bikemonster

Thats how some vacines work. Have you ever taken a flu vacine' date=' because that is a modified strain of the virus injected into you to build resistance. [/quote'] Vaccination works by exposing you to a weakened virus, which is a very different thing to an antibody. Your body generates antibodies to zap the virus. Then, if you encounter the live virus, your body has the recipe for the necessary antibody 'on standby' and can react swiftly. Now the cold virus is a tricky thing because it mutates very quickly. You do not get the same cold twice. Every time you catch a cold it is a virus that is sufficiently different to previous cold infections that it slips past your body's defences until your body has had time to develop an appropriate antibody to fight off the current cold. This is why there is no such thing as a cold vaccine. The flu virus is much nastier than a cold virus. They are emphatically not the same thing - flu kills people. The flu epidemic of 1919 killed more people than died in WW I. Flu mutates fairly quickly, which is why some strains are deadlier than others, but the flu virus mutates sufficiently slowly that strains can be identified and vaccines prepared, although you need a new vaccine every year if you want to be sure that you are "covered". This thread has a great deal of voodoo going on. The fact that 'pro racers take it' is not a great endorsement, as they are prolly even more susperstitious than the rest of us. At least to the extent that if successful rider A is taking mystery muti X, and word gets out, the other riders are also likely to take mystery muti X. Claims along the lines of "I take powdered badger whisker daily and I don't get colds!" are also worthless because that is purely anecdotal and at best establishes a correlation, not cause and effect. If I rub toothpaste on my head every morning to prevent baldness, and my hair doesn't fall out, that does not mean that rubbing toothpaste on your head prevents baldness.

From the link supplied by Chunky... "contains several antibodies normally present in adult human blood". So why the frog would you want to INJECT yourself with something that you prolly have anyway? Eat healthy, drink beer and get naked from time to time. Oh, and avoid medical advice from those that are not qualified to dish it out may also help. Anecdotal evidence is worthless, especially when combined with a sample size of one.

Enjoy your custom bike!

GoLefty Usually I would say "go custom", but in this case it's not quite so simple. Have you ever designed a frame before (and had it built)? Do you have any reason (other than healthy self-confidence) to believe that your design will be better than an off-the-shelf frame, or at least will suit you better? If you can answer 'yes' to these two questions then go for it, otherwise go off-the-shelf.

Hi amateur I just want to be sure here...are you offering Jedi "more details" on you and your underwear or is that a general offer? Please clarify or I (and about a gazillion other Hubbers) will send PM's that may cause embarrassment to all concerned.

Jedi If I recall, you are a person for whom it would be completely appropriate to wear a bra. If I am correct in this recollection, try and find a Polar-compatible sports bra which may help.

If the infection is above the neck, go and ride but take it fairly easily. If the infection is below the neck, stay in bed.

From cyclingnews.com SRAM has discovered that certain Force front brake calipers may have been equipped with defective titanium mounting bolts and has issued a voluntary recall in response. According to SRAM officials, only a handful of brakes have failed in the field, and all failures occurred during installation. Regardless, affected brakes may separate from the fork during use and should be replaced immediately. Please note that rear brakes are not affected by the recall. Brakes subject to the recall can be identified through the date code stamped on the back of the caliper and will include one of the following: No date code at all (indicates early production). Original date code range: 01JUN06 through 15SEP06. Current date code range: 35T6XXXXXXX through 39T6XXXXXXX. Affected brake calipers must be replaced as a complete unit as the mounting bolts are not replaceable. Corrective action will be taken as follows: SRAM sales representatives will contact OEM clients directly to set up a replacement plan for bicycles currently in inventory as well as those that have already been delivered. Distributors are asked to please contact dealers who have purchased Force road brake sets and/or complete groups to arrange for replacement of front brake calipers. Dealers will be contacted either directly by SRAM or a SRAM distributor with a corrective action plan. Dealers are asked to compile a list of customers who may be affected by the recall. Affected consumers should contact the retail outlet from which the brake was purchased or their local dealer to arrange for replacement. All affected front brake assemblies should be contained and returned to a SRAM distributor or regional SRAM sales office. In all cases, SRAM has reported that replacement front brake assemblies are currently in stock and have already begun shipping to end users in order to minimize down time.

