Captain Fastbastard Mayhem

Full body spandex.

HaydenWilson - TOESTRAPS!!!!? Really!? NOOOOOOOOOOO! Those are the worst of ALL! pull them too tight and you won't get out of them in a month of sundays, and if you leave them too loose it defeats the object of fastening your feet to the pedals. The only reason toestraps are still around is, well, I don't know why they're still around! They should be burnt, re-forged and burnt again! And Crow - another thing I find is that (especially when my wife was starting) ladies are worried about going too slow for the partner that they are riding with, even if you insist that they are the pace-setters for the day and it doesn't matter if you're the rabbit or the tortoise. How I taught my wife is by telling her to "follow me" and I literally rode at her pace all the time. I showed her the right ways to go around / over rocks & roots (depending on their size) and how to get out of the saddle in the right places. I also did that (and still am) with another mate of mine who is getting back into MTB after a long lay-off, and who never really got into it when he first tried. I've lent him my wheels, told him to ride my DH bike and showed him the right way to go in order to build his confidence. Also - if you ride in Tokai - ride the middle bit of Vasbyt all the way to the quarry at the bottom. There are 2 places that you may have to walk, but the rest of the trail is nice and flowy and perfect for beginners. Moral of the story: Speed IS your friend. But it's no use going 15kph if your sphincter is closed so tight that it's preventing you from movig around the bike. Rather learn the right lines, the correct approach tactics and the proper positioning before going with the increased speed. Once you've got a modicum of confidence over the obstacles themselves, and can tackle them at low speed, any increase in speed will change your riding for the better!

Awesome news, Crow! I know how hard it is running a 1x setup, and getting all the way to Mamba! But nothing beats it for clearance or reliability. I still find myself trying to "thumb" the lh shifter though!

Erm, not quite, dude. Yes, they help on the up-stroke, but with the proper flat pedals and shoes (5-10 Impact Low or similar) the pins stick to the shoes and give you the same benefit whel you "pull" on the bottom stroke through to 9 o'clock. So the difference is not all that great. In fact, I've been looking at changing TO flats for a while now...

Yeah! And if you go with an experienced person, make sure they are the type of guy that will ride at YOUR level, or just a Leeeetle bit higher, showing you the proper lines & riding positions etc. In other words, just how I got my wife into mtb!

Damn, MH. Not lekker! Unfortunately the bottom parking lot is a fair bit less secure than the top one, so I think a guard may have to be posted there. Or train the babboons in gorilla tactics.

Nice bike, Paul!

May be able to hit up a few trails this arvie. Depending on how far i get with little Mayhem's room

Cheap fix though... Which portion has stripped? The barrel adjuster itself, or the bit that the barrel adjuster fits into (inside the shifter)? Whichever has stipped (and I'm guessing it's the adjuster itself here) you can do the following. Re-thread the adjuster with a slightly smaller (OD - outside diameter) thread. Put some 372 epoxy inside the shifter body, where the thread is. Wait 30 - 45 minutes, so that the epoxy turns semi-hard but can still be re-formed and adjusted. Thread the re-threaded barrel adjuster into the shifter (with the epoxy insert) so that the new thread (on the barrel adjuster) effectively bores a "new" threads into the shifter's body. Remove the barrel adjuster, and do it again in another 5 minutes. Remove again and set aside. wait until the epoxy has set (approx 6 - 7 hours, temp & humdity dependent, 24 hours to be safe) and you should have a "new" thread in the shifter, that fits the re-threaded barrle adjuster. It's the long way around, but will save your mate a bit of tom and the shifter assembly will still be very strong.

Consider me corrected then.... almost there though!

when, bro? what time?

Alternatively, go for the Altus derailleurs and a v brake lever setup. But I'd bet my bottom dollar that the Altus RD shifter, even though it's 15 years on, is not of the same build quality as the STX rc's.

STX was the precursor to Deore, STX being LX and STX RC being XT. They were phased out in 96/97 when Deore LX / XT came around. So the STX RC was the equivalent of XT in the day. VERY good gruppo. Strong. Light. Reliable. It was on the '96 Sedona as the top of the line (below XTR) before it was phased out, much like LX was phased out of MTB in order to make space for SLX. Alivio had just made an entry into the market in '96/'97. Much like the Shimano 100 / 600 gruppos were phased out in favour of the 105/dura ace/ultegra gruppos. In answering your q, I'm not sure whether you'll be able to source a set of STX RC levers / shifters. They are old. And probably held onto like gold dust. As for 7 speed shifters, no way. the Cantilever brake levers, for sure. Check out CRC for some V brake levers (xt/xtr/lx etc) but I'm afraid that you may be headed towards the world of upgrades wrt the shifters. Reason I say that is that the min new shifter out there at the moment are things like Acera, which have a *** design (shifter levers above AND below bars, really non ergonomic) so yo umay have to go up to the 9 speed side of things.... Sorry bud. Try to have a look on sites such as e-bay or the forums overseas if you want the period-correct combo. Otherwise, I'm afraid you may have to upgrade the cassette/shifter/chain etc. Possibly even the crank, as the 7 speed chains are quite a bit wider (in terms of internal width on the links) than current day speed chains.

Thanks guys... The week took a turn for the better this arvie. Went to the Canon Roadshow at Cape Sun in town, and we were the lucky recipients of a lucky draw prize - a brand new Canon Powershot 3350! We've been eyeing a Point and shoot for a while now, and this couldn't have been better timing! This is going to be "my" camera, seeing as my wife is venturing into the world of professional photography www.magicalmomentsintime.wordpress.com and has "taken over" our 450d with 18-200 Sigma & 50mm f1.8 Canon lens. Works for me, as it's more portable and I can take it wherever I want. It's a lekker little cam, but it lacks in only one area - manual capabilities...

