bikemonster

All I did was wander into the bike shop and announce to the first person I saw that I want to buy a bike. Was that wrong?

Hi All Interested to hear your opinions on these bikes. I like Scott; my road bike is a CR1 and I absolutely love it. So that pre-disposes me toward the Spark. Prolly a Spark 40. But I like the not-so-obviousness of the Santa Cruz Superlight. Then there's the fact that I can spec it in a colour scheme to float my own personal boat. I'd prolly need to downspec the Superlight slightly to get it for a similar price as the Spark 40, but I figure that just means that I get to upgrade stuff on a well-regarded frame over time. I'm not terribly weight weenie, and for a MTB I figure my technique (or lack) and the bike's ability to roll over stuff counts for more than weight difference anyway. As a plus, the LBS that carries Santa Cruz is more than happy to tailor the bike to meet my needs, whereas the LBS's that carry other brands have the quaint notion that letting me watch them navigate websites somehow equates to service and salesmanship. Hmmm. I may have just answered my question. So, my imaginary friends, let me have your wisdom... James bikemonster2010-03-22 07:21:27

General training schedules are usually pretty useless, unless you're a general person. But I can help. In two points: 1 - Ride your bike more. 2 - Concentrate on what you suck at. MTB training tends to bring strength, road training tends to deliver aerobic fitness. This assumes that you are MTBing on challenging terrain and doing your road training on the kind of terrain that lets you train your aerobic system. James

Mackie, Chrispy: unwad your panties. The OP said that he had heard a rumour and asked if there was any truth in the (acknowledged) rumour. The question was not "have you heard that...?" but "is it true what I heard?". Isn't that igzackerly what an open forum is for?

Well ... that's just not cricket' date=' old chap![/quote'] It's not beer either, old boy.

Hi Geno If you're not being paid to ride a bike, you don't need anything more than Tiagra. You may however want more, but the gains are largely in the happiness department. And happiness is important, so if you can afford an upgrade, I say go for it. Your bike won't be appreciably faster, but if the money is there, you will be appreciably happier. One thing to bear in mind is that the consumables - cassette and chains - will be more expensive as you move up the food chain. You can't run with the wolves and p!ss with the puppies, so if you can't live with the more expensive running costs, don't bother with the upgrade. James

After an earlier query in the hub, I am swayed to look for a soft tail MTB. And it looks like being a Scott Spark, but I am also open to persuasion on the Merida 96, and the Sant Cruz Superlight is an outside option at this stage. Today, after considering my options, I visited two local nationally known bike stores (I am in Durbanville). In both of them the BSG's ran out of knowledge pretty quickly (what are the main differences between these two models?), and off we went to surf the fcuking web!!! "Dude, I can surf the web at home, this is not getting us anywhere" was my response. In one store, not known for its keen pricing, after I explained that my price range was about R20K, the BSG showed me a full carbon Merida. "But it's a bit more than R20K" he said. "How much more?" I am well aware of upselling techniques, and TBH, open to persuasion. "It's R39,999." "Dude, that's not a bit more, that's twice as much!" In the same store, a Merida went from "about R20k" during discussion to "R25k, but we might be able to do a bit better than that" by the end of the discussion. They couldn't give me a real price because their systems were offline, but at least that meant that we couldn't surf the Interwebs together. By contrast, at a small local store, the proprietor sat down with me and talked me through the options he could provide, drew diagrams of how different suspension technologies worked and generally did a good job. Sadly, he doesn't sell Scott or Merida, as I'd love to give him the business. What happened to BSG's who acshly knew stuff, who could explain the arcane mysteries of Rockshox Recon vs. Reba, and why XT was better than SLX was better than Deore? Guys who could highlight the differences between bikes from different manufacturers, and between models from one manufacturer. In short, what happened to sales guys who could sell?

Sorry, but since when has wheelsucking not been a legit tactic? It may not be beautiful, it may not win friends but surely wheelsucking is just part of racing?

