Captain Fastbastard Mayhem

oh. my. sack!

This is my next project. Nothing fancy, just simple home-laminated roofing lumber Then a new coffee table, and some shelving for the home office. Then open kitchen shelving to replace the upper BIC's, also roofing lumber. It's cheap and hardy. I also want to make some adirondack chairs and a bench for outside once I've redone the garden. Just the time that's lacking.

you absolute muppet... But then you don't need me telling you that. I've been told by my grandfather that I'm getting all his tools when he passes. Stuff he's had for 60 plus years, still in pristine condition.

In my experience, Durban is even worse... SOOO slow! And having been brought up there, I have a bit more experience in the matter.

That'd be the one.

same. Should have bought one for myself when I bought one for my grandfather.

I wish the pallets I had had those nails... Those are like longer panel pins.

other good places to look are the Milnerton market, and the pawn shops along Kalk Bay main road. Some of those places have immense stockpiles of old and forgotten tools and bits.

NO!!!! Oh - and Terry, if you're cutting them by hand you'll need a dovetail saw. Hardware Centre in CT (just opposite the civic centre) central stocks a couple of Japanese Dovetail Saws, which are the preferred type. They're not that expensive (R 400 or so) but they're EXTREMELY good.

article is a year old, JC...

NICE. Biggest bugger is dismantling the pallets. Some of those copper-wrapped nails they use are EVIL!

Same. Need to refurbish it as it lost its oiled sock somewhere along the way, and was exposed to fresh air and a bit of moisture.

Points just loaded.

Hmm. Must have changed then. When we set up our group we had to accept each person as a partner and then request to be their partner as well.

No

They asked manufacturers to send them bikes in the 130-150mm travel category. Some refused, some didn't send in time, some sent different bikes than you would have liked to see... Not the testers' fault.

I'll say it again, Muzz. Very neat. Can't wait to see it in person

Any LBS that stocks Giant or deals with Dragons. Link so that you can see that the frame only option comes standard with the DPS Evol... https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-za/bikes/model/trance.27.5.frame/24196/88521/

Dan - that is AWESOME. Thank you so much for this.

It wasn't at an event... It was on Bloemendal trails.

you can buy them from Giant. They do frame only options as well as full builds, just that they don't really advertise it.

His early discworlds were, in my opinion, a bit strange. He got far more focus later on in the series, once the worlds were better formed and he had a more complete feeling of what he wanted to write. IMO.

That looks like fun!!!!

Yes, agreed on the last bit. But there's also so much shaite! Re-read the Riftwar Saga not so long ago. Good to revisit them and now I'm going on to the other stuff.

http://nsmb.com/sram-ex1-lets-pretend-the-e-stands-for-everyone/ Either way, for the purpose of this re-purposed press-release, I’m asking you, pretty please, to willfully ignore the context of SRAM’s latest groupset, EX1, and consider for a moment that they may have inadvertently taken us down the path towards a better drivetrain for… everyone choosing to power their bike by Meat-Engine only. Very valid points here. I think SRAM just inadvertently opened up a can of worms for people who want a wider range gear system, but don't want the sheer number of gears or proprietary freehub that 11 & 12 speed brings. And the Brake combo? Sign me up... SRAM claims that “the heart and soul of the EX1 system is its E-BLOCK™ cassette, which is designed to provide the optimum E-MTB gear range” but I’m going to have to call bull****. Other than DH racers, who don’t need the range, and competitive XC racers, who may prefer tighter jumps between ratios to maximize output and efficiency, the EX1 cassette could keep many human-powered riders very happy. 1) Tool steel construction for longer life/improved durability? Sounds good, I’ll take a few grams penalty and save the weight on a non-wear item. 2) Significantly cheaper, than 10/11/12-speed, and possibly more durable 8-speed chain compatibility? Sounds great. 3) 11-48t, 436%, range over 8-cogs for better chainline in more gear ratios? AWESOME — less wear from cross-chaining and no more dropped chains while backpedaling! 4) Compatible with ‘industry standard’ (used half-seriously) non-XD freehub bodies. I guess this isn’t great news if you’re wheels are XD compatible, but better you have to buy a new freehub body than me right? The EX1 groupset’s derailleur and 8-speed, Match Maker, compatible shifter look like standard SRAM fair. The derailleur has been optimized for the 8-speed range and “engineered to handle high-torque, low-cadence shifting across the 11-48 tooth E-BLOCK™ cassette” and the new “Type 3” clutch mechanism is promised to offer a “smoother torque curve for a quieter, more consistent operation and feel” and hopefully more durability compared to past efforts. “Okay, fine”, you say, “I guess I could handle larger jumps between gear-ratios in exchange for better chainline and the other features you’ve listed, BUT, you made it sound WAY more impressive than that… What is up?” Hear me out: if non-E-mountain-bike riders, look at this drivetrain and see potential, the kind of potential that has them buying it for non-E-bike purposes, then perhaps the industry will refocus. Instead of the ‘just-add-a-cog status-quo’ of the last few years, perhaps there will be consideration of what the average rider actually needs. For some people that is probably nice tight “Rythm Step Gear Progression“ from ratio-to-ratio but I certainly know a lot of riders who would trade the benefits for the E-BLOCK™ cassette and its 2, 3, or 4 fewer cogs. There is another, much bolder, opportunity for EX1 to drastically change the drivetrain wars landscape. If a 436% spread over 8 cogs is perfectly acceptable for the average trail/all mountain/enduro rider, then what about 436% over 7 cogs, 6 cogs, or etc? And it isn’t just standard drivetrains this type of re-imagining could influence either. Gearbox drivetrains have the potential to be simpler, cheaper, lighter, smaller, and more efficient if they were simplified to cover a greater range over less gear ratios. ‘Derailleur in a box’ systems like the Petespeed that promised derailleur efficiency and gearbox longevity could prove practical over a narrower width (less cogs) and the original system used 8 cogs. I am, personally, not a fan of the Pandora’s Box of trail issues that E-Mountain-Bikes present to many trail communities but the potential for SRAM’s EX1 to inadvertently change the status quo of drivetrain development, for people-powered mountain bikes, is intriguing.