If so, what lubricant do you use for the ratchets? DT Swiss say that normal grease is too thick and that you should use their ‘special grease’ which I understand costs more than $60 for a 20g tub (and is not readily available). Are you aware of any alternatives? Some posts on the web suggest that this grease is actually Dow Corning Molykote TP 42 which I have found can be purchased in Australia, however only in 1kg tins. Seems a waste to buy so much as it would last one bike about 1,000 years. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The Door has been opened, but nothing is offical yet. Check here and read the reports.

Forget that helmet cam you were eyeing up... here's a pair of sunnies with video recorder built right in:

http://www.immortal.co.uk/

Luckily they have interchangable lenses but still look a little... erm... odd.

Cameras like this need an 'always recording' feature and a button you press to save the last... erm... 60 seconds or so, so you can start your recording after an 'incident'. If you know what I mean?

OK, so only SD for now and clearly a bit limited, but I like the way this tech is going

Relatively late notice but looks like the Capital Punishment is on this year on the 29th May.

Entries open 18 March.

http://www.arocsport.com.au/MTB_Capital/mtb_capital_home.html

"A woman was bitten by a snake in the Blue Mountains this afternoon, the second attack today and the eighth in six days.

The Ambulance Service said the jump in snake bites could reflect "the high incidence of wet, overcast but warm conditions" combined with a few dry days here and there.

Australian Reptile Park general manager Mary Rayner said last month the park had recorded a "huge increase" in snake-identification requests on its website, as well as many phone calls.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/week-of-the-snake-bites-victim-no8-20100309-pv...

This is a little bit sick and I hope no-one here will need one, but...

... it's also a bit cool

http://gizmodo.com/5479193/casttoo-x+ray-cast-wraps-replace-pity-with-awe

I've become quite use to seeing crushed up glass when riding on trails around the northern beaches but rarely see glass scattered at other locations outside this area. Is the answer as simple as disgruntled locals?

I am in a bit of a panic, perhaps unnecessarily at this stage but looking for suggestions! I have planned to go away with a bunch of people with the families, mainly so that the guys can go off and ride. I do not get away that often and never with the primary purpose of riding. Yesterday my front disc brakes on my 3 month old Giant packed it in. I took it back to the LBS and they were able fit it in to look at this morning but called me to say that it had to go in for a warranty repair that will take between 1 and 2 weeks.

This is the title of an interesting peice from singletracks.com:

http://www.singletracks.com/blog/trail-advocacy/illegal-trail-builders-r...

The writer says, "...renegade mountain bikers had secretly cut up to 30 miles of trails... Despite having 255 miles of trail access in national forests around Tahoe, that isn’t enough for the free-riders."

These guys overseas have 255 miles (410km) of local trails, and I'd assume much of this would be dedicated to MTB. Looking at our own back yard, we have 187km of trails (this includes some, known illegal trails) and only the recent action at Manly Dam makes around 2km of them dedicated for MTB riding.

The writer goes on, "On the spectrum of things that are bad for the reputation of our sport, building illegal trails has to be one of the worst (if not the worst) things we can do. So if you’re thinking about putting a shovel to dirt this spring on land you don’t own or have permission to use, give us all a break and volunteer with your local club to improve existing trails."

You have to agree with this and that the only way forward is by doing things the legal way. It's a nice idea to channel energy into clubs, but the issue here is that our local clubs don't have the authority to maintain trails so in reality there is no outlet for those wanting to do the right thing.

So while I completely agree that illegal building is damaging, local authorities need to look overseas and realise that in order to prevent it they must engage local riders. What this also shows is that no matter what utopian trail network that exists, sadly there will always be a rogue element (100% compliance is an unrealistic goal), but that the majority of riders will pitch in to undo any damage rogues may do given the chance.

Hi all, just after second hand rear shock for a mates old bike, thought i start here first.

[Mod: moved to MTB Gear]

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xcg3ow