FlandersZA

Fair point about going out and enjoying yourself. As for the rest though, what’s the point of having a GPS? Surely if you’re going to fork out for one it should be feeding you accurate info? As per my OP, I have discovered that under certain circumstances mine isn’t. But the helpful folks here on the Hub are helping me to iron out those kinks. Nice! Although now that I have learned that my GPS is more capable than I had realised, I will test file size with a shorter ride this week, fine tune and then report back with my Sat ride. Hopefully I kan laaik to hav lekka kurves as well!

Trevori, I think you are onto something here! I just discovered that the eTrex does indeed have options for both time and distance. I will try using distance at a smaller measurement and see if it makes a difference. Maybe all I have written in the OP is BS. Would be interesting to know if the edge units have the same? I will post my findings when I do my next ride there.

These are screenshots directly from strava at the same zoom level.

I’m sure this is due to batrometric conditions being affected. My device doesn’t use a barometer to calculate the elevation but rather map data.

I don’t know how often it records in actual numbers. This garmin unit uses these terms: “least often”, “less often”, “normal”, “more often” and “most often”. It is set to “most often”. As you can see though, it isn’t wildly different to the garmin 800’s track. LOL! The one single KOM I got once without even knowing it was a segment has long since been pipped. My strava addiction comes from other things.

It has been said that using a garmin device or proper GPS unit for recording strava activities is more accurate than using a mobile phone. Recently some anomalies cropped up on my rides where some activities were recorded very accurately and others not so much. I use a garmin e-trex10 handheld device I keep in my pack for the mtb and other things. I had recently re-calibrated my cateye which is now as accurate as I can get it and my GPS unit’s readings were corresponding very closely with strava and the cateye. I’m a bit pedantic about this sort of thing so I even went and measured in comparison using satellite data to ensure all was as it should be. Everything was in order except for when I rode at Northern Farm. Every NF ride I do, my strava under-reads by 1km or so when I do the red/black route. This sort of inconsistency bugs me in a way that I just need to get to the bottom of it to try and understand. The folks I ride with were getting closer strava distances to my cateye using the iPhone and android app on their phones than I was using my garmin. The garmin e-trex 10 has a setting where you can determine the frequency at which the device records a point in time and mine is set to its highest setting or “most often” so I know I am getting the most accurate readout the device offers. As it turns out, “most often” may just not be often enough. I have figured out what is happening. On a path with relatively straight lines or minimal curves, the recording goes without a hitch but as soon as you throw in intricate curves and bends such as the windy sections near the river at Northern Farm, it becomes apparent that the garmin is either a.) not recording enough points per x amount of time to create an accurate curve or, b.) the conversion process to GPX, whether it be on the device itself or between the device and strava is causing a loss in accuracy. My findings: Garmin e-trex 10 - NF track: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/flannahs/nf_garmin_eTrex_zps8297495e.jpg As you can see, the recorded path is quite jumpy and cuts out actual distance travelled. This all adds up, resulting in under-read. I suspect the faster one goes, the worse the result will become – and I sure am no racing snake. I thought that maybe this particular unit was possibly not best suited to this type of activity (although why wouldn’t it be? It’s a purpose-built GPS unit) so I compared with the same section done by someone using a garmin edge 800. Result:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/flannahs/nf_garmin_edge800_zps5c1e83a1.jpg Better? Debatable, but here’s where the kicker comes in. The next image is a track recorded on a phone using the android strava app:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/flannahs/nf_android_zpsace998e3.jpg Note how the curve follows the actual singletrack a lot closer than either of the garmin devices. iPhone strava app:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/flannahs/nf_iphone_zps3d4ad531.jpg It seems to me that where strava and distance is concerned, the mobile phone apps may actually be better than a purpose-built garmin device – depending on the complexity of the track recorded. As far as average speed and elevation goes, I believe that the garmin devices are far more accurate. The garmin e-trex 10 does not use a barometer to calculate elevation but using tracks I have compared with satellite imagery, it seems to accurately compare. Average speed and general speed readouts appear most accurate on the GPS devices. I have tested in a car and it’s even possible to see the built-in safety margin the car manufacturers give car speedometers by comparing with the GPS unit. From what I can see, the mobile phone apps are most inaccurate with average speed, followed by elevation gain in comparison with the garmin units.

I have decided to alter my route for the time being while I consider whether taking this further is really worth my effort. I agree that shortening the booms would solve the problem but it seems like a lot of red tape at this point. Just really sick and tired of this what-will-you-give-me-for-me-to-do-my-job mentality that seems all too common these days. Anyway, thanks for the constructive responses.

I did try a PC approach initially - at least I tried to resolve it amicably although the KFC & Coke route hadn’t really occurred to me as anything but blackmail. Admittedly though, their pathetic attitude got to me sufficiently to rile me up. My reason for posting really was to see if anyone knew what the law is on accessing these public boomed areas. Obviously if it were access to private property I would not even be posting this.

The boomed area is all public property in a regular suburb - public road.

