Went out with a bunch of mates, cracking ride, good company, a couple of well earned beers. Stuck my bike in the shed, gave it a pat. All’s good.

I’m with the OP on this. Given the huge amount of kit out there, the OP (like me) would have spent hours agonizing over all the details in minutia, before laying down the stupid amount of $’s we pay for bikes these days. That 180 rotor becomes important. It’s all relative see.

Get it sorted, otherwise every time you look at your pride and joy, you’ll think about that rotor.

Spent a good few hours tweaking and cleaning ready for proper dusty sunny ride with mates. Minutes before leaving, figured I would pop a little more pressure in rear tire, only to have the valve core fail, instantly flat. Swore like a sailor. :evil:

My great, great, great grandfather was a Pirate! Drowned when ship sank in Great China Sea. Arrrgh!

My paycheck. Hooray!

+1 for the Bonty mud. Excellent, I run them on my SS.

More than my car.

I’m in agreement with Molgrips here. My personal hate is people overtaking me on a slip-road to join main carriageway, across double lines. Just causes everybody to pile in towards narrow end of slip-road, braking, and general chaos, all because some monkey saw a gap not even a dentist would spot.

Problem is Molegrips, everybody is just out there for themselves. Might be a case of, cant beat ’em..

Hogs Back TEA. (Traditional English Ale) All good.

I got chatting to a pretty girl in the airport lounge in Vegas a few weeks ago. Till her husband turned up. ‘Nice to meet you Nicholas Cage’. 8O

Yes.

I usually resist wading into these types of discussions, but seriously, if you want to compare 3rd world with 1st world, don’t be surprised by the content.

I’m a South African (Married an English rose). You cant beat SA for quality of life, but the standard of living is very different. Cape Town is indeed in a bubble compared to most other cities for a number of political and socioeconomic reasons.

You take the same precautions in SA that you would take in any other foreign country. Are the risks of being exposed to violence higher? Of course, but lets not throw proverbial baby out with the bathwater. There are horror stories in every area, in every country.

Go, make the most of it. Don’t take the security issue for granted, but don’t let it overshadow you experience of one of the most diverse and beautiful countries in the world.

I own a big fancy bling’d up FS bike.

I also have (for many years now) an original 29’er on-one Inbred SS, upon which I was grinning like an idiot while out riding this morning. Also had a lot of fun on the Summer Season slacker hardtail, and a rather amazing Pompino. On-one is all good in my book.

Bah. What you want is one of these!

A look through the reviews is worthwhile!
The Zenith Men’s Defy Xtreme Tourbillon Titanium Chronograph Watch

Burly you say? Here’s mine:

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Pain on the uphill? I love the sound of derailleurs chattering away as the group madly downshifts up the hill. Then settle on the back wheel of the guy in front, and sure enough, at some point, they drop another gear, and you spin past ’em.

As a general rule:
Anything invented before you were born is old.
Anything invented before you turn 50 is revolutionary.
Anything invented after you turn 50 is pointless, a waste of time, and just plain dangerous.

My kids don’t know how work a tape player. :roll:

It all make sense now, thanks!

Now before a downhill, I can:
1. Drop my post
2. Turn off pro-pedal
3. Open full travel on Talas fork
4. Adjust compression ration
5. Dissengage lockout
6. Flick rear mech toggle on and off and do an a/b test and go “this is AWESOME!” :D

All this stuff MUST make me a better rider! :roll:

We used to worship cats. The cats have not forgotten that. – Terry Pratchet.

I want a shed inside a plane!

:D Vampire Zombie Crows!

Hitchcock would be proud!

Torque
Power-band
Superchargers
Chassis
lbw

A friend called in a panic asking for help in convincing his sister that Isaac was not an appropriate name for her newborn son.

Her surname was Cox.

It took a while, but she eventually twigged.

@ Rocketdog, those trails look a bit familiar. Anywhere near Hydons Ball?

FWIW, calling round suppliers and going for ‘bundles’ like fork and frame, or wheelset and fork etc does pay off. Most LBS & suppliers can afford to knock of a couple of hundred quid if its new (latest) or top end stuff.

I did this last year, thinking I could beat the RRP by building it myself. It was an expensive build (+- 3.7k)

The only reason I may have come out even is because of online retailer discounts and sales. If I had to factor in the cost of the tools required, I’d be well out of pocket. (LBS did the crown race and headset fitting)

Did get the spec I wanted though, and that nice feeling of having built it up myself.

[/url] air[/url]

Flying 29er! (Transition Bandit 29)

Knock knock?
Who’s there?
Isabelle.
Isabelle who?
Isabelle really necessary on a bicycle?

I don’t know, it looks like an error, or mistranslation. If you took out the word ‘not’ it reads better. At least it makes the “However…” statement make (more) sense..?

um, I think its the other way round. Braking would be a beneficial force, pulling the wheel back, while pedal stomp would want to pull the wheel in. As mentioned, the effect of the spacers on the wheel means the forces are compounded on the drive side even more.

+1 for wwaswas. Given you are probably running a dished wheel with spacers, the pull is amplified on the drive side only, ergo, single chaintug is all that is required.

I bought a 456 frame (on sale) simply because I had enough spare parts lying around to finish it. It was rubbish, so spent plenty moola making it not rubbish (new forks, brakes, drivetrain, tyres)

Then I sold it. mmm.. :?:

One can only assume that hammer was used to dramatically un-straighten a perfectly good downpost?

*gasp*

If a tree falls in a forest, and a mime hears it, do you care?
Blackfriars.

The Panaracers are also pretty good.

Sorry mmel. Got me there, not tried the Captains :oops:. I have these in the shed / on the bike:
Conti explorers, pinch flats, more then I care to remember. Never again.
Bontrager, general and various sizes and guises, all very average, designed for American / Californian sand.

Maxis Ardent 2.4s, did Alps and South Downs, great all rounders, but if you even say the words “wet roots” your bike will just fall over by itself.

Bontrager MudX 2.0, fantastic all year round. I keep them on the SS.

I tried the Spesh combo (ground Control & Purgatory)at the start of last year on my new FS. I was pretty impressed. Hammered around CodYb, very good on a tubeless setup, a few rear wheel washouts on hard and fast berms, but I was running pretty low pressure.

On-One Chunky Monkey, took up a cheap pre Christmas deal, just one 2.4 for the front. Really struggled on a longer route that had a lot of roadwork included. It’s sticky with a high rolling resistance. But, truly redeemed itself last night in the snow!

I will be going back to the Purgatory up front soon. The Spesh GC has been very good all year, even in the deep sludge.

Btw, these are all 29er versions.

@mmel: Ground Control on the back, purgatory on the front. Sorted.

Two words: The Jedi.