And what are the yellow plastic handcuffs in the box for?

Wow! Are there so few Tituses, erm, Titi, erm Titae....oh WTF...are there so few bikes of that brand that the only way they can get to go on a group ride is to have a worldwide get together? Surely the can't be that unpopular can they?

It doesn't matter who you fly with, the baggage handling is done by ACSA. Your chosen airline's peeps place your baggage on the conveyor and occasionally apologise to you when it gets broken or ends up in Buenos Aires or Brussels. Everything between those two actions is out of their control. And don't think that you can get clever by flying to Buenos Aires or Brussels. If you fly to either of these cities, in terms of IATA regulations and the Warsaw Convention, your baggage will be misdirected to Beijing, Bangkok, Bangor (Maine) or other cities beginning with B.

Wasn't the consensus that it was OK to ride on an 'N' road as long as it was posted with green signs? The blue signs are for freeway stretches (applies to 'M' roads as well), and blue signs means no bicycles. Or have I got it wrong?

Everything comes 'round again. Except for elliptical chain rings which come skew again. Sounds like time to see a good urologist. Not only do I remember BioPace, there is a bike in my garage that has BioPace. It's a very small but very pretty Lejeune racer that I bought for my very small mom when she thought she fancied doing some cycling. She was wrong, but the bike was such a bargain and it was so pretty that I just don't want to sell it. As an added bonus it is heavy enough to use as a boat anchor. I had the mixed pleasure of borrowing a BioPace bike a few years ago. As long as you remember to abandon any attempts at technique and ride like a fred it's fine.

Lighten up, Spinnekop! Sure, the posting is headed "Metro Police run down TCS rider!!!!". So that means the policeman concerned headed out with the express intention of running down a TCS rider. Not some guy in a solid colour cycling jersey, not some guy in Discovery team gear or even somebody in brand new Microsnot MTN colours but specifically a TCS rider. I did not say the cyclist should have been there, I was just hoping that maybe, perhaps a little calm could prevail. Fcukit, I am a petrol head as much as I am a pedal head, but when I view a post on a motoring forum claiming that cyclists are too slow and should be kept off the road I don't let that go either. Like it or not, each story has at least two sides. Just to make it absolutely clear I will spell it out: I am not saying that Barend should not have been there, and I am not "supporting" the Metro cop either. Last time I checked this was a web forum, not judge, jury and executioner.

First, condolences to Barend on losing a bike and having a truly rough experience, which I would not wish on anybody. Those who weren't there should not be shouting the odds. This was an ACCIDENT, regardless of who was (more) to blame. Accidents happen.

Jedi Saddle choice is (as you can attest) immensely personal. Most people rave avout the Arione, but you clearly do not. Have a look at the Selle Italia (or other manufacturer's) website and draw up a shortlist of saddles based on style and dimensions. You mention that you are small - you will prolly be most comfortable with a narrow saddle. My experience is that I had an SLR, which I liked the look of but on rides over about 90minutes I began to feel like a too-popular prison inmate. I changed to the Signo Gel Flow, and am very happy with it. Saddle choice was based on the fact that I am also fairly small, and had not been happy on wider saddles. (I am 170cm tall and weigh 66kg.) Edited to add that I have both X and Y chromosomes, so while my advice may be of some use, my saddle choice prolly won't be too helpful.bikemonster2007-02-05 04:50:09

Beer is good. Two abreast.

Pah! He'd have been a LOT faster if the bike had been professionally spray painted using a 2-pack polyurethane. Maybe.

Geez R2S2 Have you learnt NOTHING? You can't go around giving sensible, wellthought out advice on an internet forum! Standards are slipping, I can just tell. Apart from that....yeah, you've pretty much nailed it.

I've never worn out a BB, and I usually do around 12,000km - 15,000km on a bike. That would a full bike, not one of those funny long wheelbase jobbies.

These are not the 'droids that you are looking for.