bikemonster

You've got to be on drugs to think that paying R15K for a weekend's training will do anything to improve your riding. But, as you guys have pointed out, this is not for guys looking to improve their riding. Ontbytdrankie?

Agreed 100% !! And that is why there needs to be some give and take on both sides. Because the 19-90 year old Mr/Ms/Mrs/Dr/Rev Anti-Baaisiekel is also a tax payer and also obeys the rules of the road. It's just us cyclists that are conflicted, as most of us are also motorists. Surely I am not the only cyclist who has been given the finger for having the audacity to give a brief 'Here I am guys!' hoot from a long way behind a bunch of cyclists, only to get the finger for my trouble? A little bit of courtesy from those behind the steering wheel, and the same from those behind handlebars would go a long way to easing co-existence.

Hi Domenic I agree that cyclists need to be a bit more sensible, especially during PPA events. (I'm not sure if they're really fun rides or races.) On Saturday at one point the bunch I was in was spilling over both sides of the road, across a solid white line up a short hill. An overtaking vehicle came by, with its right hand side wheels on the grass. Fortunately there was no oncoming traffic, but that was due more to good fortune than anything else. The speed limit question is much trickier. I am a petrolhead as much as a pedalhead, and I am delighted to see that the speed limit has been raised on Clarence Drive. Since the road was originally planned it has been widened and motor cars have moved on a tad. Even where speed is a contributory factor to accidents, it is because a motorist is driving too fast FOR THE CIRCUMSTANCES. Most motorists will drive as fast as is safe. Problems arise when a motorist misjudges the circumstances, not when a speed limit sign has a large number pasted on the front of it.

Come on popeye, surely it's not that a big deal? I would also like to have results downloaded sooner. Sunday evening would have been nice. But gee, so we had to wait until Wednesday morning...is that really such a big deal? And no, I do not work for either PPA or WT.

Considering the Burger Sanlam went t!ts up, I would almost expect Anti-Baaisiekel van die Strond to be a BS staffer stirring things up.

Doping is just a form of cheating, nothing more nothing less. It is the fact of cheating that is at issue, not the fact that cyclists are receiving injections. I suspect that many (most?) cyclists doing a three week grand tour are receiving injections and/or drips to assist them. That does not mean that they are doping. They are only doping if they are receiving injections of naughty stuff. It seems to me that the problem with doping control is that it is too complicated. The list of banned substances is reputedly large, and many substances are difficult to detect, e.g., EPO. Reduce the list of prohibited substances, simplify testing and monitor athletes over the course of their careers and things get very simple indeed. In this, doping controls are like tax regimes. The more complicated they get, the less efficient and the less effective they become. But, like tax regimes, doping control regimes have a strong political element, hence all the wrangling between the UCI and WADA, and the noble aims seem to take a second place to administrators making sweeping pronouncements and looking good for the cameras.

As opposed to the guarantee that you get with other modes of transport?

Fair enough. I had to Google Jean-Pierre Jeunet, so now I know. Uh oh. We're off topic. Let me sort that out... Cajee's sucks. No, wait, they're pretty good. You get what you pay for. My LBS doesn't like them. Normal service will now resume. Please do not adjust your pets.

Like a Trek?

Just me and son of Bikemonster. He's nearly three. This morning he and I took what used to be Mrs Bikemonster's MTB, only it now has a kid seat on the back, and we cruised to school. Which reminds me...if anybody knows a guy in the Tygervalley area who rides a Saeco Cannondale and wears full ASSos kit, give him a smack on the head for not returning my greeting this morning. Evidently he felt it beneath him to greet the guy in jeans on an old MTB.

