Tieffels

This coming weekend in Knysna..

So you imply, by mentioning bumps and the act of squeezing the tube between your fingers, that the reinforcing is required to protect the cable from collapse? That is not the actual case. The casing/liner/housing has to oppose the tension in the cable itself. Think about pulling your brakes: Newtons 1/2/3 law states that every force has equal and opposite force. The tension or force in the wire is opposed by the housing, That is why the more bulkier brake housings are called linear compression housings. Your plan could work for lengths of cable between mounts on the frame, i.e where the cable is not bounded on one side by either the shifter or derailleur.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Hope that makes sense.

Dude that is like 3.2% error, not bad at all. I've done MTB races that are out well over 10% distance wise. I also remembered talking to they guy who did the argus on a trike, he took all the outside corners to stay out the way of faster riders, ended up doing more than 120km's.

Single pivot suspension vs Horst link...

I just need a lift and I'm there..

Thanks for my freebies, received my sample race pack on monday. I'm eyeing one of the upcoming races (Willow creek, Greyton..) as a proving ground. Can't wait.

Agree with 1t and daemon, you pay a premium for carbon that is unnecessary and over rated. I'd be willing to bet that for a fixed budget a cheaper alu frame with better wheels etc will feel better that same price carbon bike with cheaper components. My Epic partner has carbon bike heavier than cheaper/same priced alu bikes...<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I did Johan Bornman's course alongside Cassie and like him I've been biding my time for a post like this.. Some feedback on the course: In short, what a pleasure and sound investment that was. Johan is a real professional, he had every little detail covered, every eventuality planned for. IMHO there is a very rare type of person when it comes to parting with information. When, in an attempt to get a grip on a vast pool of information, you ask him a badly formulated question he does not point out the ignorance of your question, but rather tells you the answer to the question you where in fact TRYING to ask. But then he goes further to suggest and answer the REAL question at the heart of the problem. Johan is such a person; he takes you to the proverbial "kap agter die byl". Basically I got to rip open and service 2 shocks for less dosh what it would have cost to do one at my LBS, and I replaced the seals on my Fox RLT with standard shaft seals from bearing man (drum roll?? at R12.50 a pop). I will now forever laugh at the face of a bikeshop telling me to spend R400 just for a seal kit.. On the topic of letting the pro's go at it, one of the guys there also had 2 identical shock, both of which had been in for a service recently, but the internals revealed that one was in top shape, and the other seemed not to have been serviced for months. So much for the pro's... I'm very much a fit and forget rider, and this saw me having to spend R2300 on a complete rebuild of one of my previous shocks due to internal damage from grit getting in and eating at the stanchions out of view below the dust seals, but this was after say 2.5 years of hard riding (who knows, maybe I still ended up saving in the long run...). So getting your shocks serviced regularly is essential to their longevity, but I think 100hs is still plenty safe), and it is not a difficult task requiring only simple tools, a bit of knowhow (recommend Johan to supply that), a bit of confidence (also provided by Johan) and common sense. I'm guess I can do it in less than an hour from scratch. How much time do you lose with your bike sitting in the shop and your shock getting couriered around the country for an oil change, which is all they need to do for a service?

I'm there.... eh.. if a student budget can finance the trip?

Also doing it this year for the first year, but will have vehicle support . Also have big questions over nutrition. From what I've read/asked you have to take in proper food at some stage, gels and powders not enough over the distance.

I'm game to join, sorry to have missed today's ride. Based in Stellenbosch, keen to explore more around Helderberg and beyond.

Sal julle ouens graag will join maandag as ek terug is vanaf die naweek. Sal iemand asseblief hulle cell nommer vir my PM, kom van stellenbosch se kant af so sal julle on route join.. Cheers

Hey Harry1, <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Thinking about this really gets the blood boiling again.. I ride a 05 Stumpjumper FSR, and last year some time I cracked the cross link in the suspension. This part has since then been beefed up considerably, (draw your own conclusions) and I had to fork out R300 for the new one. Was pretty pissed about it not being covered under the lifelong warranty, since it was a suspension part. The best bit is that the bolt that holds the eyelet of the rear shock, which sheared in the first place leading to the cracked part, was replaced with an off the shelf treaded bolt. No imagine a treaded bolt used as a shaft for a shock. This lead to me having to replace the shock bushes at my own expense, and get a new bolt from Specialized, Still a normal steel bolt, busy rusting to crap because it is not the right part, but they are too useless to get the right part. Bottom line: Problem not really so much with specialized as with the dealers and bike shops. Specialized is an awesome brand, but the locals, i.e. Le Pelaton, are absolutely useless and apathetic, and they are killing the brand for a lot of people. Some old story in South African cycling it seems. Good luck with the battle...