Daxiet

Yes, if the kit has pretty much remained the same as per the orginal spec in the link I attached.

Ignoring the Giants site specifications, you have 2 frames of equal size. Now what are they, Small or Medium.... I think your measurement method differs from Giants, check this linkhttp://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/mountain/5/24758/ That said assuming the angle on the method you have 2 medium frames there.

Wow, it would only happen from serious neglect, eg. not servicing according to use. Was there play on the fork, sounds like there should have been if they have to replace bushes and crown assembly - probably because your "silver" bits (stanchions) are damaged, scratched/worn. Would loved to have seen these components before they were replaced to see how badly treated this fork must have been. Would also have been interesting to see the condition of the oil, dust seals and wipers. Quick question, was there no noticable scratches/wear on the stanchions - again silver bits? A little bit of oil occasionally is not normally doom and gloom, but the line between a little and too much is hard to pin point. Oh, ask for the replaced items back, take some pics and post them for reference please. Daxiet2009-05-07 04:13:30

The specs you mention here don't seem to add up to a standard Raleigh, more like a custom build. I think the only Raleighs that have 8 speed cassettes are the RC2000's and they have a full Sora groupset. The nice thing about the standard Road Raleighs are they for the most part carry a full Groupset, be it Sora, Tiagra... No mixing and matching, did see the 08 RC3000 Carbons had Sora calipers and all else Tiagra. I have an 06 RC3000 - great looking bike, Tiagra groupset. I paid R2950 I think at the time, in my mind a bit much for an 06 RC3000, but considering what people are trying to sell them at now, it may have been a bargain. If you can get an RC3000 at a good price ~R3000.00 go for it, it will take you sometime before you can say the bike is holding back your race times.

You'll need to buy the kit to complete this job, I have found no way around it and agree with Mud Dee with the kit the job is very simple. There is a screw on the brake lever and one on the cylinder, you unscrew these, screw in the one syringe & attachment into the hole on brake lever and the other syringe and attachment on the caliper,... full procedure should come with the kit, alt. you can get is from the SRAM site.

I have 520's on my MTB, my wife has 520's and then I use 505's on my road bike. 520's are lighter than 505's and 540's are lighter than 520's and so it goes on. My 520's worked through last years mud bath at Hill 2 Hill - they did need some convincing occasionally to clip in after hiking in the mud, but gave no issues there after. I can safely say I have no complaints and would recommend 520's. Plus they can handle been beaten against rocks, I here egg beaters tend to take exception to such treatment.

Vote REPLACE - not even the frame is really worth working with. Your fork is more a weight that has some ability to absorb bumps, but in a very bad way. The sticker on the back if it is still there says it is not intended for serious downhills or something equally exciting. It will work out in the long run much more costly to build up something from what you have, rather hunt a 2nd hand bike with at least a Rockshox Dart 2 on it.

Vote REPLACE - not even the frame is really worth working with. Your fork is more a weight that has some ability to absorb bumps, but in a very bad way. The sticker on the back if it is still there says it is not intended for serious downhills or something equally exciting. It will work out in the long run much more costly to build up something from what you have, rather hunt a 2nd hand bike with at least a Rockshox Dart 2 on it.

Nope, got nothing to do with the caliper, just with the fork. IS mount requires an adapter that mounts to the fork then the caliper to the adapter. Post mount the caliper is bolted directly to the fork thuse negating a need for an adapter, unless you want to run rotors > 160mm then you need an adapter for Post mount as well. So in short Juicy's will work on IS or Post. If you go IS get the 160mm adapter.

I am starting to feel sorry for Pieter at Probike, he handles warranty issues, is the only guy who can and does service the Scott shocks, plus Brandon says they commit to service a shock in one day from arrival with them and dispath back, roughly a 3 day turn around. Sounds like a lot to expect of 1 person.

I visited my LBS today and heard that Raleigh had been struggling to sell with the recent price increases in a market that just doesn't have the liquidity. I equally am doubtful of the story behind this sudden decrease in pricing, I firmly believe prices were driven up on the wings of high demand for well priced bikes. The 2008 range of Raleighs were just that, good spec at great prices. Just a thought from the sceptic within, but I do recall when the 2009 prices were released there was a huge discussion on the hub about it. Allow me to quote myself as it seems my prediction has come to pass a bit sooner than expected:

To start with and to keep costs low while your decide if cycling is for you. Simply start by getting a decent set of cycling shorts (R400-R450), if you skimp here you will hate riding because of the abuse from your seat. You can ride with normal running shoes/cross traininers on the good old fashioned pedals. Initially you won't want to be stuck to your bike by cleats, once you're more comfortable, you can look at clipless pedals and shoes. Ensure however when you ride with normal shoes that you focus on your foot placement, ideally the balls of your feet should be over the axle of the pedal. This will make sure bridging to cleats doesn't change your foot placement too much. Cycling shirts are nice to have, but you can do without it. Gloves ensure comfort, again if you're uncomfortable you will hate cycling. Plus they save your hands in a fall. I'm not going to delve too much into the helmet, but safe to say if you want to take part in any events you need one. Plus if you're going to venture out to where other cyclists will see you and you want to avoid their sudden concern for your head, make sure you have a helmet. Merida make an entry level helmet that last about 100hrs riding then the sponging inside starts to break away, etc. But the cheapest helmets I have seen that are worth putting on your head are around R450. So that said you should set aside about R1000.00 for accessories beyond the bike.

