MintSauce

My Ultegra 6800 crankset failed in 2018. I happened to be stripping the bike for a proper clean when I spotted the crack. I emailed CWC who supplied the complete groupset in 2014 and, as is to be expected, the warranty claim was declined. I sold the left crankarm and no longer have the broken part, but I bet the saved emails, pictures and proof of purchase will mean nothing. I cannot actually believe Shimano took so long to own up to this. It's actually painful to ride components (that I far prefer to that of other manufacturers) whose maker treats their customers with such utter disdain.

Do you not think this is something that deserves a news article? There is an official release from Shimano and it should really be more visible than a mention in a random thread.

I get the comments that say not enough bike and take a DH bike. Before you do, the question that needs to be asked is what is your intention? Whenever most people think of Whistler, they only think of the park and the lifts. If you're only going to ride the park, then I would agree on taking a DH bike. However, if you've not ridden outside of SA, then the riding outside the park will BLOW. YOUR. MIND! It's so far beyond what we have here. If I were to go again, I would take an adequate bike i.e your Hyrax. That gives you the perfect bike for the stuff outside the park and you can use it to get acquainted with the park. There are tons of amazing trails in the park well within the Hyrax's ability. Once you know your way around, hire a DH bike for 2-4 days to hit the properly gnarly stuff. This is coming from someone that spent 3 weeks in Whistler on a 130/125mm travel bike many moons ago.

More than enough bike. Just keep in mind, Whistler is about much, MUCH more than A-line.

I'm sorry, but I don't quite agree with this sentiment. Where private land is involved, I'm with you 100%. However, I think we need to address the use and general perception of the term 'entitled' and 'entitlement'. It often gets bandied about when referring to us cyclists and is, I believe, used and perceived rather negatively. However, for the case in point I'd like to propose we view it in a different light. Google defines it as the following: "believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment." This is public land we're dealing with. It is effectively owned by the public and managed with the public's tax money. As far as I'm concerned I'm most happy for my tax money to be spent responsibly and frugally in managing it. I'm also happy to pay EXTRA to be able to partake in such activities that require additional expenditure to build, maintain and manage, such as MTB trails. Furthermore, if a large group of the public wishes to partake in some other new activity, then they are in fact entitled to use THEIR public land for such a purpose, whatever that might be. It goes without saying that this activity would need to be within the law, does no harm to the environment or to other users and is in keeping with the general intention that these areas are set aside for the protection thereof and for the enjoyment by ALL members of the public, tax paying or not. So, in this case, I'm happy to consider myself 'entitled'. The problem comes when 'entitlement' is misappropriated. In such a case, perhaps we can agree on a different term? I propose 'd**s' as in: 'He's being a d**s about it' I'm open to suggestions.

Thank you for the link. Clearly I did not visit the Hub regularly for many years. I actually did a quick Google search yesterday to try and verify the story, but did not do a Hub search. ????‍♂️ I scanned through it last night and was left with three take-aways: 1. My source either misrepresented the timeline or I mistook the intended meaning. 2. My opinion on SANParks' handling of the matter is unchanged. 3. In voicing said opinion yesterday, I was evidently flogging a horse the Hub had beaten to death in 2015.

That was what I was told at the time and it came from a very reputable source. A week or two after it opened, I was told that someone had been caught in the time-frame I mentioned and were being criminally charged with poaching. Does this sound like the same incident? (Serious question, I'm open to correction)

I don't disagree with you. And just for the record, again, I share no sympathy for riders caught rogue riding and certainly much less so for those treating rangers disrespectfully.

One incident was Cork Tree. To my knowledge, it happened between SanParks announcing the effective date that it would open and the actual opening date, which were a few weeks apart. Second incident happened on the Rhodes Mem singletrack, just left of the main entrance, shortly before it officially opened.

I know rangers are not the police, but SANParks manages safety and security on the mountain and it is their responsibility to ensure the safety of visitors.