Thanks mate. Sure hope so too...

Yeah, Zac, I know exactly where NW is. Going to be paying a few visits to their place over the next few weeks / months.

ROFL. And that means? Agreed on the theft side of things, bud. The bike will probably fetch R 50 - R 100 or so, 'cos that's the "value" on the street at the moment. The phone & iPod will probably fetch quite a bit more than that, 'cos it's viewed as a luxury item, and looks lekker bling to boot. I mean, who doesn't like a 4.3" screened dual core powered beauty like that? Just feels ***, is all. Plus my better half doesn't feel safe at the moment 'cos of it. Grates my carrot. Don't fk with the familia / friends. I'll do it straight back. And as for the value of theft vs the proceeds of work, it's pure laziness and entitlement issues. Damn, put an ad in the paper, phone up garden companies, painters (Builders Whorehouse for contracting work) and other places. Nothing wrong with tending a garden for R 200 per day. Heck, it'd take care of the hunger issues, and then there's the sense of having achieved something. But I suppose that's where the different moral value systems originate from, isn't it? Burglary has turned into a profession (always has been, actually) and has that sense of achievement when selling stuff from a heist. When I was reporting the cellphone theft y/day arvie at the local po po station, this oke (couldn't have been any older than me) walks in with his 7 or 8 year old son. Says to the duty officer (with his son on the stool next to him) "Officer, I need to lay a charge against my son. He needs to know that stealing is wrong. Every week he steals from me. Last week it was R 500, this week R 700 was taken from my wallet" Was lekker to see that the father was being stern, but fair. And it was lekker to see the police actually going through with the charade, 'cos at that age that's what it is. An example. And how does that start? The kid believing that he needs to take stuff to be able to be one of the "manne" 'cos dad isn't buying stuff and kids are ragging him for it, or does he want to show them how "monied" he is? I dunno... Either way, a sense (or belief) of entitlement, that because it's there I CAN TAKE IT. Disgusts me.

Ja, ek stem saam. Die fkn slente moet leer, man. As dit weer gebeur, sal hulle nie so gelukkig wees nie. EDIT: Dankie Riaan. Dis sleg om te dink dat ons en ons dinges is nie veilig nie

I'm a sharks fan, V. So I celebrated last week and will again this evening!

Yeah, I do, Kona. Personally, I don't know how anybody can afford NOT to be insured...

AAAAAAARGH! FK! Just wanna donner somebody! So this week started off rather innocuously, witha couple of cancelled meetings and a few crap bits of info. Come Thursday, i had to put my 4 1/2 year old cat down due to respiratory failure and other nasty things. Yesterday, my phone (HTC Sensation) and my wife's ipod nano were stolen out of our house, when some limpet decided to force his / her way through the burglar bars to get them whilst they were charging on the kitchen counter (2m away from said window) Yesterday on the way to a meeting, my right rear tyre blew out. Fanfkingtastic. Then my 4pm meeting decided not to show, at her selected meeting spot, at her workplace, and this morning my wife's RC 3000 was stolen from the house. Cut through the 12mm braided steel cable that was locking the bikes up. My XC steed has no wheels at the moment (lent them to a mate) so they couldn't take that and my DH bike is so damn heavy that they probably wouldn't have been able to bench press the thing, let alone get it off the hooks that holds the bikes up. I reckon it was the same okes who stole the tech stuff y/day, as the bikes are under our carport, and we're the last unit in the complex of 5, where the carports are all walled off and run parallel to the road. The leccie fence was ruined on top of the gate (wire cut at the bridge point between wall & gate) and they used a neighbour's wheelie bin to boost their way outta here. On inspection, our neighbour's security gate was wide open, and the door handle depressed. Thank goodness for deadlocks and ill prepared pieces of sh*t. GAH! Am I glad to be rid of this week!!!

SO the fkrs decided to steal my wife's bike this morning (hence the early log-on time) from our home in Wynberg. It's a white RC3000 (ladies) with full Tiagra, rolling on Shimano WR550's. It also has (had) a Polar HR mount on the bars. No other identifying features, apart from 2 flat tyres. Don't ask... The bike was locked up with 12mm braided steel cabling (shrouded) and it looks as if they just employed a bit of strongarm tactics and bolt-cutted it's ass. The cabling was threaded through the burglar bars, and the bikes were under our carport, hung up in front of the cars, close to the walls of the house (and DEFINITELY not visible from the road) The electric fence is now not active along the gate (disabled) and they used one of my neighbours' wheelie bins to boost the gate on the way out. I can only imagine how they got in in the first place. My dog went mad, but I was in such a state of doze that I didn't react until about 2 mins later, at which point it was too late. He can't get to the front of the house, so in a way it's a good thing that he stayed inside. Don't want to think what they would ahve done to him had he gotten out. The *** thing is, I reckon it's the same fool / fools who robbed us yesterday morning, by forcing open the bars on the kitchen window and helping themselves to my HTC Sensation and my wife's iPod. That is the only way they would have known about the bikes, and known to bring bolt cutters / hacksaw or something to the party... Now to go about the fantastic claims process. Here, I'll let you guys know how my insurer comes to the party... Here's a pic of what the bike would have looked like. I don't have a pic on file, so have used a generic in the same colours... Please keep an eye out for me. Shot.

Ffs! How much more stolen stock will appear on his floor / garage etc before he gets shut down or locked up.

What he said.

May also be running low on air... Have you checked the pressure lately?