Spez247

The only issue I have with my 2012 Epic, is that you can't change the settings on the rear, on the fly. I don't know if you can on the Giant (from Lockout to Fully Open). Having said that, I don't think I will ever be without an Epic in my tiny stable block. In my opinion, if you are looking for 1 bike to do everything pretty well, the epic is hard to beat. Its setup, forget & ride.

Morning rides on back on track. Kyalami, JHB.

This was the initial build. It has been tweaked, but either way, a superb ride.

I don't know if it will happen as planned. The new start includes roads & a development that hasn't been approved via the "above board" route. Rumour has it that it was all approved on a Monday morning, after objections were closed on the previous Friday afternoon... The Kyalami / Dainfern & Saddlebrook Home Owners (amongst others) are doing their best to stop this development. If that interdict is successful, they might have to move the start/finish to Blue Hills Equestrian Estate, on the R55 (its an option)

It was definitely the Scouts. They were working on it Sunday mid-morning.

Sorry Joe, but like Cyclesure, I did put a disclaimer right at the top of the post...

Hi Stretch, Agreed. Maybe I have been lucky, or its the surge protection on the DB and the protection on the multi-plugs that have saved the day. Took a direct hit from lightning, lost a bit of plaster off an outside wall, but no appliances affected. The surge did need replacing. Replacement on the bikes would be close to what you said: R25k, R45k & R108k. Will I ever insure them? Never.

Hi Guys. I don't mean to hijack the thread, so let me start by stating that I am not the sharpest pencil in the case. I know this because my wife tells me so... often. But from the posts that I have read, I simply can't understand why you would "Insure" a depreciating item like a bike, even in SA. In my short life, I have never had short term insurance, like household content. I only take insurance when it is required of me, normally homeowners insurance to cover a bond, etc. I confess I have insurance on motor vehicles, only because there are too many fools behind steering wheels, whom I have no control over. By exercising a little more caution/awareness, you are guaranteed to never have to claim. If you don't jump through all their hoops, you will be denied anyway, if you are insured. In fairness, I have lived in reasonably secure estates; that I have been on the body corporate; to make sure they remain secure. In the past, I went as far as upgrading a 2 lever lock on a garage door to a 4 lever, and threw in a deadbolt for peace of mind. I also had a mickey mouse alarm installed that sent me an sms when it went off. I have also had a bracket installed above the bike holders in the garage, that I can run a cable combination lock through it and the frame (It takes 3 seconds to open, & 1 to lock). At Sani / Berg, my bike is the one with the cheap & cheerful cable lock. On the Thule, the cable lock goes through the tow point & the bike frame, but only if I plan to stop for some reason. As an aside, my wife is a horse rider. A few weeks ago, the tack room (that already looks like Fort Knox) at her yard, had an attempted break in. If you think bike saddles are dear.... Anyway, I installed a robolt above each saddle holder, with a 5mm cable that would attach to the saddle via a small padlock. When the owner of the yard saw it, she let a giggle slip. Last week 8 saddles where nationalised, yet my wife's 3 were there. Every saddle next to, above & below got taken. This week I was asked to assist in putting a cable on all the racks. It costs R100.00... When it comes to riding, if it is a decent size group, I will ride my pride & joy. If I happen to be on my own, its my cheaper SS pride & joy (which I have been able to buy / upgrade / replace with the premiums I didn't pay). If I bail and damage a part, I would rather kick myself for that moment of stupidity, than beg for MY CASH to replace it. Back to the topic: if you don't live in a high crime area, just spruce up your own security a little (it also adds value to your property), and the opportunistic thief will go next door. Please note that I am not paranoid; I don't get up in the middle of the night to check every door & window; but I do think Chuck Norris is soft . This won't work for everybody, but it has worked well for me. Insurance companies are big business. I took the stance that when I fell like I need insurance, I set the premium aside & instead of getting insurance, I go out & buy their share. That way, you have more rights & more say over your future. Sorry to be so long winded, but to Hollard & Cyclesure I can only say - I was never your customer. Later

Time for a Fire Sale @ CS.... Me thinks there will be retail space available soon @ Broadacres...

