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Hub classifieds?

Sounds about right. Front fork is usually 400-500, with rear being 800-1600 depending on if it's pivots/bushings only or includes shock service. Fork is pretty easy to DIY, no special tools required. You'll need bearing pullers if you want to use the proper tools on the rear suspension. Otherwise a lot of people use mallet + wooden blocks or threaded rod + sockets/washers. Maestro is a little tricky though because the bearings are recessed. You'll save yourself some money here by only replacing stuffed bearings, bike stores will usually replace them all. I know nothing about servicing the rear shock itself.

Hmmm, this thread necro... have the prices really almost doubled in 4 years? Where does one find Castelli in JHB. Never seen it.

More like it's in pieces.

Planet X London Road, courtesy of RyanPMB.

Obligatory new bike on couch post. Just one slight problem...

How long have you had yours? My (now cracked) Leaf was showing no signs of this, and I didn't really give it any special treatment. I found the coating to be quite durable; I have a tendency to clip branches with my head, there's not a scratch on it even after my crash.

I wasn't really a fan of the road helmets. Then I saw them in person, they 'grew on me' and so I just bought a Whisper. The Mixino was more than I wanted to spend on a helmet. Turns out the whisper can actually take a visor, so it could be used for MTB too. The Catlike look is certainly different!

I bought the helmets from Life Cycles; they recently moved from PTA to CPT though; shipping was painless. Cycle Lab are stockists of Catlike, but at a much higher premium.

Had to replace my Leaf (left) after the ground got in the way of my head over the weekend. 70% discount on crash replacement. Thanks Life Cycles! Took the opportunity to grab a road helmet while I was at it.

There's not a lot of companies that do global warranty replacements, so this isn't all that surprising. Thread necro just to complain: Nice! I guess it's Friday.

There's a few steps to this. I haven't done any research on dual dual air, so all information I put here is regarding solo air for 2013 onward forks. I believe 2012 and prior had spacers you could remove to increase travel. There's 2 lengths of stanchions 80-100mm and 80-120mm. If you have 120mm markings on them, you have the latter. A new air spring shaft is required to increase travel to the desired length. This is determined by the length of the shaft due to the fixed location of the venturi valve on the inside of the left stanchion leg. I imported from bike24, lumped in with my SRAM groupset order so shipping costs wasn't an issue, since I was buying the other stuff anyways. Shaft: http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;search=rockshox+air+spring;menu=1000%2C2%2C121;product=130915 Air spring module: http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;search=rockshox+air+spring;menu=1000%2C2%2C121;product=130982 Costs are simple: listed price - 20% (EU country exports ex vat) + ~15% SA VAT/handling + 20EU shipping. Exchange rate fluctuations apply between time order is paid and VAT is calculated. I ended up with the entire module because the shaft was out of stock and they couldn't tell me when it was coming back into stock; they however gave it to me at the price of the shaft itself. If you can get hold of the shaft, you just pull all the other components off your old shaft. You may also need bottomless tokens depending on the travel you desire to switch to (120mm doesn't use any tokens). Once you've got all the parts, it's just a case of opening your fork, swapping out the air spring and putting it all back together. Just service everything while you're at it, though you don't need to touch the damper. One warning, there are certain models of SID forks which may have 120mm markings on the stanchions, but only have a 115mm damper for whatever reason. If you install a 120mm spring into one of those you're going to get a nice "clunk" at the top of your travel. Clear as mud?

Yea, I switched to a 60mm stem a few months back. What a difference over the 110mm I had! The best thing about that switch is I just randomly bought it because it was super cheap, and when I went for my bike setup a few weeks back it turned out to be the correct length.

Well, this might seem an odd one, but I can't wait to hit the trails on the weekend: 120mm solo air spring. For my (previously 100mm) Anthem. After ordering one of these from the local guys and waiting months with responses like: "sorry, no stock, try again in 3 weeks", "if you give us the fork we might be able to help you", "sorry, that's not possible", etc., I got fed up, imported the part and did the work myself at less than half the local cost. On the upshot, I now have an intimate understanding of how a RS solo air functions.

SRAM

I'm a skinny size 32 and use a 155 Spez Romin. The narrower ones felt like sitting on a hatchet. Go get your brother to sit on the assometer as waist size/bulk has little to do with sit bone width. The saddle profile also plays a large role. A 130 flat saddle could be equivalent to a 140 curved one. The henge is pretty flat from what I recall.

Hmmm, where does one locate those rubber bash pads at the bottom of the down tube/BB? I really need something like that, or at least something that looks better than glueing a piece of tyre there. Also, OD2 steerer on the TCR? I thought they did away with OD2 steerers in 2015.

USD forks with no bash protection? Those could cost a bit to service... Looks like I need to start saving.

These best price guys amuse me. Best price for which party? I just restate my asking price. In my opinion, it's the onus of the buyer to make a reasonable offer that he's willing to pay, not the seller to drop the price until some magic number is attained. I've actually had people do this to me after a deal has been negotiated and agreed to and we meet f2f for the exchange. Suddenly the guy chirps: "so, what's your best price?", as he's taking out his wallet.

I negotiate deals based on a willing buyer/willing seller principle. If I've committed to such a deal then said deal is executed. I have on numerous occasions rejected buyers from attempting to snipe/outbid other buyers, due to previously committed negotiations. Calling dibs does not entitle one to said item.

Let's flip this around. One of my classifieds ads has had 11 separate people call dibs and confirm that they will be taking said item. 4 of those people I arranged a time/place to meet to do the sale. Not a single one of those people pitched and only 1 apologised for not being able to make it. Ultimately this exercise has been a giant time waster for me. So, should I be giving all 11 bad ratings for a failed deal, or just the 4 rude people? I don't believe so; the seller is entitled to sell to whomever he/she wants and the buyer is entitled to back out of a deal. There is no contract until money/goods have exchanged hands. This experience (and others like it) is why I'll happily do a deal with whomever is the first to pony up the cash.

Do they sell the ball mount separately?

I have a Thule Express 970. It was on "special" at Thule for R1200 a few months back, it might still be. I only ever carry 1 bike on it and it's rock solid. Something to be aware of with hangon type racks which I discovered after I bought one: if your car is low to the ground the rack does not sit high. So, if you're like me and ride an XL 29er, the front wheel gets awfully close to the ground. I pop the front wheel off and shove it the boot (only takes me 20s longer to pack), as I don't want to take the risk of a ground strike going through a dip or over a speed bump.

After much shopping around I ended up with these. They're much brighter in person and black was too boring... because what self-respecting cyclist doesn't want to reinforce the fashion disaster image we portray?

Wow... keep that up and you're likely going to catch a bullet one day.