Stoffel76

And 2 (so far, I'm still working on some others ) of my buddies will be joining us...

I'll be there. Trying to rope in some of my non-Hubber mtbing buddies as well!

I had a great ride - did the 38km, took it easy as I've had a really bad winter with flu etc so my fitness is way down at the moment... My buddy I was riding with took strain so I hung back and waited for him. Just enjoyed an awesome day out on my bike, perfect weather, getting muddy etc etc My only complaint was the 57km okes on their 29er hardtails that were holding me up on the single track... I wasn't in a rush so being held up on single track etc didn't bug me, but it does seem generally that technical skills are lacking at the back of the field... I was behind one guy who was crawling along, yet still managing to lock his back wheel into every corner... Still, I'm sure I held up my fair share of people when I first started!

Those 'horn'/handle things look really uncomfortable to hold... Although maybe it will serve a purpose... Imagine a future Schwarzenegger/Van Damme type movie... The villain is fitness obsessed with too much money... The final fight scene could end with the hero flinging him across the room and the villain getting impaled on the stationary trainer. As he hangs there coughing up blood, Arnie would say, "Your life cycle is over..."

It's not relating to your claims, it's purely about the value of the bike - those are just their underwriting rules on the domestic policy... (different rules apply to the commercial type policies)

I would think so too... It would be a bit like claiming for a new cellphone and keeping the battery of the old one... Your friend could try speaking to the assessor to find out if he can buy the salvage back. Handing the old shock back is no loss to your friend - he's getting a brand new shock to replace his second hand one...

It's simple economics for me - I simply can't afford the new version of my bike... My last 3 bikes were all second hand. 2 were absolute gems and one was a total lemon. The lemon was bought on more of an impulse and my gut was telling me I should have walked away, but I didn't. Fixed it up and sold it on for a loss, chalked it up to experience...

I couldn't believe how many seals and o-rings are in there! http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn94/stoffel30/IMG-20130713-00118_zpsa4aa781c.jpg

I have a Scott Genius which was in dire need of a service on the rear shock (they have a really complicated pull shock). After not hearing back from the agents, I found Stoke Suspensions details here on the Hub. It was the first Genius shock Andrew had worked on, but he did an awesome job, had it back to me within a week and, after a great ride down Tokai this morning, I can report it's working perfectly. Cost was more than an 'ordinary' rear shock, but was less still than I was expecting. Can definitely recommend these guys... http://www.stokesuspension.com/

Pump the tube up and hold it near to your cheek and work your way round. Provided you're somewhere calm and reasonably quiet, you'll feel the air against your cheek and should hear the air escaping. Oh, and don't forget to remove whatever caused the puncture from the tire before putting the tube back, otherwise you'll be repeating the exercise again...

Are you riding professionally? Just be careful if you are, as most domestic policies will exclude liabilities arising from your employment/business/profession...

Agreed! Placed an order late afternoon on Friday. Courier delivered earlier this morning.

Go have a look at your policy wording to double check this - You'll see the liability cover is automatically included if you have the Contents cover, but the last Outsurance wording I saw had an exclusion relating to the liability cover which said they won't cover you for damages and legal costs awarded against you by a court outside SA... So I don't think they can give you that letter you need.

Park at the bike shop, there is no other convenient start point. You head up the road towards Caledon for a very short section and then the trail starts on the left and runs along the road for a bit and then into the forest... Enjoy!

I've only done the route that starts at Fernkloof once and that was a few years ago. It wasn't very well signposted (or used). It wasn't hectic, but there were a couple of short sharp inclines and the trail wasn't very flowing. I'm not sure a kids would enjoy the route... may have changed since I was there last though. Got a map from the bike shop in the centre of town. The trail up the Hemel & Aarde Valley is nice. There's a short route (the green or blue one I think) Starts out by winding through the bluegums along the river. There are a couple of steep sections kids may need to walk up (but if they're used to the Tokai jeep track they should be OK) and a single track descent they could pick up speed on. Because you're always fairly close to farm roads, you could turn around at a number of points if they got tired. Permits are available at the Euodia bike shop. I haven't done the black route, but the red is fun. Not that long, but because you go up and down the mountain, you get a pretty good work out and some nice views. Some pics from the red route: http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn94/stoffel30/IMG00045-20130323-1339_zpsd6020c46.jpg http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn94/stoffel30/IMG00048-20130323-1351_zps03fd93fb.jpg http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn94/stoffel30/IMG00049-20130323-1507_zpsf85b3ad4.jpg

Toyota 2000GT. If I remember correctly, the one used is the Bond film You Only Live Twice, was a custom made convertible... Apparently Sean Connery didn't fit in the hard top version!

Keep the police case number somewhere! Same thing happened to me a couple of years back - reported it to the police and when the traffic fines started rolling in I just wrote back quoting the police case number and never heard any more about the fines. (They put the plates on a similar model and colour car to mine...)

Most of the runners I've met while coming down on the single track have been courteous and cleared out of the way as soon as they saw me... Except one tjop a couple weeks back who was stopped, standing in the middle of the track looking at his heart rate monitor watch. He looked up, saw me and looked back at his watch and just stood there eventually moving out the way at the last second and then gave me a look as though he was doing me favour by getting out the way...

And for the photographers here, that's a master class lesson in how not to appear in your own photographs!!

The lock nut on my cassette was refusing to budge, so eventually I rigged up this using a plank and an old chain: http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn94/stoffel30/cassettetool.jpg It was so tight, it stripped the lock nut tool and eventually took my buddy to hold the wheel, while I put my weight on the torque wrench!

Large aluminium framed dual sus Scott Genius - 13kg (not including tools & spares which go in my backpack)

Now Luk here, I think someone trying to win the 'bigger is better' debate is clutch-ing at straws with this one... OK, that's a pretty lame pun...

They're busy building/converting the pavements to cycling lanes down south in Plumstead on De Waal Road. The other day I saw a woman on a scooter cruising down the cycle lane!

Cool, that means it's the perfect bike for almost everybody! (except if you're the poor oke who is perfectly average...)

According to race website, Action Photo... But I don't see anything on the Action Photo site yet which is unusual...