GLuvsMtb

@steve-h, lets look at some background information here: 1. What did you pay for your purchase vs what would a new bike (with no plugs) cost, inclusive of tubeless conversion 2. Why did you wait 3 months to report your dissatisfaction? Surely this places the seller in a strong position to repudiate your claim (as they did) given that the inferred failure could be as a result of fair wear and tear, user error of abuse of the item. On a personal note, I have done more miles with plugs in my tyres than without plugs. Many with multiple plugs in them. I will replace a tire when the general condition of the tyre has deteriorated to the extend that failure is likely, i.e. tread below 30%, multiple plugs or signs of perished sidewalls. Just remember that folk here are knowledgable. Next time rather ask if it would be reasonable to request a new tyre opposed to coming out swinging.

Wow, some horror stories here. Spent the last 30 minutes reading the thread and links. I hope that those who got taken gets some justice in the end.

I see Ariane signed with Obrea. The Canyon deal seemingly didn’t work out a year after signing with Canyon.

One of my favourite trails. Relieved that it survived the fires.

I also had a medical ‘situation’. In December 2019 I had a motocross accident, broke my Tibia and tore my Meniscus. After 6 weeks in a brace I was told that Motocross and Cycling would be a thing of the past and that I may require surgery to deal with the Meniscus. I moped around at home and was kind of floating. While I was not riding as often as I would have liked before the accident, I certainly enjoyed having the option to go out for a ride. Suddenly I did not have the option anymore, until my wife suggested that I get an E Bike. My first reaction was “no-thanks”, but after consultation with my specialist, I decided to give it a go. (He is a cyclist as well, so he had a balanced view on the matter. His biggest concern was clipping in and out, and of course, falling and aggravating the injury). I decided on the Specialized Levo Comp (2019 Spec, so I got the Lyric and SRAM GX group set) for a couple of reasons: 1. 700Wh battery is class leading 2. I have always received first class service from Specialized Stellenbosch, so there was a good relationship. 3. I got a very good deal (paid R90k for the bike, which retailed for R105 000 at the time). More than 12 months on I have made the following observations: 1. People do not hate e bikes. They don’t like tjops. If a tjop rides an e bike, its not the bike that is hated. 2. I ride more often than before. I now manage to ride to G Spot via Stellenrust road from Somerset West and back home in just over an hour. I try to do this ride twice a week, and then try to get 1 longer ride in over a weekend. 3. I ride with riders that are not on e bikes and keep to their pace. 4. It is still a good workout, but I manage to preserve my knee much better and my heart rate does not spike as much as before 5. It does not handle as well as my Stumpy going down, but is in no way cumbersome to handle on the downs. 6. My chainset has lasted very well. With over 2000km on the bike in 12 months (with 2 months of no riding due to lockdown) I changed my chain when I destroyed my derailleur in December 2020 and it did not have excessive wear. 7. I changed out the 32t chainring for a 34t. I still have sufficient gears at the lower end, so may consider a 36t in due course. I just came back from PE Plett where there was an e bike category. Day 1 was 82km and around 1100m ascent and riders could change out batteries (I was not going to pay R29k for a second battery, so had to manage on 1 battery). I came in with 3% left Day 2 was 68 km and 1300m ascent but was quite a physical course, and somehow I managed to come in with 3% left Day 3 I changed my settings down on eco mode (from 35% to 30%) and turned off accelerator assistance (from 20% to 0%). I had 35% left at the last water point, and could power in on trail mode over the last 18 odd kms with battery to spare (10%) Day 4 I changed my eco mode up again to 35% and kept the accelerator assistance off, and could do the same as day 3 with more than enough power left to have an easier ride home. (The portage down the mountain at Natures Valley was less fun with a 25kg bike than previously on a 12kg bike) There were 27 E Bikes in total, and I think all but 2 riders completed the ride (I know one was due to technical issues, was not sure why the other rider did not finish). The most popular bike was the Specialized Levo, with Scott and Trek making up the balance, with surprisingly no Giants in the field. On the longer days the e bikes advantage was much less than on the shorter days and all in all I reckon I cut around an hour a day off what my non-e bike time would have been (If I had to guess). While I would prefer to be 100% fit and be riding my Stumpy, I have come to accept that I am not 100%, and probably never will be again, so I am left with an e bike which is not a bad second prize at all. At least I am still riding

Anything less than a fire started by Flint and Carbon Steel is apparently frowned upon. Rumor has it that hubbers are dumping their blitz and gas fire starters to try and up their man-card points as well as their carbon footprints by making giant bon-fires with flint and steel and only starting the actual braaiing of meat well after midnight. Disclaimer: I have one of these gas starter jobbies in my camp box. Hoekom sukkel as daar n beter manier is?!

I've had the worst of what you are describing. Contractual increases were frozen, salaries were being paid later and later, up to the point where I was not paid for 3 months and then were retrenched. This came to a head October 2017 and the company is still suspended from trade on the JSE and my retrenchment package, arrear increases and unpaid salaries of roughly R1 million is still due to me. In this time it is important to have frank and open discussions with your employer and get any commitment in writing where at all possible. Make the point that financial security is not negotiable for you and your family. Perhaps requesting a retrenchment is an option if you are fairly certain that you will get employment in your field fairly quickly. I should have left much earlier as the writing was on the wall for some time. The reality is that if salaries are being paid late, you can bet your house that SARS and other key creditors such as rent, provident fund etc. are also in arrears at this point, putting the company at huge risk financially.

