SilverMountain

Sounds as if you may have developed the same condition as me called Crepatis. I have had the same thing for 6 months now and as long as you have no pain associated with the grinding/clicking you should be OK.

I have a Mongoose Canaan Comp and the frame is possibly similar to yours. One of the differences is that I have rear suspension however the front shock is probably similar. Have been happy with the bike and have only had to replace the rear gear cable in the 10 months I have had it and I have done quite a few races during the last year up to 45km.

No you shouldn;t. My son has an extra small, daughter has a medium & I have an extra large and they all fit.

I have a 3 bike Thule hang on carrier that connects to the tow-bar and I have been happy with it. The other rideon ones are good however you will probably be paying almost 3x the price.

Apologies, I mis-diagnosed myself after doing some research on the internet. The Sports Doctor says that I have patello femoral crepatis which is a cracking. grating noise in the knee. It is either from overuse or could have also been caused by 2 falls I had onto my knee after moving over to cleat pedals. I have also learnt from research that bike setup is very important and for this problem is better to have your saddle positioned higher to prevent excessive bending of the knee.

Thanks for the advice and I now feel more positive after knowing you have managed to ride for a number of years with a hip problem (I only started riding 2 years ago and am your age) . At the time that I wrote in asking for info. on this matter I had just been to a GP who did a full medical and didn't really check out my knee properly except to talk about osteo arthritis. Today I went to a sports doctor at the Kings Park Complex and after a full check up he said it was patello femoral crynitis?. He seemed to be fairly positive that if I don't have any pain or swelling at this stage, then it is fine to ride. He did suggest that I have x-rays of both knees which I did tonight. Will be forwarding him the report tomorrow. He said that he will refer me to a biokinetisist who will recommend exercises to strengthen areas around the knee. Am hoping to do quite a few of the races this year but will see how it goes.

Anybody got any advice for Osteo Arthritis. Developed a grating noise in my one knee that I only have when pedalling uphill on the downstroke of the pedal. This prompted me to go for a medical & all blood tests, cardio etc. was fine however the GP didn't offer any advice re- the knee. Some internet research revealed that I may have Osteo Arthritis. Does anyone know whether it is possible to repair the cartilage or whatever is causing the problem? Is it best to find a chiropractor for advice? It appears as though you need to find someone who has a sport background and preferably a cyclist.

Have been riding a Silverback Reno for just over 2 years and believe that it is very underated. Have competed in most KZN MTB races up to 40km all in A batch with fairly good results. My original intention was to ride with the kids and not to race however I was new to cycling at the time. The only problem I have had during one of the races was breaking a chain.

I am in Durban & am not sure how prices differ in the Cape. Bought mine within the last two months & it cost me R600. I have however seen it at other branded stores for at least R200 more so possiby my LBS has competitive prices.

I have the Camelbak Rogue & am extremely happy with it. I find that the size is adequate as I do not need the space that the Mule provides. Possibly if you were riding ultamarathons and you were riding the whole day you may need the additional space. For R400 less I believe that the Rogue is a good buy.

My son also has one of these. He is 9 now and we have had it for about 5 years, Very basic, was used by my daughter when she was smaller. Allow him to leave that bike out and ride it around the yard, He also has a XS Silverback which we use for races and which is locked away. We don.t worry about the Makro bike however his good bike gets cleaned after every race and the chain gets lubed. On Sunday while I was doing the Hill2Hill race I let him take his chain store bike where he was waiting at the finish for me with my wife as I wasn't worried if it got stolen or if something happened to it. While I was doing the 40km race I believe that he won the kids 2km race. After this I thought that there was some purpose for these bikes although as you say they have no gears and it is very difficult to adjust or remove wheels etc.