Sorry to hear you got duped by your LBS Andrew. Sad state of affairs when they don't make good. In my humble opinion, by the second lawyers letter, you will have cash in the bank & a bike frame to hang up in your bike room if you so choose. Even if the Invoice says Pinarello Grey Import / Bike Grey / Anything Grey; which you have stated & confirmed it isn't; this is a slam dunk case. If you lose this one, its time to find a new lawyer...

For these scamsters, they just need to catch an innocent person once in a while, to make it worthwhile. I suggest giving them some homework, by overloading their inbox, with "legitimate" enquiries, as opposed to hate mail. That way, they won't know whether there is potential or not with their new "client". Just delay the whole purchasing process, by asking questions, ie frame size, spec level, delivery eta's, can I make changes, like swopping wheels, etc. Just one question from a few hundred people every day, will keep the bastard overloaded, and hopefully some uninformed buyer will slip through the cracks, and not get scammed? I am no IT expert, but a Virus on his machine would be cool too.... Thoughts?

In November, I was doing a night ride with 2 mates. At 21h00, one of the guys was taken out by a drunk motorist. We were on the dirt verge at least 2m from the road when it happened. He was incredibly lucky to walk away from the incident, even though he needed to go in for stitches. SAPS / Metro & Netcare responded. The 31 year old female driver was placed under arrest for fleeing the scene, as well as for driving under the influence. She spent the night in jail, and was released the following afternoon on bail. She had comprehensive insurance, so the least we thought would happen was that her insurer would pay out the bike, and consider whether to pay for her repairs. Its been amazing to watch. Outsurance doesn't even care that she was drunk, even though we have 3 statements from eye witnesses, have the copy of the police arrest report stating the charges, blood was taken, etc. She has been paid out for the repairs by Outsurance, and is disputing the cause of the accident. Claims a pothole caused her to veer off the road. We have photos of the scene, and its probably the only road in JHB without a pothole... Outsurance should hang their heads, as they appear to condone this attitude towards drunk driving. The cyclist has met with a lawyer to take them to task on this. Seems its the only option for the innocent & law abiding.

R2500 is a big pill... As to the brand being overpriced, I did a very un-scientific exercise when I was deciding on which bike to take to my first 3 day stage race (B&B). I did an identical loop on three bikes, on back to back days, in similar weather. The loop turned out to be a few hundred meters shy of 46km's, and all I had to really on was average heart rate on a Garmin 810. Drew sticks, and the order turned out to be: Day 1 - Niner EMD Hardtail / Day 2 - Epic S-Works 2011 / Day 3 - Ellsworth Evolve. All of them are 29rs, on XO groupsets; 100mm Forks, Mavic wheels; same tyres throughout, and in excellent mechanical condition, and all had been set up the same (ie bikefitting). At the end, based on heart rate output (1 beat off either way), the Ellsworth took one minute 2 secs (1:02) off the Niner, and the Epic took 6 minutes 50secs (6:50) off the Ellsworth. I didn't review results until all three bikes had been ridden other than the heart rate average, and I honestly thought the Niner was fastest, but I guess being bumped around on the ride has that effect. The Ellsworth was the most fun, in that I felt great riding it, and felt less fatigue at the end. But 7 minutes in 50km's can't be overlooked. So in my opinion, saying a top level bike should only be used by pros, doesn't make sense. I need more help than the pros, and any % of efficiency gain makes a much bigger difference to me than it does to a pro. The average speed on the Epic was 20.76km/h & on the Evolve it was 19.78km/h. Like I said, nothing scientific here that I could take to NASA, but if anybody has a power meter, I'd be happy to repeat the exercise. Now if I could loose 3kg before Sani, that would make a difference, regardless of bike used... A topic for another day.