MintSauce

Was in Holland a few years ago. We remarked to our taxi driver that we were amazed at the patience shown by drivers towards cyclists. I was surprised when in response, he told us about this legislation. Didn't know about it at the time. In his mind it forced people to 'think bike' if I can use that term and was the reason why motorists showed such care and patience. If you mention it to motorists locally they all think it's ridiculous and unfair. The law isn't intended to automatically lay blame with the motorists. It just places to burden of proof with the motorist. He has to prove that it wasn't his fault. They need to realise that it's not about apportioning blame, but rather forcing motorists who are in 99% of cases going to walk away unharmed to consider the other party who in 99% of cases will not walk away from the incident and quite possibly lose their life. Problem is South Africans are to f_ing selfish to care.

You can buy my size Large Motolite frame for R3000...? It comes with a spare hanger as well as a spare rear shock. If you MUST have a hanger only, I ordered from CRC some time ago. They stock a brand called North Shore Billet http://northshorebillet.com/products/derailleur-hangers/or you could potentially order from them direct.

Rumours suggest there is a bike mechie in Cape Town who can disassemble an STI and then, retracing his steps, can reassemble it, on a good day. There's also a rumour that there's another mechie in the Mother City who can reassemble an STI if you hand him a box of parts. I think his name is 'Fiekie' or something like that...? I cannot confirm or deny these rumours. That is simply what I have heard.

I've never really understood this line of thinking. You do realise that a mountainbiker has won the Tour de France?

I think Dave mentioned a figure in the region of 12k for production/non-customised frames, like the Hungry Monkey. Full custom frames are quite a bit more obviously. However, you only need to look at pricing on some of the european and american builders to realise that Dave's prices are a relative bargain!

Thank you for the response! So much information. Appreciate it!

There's actually one of those in Cape Town. Was featured in one of the local mags a year or two ago.

Hi All, I fitted a set of Specialized Turbo Pro 25c tyres to my bike at the beginning of November. This week I noticed lines running along the circumference of the rear tyre. Please see attached pic. Seems to me like some sort of separation between two different tread compounds. The tyres have done somewhere between 1000-1500km. The rear is beginning to square off as they normally do, although not normally at this low mileage. Has anyone experienced anything like this before? What sort of mileage are others getting from these specific tyres?

Tienie, I hate to break it to you, perhaps you want to sit down for this... There are lots of other bikes on the market besides Spaz.... Also, these other bikes are as good as or even better than Spaz... Also, some of these bike brands will charge you prices that are not a complete rip-off... Just saying

Shebeen: You made me laugh rock: I take the opposite line. I go and experience these things to tempt me and motivate me to earn them ;-) Amberdrake: Thanks for the tips, will try it sometime Velouria: I pop in from time to time. Sometimes interesting. Lots of crap around so most days I just turn around, walk out and shut the door :-)

I probably just looking for attention or an excuse to show off, but I think this thread deserves some www.mercerbikes.co.za

Shimano wire = Di2 wires in differing lengths with plugs on each end, used to connect the various components, junction boxes and battery. You build it and I'll try it, Stevie ;-)

Thanks Nick. Accidental shifts will be highly unlikely. They require a fair amount of force to activate, as in you won't activate a shift by just brushing the switch. There's a definite 'click'.

I considered putting them under the bartape and initially actually bought switches with shorter buttons, but I was worried about (1) being able to locate them and (2) them being activated by tightly wound tape. Those issues were both minor though, I actually decided i wanted them to protrude slightly. I went with silicone simply because I've never used heatshrink and have no means of applying/shrinking it. Also, wasn't sure how it would work around the button. Is it worth maybe going that route? Totally DIY, but it actually looks pretty neat. All the hacks are hidden under the tape :-)

Hi Guys, posted a little write-up of the process of DIY'ing my remote shifters https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/147269-diy-di2-remote-button-hack-job/

