bikemonster

In the vernacular, that is the contradiction between the doctrines of free will and the claim of omniscience.

I see what you did there!

And you believed that did you?

I love your work!

Great day this! Two religious warfare threads on the Hub, at the same time.

FSM FTW!

Ramen!!!

...and they're off!

Pfft! Like that'll ever catch on!

Clearly punishment for the hubris of your screen name. For help with snake bite issues, contact Reg Lizard.

What he said! You don't buy the stuff, you buy the seller. Or not.

What do you want to get from your cycling? If you just want to be "better", ride two or three times in the week with mates, challenge each other and you will improve a lot. Round that off by doing MTB events on weekends. Unless you have the natural gifts to be a top athlete, don't sacrifice the fun.

Edited because much less funny now that the topic title has been changed.

I went from a 12-25 to a 12-26. It's forced me to HTFU because now I refuse to use my easiest gear unless I am going up a "proper" climb. When on a proper climb, I can see my cadence is slightly higher than it used to be when running the 25, which is as you would hope. It doesn't really seem to have made me any faster up the steeps though. My advice would be to go for it - for most of us, running out of steam going uphill is more of a concern than running out of leg speed going downhill. And on top of that, I am a big believer in higher cadence rather than higher leg strength.

A pink one?

Oh well, I guess that's the bonhomie of the festive season all over then.

Those pesky race organisers, forcing you to do a substitute entry. Oh, wait. They don't force anybody to do a substitution. Never mind.

Left field suggestion: 1. Buy the longest seat pin you can find. 2. Adjust to fit. VERY carefully. 3. Drill and rivet seat pin to seat tube. This looks like another of my flippant suggestions, but I can't see why it shouldn't work, although it may not help the (already stuffed) resale value of your bike.

Just put the tape back on so you can't see the crack. I'm sure it'll be fine. Disclaimer: Do not under any circumstances follow the above advice!

At this point, it seems appropriate to digress into some poetry. This is "This Be The Verse", by Philip Larkin, one of the greatest poets of the 20th Century. Be warned, it uses strong language. If strong language offends you, well, tough. They **** you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you. But they were fcuked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats, Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another's throats. Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, And don't have any kids yourself.

For bringing rock star cool to cycling: The Lion King For being madder than a box of frogs: The Badger (Hinault). "While I breathe, I attack." For being the consummate team worker: Jens Voigt (I think he may have been mentioned. For being insatiable: The Cannibal, Eddy Merckx. For being an indomitable Gaul: Eugene Christophe (whose name lives on on many a toe strap). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Christophe And along with Eugene Christophe, all those madmen who tackled the Grand Tours when the roads over the Alps and Pyrennees were little more than goat tracks. The bikes they road were single speed because there was no choice, not because SS was the new black. The unnamed ones are more inspirational to me than the greats because it must be so much harder to grind out a finish in extremis than to claim the palmares. (Cool thread, Mr Bender.)

Paraffin followed by a rag on the oily bits. Car shampoo on the shiny bits. If you use paraffin, be careful to dispose of it with some regard for the planet or Johan Bornman will go all dark ages on your derriere! In my case that means using it to light the braai - soak a briquette in the dirty paraffin et voila! Homemade firelighter!

Come on guys! This is the Hub! We're not supposed to answer questions directly...we're supposed to give better advice than that. So allow me to give the correct answer to the question. Camelbak FTW as the young 'uns say.

I am a small boy! A track day is a very different proposition from racing wheel to wheel. In many ways I honestly believe that driving on our roads is more dangerous than taking part in a track day. And riding a bicycle on the roads, as most of us here do, is prolly more dangerous than either.