The expat cyclist

Thanks Man - will do.

UHM, nee ou maat - GEEN LOUISE BRAKE PADS NIE (Myne is 2008 Model)

I'd rather service my Manitou than buy "crap"!

I have a very complete manual on how to service my Manitou R7...However, it does not say what parts you will need to replace. So let me hear what you think I should be replacing...

So I have the Magura Louise brakes on my MTB. The pads lasted for more the two years. The wet race at Babbas last month ruined the rear pads...Or atleast what was left of them... I was a bit shocked at the price - Cheapest was R270 for a set...Yikes!!! That is R540 to replace front and rear pads!!! And getting hold of them is also not so easy. So far I have only been able to source one "affordable" set. (Cyclelab in centurion has but R360 per set they can forget it!!!) Flippit!!!

I ordered from CWC, CRC and Buycycle...And neither one of thm is/was or will ever be perfect. But so what? I will order from all of them again. Their prices are good and that is what matters. Although neither one of them have what I am looking for at the moment - Magura Louise brake pads!!! Cycle lab asks R360 - No dude, that is just the pads not the complete brake set!!! Hotspot @ R270 - R90 cheaper than Cyclelab............................................................. The Magura Martha brake pads are R115...But the Louise pads lasted me over 2 years...

Nice. She pretty. Not sire 'bout them white wheels...It's like putting mags on a Hilux.

I just got my bike after a service: Washed. Sparkling clean. Lubed. Cleaned BB and regreased, headset and bearings cleaned and regreased. Wheels cleaned and regreased. Looks like a brand spanking new bike. The mech also noted the rear and front brake pads need replacement... The cost? FREE. I love my bike mechanic. He treats my bike as if it is his own...Oh wait, it is his own... SERVICE YOUR OWN DAMN BIKE! TRUST NO ONE!

That is the thing - we didn't ask for help. We asked for a price on a saddle. Then the salesman said: "You don't want that one..."

So, the wife needs a new saddle for her MTB. She has a Spez BG WSD on her Merida but it is now 2 years old and it is starting to show. So first off, I would like to know what saddle does your missus have on her MTB and WHY??? We just came from a LBS here in Somerset West. Nice shop. Friendly people...However, we started talking to the shop owner about saddles for the wife. He asks her 1 question: Is it for a MTB or a roadbike? Then he tunes her that he will have to get the width of her "sitbones" using some gadget and then according to that he can recommend something. He asked me what saddle is on her bike. I told him I dunno. It is a Spez BG but the model I dunno. It feels a bit like a sofa, I said. He tunes me, yes it is because men and woman are made different... I was shocked. That is news to me. Anyway, he shows us some ugly, big, fat, squishy saddles. Jig. The wife was not interested. They are all ugly. And I agree. Fully. Two years ago, When she got her bike, the salesman swopped the saddle that was on there with the one she has now. She was never "tested" or whatever - here is your bike with your saddle. Koebaai. Now all of a sudden, when my wife wants a FIZIK, she is told it is a men's saddle. She can not have it. It is not made for her. My wife wants a racing saddle. Why the hell do they want to sell her a POS sofa like thing??? The salesman tunes us the story about a guy who started bleeding from his ass, when she enquired about another type of saddle. This guy was doing the Whines to Whales race on it etc. 4 vark steaks - my wife don't do stage races. SHE WILL NEVER DO STAGES RACES! She likes short, fast races. The longest race she has done so far has been 50km! She can do Babbas in less than 90min! WHY CAN'T SHE PICK HER OWN DAMN SADDLE MR. SALESPERSON???? Why do you want to sell her something she does not want???? Let her buy what she wants!!! I bought my saddle - Selle Italia SLR XC - because it was cheap to import and a lot of pro riders in Europe had one. I was never measured for it. Flippit man. I bought it because it was pretty! And I love it!

AND from the first of March 2011 she will open her OWN physio practice!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Location will be in PTA East at the west entrance of Silver Lakes! My wife is an awsome physio. Mostly hands on. She prefers sporting injuries.

Jy moet kyk waar jy ry tjomma!

ROAG registration. Done and paid. CSA registration. Done and paid. Just received my CSA membership card.

OK. Nice snake. Flippit.

Nice bike...HOWEVER, the white...I dunno...It looks a bit...hmmm..."roadie"

Damn, thought you said Pta East...

Might have worked, but I don't suck on my bottles so the mud is not a problem. I only used the one bottle though.

First Babbas race this year.

But that is the thing - the marketing gurus almost always tell you about the good stuff and when you ask about the bad stuff, they tell you that it is not a problem and it's so small it makes no differance. So if 29'ers are the be all and end all to MTB'ing, why only NOW the big hype??? Why all of a sudden is it so big??? I believe it is just in the way it is marketed. Are 29'ers better? Depends. Are you? I have been beaten more times by my wife and 26ers than I have been by 29'ers!

When someone says 29'er, I wanna go "POWERBALANCE!!!" I wonder what the placebo effect would have been if people just concentrated on the negatives of 29'rs? Slower acceleration. Higher inertia to overcome thus basically changing your pedalling style etc. Slower steering responses.

Spinning or grinding? SRAM or Shimano anyone? I was told by Benita de Witt (Google it) that I should spin more because grinding isn't good for me. Tightens up my muscles etc. You know what - she was wrong and right. These days I don't really grind and I don't really spin. I find what works best for me and my body type!

I agree - this is a sad story and one that I don't like to read about at all. But reading the story in the paper, I feel it is a bit harsh blaming just the driver for her death. If the driver of the truck was speeding or drunk, it is another story... But as sad as this is, the cyclist (according to what I read in the paper) looked over her shoulder and ended up right infront of the truck. I have done this myself a couple of times - looked over my shoulder and then go off my line more into the road!!! These days if I drop something while cycling, I slow down, get off the road and then look behind me!!! It is a pain in the ass but it safe!

How much does it weigh?

Two things I have learned this year already about going uphill: I am faster uphill with: 1. Lighter wheels (I think you will notice it more in MTB) 2. Less weight - that is body weight. The end.