snotty email back and got on with business. Many would just keep quiet and adopted a wait and see attitude. The fact of the matter, as JB correctly states, is that wholesalers can and do stop supply to certain shops. Some times because of pressure from other shops, sometimes because the shop in question sells at below RRP. Publishing a list of who attended proves nothing. I would love for those who actively disagreed with what happened to send out their own press statements and or make submissions to the CC hearings. I repeat, the direct quote from Fritz Pienaar as regards getting the wholesalers to stop supply to those shops that sell cheaper than RRP is what disgusted me. I like published RRP ( Bicycle Magazine Price Guide, etc ), it gives me a yardstick to think about stuff without having ask for the prices all the time. It also lets me know If I am being way overcharged or not. When someone dictates the RRP to a store, thats where I have a problem. Edit, very nice post from Peleton, I also tend to believe this is what happened/was the intention. Some parts of the post I dont agree with, but all in all, a good post. Still....Fritz is going to have to answer for some of his words for a long time. KDEE2009-03-18 08:21:16

For me the months and months of chat about this topic have highlighted a few things. In the minutes ( to me the words spoken were quoted verbatim ), was the arrogance and disdainful attitude about shops that were selling at below RRP or below other shops prices. The part where it was talked about using FPC and CL and other bigger Lbs buying power and muscle to force wholesalers to not supply those shops who would not stick to RRP was what disgusted me I noted in the minutes that not all the shops supported this idea ( one spoke about using service to keep customers and another something to do with labour ). Perhaps these dissenting voices were lost in the clutter. The email from Fpc as regarding the minutes was self explanatory and attempts to hide from it are cowardly. The intention of the meeting may have been noble, but the arrogance of SOME at the meeting have led to much of the anger here.. The CC will in the end make its decision. I wait with interest to see what that decision may be. An innocent verdict will not change many of our minds. I cannot and will not forget the sheer bullying tone and willingness to put others out of business. I have first hand knowledge of a Lbs who cannot buy from one of SA's major wholesalers.. all because he sold one the brands at below what they wanted to. While this is one sided info from the Lbs, the wholesaler in question supplies many of the most popular and well known brands. The Lbs in question suffers in that he cannot supply these products to his customers. Unlikely then that he would not stock the product if he could. I have advised the Lbs to make a submission the the CC in this regard, but its up to him. To those criticizing us on the forum that do not bow down and worship at the feet of a few Lbs, read the minutes and the email AGAIN... and then tell us that we are wrong in our assumptions.

Nice Ox. Are those the shifters and brakes I sent over your side?

Well done Owen, great to see older lads coming back into the sport. The guys at Giba are verrrrrrrrrrrrry passionate and put on a good show. If you are in Jhb on the 28th March, come along to our little track in the West, we will make you feel most welcome and wont elbow you you in the corners

Couldnt agree more. We used it 20 years ago at the OK Bazaars to get price labels of. Have been using it ever since on all and any stickers on any surface..

JHB is not far from Potch... take a drive to Johan and get it fixed Spano.. Cant imagine there too many RockShox clever shops in Potch...?