Rock Guy

hmmm.... I wonder if the seller is disclosing any of this income to SARS? Perhaps he is due for an audit? Not that I wish the wrath of SARS upon anyone, but maybe he deserves to pay some school fees himself?

Who was the seller? I'd like to avoid buying from him/her in future.

Full refund would be the right thing to do. If the derailleur is visibly cracked in the pics the seller used to sell the bike, surely the seller was lying to the buyer when he said the bike was "absolute mint". Either the seller didn't inspect the bike properly and just said this to get a sale, or he knew about the issue and still said this to get the sale. Either way, stating the bike was in prefect condition was untruthful. If the seller fully believes the bike is fine, and is willing to replace the parts, then he can sell that bike to someone else easily. On the other hand, how do you expect FreeSoul to trust the bike? How did the crack happen?? Is there other damage hidden? Maybe there are no scratch marks on the FD because the seller took the time and effort to hide them? Perhaps there are hidden scratches and cracks on the frame as well? You see where this is going? The seller should offer a full refund even if his only interest is to protect is income (assuming he sells 2nd hand bikes for a living). If not, I feel the buyer is obliged to report the seller to Bikehub and inform the community to avoid buying from him. It is not about what the the seller's legal obligation is here, although I'd argue its in the buyer's favor.

The crack on the FD visible in the sale pics really is a bit of a smoking gun. The seller should offer you a full refund and pay for the return shipping costs. In my opinion, this counts as either negligence on the seller's part, or just plain sneakiness. The seller really shouldn't argue with you. Edit: I wouldn't feel comfortable riding a bike that was supposed to be "absolute mint", only to discover clear faults upon riding. There are probably other issues with the bike as well, hence why a full refund is the only correct outcome here.

I can list a multitude of reasons why Graphenlube is worth the cost 1) It makes your chain match the powder coat on the rims of your Mercedes X class. 2) It is 100% guaranteed to give you an authentic black chain mark on your calf, the sign of a true cyclist. 3) 4 out of 5 dentists use it. 4) It will reduce the urge to spend money on other unnecessary things (mainly because you will have less money. 5) it allows you to eat 4 extra jelly tots a week and still have the same lap time around the velodrome. etc, etc...

If you lost your set of Oakley sunglasses at Contermans Kloof on or before Saturday (02 Jan) please drop me PM.

I can totally recommend sticking to the schedules. Like many others that have posted here I also do the lowers service myself which saves on cost after you've bought a couple of consumables (oil, seal grease, spare seal set, isopropyl, etc) and some very basic tools that you probably already mostly have (some allen keys, bike stand, shock pump, etc). A fork that has just been serviced just runs amazing, I also like to see that things are still looking good inside the fork. I have my dampers serviced at a shop where I trust the mechanic knows what he's doing. Suspension is the kind of thing that incrementally deteriorates over time, so you may not notice that it has become complete rubbish before it's too late and costs an arm and a leg to repair. Trust me, I know this from perhaps too much personal experience.

Well done to Pyga for having dealt with this issue in such a great manner. Mistakes happen from time to time, but how you deal with them is often what sets you apart from the rest. This is the kind of thing that people will remember when they buy a bike. I certainly will.

Not cool man. The shop should own up and take responsibility to have it repaired. In my experience though, it will be an uphill battle. Best of luck with the tremendous frustration that awaits you. Sometimes shops are good okes and sort out these kinds of issues, but mostly you will be met with denial. Maybe post some pictures of the damage. Always good to get some suggestions from the community on how best to have it repaired, costs, etc. Should help you when dealing with the shop.

Even if that part is a top cap for a Fox 36 Rhythm?