Ok, here goes a rant! During the winter months I have been looking to maintain the fitness levels and so have been doing laps of a short circuit in the ‘burbs on the MTB during the week. Reason for this is that it gets dark so early and the route I do is quite well lit, has some decent climbing, plus I don’t have any lights on my bike. There is also minimal traffic. If my timing is off or I see that I’m becoming a danger to myself or others on the road because of insufficient light I can call it quits and head for home within 3.5km. On this route I encounter two sets of security booms. At one of the booms, if the guy isn’t there or he’s busy I can easily enough ride around it and it’s no problem. The other upside is that the guys manning this boom are friendly. The other boom, operated by a different company, is what has been causing me grief. I have had two run-ins with the guards there and this is what happened: I had been courteous up ‘til this stage and made a point of giving a word of appreciation every time the boom was lifted for me. During one ride I encountered a pair of security guards who, after a few laps, refused to open the boom for me, stating that it’s not their job to open the boom for bicycles – only cars. I understand that it could become tedious to open repeatedly for a cyclist and I certainly did not expect them to be stood at attention every time I appeared on the scene but I had words with them about it because it isn’t really possible to ride around the boom without unclipping and lifting the bike over a high curb. We quickly reached an impasse and basically I was told to bugger off and go ride somewhere else (Diepsloot, to be precise). I said to them that if they are too useless to do the one job they’re tasked with then I would do their job for them and lift the boom myself. I left and they muttered words at me which I did not understand. A week or so later I was doing the same route and I recognised the one guy from before. Every time I approached the boom he pretended to be pre-occupied with something else; like inspecting the screws in his wendy house for rust, yakking at top volume to passing pedestrians, or studying either the insides of his eye lids or the contents of his upside-down guest book. No surprise. Like I had said, I’ll gladly lift the boom myself if it’s too much trouble for him – which I did. It’s one of those light-weight plastic booms so each time I would just slow to a crawl and gently flick it up over my head before going on my way. He flat out ignored me so I did the same. After a couple of laps he saw me approaching and this time he came out into the street and blocked me. He informed me that he would not open the boom but that now it was a problem for me to open it because I was letting it fall and should it become damaged, I would be held liable. This is where I lost the plot. I told him in no uncertain terms that the boom his purely HIS responsibility and if he is too ******* lazy, stupid or patently useless to do the one thing in his job description then that is his problem. Once again he told me to go ride somewhere else as this is obviously an inconvenience for him and I’m making his job twice as hard. I told him where to go shove his request and went off on my way. That’s where my ride ended for the day and I have not been back as I’ve been away for the past two weeks. In the meantime I have been quietly stewing over this – enough to write this longwinded rant about it anyway. I have not been back there yet but I refuse to be bullied off my own street by some lazy twat of a security guard. Does anyone know what the deal is with access to these boomed areas? Should I simply go higher up and try to speak to someone with half a brain in their head or am I really being unreasonable here?

Brilliant!!!

I just had a look and wrote down what was there. It has a shorter number preceded by EN and another longer number preceded by F/N which I presume is frame number? I didn't think to take a pic - good idea. Sorry to derail the thread a bit but hopefully this can help someone in future.

Thanks, and having a record of that number when reporting a theft is all that is required?

Jeez it makes the blood boil hey? Anyway, Max, I hope you get your bike back and I hope this thief gets what he deserves. Guys, what is the deal with the serial number? I also have a spark but don’t even know where the SN is located. How does it work – should I just make a note of the SN for future reference?

Missed your thread so made another: https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/140868-cant-use-enter-key-when-creatingreplying-to-threads/

Obviously none of my tyres bothered to read that memo, the puncture-prone bastards.

Welcome to my world! What I've taken to doing is starting off with a regular hose down to remove the bulk of the dirt and then I use M7 engine degreaser on chain, rings and cassette. I decant it into one of those plastic spray bottles. I use a paintbrush to get in to those hard-to-get areas as well as the chain and let that stuff break down the gunk for a bit. Sometimes I need to get a rag to get the crap off or even one of those wooden braai skewers to remove the piled up gunk in and around drivetrain parts. Then I go for a second hose off before the superficial soap application begins to clean paintwork etc. The M7 seems to work well enough at dissolving most of the grease but for the heavier clumps I've found that it needs to be mechanically removed. I am, however, not happy with my current results. I'm going to start removing the chain with the powerlink after the dirtier rides and soak in paraffin or degreaser (any suggestions?) because I can never quite get my chain as clean as I'd like it. Also, I think it will make it easier to clean the other parts with chain removed. I tend to get a build up of gunk on my rings, cassette and jockeys, like in the pic above. I think it will make cleaning all of that easier if the chain is off the bike. Currently it takes me more than 1 hour to get results I'm not 100% happy with so need to streamline my process.

This snot string and tool you guys speak of - is that like a bike version of the car tool some of the garages have? Essentially a big needle with eye where a strip of super tacky rubber is fed through, inserted in the hole, pulled through and then chopped?

Ok cool, then I will need to invest in a better regulator as well. I gave up on bombs and started carrying an old hand pump in my pack as well because as soon as I tried to inflate with a bomb, the o-ring on my bomb reg would blast off and I'd just waste the cartridge. I think that thing worked properly once.

My story has been more like the exact opposite - 6000 punctures in 5km. At least that's how it feels!

Not even if I'm carrying 3 of the flippin' things in my pack? I have been looking at the tubeless option for a while now, actually - I think since I became Tjoop Change King 2013/4. I still need to wrap my head around some of the logistics though, like is it possible to pump your tyre with a pump on tubeless? I've come to understand that you need a big whack of air in there initially to form a seal - this true? Also, I've read that bombs are not the way to go since CO2 and stans don't get along very well. In the meantime I'm using Kenda kwickseals which are not bad at all for the smaller stuff but the LBS has been out of stock for a while now.

Signed and forwarded.

Thanks, guys. Unfortunately I will not lay eyes on the bike until we ride so may have to consider the fix up for the next one. I changed the front are rear tyres and tubes last time, along with the rear rim brake pads but did not think to make a note of the bike's make or model. Will check it out and let you know.

Hey! I think that's exactly the same bike! Now that I think about it, it's definitely an Axis something and the fork is definitely a Suntour something or other. So if it has filled up with water, sounds like rust could well be the culprit here I'm guessing.?

I can't say for sure but my hunch is never. Bike has done virtually no mileage though except for the laaitie riding it in the complex and it lives on a covered patio.