Brighter-Lights

I HATE 11-34 for the simple reason that the ratio's lower down the range 6-7-8-9 are spaced too widely apart. Depending on how much power you put down when riding fast on a flat, you'll always feel like you're riding a gear too heavy, when shifting up one, it'll be too light...etc... For xc 11-28 or 11-32, I've even used 11-25 and 11-23 before. 11-32 is not perfect, but for me, 1000 times better than 11-34. 11-32 -> 11-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32 11-34 -> 11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34

+1 on Anthem. One of the best performing suspension designs out there. It can be set up to feel plush like a long travel trail bike, or can be set up to be a very fast race bike. Plus, if you get a small or XS frame, there no rear shock in the way when taking your water bottle out.

Giant Anthem X0 Size XS RP23 EC 70 bar Ergon R2 Carbon Grips X9 twisters 80mm no name stem Sid Race XT crank SLX front der X0 rear der XT 11-32 XT chain 540 pedals KCNC seatpost SLR 135 saddle Formula RX brakes American Classic tubeless wheels with Rocket Ron tyres 10.6kg - cost me under R28 000 - all parts from eBay, CRC and some local bits...

I've been using PayPal since 2001, BUT in SA, you need to have a bank acc. with FNB in order to transfer funds. I use www.payfast.co.za to receive payments.

They've been selling them for over a year... nothing to do with top end stuff... too many units broke and they decided to pull out... simple as that...

The issue is that if you know what reliable electronic components / light components cost, you'll see that parts to build just one quality battery pack for instance, cost more than a whole Magicshine light system, or just the circuit I use in my lights cost as much as a complete Magicshine system. Quality electronic components come at a price, even when sourcing the best prices worldwide. Then there's the person assembling / soldering the components together. You just have to open a few Magicshines to see what the soldering / assembly looks like. I warned about this long ago when I imported the first Magicshines in early 2009. There's a very good reason why I didn't continue with them. I can't bullsh*t ppl with smart sales talk, I'm proud about what I do and I'm a perfectionist and I won't sell something that I won't use myself. Enough said. PS: If anyone experience problems with their Magiclight / Magicshine battery, send me a PM. I have the equipment to test the battery, and can rebuild the battery using reliable components. Each of my lights are custom build. You email me and I discuss the options and program the circuit according to your choice.

+2

JBay

Been discussed about a week ago... will see if I can find the topic...

I use oil... Roger Musson's book is great, and he replies to emails instantly...

Formula RX also great! MUCH more stopping power than my previous Juicy 7's.

Stephan, ek't 'n rubber wat met velcro vaskom... kan werk ma die 120ml SWAT sal 2 nodig he...

Besides playing with pressure's... Sid's needs foam ring service very often... I've serviced one which were very stiff after a LBS service because they didn't put any oil on the foam rings OR inside the lowers... it was dry! I drop some oil on the stanchoins every ride, depress and clean before I go. I've used about every product incl the very expensive finish line stanchoin lube.... I let the bike sleep upside down every now and then. I take the lowers off every month. Very interesting photos and video's coming soon. I've been working on it for a few months now. I have been uysing Sid's for a while, but in August started with 2 brand new Sids. I've been documenting every bit of their service schedule. Even replaced the brand new RS dust scrapers with Enduro one's, only kept them for 2 weeks before going back to the std ones. Bottom line is the open bath oil can't really reach the upper bush, no matter how hard you bottom it. And also, the rec. RS pressure is way too high. But also, a lubed Sid should be buttery smooth with not a hint of stiction. Mine really feels like I'm floating on air. With too much oil in the open bath, you also won't be able to compress the fork fully. Do you have the tools to remove the lowers? (long 10mm socket and long 5mm allenkey?) This is something you should consider getting and doing yourself as it's an important part of servicing that needs to be performed every 1000km or so if you want the fork to feel like new. The most important is to make sure there's oil on the foam rings, and to make sure the lowers slide up and down easily, then look into settings. I run 11 clicks rebound from fully open, 70kg rider, Sid set to 100mm, Positive 80Psi, Negative 80 Psi. For a 53kg rider I have it at 50+ and 50-, 9 clicks rebound. For starters: Deflate the + and - chambers, set rebound to fully open, no lockout. Now try to compress the fork and see how far you get it down. You should be able to hit the bottom out stop rubber. Next pump the + chamber to 50 Psi and bump the fork, with 50 Psi, you'll be able to compress it very easily and also feel if there's stiction in the bushes. If the fork doesn't bounce up and down like butter, something inside is dry, OR the compression damping doesn't fully open. Start by taking your weight in pounds (roughly) devide by 2 and pump the + and - chambers the (pounds / 2) Psi.. So for a 160 pound rider 80 Psi top and bottom. That's a start, but if the fork is dry inside, it WILL have stiction... even some brand new one's that's lubed, have tighter bushing tolerances and will be tighter for a while... I've taken brand new ones apart that barely had any oil inside... For lubing the foam rings, I use Castrol BOT 402 fully synthetic transmision oil, the thinner oils run down too quickly, leaving you with a 'dry' upper bush...

