Bram_on_Madone

I got those in the link and very happy (weigh in at 1,380 grams)

Gatorskins will do fine and they'll be on special at the Argus expo again (they always are). If you start taking things a little more seriously though, you may want to use a lighter tyre for racing, as the Gator's bulk make them "give" quite a lot in corners and they generally have fairly high rolling resistance. Re pressure, I would say 9 bar is pushing it with your weight and is probably contributing to your punctures - max on most clinchers is 8 bar and you should probably shave off a whisker for your weight.

1.84 is borderline for 58, so probably err towards 56. If you're a novice, its not going to make that much difference anyway. Get the bike you can get the best deal on (cheap one), decide if you like cycling and then spend some real time finding a dream machine (and sell the junky cheap one you started with). Its also not such an exact science as some people (mainly those making money from it) lead you to believe.

Working on seconds my beta was also 0.91 (0.909506 to be precise) - it looks like everybody's Beta is the same for a particular race. As this is effectively the regression coefficient, it wouldn't make sense if it differed. On further thought - I don't think PPA has a very scientific approach to establish the ghost rider time. They'll calculate the Beta based on the spread and then play around with the ghost time until they end up with a seeding spread that they're happy with.

The indeces have definitely gotten tougher - maybe the average rider out there is fitter? Also, there was a fair bit more wind in last year's race, so the field would have been spread out more. Personally I improved my time by about 15min's which improved my index by 4 points, which doesn't seem totally unrealistic. If you got a 32 index, you're probably riding group H or I in the PPA races - the question is, are you riding away from everybody there and winning your group? If this is the case I would call PPA and ask them to bump me up. If you have come top 5 in your group in a few races (preferably with a time gap), and you're not moving in the seeding, they should be quite willing to listen.

I'm the first one to complain about the untransparent seedings, but its definitely possible to move up. I've only been riding seriously for about 18 months and I've moved up from M in spring 2009 to E now, without any cheating, just hard work. I'll probably get whacked this weekend in E, but looking forward to it! If the seedings were too lenient, everybody would be riding A-D by the end of the season and there would be nobody left in the lower letters....

Have you ever ridden the groupset without the noise? I know a few guys that replaced the red casette with Dura-Ace, as the former is inherently noisy as its cast in one piece.

And pop 2 snake oil pills 3x a day

My 11-27 is on a standard 53/39 crank - I definitely use the 53 / 11 quite often. Almost impossible to hang onto a fast (slight downhill) sprint if you don't have this combination unless you can spin like a mosquito. Regarding the references to compact cranks - you won't need more than a 23 at the back when using the small 34 blade. A 34 / 27 combination will have you spinning like crazy and probably going backwards up a steep incline....

Just got an e-mail that I've been seeded % for the 99'er. Now I'm as glad about a good seeding as the next guy, but what are the chances I'm going to get chewed up and spat out

Definitely not possible - unless he was towed by a motorcyle!

I use an Ultegra 11-27, I rarely use the 27, but its nice to have just in case your not feeling too strong up a steep climb (like Vissershok). Just watch out before you buy though - as many of the casettes with bigger ratio's are not compatable with older rear derailleurs.

Of course its not possible - the guy obviously took a short cut or slipped onto the short route by accident. I'm sure a hundred people have already e-mailed and phoned Racetec about it though and it will probably be fixed in the morning.

Thanks - I'll check them out

I have 2 friends coming to visit from Holland and they want to do a 9 day bike trip and are looking to rent decent trail bikes or hybrids (this is what they own in Holland). The cheapest I've been able to find is R200 /day, which seems a bit pricey - anybody got any ideas

This is quite a fun ride. A fair bit easier than the Cobra actually, its just Ou Kaapse right in the beginning that punishes you a bit - if you drop out here, it'll be a lonely ride into the wind...

I phoned the council last week and they promised to try and clear away the thorns - I specifically mentioned the stretch between Sunset Beach and Dolphin Beach. Took a spin past there on Saturday and the lane was clean as a whistle . Woofie: btw let us know how your tubeless exploits go - considered it a while back, but read too many troubling comments on the internet about road tubeless.

B for me also - look forward to the pain!

I hope you're trying to be funny - if not you have shown a prejudiced stance towards white people, the middle class and those that happen to drive a SUV. That would make you a bigot.

?? :blink: Am I missing something?? I have done plenty of roadside patches with my road bike in 5 minutes and no problems? I don't have anything fancy on me - just two tyre levers and a R12.99 repair kit. Find the spot (by inflating the tyre a bit); sand it down a bit with that little mettle grate thingy; slobber on some glu; wait for a minute (blow a bit if its not windy - usually not necessary in Cape Town) and stick the patch on; check the tyre for sharp objects and remount. Where's the catch? :blink:

I completely agree. You will get twits everywhere and its not dependent on their mode of transport. Cyclists are, however, the weaker members of road traffic by virtue of the fact that in 99% of collisions they will come off worse than the driver of a motorised vehicle. It is the duty of society to protect its weaker members through regulation and enforcement even where these weaker members may be displaying idiotic behaviour. This is similar to a fraudster (say a Nigerian 419 scamster) that preys on people that do not have the intelligence or eduction to know that are being conned - the law still tries to protect these people by prosecuting the fraudsters and we don't have rafts of people blogging that its their fault for falling for the con in the first place. A further (pretty strong) argument is that government at various levels should be doing as much as possible to encourage cycling - both as reacreation and a commuter vehicle. There are many obvious reasons for this including - reducing congestion on roads, mobilising the poor (with no access to private cars), encouraging healthy living (heart disease is still the single biggest cost to our society), etc. The argument of who is at fault is completely irrelevant and so is whether motorists are irritated or not.

For a few days yes and then they come off unexpectedly.... But to answer the previous question - patching works fine for road tubes. Also, if you do it right you don't really have to wait very long for the glue to dry. Regarding the thorns - I definitely don't want them to use poison or weedeaters. I was suggesting a good old shovel and bag to just dig up the plants that are growing right on the edge or partially over the track. This should take a diligent guy about half a day and probably only needs to be done once every few months.

There was a lot of grumbling on the hub when the city started building the new cycle lane which extends roughly from Tableview to the city, but I have found it a great addition to our city and enjoy the fact that there is at least a small stretch on my training rides where I don't have to worry about being knocked by a car and I utilise the lanes frequently. In the last week, however, I have twice had a puncture from a "duweltjie" on the stretch between Sunset Beach and Dolphin Beach, as there are a large number of these thorn baring plants on the sides of the cycle lane. With the city's "official opening" happening on the 1st Feb, does anybody know who I can talk to get a few guys out there to clear the weeds?

Is this university initiation that I haven't heard about or the rusty spear variety?

I also went on an end-less search for a clicking noise coming from my handlebar... Eventually gave up and have now accustomed myself to the sound