Daxiet

definetly not hydraulic. Fox 7.5W (5ml - air sleeve 80W Gearbox Oil) Rockshox 15W - not sure if this is both legs, never paid enough attention. Get the manuals to be sure, plus to get amounts needed per leg. As Mampara eluded to, you can get it from motorbike shops. Seemingly not 7.5, you need to mix 5W and 10W (50/50). Daxiet2009-05-22 06:33:49

Would like to see this scientifically tested to see how the oil has degraded. Engine oil which is just a higher weight deals with more stress, heat in particular. Multi grade 15W-40, not that much higher weight than standard 15W Rockshox weight depending on operating temp. For now I would say my only concern is dirt, water, excessively leaking seals. I will be honest and admit that I made a mistake if my fork dies as a result... On another note my rear shock service interval is 10000kms or 1 year. It works great just the dust seal squeaked from 9 months.Daxiet2009-05-22 06:28:10

When I get creaking noises, I remove crank and BB, clean, grease re-install and it goes away. So do this and give your bike a good bath and lubing.

I think shock service intervals are too aggressive. 100hrs minimum if used for MTB'ing. If you just using it on tar, 1000's of hours. I do plenty dusty and muddy riding, my shock was serviced at just on 100hrs and IMO could have done a couple more. That said clean the dirt off the dust seals/stanchions after each ride or before the next. Do not HP around these dust seals.Daxiet2009-05-22 05:48:09

Henlo, I can't say I agree or disagree with what you have to say, I am not involved in cycle retail, but what I do know is even at the prices that Merida's sell for at most shops, they are the best value for money bikes I have come across. Hence my statement initially was people shouldn't get uptight with the Merida importers about this situation. From what you have explained, it's a no brainer that Merida would react to phone calls from larger bike shops. To those who believe they are marketing wizards, I think it is short sighted to try undercut the market or reduce spending in a hope to decrease prices. In the short term it will work, but slowly smaller shops may need to close their doors and only the Big expensive guys will survive. Even worse some importes may close hence limiting brands and competition. Prices will again climb and the cycle will continue. Just looking at the other side of what may happen. Economics is not just Supply and Demand, that is just a simple concept in the greater world of economics. Daxiet2009-05-22 02:37:03

Don't know much about Merida's policy on recommended retail and discounts LBS's are allowed to give and whether or not they have threatened Henlo. What I would say is before giving the Merida importers grief, consider that they have kept their prices lower than most brands. If you compare their bikes to Raleigh equivalents, you will see that the new reduced Raleigh prices in many cases are still slightly higher than Merida's long standing 2009 prices. Not trying to take a stab at Raleigh, but what I am saying is Merida have kept the prices reasonable in 2009. Raleigh's new pricing is good especially on the Carbon HT's. That is at their RRP's. At present the best value for money bikes I have come across. On the Henlo topic, I think he probably ruffled a number of retailers feathers by advertising his stock of DS Merida's at such a low price. You got to ask are his margins sustainable, or is he just trying to attract attention to his shop and messing with the market.

What bike (Road or MTB, more import MTB with Disc?) are you transporting? If you are going to be transporting a MTB with disc brakes, removing the front wheel each time it travels is going to be pain. You will need to calibrate the front brakes each time. I use Proride, simple and very quick to plop the bike up there. Regardless of hight, the Outride or Proride will cause you to hit your bike if you ride into your garage, most public covered parkings, etc. Plus you will probably do more damage if you did hit the bike on an Outride because the fork is secured to the roof rack. With the Proride, the clamps rip off - I have experience

100mm travel fork ~1.6kgs (Fox F100 RLC!!!)

Can't throw my vote at it, but I think it is going to be much of a muchness. I have plenty frustration with my Juicy 3.5's but find their brake pads in conjunction with the full system to be much more responsive than the equivalent Shimano Deore's and for that matter LX's. I have always wanted to replace them with M775's, but think when the time comes I might opt for Juicy's again. You ultimately are in need of someone who had/has 765's to come on board and comment. As for squeaking, any brake system has the potential to do so. My first set of Avid pads never squeaked, changed the pads on the rear and I was chasing the wildlife away. After some usage the pads have come into there own and the squeak is gone.