I've also used one on its tripod mount, but after some time the tripod mount got ripped from the camera with all the vibration. When using mounts like these, make sure that you have something like a velcro strap over the camera, clamping the body down onto the mount, else it will fail in time...

Well if you've been riding for a while, and know how many km's you normally get on a chain and how far from replacement your cassette is, and know that it's gonna be muddy for certain, kit your bike with your training chain and cassette so that when replacing after the race, it will be normal maintenance and not new equipment that got thrashed in the mud. I keep a 50% worn XT cassette and chain in a zip lock bag (cleaned) when going to a race. If it's a major race and time for replacement, I fit a new chain and cassette before the event, but if it suddenly starts raining the night before, I put my worn parts on quickly. Spray and cook doesn't really work... But something like Spanjaard's CDF works, but has to be applied before the race, but it's also very expensive. Creates a wax type layer on stuff that's not easily removed... For lube use something very thick like Castrol Lubricut 150 - no commercial lube lasts that long in the wet...

HELL NO if it's for free... why does she owe him a favour? Consider it a business deal and CHARGE, else what's in it for her? I've been in the ex mixup a few times in the past and believe me, even a very loyal girl could get mixed up mixing with her ex. Some guys are masters of the mind game act and girls are emotional and some girls are very easy to confuse, so it depends a lot on who/how/what your girl is, and how strong your relationship is. Just my experience in the past. But.. the right girl will stick to you and you'll trust her, but someone who really is in love would also not mix with their ex's - unless the ending has been long in the past and it turned into a very long friendship after the relationship, then it's a bit different... Personally, now that they can't pay immediately, I'll tell them to get lost... just sounds a little too much like they just want to use her...

All the bearings I've bought at Bearingman (BMG) in the past were crap compared to Enduro's bearings... their seals didn't last very long and they needed frequent replacement...

+1 Selle Italia SLR 135... once did almost 440km on mine in 24hr solo and not a chafe mark... best saddle I've used... looks great and is around 140g...

Very annoying also when ppl agree to buy something, post 'I'll take it or dibs' on your thread, or even PM you, you send them bank details and they never respond again...

Ti rotors doesn't last very long... not even NEARLY as long a steel rotors...

Rubena has a big factory in Europe and make tyres for quite a few others as far as I've heard. I've had 3 Rubena Saurus and 2 snapped/stretched beads on me... Paid R100 per tyre so was'nt too bad. The one lasted quite well.

I get around 1300km per chain...

Shimano systems suffer where cable routing is not ideal - the result - cable friction. On some bikes cable routing is so, and especially on full suspensions, that even with brand new cables and housing, shifting suffers... SRAM has a different ratio and allows more movement between gears at the shifter, which is more forgiving. In other words, if there's resistance when shifting, you can micro shift PAST the engagement point on that gear to pull the der up a bit more, and then shift back one click to have good alignment. But my experience with SRAM is that your housing and cable needs to be VERY mucked up before that kind of resistance exists. I'm VERY full of nonsens when it comes to that and even the slightest friction when shifting is unacceptable to me, so on our new Anthem X0's for instance the std routing caused shifting resistance and I changed the housing to full length and changed the cable route to be as straight as possible. (down down-tube, underneath BB and straight to der) On the XT bike shifting was better than before, but still too stiff because of Shimano's need for an extra bend before the cable enters the rear der. Now changed the XT bike to SRAM also and shifting is light and accurate because with a SRAM rear der, the cable entry is straight... see pic. XT is fine, but with all Shimano systems, you need slick cable movement. Don't be afraid to change the cable routing on your bike if there's too many bends in the route. Get it as straight as possible, and leave enough slack to allow full suspension movement...and make sure it doesn't get caught in your front chainrings if following the underneath BB route...

We were harrassed by ppl in a car while on a training ride. They tried to scare us by revving the car and accellerating towards us a few times... then drove away, got out of the car and waited for us, tried to hit us off the bike 3 times. (at night) We didn't get hurt, but it could've been serious had they hit us. We opened a case (huge frustration and time wasting for us) but in the end they were arrested and had to appear in court. They learned their lesson... So report it... before it happens to someone else...

Whatever you're comfortable with BUT... All motorcycles have their front brake lever on the right... I also prefer my front brake on the right.