porky

Mr Bornman is going to have a great evening commenting on this one, I think its right up his street.

Thats also something to be considered, although here we may have no lights but that should just add to the fun what! I have never done a cycle race in the US, but I have done a few running events and they have innovative ideas there to, like a race around a mall, some roads are closed (obviously laps are involved) and the runners enjoy the race while Mom shops.!! It was great, ample parking, lots of activity etc.

I dont believe that Mavic will ever allow reject wheels into the international market - can you just imagine the liability and litigation issues if someone is killed on a reject wheel - it will put Mavic out of business - not going to happen - never.!!! Any distributor who tries to tell you this is fact, is insulting your intelligence. As for Auctions and Job, lots, well if Mavic allows this, then they must be prepared to support the line. We live in an international and global enviroment, Mavic are not stupid, they know cyclists travell around internationally and that job lots can be sold into other markets, its the name of the game, and if they participate in this action (and its not clear they do) then they will be willing to warranty. Personally I think the local distributor needs a lesson in public relations, this is not the 18th century and the consumer has tremendous power in his wallet.

Reminds me a bit of the "I BELIEVE TYLOR" button that was circulated by the late Phonac team just before he was dumped. Levi is a big boy now, he knew full well the Astana team had a dubious past. Did he honestly think that just because JB was now involved the world would just roll over and capitulate. Personally I not a Levi fan and this smacks of a typical YANK opportunistic endevour to try and force THEIR opinion on the rest of the world.

How big do you envision these lights to be willehond, what I mean is, will they be bar mounted, helmet mounted, or are you using them as hand helds (doubtfull as a hand held I guess, as you mention cycle lights, but ya never know).?? Are you mounting all the working parts inside a single case or will you use two cases with a connecting lead.?? I dont see any reflector in your plan either willehond, surely this is paramount to beam direction and spread? How do you intend to waterproof it? Please dont take offense with the questions,I am not trying to be "difficult", I am just fairly interested to know how you will overcome these issues.

Hmm, I must say I dont know much about wheel engineering, but I have never had any trouble with my 420s. I weigh about 75/76 kgs and I have never broken any spokes, front or back. I have them trued once a year at the annual service (if necessary) and thats it, they stay perfect for the rest of the year. I dont have multiple bikes so they get used for training, racing, riding to the shop, everything and often over some appalling road surface, (if that matters, I dont know!) Mr Bornman may have a point on the spokes though, about a year ago I crashed and someones derauiller went into the spokes bending a few of them (but they never actually broke) - anyway when I took it in to be repaired the shop told me they need to replace ALL the spokes, they said something about the spoke nipple and aluminium and......... but, it dosnt interest me so I just said go ahead without really listening. ..............other than that they have been great,............. I guess its just personal choice more than anything else, I work with concrete and steel everyday, I think some steel and some concrete mixes are better than others, and in my opinion some are downright awefull, but....................millions of bricks are laid and thousands of buildings are still standing with this "awefull" mix and the inhabitants are quite happy with them, so who am I to upset them with my experience of the "awefull" mix. Its probably the same with wheels, Mr Bornman sees the results of worst case scenarios, but for most of us, ......they work just fine.!

Copper slip is not a grease to be used in moving parts. Its basically used as a kind of friction reducer in mostly static parts and is used heavily in the auto trade, an example of its use is its put on the backs of disc brake pads to prevent squeaks, or bolt threads to prevent the nut and bolt rusting / corroding together, on battery terminals to prevent corrosion etc.

I havent tried it, but the theory behind it makes sense I guess. According to the packet on my table Rennies is basically designed to reduce acid in the system, cramps are usually caused by the bodies inability to remove lactic acid fast enough (a lactic acid build up) so it seems Rennies neutralises the lactic acid as well. I think it would be fine in smaller doseages but would it not have side effects on your digestive system in that it would make your digestive tract excessively alkaline.

Thats a chuckle scotty, 3 weeks off cos he is "thinking too much" I need to visit this guy, I recon I should get about a year vacation.

I dont understand,.............was the tour cancelled because the CSA wanted a Mill in their pockets just to give the thumbs up to allow the the sponsor the rights to stage the race, or did they want a mill to pay the local organiser costs etc to RUN the race, (a sort of guarantee that there was funding for costs)? I would say a mill is not that much to run a race of this magnitude, and I dont see anything wrong in asking for a financial guarantee up front, but if it was just for a signiture on paper and the mill went into their pockets.................well thats just plain greedy and they deserve to loose the sponsor. porky2008-01-30 23:59:39

Yes some interesting facts Linnega, on the healthcare issue I can tell you that pre 94 the old "BARAGWANATH HOSPITAL" was rated as one of the top academic hospitals in the world, it was better equiped and staffed and run than many first world hospitals in the UK, USA and Europe. Medical academics came from all over to train there. Sadly we all know whats come of it today.