Flu? Pah! A cold more like. I had leprosy, BSE, tennis elbow, housemaid's knee and one of my legs fell off on the first part of Boyes Drive. Fortunately it grew back just in time for Smits. Lucky also that I'd had the presence of mind to save the cycling shoe.

The finish is a bit hamstrung by the fact that the area around the stadium is still being tidied up. It will prolly be a lot better next year, and I expect that we will have the use of the stadium as we did with the old one. More crowd support? Did you finish before sunrise? Apart from Smits to Scarborough and most of Chappies it felt like there were people lining the whole course.

3:36 in J bunch. Had a largely uneventful and relaxed day, apart from some peabrain in running shorts and a dirt jump style crash hat trying to edge me off the road past UCT and somebody using my rear wheel as a leaning post with predictable results - for him - on the way out of Simons Town.

No, not time travelling...the other Argus, the junior cycle tour. This afternoon I shepherded young "son of bikemonster" around the junior tour course. It was scarier than my vasectomy. Possibly because for this I was awake. Possibly also because I seemed to be the only person who was awake. Son of is 6, and only just qualifies to ride the 10km route, but as his hectic social life meant that we couldn't get there earlier, we rode the 10km. The little guy acquitted himself well. Didn't ride into anybody, rode more or less straight and didn't cause any accidents. The nippers are even more scary and more clueless than the racing juniors. A kid in some or other team kit, shorts and jersey almost took us out twice. The second time I collared him and turned into Protective Dad and told him that if saw him so much as scratch a smaller kid he'd have to answer to me. Apart from that there were kids stopping wherever the hell they were, people overtaking in a sort of random sine wave wobble, over-eager dads yelling for people to get out of their kids' way and people falling off their bikes for no discernible reason, alone on straight pieces of tarmac. I was very pleased to survive the first two laps with my arms still attached to my person and my teeth firmly in their sockets. Son of finished his 10km with a Lance Armstrong signature weary nod of the head as he crossed the finish line; I think I need to lock my TdF dvd's away.

Thanks for that. Don't let the door smack you in the ass on the way out. Bye!

As long as you aren't wobbling around like a drunken hippo on an ice floe, feel free to use my retort to this one: "Where I ride my bike, that *is* my line. Don't overlap your front wheel with my rear wheel and we'll all be fine." Your 1000 ways should also include: * The fcukwit who sits in the middle of the bunch and calls for the pace to be lifted. You want to go faster? Go to the front and show us all how it's done.

Sorry, I'm a grammar nazi. Your site has: "While your hear,take a look at some images from our workshop/offices in Pretoria." Bold section should read "you're here". Also "wet your appetites", on the downloads page should read "whet your appetites". bikemonster2010-02-28 11:43:12

Yes - but usually they use cars to do it. Ever seen some fcukwit "playing" seeing how close he can get to cyclists? Hysterically funny until he gets it wrong and clips somebody

Referring to somebody as a mammary gland past it's sell-by date would come pretty close. It's like porn, or art, you know it when you see it. Attacking a poster personally rather than engaging their argument is often a good starting point. The kind of thing that makes you suck in a breath and think "Oops! Uncool!"

Can I go and fetch a ladder that reaches up to that horse?

If we're concerned about influencing youngsters, I'm more worried about poor spelling, dodgy grammar and weakly constructed arguments than the effect of a choice expletive.

Foul language is a part of everyday life and (certainly my) usage. Personally abusive posts should not be tolerated, and it is very easy to be unpleasant from behind the safety of a keyboard. As for fowl language, well, you coots are clucking crazy! Edited because one "safety of a" is quite adequate.bikemonster2010-02-26 00:56:28

If you're going to upgrade wheels, it seems to me you should go for a mahoosive jump upgrade not just one step up the food chain. Save your money. Buy some cheap-ass, heavy as anything training wheels so that your current wheels feel special again. There's a thread running on the maintenance costs of PowerTap hubs that makes for scary reading.