Delilah

Yeah, he is a real tool...

They were the standard factory Crests on 3.30 hubs. Dunno if I trust a company to produce decent rims if they don't even know that alu nipples will seize...

IMO that should be amended to picking from: Strong Light Cheap Stiff Nobody has ever added stiffness to the list, but that is something that is important to me. Personally, I just loath 29er Crests. They are floppy as soggy noodles. Everyone is obsessed with stiff frames and stiff forks, but then they run wheels with more flex than a bodybuilder on steroids Yes, I owned a set of Crest wheels - two for the household in fact. All that lateral flex means a lot of movement on the spokes, so the wheels kept going out of true. The factory standard wheelset comes with alu nipples. After less than a year (about 9 months), those nipples had seized and the wheels could no longer be trued. The spokes had to be cut to get them out. The wheels carried 65kg and 73kg respectively, so it wasn't a matter of exceeding the rider weight limit. It is just uncomprehensible that so many people like Crests. If you have 7k, and you want strong, light and stiff wheels, look into: carbon rims, hubs of your choice (Hopes are great) and a custom build by Johan Bornman. EDIT: Oh and the rims in that link are 30mm wide, so they give a very nice tyre profile too!

I am green with envy. Why is there no emoticon for that on this forum???

Soooooo nice! First in SA, isn't it?

Might be worth doing if you only need to replace wheels and tyres. Wheels, tyres and fork... not so sure. If you already have a Fox fork, you may be in luck as many report being able to run 650b wheels on 26" Fox fork.

Best explaination I've heard!

The problem is that our actions and choices never affect just ourselves. We are role-models to young riders. There was another helmet-related thread a while back in which a fellow hubber said that his kid stopped cycling after dad put his foot down regarding the whole wearing of a helmet issue. Apparently his friends teased him for wearing a lid. Where did those other kids get the idea that riding without a helmet is so much cooler? I'll bet from seeing an older rider who didn't want to wear one. If all adults wore helmets, kids would do the same without thinking twice. Secondly, if I had to be in an accident where a cyclist died due to head injury, even if not my fault at all, that would severely traumatise me. It would not just be about him.

I'm not saying it's right, but that is what people do. They are always looking for an excuse for bad behaviour. Let's not give them one on a silver platter. Seriously, how can we ask motorists to obey the laws if we don't? If both sides just act stubborn, guess who will suffer most?

I think you are missing the overall message whilst focussing on perceived tone. Let me try again: If cyclists do very obvious and very visible things in disregard of the law, that gives motorists an excuse for not complying with road rules either. Would you have liked me to furnish a lengthy list of all possible transgressions? I apologise for not having done so. Instead I used as an example the one transgression I witness most. It is also the one that irritates me most, because in many cases children are involved. Children who can neither be expected to make responsible decisions on their own nor to have super-duper bike skills to avoid accidents with. I am furious with those parents. And yes, maybe I should go shout at them.

I did what now? Oh please, you've never even met me. How would you even know if I've ever shouted at anyone for not wearing a helmet? (Which I haven't.) Get your facts straight, please.

When I was 14 years old, a friend went to the corner shop for chips. On his way home, he was involved in an accident with a car. The impact was very light. He came off his bike, but suffered no cuts, no bruises and no broken bones. What killed him was that he was not wearing a helmet and his head hit the curb.

Motorists do not distinguish between recreational and serious cyclists. It is because they see (any) cyclists disobeying the rules (like not wearing helmets) that we get feedback from them that "cyclists are arrogant" etc. How can we expect them to obey the laws if we don't? In the end we have more to lose, so best keep our noses squeeky clean if we want any compliance from them. It might be a regional problem, but in Potch I see more cyclists without helmets than with. That includes recreational cyclists and those who are more serious.

You have got to be kidding me? So by your logic cars should again be manufactured with no airbags? Just about every cyclist I know, myself included, have had at least one fall or accident where a helmet saved them from serious injury or death. So how you came up with helmets only helping in "a small minority of crash scenarios" I don't know. Why would anyone take more risks wearing a helmet when your whole body is still exposed to injury? Injuries hurt, you know.

Doesn't this amount to reckless endangerment of a toddler? The baby had no say in the matter. She was strapped to a bicycle, without a helmet, and taken out onto the dangerous streets by her (loving?) father. Where are Child Services? Where is the Police? Any lawyers here who can comment?