Is it possible to love both? Or does that **** with the man-card system?

Its a very good thing that I don’t ride, drive or braai (or is that cook?) for man-cards then. I think your post sums up the 2 types of people commenting on here. Those who do things for enjoyment and those who do things in order to gain the approval and admiration of others.

I’d be much more inclined to buy the bike over 3 years opposed to the car over 7 years. Chances are zero that I would still drive the car in 4 years from now, never mind 7 with the kms I do. And then there is most likely a residual to deal with too. My current mtb was bought in 2013 and I have no reason to replace it, so it would be safe to assume that I will use the bike for way longer than 3 years. I’ve learned the hard way never to finance anything beyond its expected life.

Ai.. all these self proclaimed purists on here. Get dafuk over yourselves already. I drive an automatic (90% of my driving time used to be in traffic) I braai on a gas braai (I can braai any day of the week and eat within 10 to 30 minutes from lighting up to wolfing down my food) And if I had the cash, there would have been a long travel e bike in my bike room by now. I can think of nothing nicer than a quick shred down Steilte before/ after work and an e bike will make that so much more accessible given that I have a day job and a family.

I was skeptical about SABC covering the MSL, but they stepped up nicely. Full coverage for all the matches! DSTV could not get that right with the Ram Slam or any of the previous versions of it. Interesting that the MSL franchises are owned by Cricket South Africa, so lets see what their financials look like at year end. A few overweight players: Kleynveld The Vern Fraailink It was great seeing some international players coming out to play, just a pity Gayle went home with his mom passing away. I would have liked to see more stats during the broadcast, but seeing that the broadcast was aimed at a different demographic, I can overlook this for now.

Add to that the known liquidity issues and Uncle Trevor’s stance on bail-outs and it becomes almost expected that Eskom needs to limit supply to stretch their current coal stocks. December is bonaz time so I’ll wager a bet that procurement is suffering to ensure that there is sufficient funds for those lovely bonuses.

We replaced our Aerochino 4 with a Severin Induction milk frother. So far I’m quite impressed. Large capacity (700ml for heating and about 350ml for Frothing), easy to clean (teflon coated appliances become difficult to clean after extensive use) and best of all is the temperature gauge to get the milk temperature perfect. Its noisier than the Aerochino, but after a while you don’t notice the noisier appliance.

A bit of a pointless one-off T20 game today. At least the guys had a week to get their BBL deals signed.

What the CC lack is context:So the Sharks won. By the start of the Super Rugby Championship it will be forgotten. There is no real incentive to do well in the CC anymore. Eg. if the first 4 sides got Super Rugby slots every year and the top 2 sides get a favorable draw for Super Rugby you’ll see the top players in action. I would also move the CC to after the Pro14 and send sides 5 and 6 to the following Pro14 competition. Yes, the CC will then be played in Summer, but so is Super Rugby.

Guilty or not, I saw enough of BS at Sani2C some years ago and then again at the GR300 to know that he is a complete tjop. If he was found guilty, but was a stand-up guy otherwise, he might get some respect back.

I wonder if Knox has the resources or the stomach to fight this. The minute the advocates get involved the costs become astronomical.

Now if he can stop telegraphing his box kicks it may actually be effective. When he goes into ‘newborn Giraffe’ mode and do a split 30 seconds before getting the ball, the back 3 can stroll into position and organize themselves properly to make use of the cheap possession they are about to get.

Search similar bikes in the classifieds and gauge from there.

The helmet replacement policy of manufacturers is there to encourage replacement of damaged helmets as this is considered essential safety equipment. I don’t think a pair of damaged shoes will compromise your safety in the same way as a damaged helmet.

And people crying and whining about the crying and whining.

Ok my 2c: 1. Mergers and acquisitions are drawn out transactions that takes years to conclude. Rumors about the merger/ acquisition has been doing the rounds since early 2016, so it is clearly a very well structured deal. 2. You can be sure that the current management team would be under huge pressure to maintain sales volumes and GP margins. It will be part of the deal and the bulk of the cash / shares (often shares are part of the deal to lock the management team in further) will flow anything from 2 to 5 years from now, so for the Willemses to now take their foot off the gas would be incredibly stupid. Expect much more of the same in terms of pricing and service. 3. I doubt there are much left of the CL contingent that was implicated in the whole price fixing scandal (is Mighty Mouse still actively involved at CL?), so those who are still upset about this need to now relax please. 4. Expect a possible backward acquisition of Coolheat by Morecorp in the next couple of months. This may well need competition commission clearance, so it may take a bit of time. For me this is the next move for Morecorp to grow their market share in the Cycling industry.

I’m quite sure that there are clauses in the deal ensuring that the current management stays on for a set period, as well as GP and EBIT targets that must be achieved. There is also in all likelihood an equity and a cash component as well as restraints of trade once the transition period expires.