parabola

Ive got a singlespeed black/green STP with some basic spec stuff on it, but the frame is perfect for urban riding and I have ridden lots of trails with it. Just pop the seat up and its surprisingly easy to pedal around. I got it second hand for around R4k, and spent another R1k on the singlespeed kit and some fat tyres. I love it

Welcome! Giant STP and GT chucker are pretty common dirt jumpers here. Check on www.gumtree.co.za and around the hub.

Cant wait, will have to start building up a commuter. A great alternative to idling in the traffic!

Roughly scarred hairy legs. Shoes you can actually walk in. Bunny-hopping the potholes instead of riding around them.

Jy dink jy's cooler as ekke! jy's ou nuus ek kom met rou beats jy le en wag ek gaan soek iets jy's ice tea ek's wit blitz jy's light bier ek's spirits jy dink jy's cooler as ekke? Saw Mr Parow at RAMFEST, what a show His hats were hilarous. I think its a great initiative to be able to ride with Lance, for his fans they are willing to pay for the experience and the money goes to charity, so whats the problem? To any haters, he's just a normal guy and we should be welcoming him to SA. It makes me so happy to see celebrities coming to SA as these are the people that will keep our tourism industry thriving. parabola2010-03-10 11:33:43

Beautiful and brutish all at the same time I'm busy building up my AM ride, but its all very hypothetical so far. Dont stress about the seatpost and stem, just stick with what feels right. parabola2010-03-10 06:43:03

The planet-x is really comfortable especially if you prefer a harder saddle. A good set of shorts make all the difference! Would also like to try the on-one to compare but I have tried many different saddles and nothing comes close to the planet-x for even more than twice the cash. I thought it would not last very long but after a year mine is still going strong.

Great photos!

First, make sure the handlebar, stem and saddle are right for you. Then upgrade the fork, then tyres, and then only wheels. Anything after that would be better for you to save up for another bike than to upgrade your current bike. The Alpine is a great bike and besides the fork, everything else should last you well.

Come join the discussion at https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=78849&PN=6

Those are pretty cool

An accurate FEA on that rotor would be quite a task' date=' especially regarding the approximation of the braking force. Would probably be best to model the braking force as a uniformly distributed load with point forces at each bolt hole. [/quote'] haha! I did the FEA on them... I specified that the 6 bolt holes be the fixed constraints, then applied a tangential point load to replicate the kind of torque that would be experienced by the rotor. As for load figures, I based them on a report of a test that Cannondale did regarding disk braking forces. For interests sake, what were the approximate braking forces? You might also want to check where the tangential load is being applied, if its inbetween a 'spoke' of the disc it will affect it differently to being applied on or near a spoke. This becomes more important as the design craziness increases. With regard to the bolt mounts, as long there is enough meat around them should be fine to use a fixed constraint. At any rate the safety factor on something like this would be high enough to give you some headroom with the FEA analysis. parabola2010-02-23 04:47:32

An accurate FEA on that rotor would be quite a task, especially regarding the approximation of the braking force. Would probably be best to model the braking force as a uniformly distributed load with point forces at each bolt hole.

also check out Giordana, they are well priced somewhere between Assos and Cape Storm. I'm a skinny dude and find the Cape Storm / Anatomic cut was far too large. The Giordana's fitted me like a glove though.

Dude' date=' there was that big rock placed on that bridge to stop people riding over the broken part. I came close today ... too close to that damn rock [img']https://assets.bikehub.co.za/legacy_images/smilies/smiley36.gif[/img]but yeah that new section is pretty rocking.

Bummer dude, there seems to be an increase in theft recently in northern suburbs, not only cars. At least you can enjoy some decent MTB at Tokai though, you should also check out Majic forest on that side.

Nice work, an MTB you don't have to pedal Make sure you invest in some proper boots though, I broke my ankle on a bike similar to that one and it wasn't very fun.

New brakes do take some time to work properly, the pads and rotors need to be bedded in. The avid rotors come with sharp unfinished edges (from the laser cutting I imagine) which can make the brakes sound rough at first. The ping you hear could just be the rotor hitting the pads when the rear hub/rotor flexes. However they should be setup properly for you at the shop. Take it back, and once the brakes are properly centered, don't worry about the weird noises when using them as they should go away, and you can try braking smooth and hard down a hill to bed the rotors in. As for the shock creaking, maybe the seal needs some lube, totally unacceptable to ride with though, both for you and your riding buddies. Your shop must sort this out, I test rode a Specialised Enduro the other day with a creaking shock and after 10 minutes it was driving me mad! Take it back, explain your issues, you spent your hard earned money on a fine bike and these are problems which it is the shops responsibility to sort out - discounted or not.

Cycle Factory Store for servicing, pricier parts and maintenance (usually a waiting period on most parts) Bridge Cycles if I need something small (convenience store - closer to home) Olaf at Crosstown Cycles in Kenilworth if its singlespeed related Won't even walk into Cyclelab unless I'm desperate for a particular part / clothing that only they have in stock, everything is guaranteed to be more expensive Come to think of it, there are so many other stores not mentioned here!

I usually run wider tyres as the higher air volume means a more comfortable ride on my hardtail. (2.2-2.4) Nothing wrong with wider tyres up front, as most of your grip when cornering comes from up front wheel. HR are your Ignitors 2.35's UST? I'm looking for a grippy, wide UST tyre, but most shops only stock 2.1 UST's.

Wow this is great news, so glad to see plans to keep the sport growing! Soon we will be spoiled for choice on where to ride here in the Cape.