rob_mtb

The above is all drivel. Vehicles need to be cautious of other road users and pedestrians. Many South Africans have zero regard for other people and care less for the laws. We need harsher penalties for things. We need people to fear the consequences of their illegal actions. The driver injured someone and drove off. That's criminal. Worst thing is that we have to share our roads with these cretins. No amount of 'mythbuster style' dissection of the events and how they happened can take away the fact that this driver did what he did. By now the driver could have fixed his car (painted/panelbeaten/replaced the plates), there's no hard evidence, and justice will not be served. This makes me sick to the core.

I've bought lots of bikes second hand, as well as plenty of parts off the hub. Just like most avenues of life, there are dodgy people amongst the good ones. Don't take it so personally, just move forward and look for another bike. You can get loads more second hand than new. Rather than mess around with PM's all the time just ask the seller for a cell number and call the person. That way you can suss them out, ask as many questions as you need and make a decision from there. It's a bit harder to buy a second hand bike if you are not able to view it personally, so I try to shop second hand in my area. Good luck with your search. What are you looking for by the way? Surely you can do better than Crapindale?

hang on, so someone who openly claims to know nothing and is a newbie, is so sure that a pro bike fit isn't going to improve his ride? I think being closed minded will curb your skills madly, and make you a real PITA at braais.

Not a huge fan of the psuedo HDR emulations. I don't think they do justice to the technique (how could they) and often people use them just because they can instead of just as one of the many tricks to tell a story with a shot. I think some of the types of shots lend better to careful colour grading rather than HDR. There are a bunch of great landscape examples lower down in this link: http://www.techieblogger.com/2009/07/hdr-images-photoshop-photomatrix-tutorials.html

Great choice there with the 60D. The 15-85 is a good lens to start with. IIRC it's 3,5 at 15mm though which is fine for most things but I do always find I end up wanting faster lenses especially if the subject is moving and you want some depth of field.

I assume you'll not need a full size chip camera like a 5D mk2. I'd stay away from kits lenses if at all possible. You can buy a 550D body and go from there. If you intend on using the camera for filming, go for the 600D as it has a flip down screen which is handy. The basic lenses that come with these cameras are not really that great. Rather pony up and buy some good ones as you need them. the 50mm f1.4 is about R3k and is awesome for portraits etc. You can most shots with position, but it's really hard to cheat a wide shot, so I'd then look at a zoom lens like the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8. It's about as much as the body but will serve you very well in the field. Look at things like the 80mm prime as well. It's a bit too long for street shooting though. I normally have a 17-55 zoom on the camera if it's the only lens I can carry. If I have the space I'll pop a 30mm or 50mm prime in the bag too. Try steer clear of the 'all-in-one' lenses with huge ranges. There is a compromise in terms of clarity in certain areas of the zoom range and normally the apperture is not fast enough to cover a wide range of light conditions. So, in short, get the body first, 1 good lense. Go from there. I'm a Canon man, but Nikon is great too.

Ummm, no. You must have not paid attention in history class at school. But you guys are completely right. Cape Town really sucks. It's horrible here, dirty, dangerous, horrid riding too. No point in coming here. Now to just get that message to the million tourists blocking the streets.

sure thing. browse the app store. there are plenty.

oh dear, you are a mixed up little guy. Nobody said anything about race, and by the way you like to generalise about "people" it seems you've got a few issue there clint. Seems like you think it's worse because of the blacks? This wasn't mentioned at all. In fact, when I was there 3 weeks ago, my better half and I saw a white trash little skolly selling drugs right out in the open. A cop car was parked a few meters away from there! Let me put it to you this way. Cape Town is beautiful. The CBD is not in a state of decay. It is safe, clean and we the people use it all the time. We'll be taking a walk through the city now to eat dinner. Where you gonna do that in Durban? Buffet at the Hilton maybe? hahah, just don't walk outside. Tell you what clint, if you come and visit the CT I'll personally show you around. You're welcome.

Rad, an objective opinion please. clinty will be calling you an emigrator though so careful.

You mean 5D right? This pic looks like a stitched iPhone panorama with psuedo HDR filter. I've a couple of Lightroom filters that do this as well. Always come out a bit too much contrast.

clint, Durban is a dump. Get over it. You can sprinkle hundreds and thousands over it all you like, it's become smelly, dangerous eyesore, and very far from the place I grew up in. Strange though, as I have a number of friends here from Durban and they say the same. Cape town has its problems too, but it's on the up, and yes, we have the DA to thank for that. So what? don't engage me then. I'd be happier for it seriously. Use the block function, it's in the settings. Be sure to come say Hi if you're in CT ever. Drongo, the same goes for you. Block function. I've done the same.

