Eugene

Until you get mud and water jammed into the cables and those little arms that mechanical discs have.

Yes you did and I stand by my comment.

GT make some good quality products. Both of these look well looked after and good spec. Look like a good price

The rage at the moment is 1 x 12 speed. Personally, I don't think that this is for everyone as it limits your range. As a beginner, I don't think the number of gears is make or break. On a mtb, hydraulic brakes make a huge difference. V brakes (rim brakes) are also pretty fine, but mechanical discs are rubbish. If you buy a bike with mechanical discs, your first upgrade would be hydraulic.

At R2500, new is not an option. A Totem will not handle off road. I got my daughter one for the occasional road ride around the neighborhood and off the bat, the brakes never worked. No amount of tinkering would get them to work. You will have to look second hand, you may pick up a a decentish 26 inch around R2500. But it will be old, so take someone with you who knows about bikes. Not sure about the Cannondale you speak of. Generally, they are a good brand, but it depends on the size and how it was looked after.

I once chatted to the product manager of a local bike brand. They literally took a hammer to the frame of the prototypes they decided not to use.

I know that some of Merida's 26 inch frames did fit 27.5 wheels. Not sure if this is one of them. They certainly won't fit 29 inch wheels.

Please elaborate... What makes a Giant/Scott/Merida more refined and less old fashioned than Titan or Silverback?

I put a set of shifters on my daughter's mtb bike. Have had no issues, they work as they are supposed to. I've read some complaints about the road groups though. The shift lever at the bottom strikes the brake lever and the shift lever is plastic and has a tendency to snap

Damn.. Glad you are safe. Its amazing that they didn't take your bike too.

The site has recently been upgraded, but I would imagine you go to the Buy and Sell section and click on Create New Ad. The same as what you did to post this ad

Maybe post a "wanted" ad in the classified section of Bikehub.

So... Did you buy the bike?

If this guy is really going through difficult times, every extra cent that he can get is needed. Cut him some slack, the extra money he got from someone else could be an extra meal or a month's rent.

Thule is damn expensive. I have no idea about pricing, but you will probably get a Holdfast platform rack for a similar price to this Thule.

You wanted to "assault" the salesman. That sounds pretty unreasonable to me. But I agree, I would be pretty pisses off too if they replaced things you didn't ask them to.

Team Dimension Data (not the Pro Tour team, but the earlier sister team to Microsoft) rode with the RC8000 back in the day. These had the same frame as the RC7000. With Ultegra, it can hardly be described as a beginers bike.

There are so many factors at play, such as age, condition of each bike, size etc. Assuming both are a similar age and both are in good condition, the Raleigh will be streets ahead of the Silverback in terms of quality. The frame of the Raleigh is much better quality and is much lighter, also Ultegra is higher up the food chain than 105. At R4 500, the Raleigh is a good price. Mostly, these go for between R6-R7k on the used market. If the Raleigh is in a good condition, you will be getting a lot of bike for R4 500. Perhaps you can show links to photos of the bikes. It will give us a better idea.

The supplier... They have sold you a part that has not lasted as long as they promised it would. Why should the purchaser have to pay labour because the supplier sold you a substandard part.

Don't listen to any of the responses given to your question. Go and see a real medical doctor. These guys are cyclists (apologies to anyone who is actually a doctor).

Not ideal. Ask them if they have a set of wheels to lend you whilst you are waiting for replacement wheels. I had a similar situation a number of years back and the bike shop lent me a wheel to use whilst mine were being repaired.

I think you may have just stumbled upon the next big craze to hit cycling. Gravel fat bikes.

Agreed.

Get a new crank. A strike hard enough rip out a pedal will be hard enough to damage the crank. If you are insured, perhaps you can claim for a replacement.

Depending on age. If it were in good condition, about R3.5k to R4.5k