Grease_Monkey

I have a mate who used to buy and sell 2nd hand electronics. When he was starting out he had to hustle and did whatever deals would make him money. If you think there are lots of scammers with bikes, electronics take it to a new level. He has ended up in a few situations where he had to punch his way out and actually ended up carrying a 9mm to deals (which he used a few times, and by used I don’t mean shot someone, but taken it out to get out of a situation). His business is now more established and he does everything online and with couriers, but still recons there are guys that attempt scams on a daily basis. He doesn’t get into hairy situations anymore, but does every now and then send some very creative items to the scamsters for a bit of a laugh.

I got this from BH yesterday, assuming about this guy. Nice added feature. The guy obviously pulled my number, never contacted me though.

I'm happy with my wrap (Armour Ride). But it was very expensive. I can't imagine forking out 3k for a wrap on an older frame. On my new frame which was a bit of an investment, I could justify it because it wasn't a huge % of the cost of the frame.... All the home 3M jobs I've seen look terrible IMO. I'd rather have nothing on my bike than that. Unless you have an insane amount of patience and a steady hand.

Not a great idea. I've just pedaled a friends bike with flats around the parking lot using my cleat shoes (similar to the ones you have). Pins got stuck in some little hole and I nearly didn't get my feet off. No way I'd do it. This is probably unique to each shoe though so you may not have the same problem. Your other issue is that shoes with cleats usually have a stiffer sole than flat shoes (even the ones that look like they belong on flats), so climbing is going to be fine, but descending you are probably going to find that the shoes don't have enough flex to be used on flats and you are going to be coming off the pedals or at least not have ideal grip.

Different people handling warranty unfortunately since I posted that. Also didn’t have great luck warrantying another unit in the laat year. Wahoo for me next time around…. PS I know my original post says Garmin SA, but I think someone else was handling warranties at the time. I speak under correction though. The unit that I tried to warranty recently was a battery that is giving me 25% of claimed battery life even with bluetooth off. Had a similar offer of a new unit at something like 50% of the new price (I didn’t take them up on it). My memory is a bit hazy on this though so don’t quote me in 3 years time haha Funny how in 3 years my opinion on the brand has changed to much.

Offset is made shorter / longer on the crown of the fork. Lowers are the same across different models of a fork (mostly). So a Fox 36 for example with a shorter offset will have the wheel closer to you than the same fork with a longer offset. Anyway, I’m out. Not gonna spend more time on this.

Read my post again, I didn’t say fork offset has anything to do with length of the fork. A longer offset fork does mean your front wheel is further in front of you than a short offset though.

Also never not received my stuff with SAPO, but I have had to wait 4 months for some items though...

Uhmmm ja… that has been done.

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We had a Scott rep in store a few days ago, he was speaking about this. They are not authorized Scott dealers, it's not a legit site. It is a scam, don't waste your time. PS: Just look at the prices - 90k for a bike that's retail is well over 150k, and they are listing 99 in stock. There is hardly stock in the country of any bikes. Another giveaway, you can add a bike to cart and pay for it without specifying size. In all bikes, bikes which are not in the country at the moment.

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I'm just talking from experience (on a few bikes now), no article is going to change that... Although I am not disagreeing with the article, a longer offset it will make steering inputs feel quicker, and shorter will be more stable. But, when you are trying to get a longer wheelbase around a tight, slow corner it is going to go around it sluggishly and with more effort. It's not a simple as X does Y, etc... My experience is, a long slack bike with a long offset fork has sluggish handling when you are going slower, and it is hard to weight the front wheel around corners. Anyway, my experience is just that - my experience. Either way, I would build a frame with the fork offset it's intended to be built with. It's one of the few changes where I could immediately tell a difference on the trails.

Of course, your front wheel is further away from you. It's like riding a superbike vs riding a chopper (exaggerated example, but you get the idea). Short offset forks were introduced to counter the front wheel getting further and further in front of you with bikes becoming more and more slack...