hahaha, clint, thanks for the essay. 10 points for trying. I love your little bit about emigrating! It's cute, something my mum would say. hey I love those half dead palm trees in the photos by the way. They look great. I saw a seagull who'd made a little birdy 'penthouse' on top of one when I was at your awesome amazing promenade. haha

hang on I just yawned so hard my jaw dislocated..................... ........ok, there. I grew up in Durban actually. I was up there 3 weeks ago. It's become a shocker of a place. Town is like Hillbrow. Run down, filthy. Not even the water park lived up to its promise. The ocean stank too. Must have something to do with the countless pipes funnelling effluent into it. Did I say I wanted CT to a republic? Don't put words into my mouth. Rather look at what you said as a reflection of what you'd perhaps want, and I'd wager you'd be first in line to move down too if that be the case. Always "a mate in the UK"....bla bla barf nobody cares. Who is your friend and what makes his opinion so worthy? Now, Clint, READ my post again, this time with your little terrier dog blinkers off. I only said CT is perfect from March onwards. You chose to make this an "us>them" situ. Also, I know for a fact that CT has better riding than the rest of the country. You can't just mention one or two places you have and expect to compete. Unless of course you have ridden here? Lastly, Clint, it's OUR ocean. It belongs to us all. Come have a swim some time. It's not as cold as you think, and the girls tanning are awesome.

That's why I think there's no perfect place in SA Winter: Durbs (perfect weather, less tourists - although you'd need to be a meth head to want to tour Durban, it's become a dump) Autumn: Cape Town (less wind, perfect temperature, less tourists) Summer: Highveld (cant beat those thunderstorms) Spring: Everywhere's awesome. Still, CT wins hands down in the socio-political, lifestyle and just about everything else departments. oh, and MTB here is proper. None of this namby pamby groomed jeep track in bib shorts rubbish.

short answer = NO here's some proper riding so you can decide if it's worth posting more 'stunts'

True! a mate pulled into his garage with his bike on the top. SEEEERIAS damage all around haha

Cars and motorbikes are specifically designed to go at 100km/h+ speeds and all parts that could get water damaged you'll find are protected by farings and complex seals. Bicycles are not designed to have contaminant filled water blasted at their bearings and seals. Look at the difference between motorbike and bicycle design next time.

Ok, so lets look at this: you are not an engineer, you clearly have no regard for the law and other road users, aggressive, selfish and you keep wanting everyone to know you drive a BMW. Your comments on a topic like this have zero merit. Case in point, your comparing apples & oranges. Cars are specifically designed to go at 100km/h+ speeds and all parts that could get water damaged you'll find are protected by farings and complex seals. Bicycles are not designed to have contaminant filled water blasted at its bearings and seals. Look at the difference between motorbike and bicycle design next time. The contaminants in road spray is a good point. I'm convinced it's bad too, since I know how it ruined my bike from experience. Johan, it seems your altruism is wasted here on this forum. I have no idea why people would persist in attacking you. Let's see, you hold fork and shock servicing classes, you've built race-winning wheels, you service and maintain high end forks and shocks for race winning athletes and I find your approach to things always pragmatic and respectful. @ Tumbleweed, apologies for calling TNT1 a tool.

Not too sure about this, my cash is on him working at a bike shop. Bets anyone?

I think there is a lot less wind at the rear. Certainly not wind free. What happens is the air flows past the bike and creates a static charge, which the fine, light dust treats as a magnet. I have this same issue with my towbar mounted Thule. Only soluition I've found is black bags. I will try out that glad wrap idea though.

I took TNT's approach once on a 5 hour torrential rain drive from Knysna back to CT. Needless to say, my bearings were stuffed when I got back. Had to redo the headset and all of my rear suspension bearings. I think the Glad wrap idea is great and I reckon that would have helped a bit. In hindsight, I think you'd be better off removing the forks and wheels, and maybe stick them in the boot, and Glad wrap the rest. Rain has a sneaky way of getting into things. I also think this TNT vs JB thing is really tiring. JB has a lot of good info on him, he's fixed and tuned my suspension before and he knows bikes. Who is TNT? Just some aggressive troll on the web hiding away who he is, constantly having wise things to say. Johan uses his real name, and stands by what he says with actual technical input. Who are you TNT? Please state your name and occupation.

Sorry in advance for not helping when you have a hero moment. I have mouths to feed and people who depend on me to be alive. You're talking about taking a stupid risk and most people are just not into proving points. There you go. The rest of your vitriol is bs & uninformed. No point in commenting further.

Of course these people are self righteous hypocrites who have no intention to follow through. The taxi driver is right, unless you are able and prepared to do something about it, the just mind your own business. A friend of mine was beaten into intensive care by taxi drivers when he tried to be a hero on the M1 once. How did that help him, or anyone else for that matter? This is by far the most vile comment I've read. It's insane actually. What kind of person would write this I wonder? What about the 10 children killed the other day when a taxi jumped a level crossing? What about their families? You are obviously so lucky that you don't need to catch taxis or see your kids off in one each day. I feel sad for this country. It's people who say things like this that means there's no hope for this place. Really sad. You have no idea how most people live.

Hmmm, playing off the old hippie stereotype there. Perfect. Actually the only "problems" we have here are intolerant idiots who have issues with other people and they way they choose to do things. Who cares what car someone likes to drive, or what stripe it has? What makes the way you do things better? I guess we're all hippies here then, hey we must be. Given the property prices here and cost of living we all sit around looking at the mountain all day too huh?