Jesus, calm down. No, I'm not ignorant or intellectually challenged, but based on your initial reply, I was being serious. Your initial reply "Puts their overreaction to Dlamini into context now" in response to "According to a SANPaks spokesperson...SANParks rangers are being abused on a regular basis on the mountain by cyclists" would, to any reasonable human being, read as "Cyclists are abusing the rangers, no wonder they assaulted Dlamini" If your thought process was as you stated in your second reply, then I apologise for reading your typed words at face value and not making assumptions about what you may or may not potentially have meant. As for the escalation and where it started, I'm a Capetonian all my life and a mountain biker for 27 years. I'm only too aware of that. Let me tell you about an event that happened to an acquaintance about 15 years ago. He is an avid cyclist and trail runner who lived on Signal Hill at the time. On one of his early morning runs (not RIDES) he was running either from or to the Kramat on Signal Hill, in the dark, with a headlamp on, when he suddenly heard someone shouting at him, something along the lines of "I'VE GOT YOU! I'VE GOT YOU! YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS MORNING!". When he got to the exit of the trail he was met by, at the time the lead ranger, who had assumed he was riding and went into a literal, fuming tirade about "YOU MOUNTAIN BIKERS!!!". It carried on for several minutes with him repeatedly pointing out that he was RUNNING and very clearly did not have a bicycle with him. I still remember him saying that this completely unreasonable, reactionary idiot was actually allowed to carry a gun, which he was at the time. This was at a time when mountain biking was much less popular and there were far, far fewer of us on the mountain. One gets the impression that SANParks sees cyclists riding illegal trails as criminals that must be caught at all costs, yet they don't seem to have the desire to catch muggers and murderers. You hardly ever see a ranger on the mountain, yet there have been two occasions where SANParks have declared that certain trails would be opened to cyclists and have then followed up by posting rangers at those specific points to catch riders. Were the riders I know of who got caught in two such cases on separate trails in the wrong for riding there? Yes, they were. But it speaks volumes of the attitude of SANParks that they would be so petty to go to such lengths to catch (and charge criminally in one case) riders trying to enjoy a trail that's going to be opened anyway in literally a few days. As I see it, it's not the riders who were antagonistic. I'm not in any way condoning riding illegal trails, the assault on the rangers or the bad treatment they endure. In fact, I strongly condemn all of it. I make a point to always interact in a friendly manner with them and to thank them for their work and I ride legal trails only. However, if they want to know why they don't receive respect, they might want to consider how much they give the people they're supposed to be serving.

Is this trolling, sarcasm or ignorance...?

I've never seen anyone console someone with such a pointy finger ???? I saw some comments last night that implied Impey intentionally swerved to block Stannard, but honestly, if you look at overhead footage, I just don't believe that. https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/1396093618474074114?s=20

Guess you didn't have much interest after all

Not an Ellsworth, but a zooty FS nonetheless. I've never actually used lockouts. I did for a while on the above mentioned SS, but never on other bikes, especially FS bikes because back in the day they didn't have lockout and it just felt weird locking out the fork and not being able to do the same on the rear suspension. These days I ride a 140mm travel trail hardtail with no lockout. Even if the fork had it, I wouldn't use it. I derive great pleasure from hammering up climbs out of the saddle and trying to limit the movement in the fork with correct technique. It's quite a rewarding exercise. I haven't measured, but I would be seriously surprised if my 140mm softly set up fork moves more than 5-10mm. This is not bragging. It really is quite easy. I do realise most people probably think it's ridiculous to want to do this when there is a switch that can do it for you and do it better. To each their own. They're PDK/DSG wannabe (or pretend to be?) racers while I'm a manual gearbox kind of guy.

Generally, among most of my friends, we tend to mock and belittle users of lockouts. The only lockout I ever had was on my 26in singlespeed hardtail. It just happened to come with the fork I bought for the build. I was mercilessly derided for having that ugly switch on my otherwise clean SS handlebar. Somewhere along our 2 week long roadtrip to and from SSWC 2012 (5 MTB nuts in a van for 2 weeks with few showers and much beer) I happened to crash my bike. It was while on ANOTHER epic 5/6/7 hour SS mission in the remote Transkei and we hadn't stopped for boiled (soft) potatoes or (HARD) eggs in hours and as a result I wasn't quite myself. In the eventful yet utterly stupid crash, I smacked my knee hard against said remote, completely destroying it and cutting my knee open (there is incriminating video evidence somewhere I believe) This was promptly followed by "karma" "that's what you get!" and an unexpectedly touching "trust us, this might hurt now, but one day you'll be grateful this happened" I've since learned that a TRUE mountain biker does not need silly gimmicks like 'lockout'...pffft

This is one of those products I feel like buying simply because it is so well thought out and designed, even though I honestly have absolutely no use for it. Well done!