I went from a 100mm carbon Scott Spark to a Pyga Pascoe 140. It was probably one of the best MTB moves I have ever made. The 100mm XC scene just wasn't for me and I adjusted very easily to having more travel on hand. To be honest the only real adjusting I needed was that I could hit way bigger features with much more confidence than I ever could on the Spark. I should mention that the slacker head tube angle took a bit of getting used to, you will need to learn how to weight the front wheel a bit more in corners sometimes. Kiss those Uphill PR's goodbye though. These bikes ride uphills totally fine, but they are made for descending, not beating your buddies to the top of the hill. That said, the extra weight never really bothered me, and I'm probably fitter now because of it. I eventually cracked my Pascoe frame, but the Pyga guys sorted me out with a new frame in about two weeks. I believe the welding done on the new alloy frames is better now and the warranty can be extented to 5 years ( at which point you'll probably want a different bike anyway). The actual frame material doesn't really mean that much to me in the trail/enduro realm, rather buy the bike that feels right from a manufacturer that you know won't be looking for excuses when the day comes that something breaks. I suggest you give the Hyrax a test ride. I test rode one not too long ago and found it just didn't feel right for me, so I went with another bike. But hey, that's only me, and I know that lots of people love the new Pygas.

Good to know. It isn't impossible that the fit is partly an issue with the frame manufacturer in my case. That aside, there still is absolutely no seal fitted to the FSA headset in my frame. The Cane Creek 40 comes with seals integrated into the crown race and top cap.

Yup Cane Creek 40 is great. I've had these on two bikes with not a single problem ever. Never needed to replace any bearings either. Almost 11000km on one bike over three years, and about 5000km on the other over 3 years. They are well made and well sealed. I wouldn't buy anything made by FSA. I have one of their headsets on my current bike and it is just plain crap. No seals plus a 1mm gap below the top cap for dirt to come in and have jol in your bearing. It is on my list of things to replace.

Here's a couple of vids that Wayne Schell made in Cederberg to give you an idea of what to expect. https://youtu.be/VrD_Ur1y980 https://youtu.be/xE7ngxFUIeM

I stayed at Sanddrif earlier this year (before the lock down). The trials there are surprisingly fun. I was expecting lots of wide open "dual singletrack" but there was actually quite a bit of single track. Even the jeep tracks were a bit tricky to ride, but fun. Be ready to keep the pace up in a few extended sand patches if you enjoy technical stuff, you can totally ride all the "portage sections", in fact they were the best parts in my opinion. Just don't go full blast the first time down, the rocks can be a bit sketch in places. No jumps (or berms for that matter) that I can recall, just lekker natural stuff. The staff at the Sanddrif farmhouse where you book in or buy permits have maps and can direct you to the trails. Enjoy

I've wanted to buy clothes from the US or UK before, but that 30% is just too much! Must have been a pretty decent sale?

Well, its good to hear that packages are still arriving here one way or the other. I'll ask BikeYoke if they could ship with DHL. Personally I've had good experience with them in the past too, although I usually ship from here to Canada. Thanks for all the advice!

I'm planning to place an order from BikeYoke in Gemany soon, they ship for free globally using Deutshe Post (which I believe ends up being SA postal service once it lands in SA). Anyone ordered something from overseas recently using similar channels? I'm just wondering what the timing is looking like right now. I could go the Aramex Global Shopper route, but this will obviously work out quite a bit more expensive (double VAT plus shipping fees etc.). Maybe you could suggest an alternative shipping solution?

Has anyone made use of Courier guy for shipping a bike? How did it work out? I'm looking at transporting a bike packed in a box from CPT to KZN.

Droo has looked after many a Pike for me. You won't believe what a big difference a proper service makes to a fork's performance.

Hey, at least we're able to comment on CWC's used goods on Bikehub.

Imagine...

Geez. Not cool, even if they have 'rectified' it. Absolutely inexcusable. I would love to hear what their side of the story sounds like. That brake and pad set looks proper worn.

Now you're talking sense man. Chuck a couple of old nuts and washer in there once its open, better than those plastic spacers anyway. Roll around sounding like i carry a little bag of coins.

Ja, I was thinking that may be the case as well. I'm looking for a 32mm. Just recently got a 170mm Fox 36 27.5 Rhythm (attached to a new bike). After a couple of rides I think it could use a few volume spacers. I'm obviously itching to replace it with a proper Factory 36 (or 38 now I guess), but before I proceed down that spiral of financial disaster, I thought I should at least give the Rhythm a fighting chance. Plus it's not like my riding justifies the top end spec anyway. I was planning to swing by your shop anyway to pick up the spacers if you have stock.