bikemonster

Yet more BS, Racing Hart. Firstly, who says that weight lost from the bike is at a lower c of g? Do you acshly know what the term means? Think of it this way. Strap a 10kg weight to the top tube of a bike. Go and ride up a hill. Now move the same 10kg weight to one of the chain stays. The bike weighs the same as before you moved the weight, but the centre of gravity of the bike is now lower. THE BIKE WEIGHS THE SAME! It will not be any faster or slower up a climb.

What BikeMax said. And never be apologetic about your kit unless it is way ABOVE your abilities. It's your bike, enjoy it and wallop anybody who gives you grief. Tell 'em I sent you.

Sorry guys, but there is the usual BS of mis-interpreted data going on here. I have no doubt that all of the anecdotal evidence is accurate, that everybody who says I lost x kg and am now z km/h faster over n km is telling the truth. Trouble is, there are two variables at play: weight loss and improved fitness. There is no way to split them out. You train and gain power and lose weight. How do we know how much of the improved speed is attributable to improved power and how much to lost weight? Answer, we don't. For a non-obese person there is a danger that losing weight can mean losing muscle mass, which makes blanket suggestions that we all need to lose weight potentially dangerous. (Not that I am accusing anybody here of having made that dangerous suggestion.) Ride your bike, eat sensibly, try and cut out eating garbage, as much as you can, and you will get faster. It really is that simple.

So from here on in every dad taking his son's bike in for a service, or vice versa, will form the basis of a "suspicious bike APB" on the Hub, as will every bald guy with a boep, who can finally afford his dream bike, when he takes his C-50 in for a service. Would you service a stolen bike before you sell it for R150 beer money?

The Ksyrium Equipe and Ksyrium Elite are very different wheels. The Equipe is just an extremely cheeky bit of brand extension.

Holy carp! That's 8 weeks of full time employment to build a trike! That's nuts, but not in a good way. Labour of love? Labour of lunacy more like. I am assuming that he mined the metals, vulcanised the rubber from a tree, slaughtered the cow, tanned its hide, chewed the pigments for the paint and drew the spoke wire all by hand for him to take that long. And after all of that... "No sweetie, you can't ride it, it's too special!"

Remember kids, if a bike is: Expensive it's stiff and responsive. But if it's a cheap bike it's harsh. Expensive bikes offer a plush ride. Cheap bikes flex. Expensive bikes are responsive. Cheap bikes are twitchy. bikemonster2007-02-28 08:14:24

IIRC 15% import duty and VAT at 14% of (cost + 10%).

You can always tell your wife that things could be a lot worse. Tell her you don't spend money on drugs, pole dancers or (worst of the lot) golf. This is the defence that I use. Of course, it won't acshly work for you if you DO spend your money on these things.

IIRC list price is around R15K. Everything I have read says that the Orca is a great frame. If it's the right size for you go ahead and buy it.

Why would a reputable (oh, make it stop, make it stop!) product be sold via multi level marketing? Could the answer possibly be because it's a scam? It's not new technology baffling conservative minds, it's an attempt at bullsheot baffles brains, that's all.

As long as you have more than one bottle of beer, you don't need no bottle opener. And why bother with a single bottle?

It's the cat's fault. Curiosity. Gets 'em every time.

Damn! Ice coffee with some paper and two sticks floating around it. And worse yet, some Austrian professor just called to blame me for the death of his cat.

I think it's kind of like a Thermos flask, which can keep things hot or cold. Right now, in my Thermos I have a double espresso and an Eskimo Pie.

Bullsh*t-o-meter WAY-Y-Y over into the red!

Too bad you ignored Kritzinger1 - it could have been even smoother than that. Glad it's all sorted.

Usual advice is to always change cassette and chain together, especially if you suspect that either of them is worn. Chain and cassette are items where you generally can "trade down" the food chain without sacrificing anything except maybe a very few grams. (Well, true for roadie stuff anyhoo.)

Hi, I'd like to make a reservation please. Yes, that's right, me and my friends, for dinner. There'll be 736 of us, and we'd like to be mostly in "non-smoking", but there are a few of us who smoke. Right, and is your kitchen Kosher and Halaal? 'Cause that's also important. Plus we'll also need vegetarian options, gluten-free, free range and vegan. Oh, and we'd like to sit outside where it's cool and inside where it's warm. Great! See you at 7:30 then.

Total value: R3,750,000 That's 25,000 bikes (the ones that acshly turn up on the day)... multiplied by the R150 booze 'n drugs money that stolen bikes get sold for. Yep, even your Scott Addict/Trek Madone/Cervelo R3.

Nanot a clue would be my guess.

Minty, it's not the cars that are unimaginative, it's just that a Beemer is the default status symbol car, that is all. Hence "not imaginative choices". Emphasis on the choices, not the cars. I'm not sure what "Did you know that BMW is the only manufacturer that actually has the know-how to manufacture the doors on the current 5 series?" acshly means. I'm sure the world would be pretty surprised to learn that Volkswagen or Ford were building 5-series doors. Plus, they'd look crap on the side of a Golf! And yes, I was being deliberately provocative, although I am quite ready and able to deal with any flaming from my imaginary friends.

Ooooohhhh "nanotechnology" hot-button tech word to sound cool! Will the nanotechnology patches interface with my aura to enhance the centring properties of my crystals (good), or will they cause my chakras to become de-energised (bad)?

CSC withdrew Basso from the TdF immediately but he remained on the team roster.