Last year I was fortunate enough to finally scrape together the funds for a Di2 groupset. Since it was initially launched I've loved the idea of clicking a button to shift, as opposed to the normal long lever throws required. I have to say, I miss a certain part of the tactility of a mechanical system. For example, when climbing under power being able to feel the tension build as you push the lever and the chain starts to shift and being able to ease off the power accordingly to allow it to move to the next gear. However, one of my biggest annoyances while riding a road bike with it's multitude of bar positions, is the need to let go of the bar when needing to shift, when climbing with hands on top of the bar or cruising/descending with your hands low down on the drops. As such, an upgrade to remote buttons was something I looked forward to. Except, the system Shimano offers just seems so badly executed to me. The climbing shifter is an ugly monstrosity that I simply could never attach to my bike. It's just too big. Heaven knows why. Some say it needs a circuit board in the enclosure. That's bollocks. The sprinter buttons on the other hand make more sense, but seeing as I won't ever be engaged in a sprint, didn't really offer a good solution either. I thought of buying them and extending the cables, but the cost of R1700+ seemed like too much. Thus I started doing some research to see if anyone had DIY'd a system. I found a link to a setup that used 2x micro switches http://benmanson.com/review/di2/di2buttons.htm This involved still acquiring a Shimano cable extension with their unique 4-point plug, at over R1000 for the cable. Again, the cost seemed silly, but at least this proved that the circuit board in the climbing shifter was not needed. Further research on one of the road bike forums revealed that the different looking plugs on the sprint shifters were rumoured to be an attempt by Shimano to make users believe that that was the only solution. However, several users reported that the standard Di2 electrical wire and plugs would work. The idea of using the sprinter ports and having a button either side of the bar/stem also appealed to me more than using the climbing button port. Using the climbing port meant both buttons would be on the same side. Also, I wanted buttons below the drops as well and I felt 2 buttons mounted on one side would be too bulky. I decided to order a 1m cable from CWC and upon receiving it cut it in half, stripped of the ends, plugged it in to the sprinter port and found the system shifted when the 2 wire ends touched. Voila. I then ordered some IP67 rated micro tactile switches from RS Online http://za.rs-online.com/web/p/tactile-switches/7931664/ It was a pretty simple process, even though I'd never soldered anything before in my life. Below a few pics depicting the process: The completed 'wiring loom'. Sorry the pic is out of focus, but I only realised this after completion Soldered button I applied a glob of silicone to the buttons, allowed it to dry and then trimmed it. The buttons are dust and splash proof, but obviously water would still cause a short between the two wires. I taped the wire and button to the bar as you would normal cables and wires Below the drops, I used some double-sided tape to lessen the transition between the bar and the button. Like I said, hack job. I enlarged one of the holes on the bartape to accommodate the buttons. And the finished product

Lovely bike! So tempted to add one of their CX bikes to the stable. Just trying to justify a CX. You know, n + 1 :-)

R1695...? I realize you don't set the price as these come from Shimano, but that is why I decided to DIY these. Well, the price and also the ridiculousness that is Shimano's climbing shifter. I'm sorry, but aesthetics are very important to me and there's no way I can fit that enormous, ugly as dogshit shifter to my bike....with cableties. Really Shimano? The courier delivered my micro-switches this morning(R10 each plus R95 postage), combined with a 1m Di2 cable from CWC for R299, a soldering iron and an hour or two should have me up and running with 4x remote buttons(2x climbing and 2x below the drops)....assuming I don't mess it up :-)

Thank you kindly. I ordered that in May, slaved over every detail for months, got it from the painters last Monday, built it up and then handed it over, unridden, so Dave could take it to the show. Hopefully I'll be able to throw a leg over it for the first time this weekend :-D

I bought a set of these. These guys were very helpful. Good communication, fast shipping and even slightly negotiable when I haggled them about their shipping costs. http://www.ebay.com/itm/171344767444?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT They're built up and ready to go. Just waiting for my new frame to be completed.

Hey Chaps, C-Record 8-spd wheelset for sale if anyone is interested: https://www.bikehub.co.za/classifieds/92966-vintage-campagnolo-c-record-8-spd-wheelset/

Any thoughts on the braking perfomance of these wheels vs more expensive carbon wheels? Dry and wet weather? Keen to order a set of rims and build them up, but as a friend said, all carbon braking surfaces are not equal. Thanks

Agreed. Dan is your man. www.irideafrica.com

For now, I will stick to my decision to boycott Tokai. Firstly, it's more expensive than anywhere else but the riding is sub-standard(last time I checked). Secondly, not a single penny of the money SANParks charges is put to trail maintenance or expansion. It all comes from donations and volunteer work.(also, last time I checked) They won't be taking the piss out of mountain bikers when(not if) they eventually charge a grand, they already are.

+1 for www.irideafrica.com They always have the latest bikes available and you'll hardly ever ride a bike that's more than 6 months old. I think they just got a bunch of 2014 Giant models in. Yes, it will be a lot more expensive than a 2nd hand, low spec cheapie, but if you can't ride the trails on a decent bike then what's the point really?