Pants Boy

Only noticed this now - thanks Lizzy!

Transfer duty is probably for the full amount / value of the house ... bloody sharks

Oh yah, and oven cleaner (like ZEB) removes anodising

Be careful with acetone, as it's the only thing that takes off POWDERCOATING.

If your wife doesn't "ride", then she has no say in matters of "the tent"

soon?

Lois Botha children's home in Pretoria has a cycling team, always have a ned for kit. I don't have contact details, as I go past there on my way home. They have a website though

Spent R700 on a Makro Special, and did 2500 km's on it - 28c a kilo. Saved enough fuel money in the meantime to get a new Axis A60, and have done about 200km's on it - R20 a kilo so far!

Sheez ... can we maybe split this thread into "awesome thread" and "awesome chicks with ink" threads?

zeabre, yes I'm referring to people who own a car and still cycle to work. I'm also one. I see quite a few of those every day, but I see TONS of people that you simply know don't own a car. I'm in Pretoria ... no cycle paths to speak of at all. It would be awesome if more people left the car at home and pedal to work

Maybe you've been looking at the wrong roads ... I see a TON of commuters every day on their bikes. What I don;t see a lot of, is (dare I say it) white middle class persons cycling to work. +10 000 - Nat is nat

Cycling, transport Total workouts: 136 Total duration: 3d:23h:39m Total distance: 1979.37 km Trips around the world: 0.049 Trips to the Moon: 0.005 Average speed: 20.69 km/h Average pace: 2m:54s Calories burned: 68796 kcal Burgers burned: 127 CO2 saved: 325 kg Total gas saved: 141.38 l

Me - about 30 kays a day.

Yeah, as much as we're in the 'information age' and all that crap (I'm a programmer, that IT Crap is what I do every day) NOTHING beats a hands-on in a real shop. Let us know what you get!

Honestly, I looked all over for / at used bikes, and the pain is just not worth it. If you find something in your size, you still need to arrange to view (two schedules) and then need to make 120% sure you're not buying a lemon. There's things that are way too hard to spot for the untrained eye - a warped / cracked frame / brakes / wheel etc. When are you going to find out about this crack? Sitting in your garage, or bombing down some hill? This, plus the frustration of trying to get to view and test ride a bike I thought was good, swayed me to look at new. Buying new you can go for ten test rides at the same shop, and they will fit the bike to you, maybe throw in some accesories, and normally give a complimentary service after a couple of months. As to women's specific, There's normally not that much difference between a boys and girls bike. On some models you'll have a lower top tube, but on most it's a case of "Shrink it, pink it and put up the price" - smaller frames, different saddle, that's about it. Saddle is, in any case, a matter of taste and personal fit. You're not likely to fall in love with a stock saddle on any bike Take the bike for a spin - most shops will let you do that - and then decide what works for you. Also, at that price point, take into consideration that you will have to compromise on some part of the bike, be it brakes, cranks, cassette, shock or color (lol) - decide which part9s0 is TOP of your priorities (mine was brakes - AXIS=Shimano and Titan=Tektro) and use that to narrow your search. I bought my bike from Solomon's new shop in Lynwood, Pretoria, and negotiated with them about price (They came down R200, as that's the price I could get it elsewhere), free fitting (not the best, but good enough) free service / check before I take it home (included opening BB to check grease levels, adjusting brakes, shock, gears) as well as two more free services in the next year. That made me spend another R500 in their shop

Have a look at Axis bikes as well - I got one last week after a fair bit of deliberation between Titan and Axis. Axis won over components. The A60 is around R4K

Have a look at Axis bikes .... GREAT value (read components) for money. You can get an A60 with Shimano Hydraulic Disk brakes and a Suntour XCM front shock for around R4000.

I use a pair of Indola shorts, gonna get me another pair soon. They really save your ass on trips > 10km

Nope - I carry a backpack that hides whatever I wear, plus I have blinkies front and back. Actually, the front is on steady at the moment, not blinking ...

Tip for packing clothes - go get yourself a Vacbag set from Verimark (around R100) - there's a selection of bags in there, pack your clothes (bag per day) and vacuum it - it shrinks down to nothingness You can also use one of those air mattress pumps to deflate it

I use squirt on my commuter - clean it off when it gets too bad, and re-apply. Maybe once a month / every 500km's or so.

Yay! I took top of pile for commuting in March Also not that far off from top of pile for all-time ... Must admit that the competition in the top 5 or so places were tough, but events and races took it's toll on some peeps. Now go get back on your bikes and commute!

Sneaky 'shortcut' on the way to work.

Like what? Bike, spares, transport? What else?

Thanks splat. Got Nix on Dailymile, was rooting for her ... all those miles put in training