Rigardt@Scott

For a long time already. A previous company I worked for sold products through Takealot since 2014. But for all intents and purposes you are buying from Takealot. Same discounts would apply as you mentioned.

Hahaha no, I'm laughing at the spelling you chop. I'm a big Sram fanboy.

But it has SRAMM

Haha had to google that - it was before my time

My dad had one of these when he was a kid. He also had a cat who have birth to a litter of kittens. For some reason a kitten would dissappear every day. Until one morning my grandma came around the corner to find old doggo helping himself to a kitten for breakfast....

. But red is faster. Always.

Yeah, I'm gonna guess someone spilled Dot fluid on that brake.

Lol, it was just pointed out to me on our Whatsapp group that I don't know how to spell in Afrikaans, and here I don't distinguish between a tortoise and a turtle. The joys of being Afrikaans at home and English at school - you aren't all the way Afrikaans or all the way English. I feel sorry for my future kids haha

Sorry, tortoise

Took the hardtail out for a quick after work ride on Helderberg. It sure is getting light later in the mornings now, but still plenty of sunlight in the afternoons. Also found a little turtle on the trails. He wasn't too impressed when I moved him.

Josh, are you trying to sell pot on the hub? Hahaha this is absolutely amazing.

Pretty sure that doesn't qualify as "much cheaper" than the fitness desk. 6k for a basic desk with power points. Who ever buys this must be smoking crack.

Haha I often wonder what dogs really think of us. I mean, I'm pretty much a buttler/servant that picks up their poo, scratches them, walks them, and feeds them. I'm pretty sure they think it's their house and I'm just here to meet their every need.

Hahaha fortunately not. A boxer and a lab, which just equates to a ton of slobber and hair on all my clothes. But it's worth it. My dogs are literally the highlight of my day every day (I don't have kids yet). I find it's pretty much impossible to be even slightly upset when you have a monster of an animal on you that acts like an excited little kiddy in a sweet store when it sees you.

My two doggos use me as a pillow, what does that say about my place in the hierarchy? Haha at least I don't get cold in winter.

I have no experience with any road chains whatsoever unfortunately. And to be honest, very little with Shimano chain in the last 4/5 years. Since Sram went 1x11 I haven't owned any Shimano drivetrain parts. Although, I will likely be giving 1x12 SLX a go when the time comes to replace my ageing 1x11 XO1 groupset - the price makes it very appealing.

Money in the bank bud. It's very easy to forge proof of payments.

Just stay on top of your chainwear. On 6000km+ on my XO1 11spd cassette, and 3000km+ on my GX Eagle cassette with no signs of wear yet. I use XX1 chains now, but that was a recent thing after reading a thread somewhwre on the Hub about them - but before that just your standard GX chains for me. What I can say, I am buying alot less chains since going XX1 - it's like it just doesn't stretch at all! Per km, it's by far the cheapest chain.

People don't wear propper shoes with suits anymore, it's not cool. (Read in comic sans)

My dog (boxer) has had parvo - we nearly lost him. After an expensive and gut wrenching week at the vet he just just made it out. It was honestly one of the worst weeks I've ever had. My advice - keep her isolated. Socialising is not going to mean anything if she is not alive to socialise... We kept our second pup (black lab) isolated for a long time because of the first pup getting parvo - she has been socialised just fine

Was speaking to a friend about this yesterday. Spez's prices are going up at a rate higher than inflation and the spec level keeps dropping. In 2016 I bought a Stumpy Expert model - at that point it was specced with 1x11 X01 and XT brakes, and a Fox factory shock. Then 1x12 came out and all of a sudden 1x12 GX replaced 1x11 XO1 - that makes no sense to me - 1x12 was just an evolution to gearing, GX Eagle is in no way equal to 1x11 XO1. Along with that the Expert builds came with lower spec brakes and suspension. It's like every time there is a new release the parts spec just gets worse! The comp level bikes are now being released with Tektro brakes, X Fusion droppers, RS Recon forks, and NX groupsets where they used to at least come with SLX brakes, Spaz droppers, and XT groupos - and this at a much higher price than a few years ago. And the joke is the frames and geo are getting much more capable, but with the crap spec you cannot make use of the extra capability. It's a joke. I know there is alot of R&D involved - but the industry has lost it's mind thinking that charging 250k for a bicycle is okay. I can get a fully kitted out BMW 1200GS for that price - and there is alot more R&D and tech in that thing... Anyway, I'm flogging a dead horse here. As long as we pay it, they will continue asking those prices.

Yep, even the most premium of brands have bad batches. It's how the respond to it that matters.

Yup... Stans sealant, lekker wide rims (well for gravel - 23mm internal width). Ideally I would want to run no higher than 3 bar. That's what I started off with, just got a ton of punctures - I think 4 on my first time out. But anyway. Where I do really like these tyres are on the tar - they roll nice and fast.

4 bar is smack bang in the middle of the reccommended pressures printed on the side of the tyre. 3bar being the minimum. Running any lower than 4 bar got me a ton of punctures that didn't seal. Since running 4.5 in the back and 4 in the front I haven't gotten as many punctures punctures - but you sacrifice alot of comfort.

I actually went from a Cotic Solaris Max to a Slade recently. - The weights are pretty much on par. - The big advantage of a steel frame is comfort, and there is no denying they ride softer than alu, but in this specific case I cannot feel the difference. The slade was designed to be quite compliant in the rear so as alu frames go it's comfy. This is not a comment on steel vs alu, rather Solaris vs Slade. - The Cotic's build was just sublime, it's a premium frame and the small details like cable clips on the frame is superior. Eg: on the Slade I drilled a hole beneath the bb for water to drain. Another downside, that cable routing in the top tube - it works well, but not if you run back brake on the left. - The thin tubing on steel bikes just look better (IMO) - Pricing of steel is steep vs pricing of alu. This might come across as negative towards the Slade, but it's not. I love my Slade, I just loved my Cotic a hell of alot. At the end of the day the Slade was a better choice for the riding I do. In short, the Slade is an awesome frame and I am amazed at how capable it is every time I ride it. I am finding it is the bike I reach for most when I walk into the garage. But... if money is not an issue, and angles are exactly the same, I am always going to choose steel over alu - but that's just me. Steel makes me all tingly in the pants area, alu doesn't. That said, half of my bikes are alu just because of the value you get with it - good price, decent weight, durable.