Lefty V

Parcel arrived with a little extra to make up for a non-issue. Plus I had a phone call later in the day to confirm that all arrived. Best service I have received from an online retailer in all my years. Thanks.

Where are they based? Local or international - I see a local contact number

My 2c: Don't fight it. Sure you can book events to keep up the motivational pressure...or you can allow yourself to rest and remember why you ride. Hopefully its because you think riding your bike is awesome

Just ordered some Giordana bibs from them - and am very impressed: I had some questions about delivery times yesterday afternoon which I asked using their chat function and received immediate response even thought it was after normal business hours. This morning when I placed the order and had a minor issue it was immediately sorted out both professionally and in a friendly personal manner. This is what good customer service feels like.

as you can tell from the fact that I am on the hub :-)

I am working ...

I have had excellent support from Omnico with 2 issues on my Trigger- one relatively minor and one fairly pricey. No questions asked, just sorted.

Lefty Supermax (and Dyad) killed off on these models.... will hopefully make them sell more easily to conservative customers, but I am too sad now. Will take a day or two before I can start swooning over the new bikes.

My experience: the 9 tooth allows smaller front ring, which allows optimising your chain line

So have been running the 10-speed 9-42 casette for about 200km now and it works a charm. I initially had trouble setting up my 10-speed XT deraileur though. Setting the B-screw to cope with the 42 cog resulted in the shifting at the other end of the spectrum being troublesome. Changed the derailleur to an 11 speed XT one I luckily had and it worked a charm - Note I had to fit a longer B-screw to the 10 speed version, but the 11 speed one's B-screw was long enough, so maybe it was to be expected. The end system is a bit of a Frankenstein, but in terms of performance, gear spacing, and general experience I am now very happy and having "only" 10 cogs with the 466% range is not an issue at all. Relative to the SRAM 11-speed option, the inclusion of the 9-tooth gear allows me to either stay with my 36-tooth front blade and retain top end for those longer district road days or go smaller up front and gain an extra couple of mm to improve my chain line. Climbing wise I find the 36-42 combination to be fine with my 650B wheel size even on big climbing days. Bottomline: it required a little more involvement than just fitting a "conventional" drivetrain but works well and the extra effort makes it all the more rewarding.

I'm supporting the Participate for Good Library Projects while riding Joberg2C this year and appeal to any fellow hubbers who would like to support education and literacy in South Africa to have a look at the following link: http://www.participateforgood.com/projects/victor-burger-joberg2c-2017 I have commitments from 2 corporate sponsors who are each willing to match the first R5k, so at this point for every R1 donated, the libraries project would end up receiving R3. This initiative is being run credibly and professionally. Along the Joberg2C route alone a total of 9 libraries have been delivered and every single library that has been deployed so far is still operational 5 years down the line. Libraries will also continue operating under the program's guidance for at least 15 years, so you know that the money ends up doing what the donors intended it to. Any donation however small will make a difference in the lives of the pupils from the almost 90% of schools in South Africa that do not have access to libraries.

I would be worried that using solvents indiscriminately can dissolve the glue holding the liner in place. Get it done by reputable valet.

Pinned.co.za had them for much less than the LBS...but still not cheap. Fitted the 9-42 10 speed version yesterday but still struggling to get gears (indexing) sorted.

Tight at the top,. but nice and loose at the bottom... baggies rule :-)

The vibe, format and riding is great. Looking fwd to it.

SRAM XG-1150 CASSETTE http://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/sram-xg-1150-cassette

2 friends knocked themselves into memory loss 2 weeks apart - it was a serious reality check for me. (It is not funny having a buddy's memory continually resetting every 2 minutes for hours on end.) The one with the more serious concussion took an oblique hit which suggests that it was the type of injury MIPS was designed to reduce. I am shopping seriously and MIPS (or something similar like Leatt turbines) is a non-negotiable. Am a little surprised and frustrated by how few and far between the locally stocked options are- Helmets, like shoes are a bit too personal to simply buy online and hope the fit is OK. There are options, but some of the big seller internationally like the Bell Super are not being brought in to the country as far as I can tell (except for MX) which is simply silly with mtb and Enduro booming the way it is. The Giant Rail is an awesome helmet as far as fit and design goes, and it makes a bunch of more boutique brands look decidedly overpriced and under-gunned...but Giant does not bring in the MIPS version... etc. etc. The hunt continues - guess in the meantime I'll have to keep my head pointing skyward

Go see Dr Rob Collins at Rosebank Sports Clinic. This^^ I don't know Dr Collins, but having had similar issues a couple of times during my riding life I can 100% confirm that the best way to sort it out is to see a doc with experience and training in the field before you start looking at changing shoes/pedals etc. If you were in Cape Town I would have said Jeroen Swart for the win - he blew my mind with how "simply" he resolved an agonizing knee issue that the normal physios and own experience could not cure. Good luck.

Respect, I am not gifted that way - if I get up to ride at 3 in the morning there is no way I can do my job properly no matter how committed I am.

ooffff...will have to save what I wanted to reply for Friday

Have been riding with a Camelback Rogue for about a decade and can strongly recommend it. Mule is overkill for me.

Zee Germans have a great sense of humour - especially when it comes to big ideas apparently : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjIvYfME0uA

It is a non- event dude, don't worry. Lived here most of my life and the only time I have had rust issues on a drivetrain is if I wash it or ride in the rain and don't wipe and lube it afterwards. That applies anywhere in the world. (I lived 150m from the ocean for more than 5 years and it wasn't an issue there either) If you are still super concerned clean your chain with paraffin instead of washing it

I am guessing here (this is what I do most of the time anyway) , but it might not be that it would not fit and still act like a shock, it might have something to do with the offset of the axel that has changed since the Lefty 2.0 and that would influence the handling - not in such a way that it does not work, but not optimal. (I told you I was guessing here)

for what it is worth - can say exactly the same about my mallets