Yes, makes a big difference. I built my Sentinel up with a 51mm offset instead of the 44mm suggested. It handled like a bus. When I changed to shorter offset it felt like a different bike. A couple of mm on long and slack bikes makes a big difference when it's on the front wheel. If you are going to stick with the longer offset for just counter it with a longer stem so you can weight the front wheel. Will still not handle as intended, but will be better than short stem + long offset.

Sho, hard to say. I am gonna go with the old it depends in the saddle. I’ve only ever held on to one saddle (Spez Henge, which is no longer made) long enough for it to be considered used up. And that was I would guess around 10,000km.

Yes they creak, yes they have a lifespan. Before replacing it though, try greasing all the bolts holding the rails to the seat post as well as the rails themselves. Just a small amount of grease should do the trick. I’ve had a very annoying creak recently that turned out to be the rail and seat post interface.

Definitely Ikhambi... https://www.ikhambi.co.za/hoka/

Ikhambi are the distributors in SA, so any bike shop that stocks their stuff (Wahoo, K-Edge, Schwalbe, etc) can order for you. If you are in Somerset West I can order one for you (can also ship, might just be a bit excessive to pay R100 shipping on such a cheap item). DM if you want me to order one for you...

DHR2 rolls slow. An Ardent isn't much better on the rear, but has significantly less grip. I recently (or I guess not so recently) sold all my bikes for a do it all that I guess can compare to what you are riding. Also sat with the issue of needing / wanting heavy tyres for the gravity trails and lighter tyres with less rolling resistance for XC trails. I went from Aggressor/Assegai to a Forekaster on the rear, Dissector on the front recently and I am extremely happy. The combo rolls fast, not too heavy, and still decent grip. But at the end of the day you have to make peace with the fact that a middle of the road combo is not going to offer the grip of gravity tyres, and are not gonna roll like XC tyres. You are going to compromise somewhere, just decide where you are happy compromising. I see someone else suggested Dissector in front, Rekon in the rear. That's what I initially wanted but couldn't get my hands on a Rekon in the size I wanted. I think that would be as good, maybe better than the Forekaster I have on the back right now. If you look at the Rekon it kinda looks like DHR2 that's been cut down to roll faster. Looks like a winner to me.

15% VAT (on order value excluding shipping) 0% Duty on bike components (don't order clothes - there is is something like 45% duties) R250 handling fee This is all on top of the R675. PS: If your order is under R100 in value you will likely (ie: read sometimes yes, sometimes no) not be charged VAT at all. Obviously not applicable in your case. Like others have mentioned, just buy a One Up, cheaper and better (in my opinion anyway). Give me a shout if you want me to source one for you.

There used to be Camber and Stumpy, then the Stumpy ST and LT (short and long travel). The Stumpy ST was the replacement for the camber. In fact, when the camber was produced it shared a main triangle with the stumpy with a different yoke and shock to make it a shorter travel version. With the next evolution of the Stumpy came the Stumpy and Stumpy Evo. The Evo is more aggressive than the Stumpy LT, some would say even more aggressive than the old Enduro. The normal Stumpy now sits (in my opinion) somewhere between the older ST and LT, probably because the Epic Evo was introduced. So although the Epic Evo is not a direct replacement for the Camber, I would say it is the logical replacement for the Camber. If I had a Camber and I enjoy more trail oriented stuff I'd buy the Stumpy, if I rode more distance with trails as a secondary goal I'd go for the Epic Evo. Basically you can do the same things on both bikes, but with each there is just compromise on either descent or climbing. Personally I think the new Stumpy is an awesome all-rounder (a one bike if you will). The Epic Evo is a bit on the marathon side of things for me to call it a one bike. But that's me - I am slightly more on the gravity side of things. I actually nearly bought the new Stumpy end of 2021, but ended up going for a Yeti SB130.

As sad and wrong as it is, those people are the reason I will never get a road bike again. Just takes one idiot… For the last month (and next month) I am stuck riding on the road only as recovery from an injury. Scarier than any mtb trail I have ridden in my life.

The new Spark also uses UDH.

No importer for SA at the moment. So international stores are tour best bet.