I don't doubt that it will. The quality is exceptional in my opinion.

Not necessarily when you're mountain biking. Definitely worth it for me. I'm not going to Uber for a flat tire. The least you need for that is a pump. Being annoyed with small, practically useless pumps as it stands, the quality of this pump and the fact I don't have to carry anything in my shirt pocket, makes this absolute perfection for me.

I got mine from Stoke. They generally keep them in stock.

https://www.oneupcomponents.com/products/edc-tool-system and https://www.oneupcomponents.com/products/edc-plug-pliers-kit which all fits inside https://www.oneupcomponents.com/products/edc-pump which is the best minipump I've seen in 27 years of riding, so negates the need for a bomb in my opinion (unless you're a pro XC racer, which you're not) plus if you want to carry a tube https://www.oneupcomponents.com/products/edc-gear-strap You'd need some pretty bad luck to still get stuck in the mountains with this setup!

https://www.oneupcomponents.com/products/edc-tool-system EDC Tools has way more features than the SWAT tool. It and the pump (the best mini pump I have ever used in 27 years of riding) combined cost R2200. You can carry the tool only (R1100) in the headtube, but I carry it on the frame in the pump seeing as I prefer to ride with a pump over bombs anyway.

I once nearly ran over two cyclists while driving up Du Toits Kloof Pass. I was doing 100km/h (the legal limit on the pass) and came around a corner and there they were, chatting away in the middle of the road. This is the reason I understand the OP's views on this type of behaviour. That day I didn't do a thing. I didn't hoot (not even friendly hoots). I didn't gesticulate. I didn't slow down or stop and politely ask them to consider their actions. That is because every time I have done this, I have been met with aggression, swearing and the middle finger. ***Every. Single. Time. I completely understand why motorists think cyclists are wankers. ***Except that time I jokingly asked a paraplegic cyclist if he should be running red lights if he was already in a wheelchair...he took it surprisingly well

If you tell me that you have truthfully tried for more than 1 or 2 meals, more like 1 or 2 months, to cook only vegan meals, then I’ll see your statement as having credibility. I was a COMPLETE & TOTAL meat lover! Most of my friends reckoned I cooked the best steak they'd ever eaten. I use to eat at least 2 packets of bacon a week. I once cooked a dinner that included bacon in all three courses. I ADORED quality cured meats! Steak pies, Lefty's ribs, boerewors, hot-dogs, burgers, prego rolls, schnitzel, espetada! I would book business trips to JHB to coincide with Espetada Thursday at a Portuguese restaurant close to my biggest then client. I was convinced that, in the words of Jeremy Clarkson, it was an animal's duty to be on my plate at supper time. I saw meat as dinner and veggies as a sideshow that didn't really warrant much attention. And there-in lies the problem. Perspective. My viewpoint started shifting about 12 months ago when I first properly started questioning my habits. I’ve been vegan since June this year. I am eating more tasteful food than I ever have in my life. It took and continues to take effort to find new and different ways to prepare the foods that I personally never really paid much attention to. Just in the same way that it took years and years to learn how to cook a meat-base diet well and tastefully. If you look past the one-dimensional view a lot of people have of food, you realize that there is likely a bigger world of opportunity for taste, texture and adventure in vegetables. What you cannot do is expect to radically change a fundamental component of your everyday, lifelong, complex habits and then expect it to just be easy and simple and straightforward off the bat.

Erm...it appears to say exactly what I said...? "In South Africa we often refer to roundabouts as “traffic circles”..." "As you enter the roundabout, traffic coming from your right has right of way. This means that traffic streaming into the roundabout from the entrance to your right will keep coming as long as no one is coming from their right. These cars may not even slow down as they enter the roundabout, because they have the right of way. You must stop and wait until there is a break in traffic"