Hi Again Fanie After my facetious reply I s'pose I owe you a more sensible one... BMI is really a 'rough guide'. IIRC, the range for 'normal' BMI is 18 to 25. Now, the electro-reading doofuses that the gyms use are somewhat odd. When Mrs Bikemonster wanted to start going to the gym to get back into shape after the birth of Bikemonster jr., we checked out the Active Virgins and Planet Fatarse. The salesdork at PF did a body fat analysis, using a gadget that you hold out at arm's length, and it puts a small current through. More comfortable than putting a small currant through you, but I digress. The wonderful gadget decided that I was 'borderline obese', which I found suprising as I weigh 66kg and have a height of either 170m or 170cm, depending on the measuring standard in use. Back to the 'guideline' status of BMI. Anything that makes you heavier for your height than a 'normal' person is going to skew your BMI. If you have a higher than average muscle mass, your BMI will show up as being high. My guess is that the gym poppie has a BMI measure and a fat percentage measure (of dubious accuracy), and uses bone density as the answer to anything that doesn't otherwise stack up. And finally...the one black mark against cycling is that it is not a weight bearing form of exercise, and bone density can reduce as a result. Less weight to drag up the hills, but we can snap if we fall off our bikes.

The accuracy of your pump's pressure gauge is irrelevant - as long as it is consistent that is all that matters. It's not like there are UCI rules on tyre pressure that you have to conform to. Presumably you have arrived at some pressure reading on your pump that works for you. It doesn't matter if your pump is under-reading or over-reading as long as the same actual pressure gives the same reported pressure from one day to the next that is all that matters. Apologies for what is intended as a sensible reply. I'll try not to do it again.

Isn't the spacing is slightly different between 9 and 10 speed? Why would you want to be swapping cassettes over? ("Because you can" is not a good answer in this context!)

BigBen, I was thinking more along the lines of somebody nasty. Puncture repair was not where I was headed.

Not using 'extreme force' (whatever that turns out to be) makes sense, but I have never needed to use a tyre lubricant either. Replacing GP3000's and GP4000's is VERY easy (K SL rims), and does not need a tyre lever. I will, of course, now add a tube of KY to my Camelbak just in case I flat on my next ride. ...or happen to meet somebody.

Hi Dr Seuss I agree with your thinking, but with one additional wrinkle... Very light tubes are made of latex rubber, while the heavier and intermediate tubes are made of butyl. Latex has bigger 'gaps' between the molecules, so will - I believe - need more regular inflation because air escacpes between the 'gaps' more easily. That said, my tube of preference is the Conti race tube, which is a reasonably light butyl tube and has always served me well. Your point is very well made though - the additional weight (or weight saving) of different tubes is almost as far from the hub as it can be, so has an out of proportion effect. I doubt that any of us would feel the difference between a 50g tube and a 60g tube...but the difference between a 50g tube and a 150g tube would be huge.

I really hope not. It would make the chips taste DREADFUL!

Hey, MichH, I was not for a minute suggesting anybody should buy a car that sucks. Trust me, I am as much a petrolhead as a pedalhead.

Am I missing something here? These are heavy wheels and they are not aero (which would make the weight penalty worthwhile), so why would a person want them? Could it be the web site's promise of loose balls, I wonder?

To give an opinion on avoiding being car-jacked... As others have said, be vigilant. From what I have read, car jackers will look for easy targets. If somebody is walking up to your car, keep eye contact. If it's a beggar at least give them the human respect of telling them that you are not giving them anything. If it's a bad 'un at least you will have seen them before they are standing at your shoulder, and there is at least a chance that they will move on to an easier target. As for car choice, as far as I can make out, most car jackings are to meet demand. Either demand for executive cars (BMW 3 series, Merc C class, Audi A4), or to be chopped for cheap midnight spares (Toyota Corolla, VW Golf etc.). In other words, popular aspirational cars and top selling cars. My advice is to find a car (that you like) that does not fit into either of those categories. Both of the above points are made with some reservation - they are both the result of my consideration of the issues but I do not have stats to back either up.

While you're sitting in the bunch you can pretty much disregard the effects of aerodynamics. Remember the MIT students were looking at improving TT performance, which is where the tiny differences can start to add up. So I'm still not going to shave my legs.

So, Gumpole, how many punctures does it take before you can recommend a tyre? (Yeah, I know, it was prolly a typo, but I couldn't resist.)

Another vote for the GP4000. You may be able to find GP3000's, which are - unsprisingly - the predecessor to the GP4K. The GP3K has been discontinued, so you may be able to get really good deals on them.