One just has to read these posts to understand we are no further along now than we were 14 or even 20 years ago. We can all relate horror stories, me included, will it benefit anyone?.......I dont think so, my priest had a wonderfull sermon on Sunday past, he said......................... ....................there will always be injustice, and there will always be things we dont understand, the load may appear so big and so heavy that we dont really know if we can finish, but all that matters is we make a start and we do what we can,......... God will do the rest.

Suunto is heavily, heavily overpriced here, if you intend buying one, go international, in the USA they are at least 30% cheaper, in Singapore expect 40% cheaper - thats a substantial profit margin locally. If you are going to be buying locally, you could probably get both a Polar a Garmin and enough change to enjoy a steak and beer dinner for the price of a Suunto. ..............I dont think you can go wrong with Garmin anyway, I have three of em, I recently took one to Garmin for an update as the mapping was about 5 years old, came back the next day and the guy says (with a big smile) " Sorry Sir we broke your Garmin" .........Umm and now? ........."Hee, Hee, its a bit old, but take this voucher to any Cape Union Mart and they will give you a new upgraded one". No questions, no stories - There is still service out there.! porky2008-01-26 08:37:35

I have always been a bit of a "woosie" so I think Ill err on the side of caution right now and wait to see if some other hubbers try and live to tell the tale (or just report back).!! That "auto electrician" just next door is scary, best you remove all globes alternators or anything else electrical from your car before you leave it, chances are you may have to buy it back at an inflated price just to get home.!

This guy (Seth) is hilarious. A serious "drama queen" for sure,......... I can just picture him on his scooter, or worse,... on the beach - "damn it",...... that gonna haunt me now for sure. porky2008-01-22 10:29:54

snip snip I Waiting for the car was an adventure in itself. He went to the factory twice to check on the progress and he was invited to the Italian GP where he was treated as a VIP. The ride was surreal. He lives in Joburg and we went out on a Sunday morning from Fourways to Harties. Theres that new road after Lanseria going towards Sterkfontein and we were doing 200+ in places. I did feel a bit guilty because there were cyclists on the road but its not often you get the chance to experience something like that. Wow, we mere mortals can only dream hey. I know the road well, in my spare time I do a bit of (motorised) bike riding, and in summer I try and do a breakfast run with the crowd at least once a month.

I think thats a pretty standard wait time for a Ferrari Velo. Nice to have a business where you are booked up three years in advance hey, most average SA companies would be over the moon with three WEEKS of orders. So how was the ride?

- thats Italians for you edman - the "que" bit was hilarious. .......ya gotta love em.!

Give them time, many Italian factories closed for Christmas around the 15th Dec and only re-opened 15 or so Jan - I know because I import drill bits from Italy and have had an order in since 01 Dec, still not even packed in Italy. Italians dont have the same "work to a schedule" ethic as we do here in SA - I am sure they will get around to it in good time - I understand your irritation, but you just have to understand the Italian mentality to these things. If it was China, Japan, USA or Germany you would have had a reply the next day - Italy,.............well things just take a bit longer.

I spray my shoe cleats with "Spray and cook" about once a week. No squeaks, and you smell like the local pastry shop.

What makes their time more important than mine or anybody else in the traffic que? I see it as someone stealing my time through pure arrogance or ignorance - either way I dont think I would have been so cool headed, nope, I think I would have had a bit of a shout to "move the **** over."!

Hmm, dont know much about tariffs on shoes or getting it changed, but its not always that easy. It also depends on the local market, lost job opportunities and the strength and volume of sales locally which would be compromised if any Tom Dick or Harry started selling against the major importers who are legit, pay their taxes and employ a number of staff. I would say companies like Nike, Reebok and the big importers of brands would want to keep duties in place as this stops or slows down the importation of parallel imports of their products which would kill their market in an instant if a price war due to undercutting prices were to develop. As it stands a parallell importer would not only require substantial funds to clear a few containers of shoes and pay over the duty plus vat up front, but because of duty costs they would probably be uncompetitive in the wholesale mass market (the big super stores who are the primary mover of the shoes) and this is probably one of the main reasons this sort of scenario has not developed. Unfortunately cycling is so small in terms of volume and sales I doubt any application would be successfull against the big importers of footwear who would certainly oppose the lifting of duties. porky2008-01-09 11:01:16