Had Deore HG53 to start with, replaced with LX HG73 - equally have noticed no difference, perhaps if I were to weigh the 2 the LX would be fractionally lighter and an HG93 would be equally fractionally lighter than that. I carry SRAM chain links for the eventual chain break, but neither my Deore or LX have let me down as yet. Deore clocked 3000kms, LX is on 3000kms and long overdue for replacement - hence cassette and crank blades will need to go with the chain...$$$

I also have some difficulty believing the 9% markup. Probike have caused people to raise some eyebrows at their dramatic price increases for 2009 and then the sudden decrease to somewhat less expensive prices. But to try force their retailers to only add 9% markup would be suicide, they will just reduce the number of retailers willing to sell their product hence further reduce their sales and hence income. In the past Raleigh prices had a published recommended resale, but retailers would try their luck at selling for more than the recommended retail. That said I will try sniff around and see if I can try get some confirmation of this rumour as much as I doubt its validity.Daxiet2009-05-12 10:46:17

Looks interesting, will only be able to connect it up to my Garmin this evening. Thanks

A. Trust no one! B. If the money is EFT'd to you in advance and reflects in your account, it is very difficult (almost impossible) for him to try cancel the EFT/reclaim his cash. Hence paying in advance would mean the buyer is carrying the risk. C. You ship it, he says he will pay once it has arrived, you obviously carry the risk. That is why buying items on the hub = possible bargains, but with that you increase risk. Don't you have a friend/family member, that is in the same or close to the area where the buyer is that you can ship to. Arrange them to meet up and conclude the transaction in cash? Daxiet2009-05-12 02:13:52

Aside from the other bugs, I now find that my last 3 activities that I uploaded to my Garmin Training Center disappear once I close it. I have now uploaded them twice and today will be the third attempt. I have had the odd upload disappear in the past, but thought nothing of it, uploaded it again and it remained. This time around it refuses to retain the information. OS: Windows XP SP2 Software version: GTC 3.4.3 Device: Garmin Edge 705 software version 2.6 It doesn't seem isolated to my computer or device, a friend had the same complaint on Saturday when his Friday ride was dropped from GTC. I have also raised this query with Avnic Trading - local Garmin distributor. Any one had this issue/knows how to rectify it? Daxiet2009-05-12 02:06:49

Got to agree no cyclist smells great after a long ride, especially in the humid climate of KZN. While I understand Remo's is the place to be after heading into the cane fields, I also clearly understand their potential stand point on the not so fine smelling cyclists. That said I was there about a week ago and never noted this in their menu's. Not that I was looking however.

I don't believe this is likely to be due to your bike being a DS. Normally the RD cable going from the main frame to the rear suspension is in a casing that has sufficient slack, thus the moving of the suspension will have no effect on cable tension. A problem like this could be as a result of a damaged/worn rear cassette, worn chain, damaged RD or incorrectly calibrated RD. Anyway what DS do you have?

Ryder, not sure the model, but I have 3 - one for my MTB, Road bike and Wife's bike. They're very cheap and work as well as your over priced for peace of mind pumps. Description about 200mm long, single nozzle on front that can be swapped for any valve. silver tube, black flick out handle. I paid between R75.00 - R100 for each. Differed from shop to shop. Daxiet2009-05-08 04:39:20

DaLoCo a couple questions, why not do some riding in Empangeni, you may get ridden over by the taxi's but you'll have hills around every corner? Which suburb do you live in? Meerensee will offer a couple "hills", Bream Hill, the beach road by Aklanstrand, bugger trying to remember these street names and hoping no name changes have taken place like in Durban. I grew up in Meerensee and as a kid any incline felt like a hill, so perhaps they aren't as big as I remember. Come to think of it I can see why you will struggle to string sufficient climbs together in Rcb. What does Zululand Cycles do for club rides and to be quite honest Sean Merredew would be the right person to speak to if you want advice, he has lived there all his life and has a great race record.

I prefer the response of metal sintered, but the noises can be a bit much at times.