The course was great, even better that my fork still works! Never trust my own workmanship. Once you see the inner workings of the fork it makes a whole lot more sense, especially how not to clean it between rides! Plus I learnt how to transport my fork with the level of safety it deserves . http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii273/daxiet/ForkSafety.jpg

I recall such a law in the learners book, but what it is intended for is to prevent the car becoming top heavy! A couple super light bikes on the roof is not going to affect your center of gravity hence there is no risk. As such I would hope that a court would not uphold such a stupid fine. If however you were trying to cart a piano on your roof, well then I would think the law should apply, however your roof would have already collapsed. Plus with roof carriers, you want your car to be as low as possible to avoid any airborne obsticles. Added to this a lower car has a better center of gravity than a tall SUV, MPV. Take my Grand Scenic as a point in case. Daxiet2009-04-28 01:15:14

Yes, the hot stove... I'm not sure if that has ever worked for anyone. But I sheepishly admit I have tried this. Should have know better, metal heated will deform/discolour badly. But the rotor was stuffed, so it was worth the laughter and ridicule from my wife. Check the pic, all that weight and the rotor still warped up, even after letting it cool under this pressure. So in short I won't recommend wasting time on this, plus it discolours the stove top. http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii273/daxiet/potandrotor.jpg

I haven't made use of a torque wrench when bolting on my rotors, I think they are meant to be 6NM, which isn't very tight. I use an allen key I got with a set of Hayes rotors, the shaft is short enough to ensure I don't really risk stripping the thread on the hub (softer of the 2). Don't think which order you tighten them is really that important, it's not a cylinder head, but I tigthen them in a criss-cross fashion just incase. Put all bolts in, tighten them a bit, then once all are in and semi tight, start tightening them each gradualy to an estimated 6NM. Rather than swap the brakes swap the rotors!, I am using Hayes 6-bolt rotors with my Avid Juicy's, they work fine together, they did at some stage squeak really bad, but that bad phase has passed. On the Cleansweep, they may have a label G2 or G3, but in short they are good little guys. Daxiet2009-04-27 12:06:08

Juicy's normally pair up with Avid Clean Sweep rotors. These are so far the best rotors I have ever owned, but they sell for ~R360-R400. You can get cheaper rotors, but I would recommend sticking to the Clean Sweeps. On how do they bend very badly, could only be an impact, eg. flying rock, etc. You should be able to switch the Hayes with the Avid's, so far the brackets I have used have been much of a muchness. But I would stick with the Avids, the brake mechanism can't be blamed for a rotor bending. On the fork, does you Giant have a Fox post mount - eg. brake caliper mounts directly on to threaded holes on the fork. Your HT fork is "IS" mount, it screws into a bracket that the brakes on screwed onto? If your Giant has post mounts on the fork, you just eliminate the little bracket. You can steal the rotors from you HT and stick them on your Giant provided they are both the same mount - eg. Center Mount or 6-bolt.Daxiet2009-04-26 14:18:44

My wife bought a subscription to this mag for me at the 94.7 expo as well. I too had pretty much written it off. Thanks for the post, maybe we will finally see something in the post. On the side, poor form to send out such a mail without at least verifying spelling.

Definetly an SA thing, I get to ride through mini-dumps every day. Some beautiful terrain spoilt by all sorts of junk. The powers that be put up signs saying no dumping, but no body polices these sites and enforces the fines. I would say if your caught dumping, the cops should seize your vehicle. Stuff the fine.

An F100 RL at that price is very good, the steerer is a bit short if just under 190mm, so you would need to verify what steerer length your bike requires. Must admit the stickers did look odd to me, but it could be a difference in year models (vintage). My F100 RLC 08 looks different. Just someting to check, ask him to measure the distance between the drop outs or take a different picture with the fork flat on the floor. Could be an optical illusion, but it looks to tail in towards the dropouts. If you get the measurement let me know I will compare with my F100. On another note the difference between RL and RLC is that the RLC has Compression adjustment, the opposite of Rebound. Allows you to set the speed at which the fork will compress. The L - Lockout. Most forks only have lockout and rebound, so this is no a biggie. May have missed it, but what's the year model on this fork?

Since when do MTB riders care about what looks fashionable. I will stick bar ends onto any MTB, the benefits are numorous and I probably use the bar ends 60-70% of the time while riding. On the Cane Creek bar ends, if they are the ones I've seen they are a bit odd and heavy. I got for the simple aluminium ones.