Clinton1

Even less fair for me at 76kg! But yeah I agree fully.

5am rides while on holiday? Damn, some people are committed Do you do any group rides at more reasonable times for us lazy buggers?

Nice, I'll try it then. As stated I've preferred Sports Tracker but they haven't added live tracking yet. The only problem switching apps is having all your old workouts on a different site. May need to look at importing them somehow. Has anyone done this?

It obviously has to do with up bringing or something. We have a 3 year old daughter who will walk a hundred metres down the beach to throw her ice cream stick in the bin without being asked. She has even taken to picking up other people's litter, saying "that's disgusting" and looking for a bin to put it in. Now we have not formally "trained" her to do so as far, as I am aware, but then again it may just be instinctive for us to tell our kids off when they do litter, so she has learnt. They also learn from example. I refuse to even flick a straw wrapper out a window. I rode for over an hour the other day with a banana peel in my jersey pocket. It can be argued that a banana skin is biodegradable so no harm in tossing it but if every rider tossed their apple cores and banana peels we'd soon have trails filled with fruit bits that have not yet biodegraded. And I ain't no hero! To me it is just the natural way to do things. And don't even get me started on the f***ers who toss their cigarette butts wherever they like!

I have wondered about that strobe mode. It claims to be for self defence but I wonder if it'll really serve the purpose? No doubt it'll blind whatever is after you but what is the likelihood of getting it to that mode in a hurry.

I just had a family member fly to Jhb for the day on Kulula and they brought my bike back at no extra charge. They personally had hand luggage only (a small overnight bag and a laptop bag) so the bike counted as the one allowable piece of luggage free of charge. Apparently if he had a large bag, which would count as his one piece then the bike would have been charged at an additional R300 at the counter, or R200 if Kulula were notified up front on their website. I personally thought this was really reasonable.... you see people with 10 bags for a weekend away. One bag is so much quicker to check in and process. By the way, Postnet and the like wanted to charge me around R1k to get the bike to Durban as they based it on either the dimensions of the box or weight, whichever resulted in the higher charge.

Nice! That's a lot better.

Damn, so what you are saying is more money! I'll try the first ride with one and switch it from bars to head half way and see how it goes. They are group rides so you can probably be helped by the light from the others.

How often does it send updates to the website? I used an application called pinmarks.me the other day while cycling and in an hour it used 9Mb of data sending updates! Is Endomondo data intensive when sending live updates?

On this subject of night riding what are the opinions on head mounted versus handle bar mounted? I just took a quick ride in the driveway and it was perfect lighting but when taking a sharp turn it did occur to me that the light only comes around to where you are headed into the corner so you cannot suss out what lies ahead. It is as bad as it seems it may be when out on the trails?

It was a toss up between the 7 and the 14. Probably be swearing at the extra grams when heading up a steep hill! Would be interesting to compare the light emitted by the two side by side though.

Nah, enijiza is too difficult to spell so I wouldn't have been able to share my comments on here if I did! My H14 has a "defence strobe" mode so bring on those boooosh varke!

Lenser indeed. In my eagerness to type before running outside I got that wrong. However, in saying that names have never meant anything to me. Hence me riding a Silverback and wearing Mr Price clothing Edit: And what are you on about, I said Lenser all along ha ha

I just stepped outside and literally lit up the houses about 200m up the road with the light on spot. Exceptional brightness.

I have been wanting to do some night rides at Giba but was put off by the cost of bicycle lights. Last night I stumbled upon the LED Lenser H14, and today I bought one! Stoked and ready to hit the night trails! It cost me R550 at Basil Manning fish shop... far cheaper than Due South and Cape Union Mart. It is a head light but comes with an adapter which means it fits perfectly on my bikes handle bar. Apparently it is as bright as the sun but I'll be testing that as soon as the sun goes down. Anyone else have experience with it? I considered the H7, but the difference in price of only a hundred or so at most places made me lean towards the brighter more powerful unit. It is heavier but I ain't no weight weenie

My word, R7k on a first bike for a chap who is just wanting to try things. Some people clearly have a lot more money to throw around than me. I started off on a hand me down Giant Boulder (that was too small for me) and after a year realised I liked this cycling thing. I now just recently upgraded to a brand new R4500 Silverback Phoenix that was on sale. I'm almost certain the same bike would more than suffice for this chaps needs. OP, look out for old models on sale. All the shops are filling up, or are filled, with the 2012 models so a lot virtually give away their 2011 models. That's what I got. Remember that these limited offers also usually come in limited sizes as they are being cleared so as stated elsewhere find out what size frame you are first and then shop around.

