porky

I disagree, I think there have been a number of excellant posts right up to here. Of course you may skip right over this topic if you dont feel the need to continue reading, thats your perogative, but please dont try and impose your will on me or others who prefer to see further debate.!

Yah, agreed, hope the debate continues - not sure what pro-bikes product line up is besides Raleigh, Scott, Uvex helmets and I think a tyre and accessory brand as well, Maxis and BBB respectively, I think - may be wrong though,.......... theres probably others as well, but I dont know of them.

Hey, what happened - I was busy reading a post here by Windbreaker, went to fetch a cuppa tea and now its gone.?

Cool, thanks fellas, I am gonna give it a bash this weekend, after I buy a new screwdriver.!

.............I usually have my cleats set on my shoes at a shop with a little machine which apparently measures the correct position in relation to your shoe, then when I change cleats I just use that little sticker and its all easy. Now, I have a new pair of shoes and cleats lying in my cupboard since May last year which I would like to get set up - my issue is the shop I bought them from and who usually sets the cleats was a fairly well known one who was at that meeting and I refuse point blank to support them further - my question is can I set the cleats myself? How do I know where to position the cleats or is it just trial and error?? Bear in mind I am not very technical and have only an old screwdriver (I last used it for stiring paint but I can scratch it off though ) and a hammer in my tool box. If I cant do it, is there a suggestion for a shop who can help me who WASNT at that meeting. I use the older LOOK type cleats if that matters. porky2009-03-19 09:14:02

Nice. They're the only two shops that have seen a single cent from me in like the last 5 years... Know for a fact that Cajess were invited but told them all to go fly!!! I have all respect for the owners of Cajees, they are without a doubt the biggest and most profitable retailers in Gauteng - just walk into any of their stores and they are packed from floor to ceiling with bikes and product - at most other shops you might see 5 bikes if you are very lucky. They are businessmen at their peak, they run their shops from behind the counter and if you have issues you dont need to fill in a form, log into the internet, look for a responsible person, find a complaints box, post a letter, send an e-mail - NOTHING - the responsible person is standing right there behind the counter!! I will definately only support them in future for what I buy locally. porky2009-03-19 08:59:29

Hmmm, I was just reading the last few posts and was quite impressed with Mr Els and his letter to FP, great I thought, heres someone who believes in ethical and fair business, but then one moves on and reads the follow up letter and I feel I have to re-acess that position, now I see Mr Els and Pro bike as the bully in the playground, and not very pleasant ones at that. I have never liked bullies, fortunately, as they are quick to burn bridges they can never cross back over the river, when it gets cold and damp on the other side.! porky2009-03-19 09:30:20

You dont need a lawyer to complain to force a recall. In the USA all a member of the public has to do is show possible liability to a relevant consumer protection authority, they will refer it to the federal government and they will enforce a recall. Nothing wrong with it, it ensures manufacturers - wholesalers and retailers sell safe products and the consumer is made aware of potential issues before he buys, or has potential issues sorted out quickly and safely. Although this is to us, rather extreme, cos here we just fly by the seat of our pants and everybody runs and hides when there is an issue - the law clearly states the bicycle had to have spoke protector discs - it didnt, and now the rule is been enforced - I am all for it - its called "enforcing the rule of law" - something we can learn a lot about here methinks.!

I think its quite common, but its not always set-up as everyone likes to promote (although, of course it can be) - usually its got to do with pushing a too big a gear for too long for your current lower back strength. Its also common in running (I get it immediately I up my distance before a long marathon and I have been running for 20 odd years) - your lower back is a much smaller and weaker muscle than your leg and glute muscles, so pushing a big gear - doing longer distances etc may not be difficult leg wise, it always takes a huge toll on the lower back. Once the muscles go into spasm, it can pull the spine out of alignement or at the very least cause spinal pain and difficulty in bending etc. Hense the continous lower back pain. What to do - well, it depends, strengtheing your back is the obvious one, but its a long process, it wont happen overnight, right now I would just suggest you take a few days off (at least a week) and take some anti -inflammatory medication (Panamor -50 is good and available over the counter at most pharmacys for about R12.00 per 14 tabs) to allow the inflamation to subside a bit, and then ride slightly easier gears than you usually do and build up slowly. If you dont give the inflamation time to subside before you continue, the muscles will remain in spasm and you will never get rid of the pain, it will always be there as a dull ache. Because the the lower back is so complex in its actions, its a very slow muscle to respond to treatment and inflamation can take two or three weeks to go down. Good luck.

