SteelyDan

Can't agree. Prices and service are as good as anywhere in Joburg.

Thanks for all the sympathetic noises! Crutches suck... After 2 days I've come up with the ten immutable laws of crutches: 1/. Wet bathroom floors and crutches do not combine well. Ditto wet hands. 2/. Crutches have a mind of their own in terms of direction. 3/. Toilets suddenly get at least 20cm lower when you're using crutches. 4/. Crutches are top-heavy and will always fall over - slightly out of reach - when left unattended. 5/. Cars accelerate towards you when they realise you're a cyclist on crutches. 6/. Beggars (even pissed ones) can easily keep up with you when you're on crutches. 7/. Carrying a cup of coffee in one hand simply doesn't work on crutches. (now I make it in a waterbottle and stick it in my pocket!) 8/. Crutches, combined with heavy doses on painkillers and sleep deprivation, can be devastating in a dark room at night. 9/. When you put crutches down you will always have underestimated the distance to the object you wanted to be next to. 10/. Never touch someone else's crutch without permission.

Smartass! OK SteelyTitaniumDan (it was in Sandton, after all...)

It was pretty dumb, really... one of the guys ahead of me clipped a traffic cone about 300m after the start and put it into my front wheel. Lie down time! I lay down quite hard and watched a few hundred wheels go by my head at speed. My heartfelt thanks to those of you who deliberately avoided me! After the dust settled, I tried to get up... Hmmmmmm. Left leg not too keen! So I lay down again. The medics got there pretty quickly, as did a friend I'd been riding with. I was loaded into the ambulance and driven back 300m to the start area. Leg not co-operating at all, but it wasn't sticking out at a funny angle either so I assumed it had just received a hard bang. Sandton Medi Clinic Radiographer didn't agree. Femur fractured and pins required. My heart dropped. It all happened pretty quickly, though. Overnight in the hospital. Three screws inserted yesterday afternoon and they chucked me out this morning to go and do an honest day's work. They were probably getting tired of the chirping... So I'm back home learning how to drive and bath all over again. And getting a serious upper body workout from a shiny new pair of crutches. Guess it could have been worse... ... and thanks again for not riding over me!

I'm building up a Niner Jet 29'er. Last build came in at 11.4kgs - pretty good for a 29" dual suss... (I think?) Next one (now building) will use a 2 x 10 groupset. Weights are as follows: Cranks + BB - 840g Trigger shifters - 180g (I prefer gripshifts but these are not yet available) Brakeset, both - 400g Cassette - 200g Chain - 200g (uncut - not fitted yet - will be lighter) Rotors, both - 160g RD - 140g FD - 100g So - 2.20kg for the complete groupset, with rotors... Sounds good to me! SD

I'm building up a Niner Jet 29'er. Last build came in at 11.4kgs - pretty good for a big dual suss... Next one (now building) will use a 2 x 10 groupset. Weights are as follows: Cranks + BB - 840g Trigger shifters - 180g (I prefer gripshifts but these are not yet available) Brakeset, both - 400g Cassette - 200g Chain - 200g (uncut - not fitted yet - will be lighter) Rotors, both - 160g RD - 140g FD - 100g So - 2.20kg for the complete groupset, with rotors... Sounds good to me! SD

Hey Shaun - letting the Boulder go is a good idea! For 6K you should be able to get a usable XC hardtail second-hand. Don't know the Terrago but have a few friends that ride the Tyax and are happy. I prefer the Rockshox forks. Light, durable, easy to service. I also prefer SRAM to Shimano but it's a personal thing. I like the more industrial feel of the SRAM. I mostly use SRAM X-0 but the X7 is fine - durable and reliable. Also consider grip-shifters rather than triggers... quicker shifting (you can load or drop the entire cassette at a time if you really want to). Takes a bit of getting used-to but I'm now a certified addict. I built-up and sold a Merida TFS and a GT Zaskar team recently for around 6K each. Buying a well-specced second-hand bike is (my view) a waaaay better option than buying something new off the floor. You're welcome to PM me for ideas / suggestions / biased opinions anytime... SD

She's REALLY pretty! Hope you get lots of happy rides with her

Hard Case. Always. Even if expensive (less than the bike...)

Saturday - Rietvlei Today - van Gaalens Both great, 'specially VG...

Hi NBG - loads of places to ride. Try the following: Rietvlei Farm (just South of Joburg, Kliprivier area) Northern Farms (North of Fourways) Teak Place (Cradle area) Groenkloof (Fountains, Pretoria) Weekend riding at all the above is OK as they tend to be fairly busy. Better to ride with a group, though, than on your own. Maybe join JMBC - check them on the web. They have graded groups from absolute beginners to serious riders. I haven't been with them but they sound friendly and organised, from what I can gather. Drop me a note if you want directions to any of the above. Have fun - pedal hard. SD

I like Owen. Simple...

Hi - couldn't be bothered to read the thread - got through a few pages and it became, well, SERIOUSLY BORING!!! So, who's the fat chick in pink???

So what bike do you have??? She's very pretty, though!