Prefer Sports Tracker myself...

Hi guys, Do you know if there are any group rides at Giba any day of the week and at any time? I currently head there for solo rides but it'd be cool to do some group riding. I am by no means a racer so I would not be looking to join any elite groups as I would probably be left behind but by the same token I am not a 90 yr old granny Also I know there has been talk on here, and in the Giba newsletters, of night rides on a Wednesday. Do these still happen and if so how do I go about finding out when they are? Thanks

My plain old simple Nokia N8, using Sportstracker, allows you to define whether you want to auto pause based on you dropping below a preset speed, or switch it off altogether. I would think most should offer this option. Surely?

Ah, this was very useful :

My fork is definitely too stiff then as it currently does not compress at all, or very little, when I sit on it normally. I'm 78kg/172lb. The only time I get any sort of movement is if I push down on the fork with all my weight (and yes I have made sure it is not locked out ) Maybe I'll let a little air out and see how it feels. Yeah, I had also found that and wondered if it would apply to all Suntour air forks. Related to this the one manual I did read mentioned using a "fork pump" to check the pressure. Would you get by using a normal car tyre pressure gauge or even the air pumps at the garages? Thanks.

Yes, Google is wonderful and the resultant owners manual and exploded view are fascinating but a read through the entire manual resulted in me knowing where to find the valve and what the inside looked like but provided very little advice on what pressure I would require for my weight or what sort of travel I should aim for, and real life advice. References to using Google always irk me a little as if we always referred to Google for our queries there would be little need for forums...... Oh, and this is my fork as per MY GOOGLE SEARCH prior to your advice to use it: http://www.srsuntour-cycling.com/dstore/products/Forks/3073/RAIDON/SF11-RAIDON+LO+air.html

Hi guys, First up, please note I am new to this technical stuff so keep it basic I bought a 2011 Silverback Phoenix and have ridden it every day since and love it but today it occurred to me that I have not taken the time to find out whether the front fork is correctly adjusted for my weight. So, my question is how do you go about finding out what sort of pressure you should have in your air fork to suit your weight? As it currently stands I am only "using" about half the travel available. Not sure if riding style counts for much but at the moment it has been fitness rides around my area. No hard core trail stuff yet but the odd pavement, pothole, root, bump etc. I will obviously not be jumping or doing 10m drop offs any time soon. Where can I find advice on how to adjust, and more importantly, what to adjust it to. Thanks

Great to see this question come up. As soon as I got my new bike most of my "mountain biking" friends asked what pedals I was putting on and started saying my next purchase would need to be cleats. I kept responding that I am in no rush and am quite happy riding with platforms, much to their disgust. Knowing I am not alone in this thinking is reassuring I am in this for fitness, not to optimise pedal stroke etc etc. I am probably having to exert more energy for the same outcome with platforms surely? If so, then I fail to see the benefit of cleats, for now. Maybe when I start racing they could add value.

Dude, I have just been through the same myself and did much online research. The main theme that came out when considering a bike was obviously the frame size, and although height plays a part it seems inseam (from your crotch to the ground) is a far more accurate indicator of the size you'd need. After size it really boils down to budget as the component set you get will be all about what you can afford. You will probably be encouraged to consider second hand bikes to start but based on my experience, and considering the time of the year, it is also worthwhile looking at shops that may be having clearance sales of their 2011 models as the new 2012 models come in. I picked up a total bargain this way. As regard websites, a quick Google will result in plenty advice, however each may differ, so what I did is read a lot and trusted what came up most often. Good luck.