The best goodie bag I ever got was at "Die Voet" (a running race sponsored by then Caltex) it was in July or August just outside Harrismith and freezing cold, we all got a Beenie, a pair of gloves, a Tee Shirt and some chocolates - the entry fee was - I think around R65.00!!

I am sorry if my post came over as too sarcastic but I actually did ask a question of how this was anti-competitive and the reply I got was sarcastic. I appreciate your explanation put down in your post' date=' but were these increases fixed and no bargaining on the price allowed and what would the penalty be to a cycle shop who decided to give discount.[/quote'] Hey, no offense taken and this is after all, the internet.! Yes, to my understanding the increase (in %) was decided upon and a date was even set for its implimentation. The intention following was to limit discounting by certain shops by having the wholesaler / importer limit or stop supply to these discounting shops. Any businessman can obviously decide to increase his own price independantly of the market, thats his/her discretion, but it is illegal to collude with others to do so in tandem for obvious reasons posted here.

Haa,Haa, happy to oblige, but I gotta go now. I THOUGHT about setting up an OPEN meeting of all the engineers in the country to discuss the state of the construction industry and to unilaterally up our hour rates to the big construction firms.I was also considering ways to squeeze out these pesky eastern block type engineers here who work for tuppence and live in a one bedroom flat,........... I mean really,......... us Saffas have big houses in Bedford, Sandton and Rosebank, kids in private school, expensive wives and a few BMW s to pay for.! .............I thought if I did that I could spend more time here and still make a packet, those big firms are rolling in money you know,............ but ag, it was too much trouble and I am just lazy by nature, .....................so, I have to high tail it outta here and go work.!!

According to an e-mail I recieved, there is no next batch, the last batch was printed around the 5/6 of March, mine was supposedly amongst them, which is good news, I havent seen it yet either, but I live in hope.! Maybe to save costs they were sent up via Runners, so I guess I will start looking in about two weeks.!

I am too lazy and uninterested to have more than one nick, personally I dont mind but I never read the classifieds. I think as with anything its about morals, if you feel the need to have three log in names well, ....................go ahead,apart from it been against the rules of the forum, I cant see how it matters really. Naa, I dont think you got of bed on the wrong side, its a fine legitimate question and gos along with the post by chucky (I think) on putting up names, this is the internet, theres millions and millions of folk out there looking in, theres no need to know them all.! porky2009-03-16 23:45:36

Looks like it - kinda damning aint it.??

Why should anyone apologise?? The documents are available for all to see, it is clear there was an illegal meeting and the intentions were to unilaterally increase prices to the detriment of the consumer - in my opinion this is anti competitive and I for one will not apologise to anyone, irrespective of the CC outcome. You can walk around with a bleeding heart, thats your perogative, I take a slightly more cynical view.

I wonder if the CC has this document - to me it looks like there were no iinaccurate minutes noted 7 DAYS after the meeting, in fact, it is suggested that other shops read the minutes. How they can say this was a meeting to discuss the retail and wholesale industry when clearly no mention is made of wholesalers increasing prices and a clear intention is made of RETAILERS to unilaterally increase prices across the board is beyond me - the intention was clearly price fixing and collusion - any 6th grader will tell you thats illegal.! porky2009-03-16 12:59:46

Naa, dont bother mate, they are inaccurate, had a really sloppy secretary with a vivid imagination on duty that day apparently.!porky2009-03-15 14:37:02

as long as the event organisers get people willing to pay the entry fees' date=' they can ask what they want. [/quote'] Thats a very simplistic attitude cat-i, theres a lot more to it than just saying "stay away." Reaching critical mass is a very hit and miss affair, when a race experiences a drop in numbers, services and facilities are the first to go, this makes the race LOOK expensive for those who have entered, as they recieve a substandard article, and from there its one way down and the race will soon fold. Support the events if you can, but be a critical customer, dont accept poor or substandard events, make your voice heard loud and clear, take the organisers on if you feel hard done by and go public if need be - the more we demand the better the races will become, simply saying stay away serves no purpose and only kills events.