Know exactly how you feel. Bought a new bike within the last 3 months and I have fallen in almost every race and have also broken a cell phone in the process when landing on rocks. Loosened the cleats a month ago as the LBS had set them too tight and this seems to be helping. Had been riding with normal pedals on my old bike for 18 months before and the paint work on my old bike looks better than my new because of the falls although scratches are also due to riding in the mud (Illovo Eston) and scraping the mud off the bike with sticks to get it working. After 3 months I believe that I am coming right with the cleats however I am still nervous especially on singletrack and also when going over rocks. Have scars on my knee from the falls.

Sounds as though Slime could be a better bet than tape. On Sunday during the Howick 45km ride I had a puncture even though I had the tape inside my tyres. Wasn't able to find the thorn however somehow it must have got throgh the thick tape. Slime could be a safer bet?

I have the stroker disk brakes & have noticed what appears to be a pin or the rear set. Does anyone know approx. what average mileage you get before having to change the pads?

Any advice on how to remove the pads to give them a light sanding (also new to hydraulic disc brakes and sometimes I just turn the handlebar without moving and it squeks).

My time was almost 50% worse in the 40km than last years result as a result of nothing working on my bike in stages of the race because of being totally clogged up. Hopefully in good weather I can get back to last years time so a 20% improvement proposed by Stretch may not be practical in this case. My bike had just been upgraded and was less than a month old. No-one expected the thick mud on the course. In regards to changing distance, I believe that the cyclist must notify the officials or otherwise not go through the finish.

Does anyone know what duty would be payable for a cycling computer?

Thanks for all the advice re- balance and loosening the pedals. Am looking forward to a better ride.

Thanks Droo, makes sense to practice while stationary. Think I have been too eager to get riding and need to clip in and out before setting out. In regard to sand, I agree that brakes may be part of the problem with creating a slide and it may be better to reduce weight in the front and try to get through without any brakes.

Have been using a Thule 3 bike carrier for 18 months and it works very well (had to have a tow hitch fitted first however it has been worth it). Bought a lock for it recently and although the costs are a bit on the steep side, I believe the quality is good being manufactured in Sweden (Have been transporting 3 bikes to many of the KZN races without any problems).

Thanks for the tip re- the soft sand, will have to try it out.

What has complicated the issue is that during the last two rides, thick sand has also been responsible for the problem and I have the Kenda small block 8 tyres with not as much tread as my other bike. As suggested, it may be matter of giving it time to get it right.

I have been riding a hardtail for just over 18 months with very few or no problems. This bike has flat pedals and I was always comfortable riding with running shoes. Bought a full suspension bike during the last month and I thought that I would have Shimano pedals fitted and would get MTB shoes and cleats at the same time. During the time I used my hardtail I can't ever remember falling off however since I have been using cleats I have fallen between 4/5 times a ride on distances between 20 and 34km. My last ride yesterday I landed up on rocks when riding uphill and have ended up with a swollen hand, sore leg and a broken Nokia Navigator. When I got my bike the LBS said that I should be able to release the cleats based on their fittings on the pedals however it often happens that you have to release at the last second when you don't know that you are going to have a problem. During my previous ride it happened when riding single-track when someone stopped immediately in front and also when negotiating thick sand. Is there any hope for me as if my fall rate does not improve I may need to consider changing back to flat pedals.

Roag has made it much easier to enter a race on-line once all your initial information is submitted. The registration process at Ballito was slow I believe because of problems with power interuptions. Race organisers and Roag should consider all other options at improving the speed of the registration process to avoid long ques and riders being late for the start. The Food and the music after the race was great however warm water at the finish and less loose sand during the race should be looked at for next years race.

I try to ride as many MTB races as possible however paying either R165 (50KM) and R100 X 2 for my kids (R365) is a lot of money. During a month with the number of races on at the moment, it would be easy for me to spend in excess of R1000 on entries which I believe is expensive. It would possibly be easier for a lot of families if all the races got together with ROAG and an annual membership/ entry was paid at the beginning of the year with some type of benefit to the member. At the moment, I have to be selective as to the number of races I can enter (although I would like to do all the KZN ones) or otherwise talk the kids into doing shorter races to reduce the entry fees.