FirstV8

With the springs in place, it means the spacing on both sides should be roughly equal. Allowing you to slot the wheel in place without fiddling too much with the QR (QUOTE) Spot on .Remember that the big side of the spring spacer fits against the quick release .

I carried on spinning daily but did cut my time down to about 35/45 min .(bum to sore ) .Tuesday 3rd i went for a ride around my area 2,5km circuit and did two laps on my MTB at an average 15kph . i then went on my road bike and did the same . The road bike is a no no at the moment ( i even bought a soft gel padded saddle to put on ) 6bar pressure on 19mm tyres is not a pleasant ride , even for only 10 km . Ive done the ride every day since and i can feel the strength lose in my left upper ( around my bum , dont know the muscles name ) leg . So im working on getting the strength back in the left leg by pushing harder on every few downward strokes .It seems to be working because todays average was 18kph .

I have lived with it most of my adult life . I have the high pitch shushing sound ( like the sound you hear at night from the mole crickets ) Im a extravert and talk a lot but when in a crowd of people and other noise i only hear the loudest noise ( music , tools , motors , coffee machines or a loud voice ) i then shut down and dont participate in conversation because i might not hear it correctly and give a dumb answer . Live with it its bearable . I also lip read , so masks have made it worse for me to.

Short Crits are hard work if you want to stay up front . We had a few of these in Jet Park , Benoni and Germiston ( around the lake ) in the 80/90's on Wednesdays . A few bucks entry fee to cover the marshals and officials costs of kit , flags and i think coffee/soft drinks . We would get some of the top pros to participate to really give the guys a full work out .

Thanks fellow hubbers for all the well wishes , advice and also precautions .. I am not on any pain killers . I wore the compression stockings ( most uncomfortable item i have ever had to wear ) until the blood thinning course of tablets was done . I have a very high pain threshold so i can get through an hour without any discomfort or pain . ( Except my arse i)Good to hear about the new procedure's and protocols for this type of surgery . Nothing worse than being in hospital and trying to do a #2 in a bed pad with a drain and a catheter . My drainage worked well as the pump was always very full . Im hoping this BALL JOINT lasts about 20 or more years because i think ill be gone before another replacement .

I know you’re not gonna listen, but spinning for an hour every day is too much at 5 weeks.. Why would you say one hour a day is too much ? Thanks for asking for a pic of my cat . She was found in a drain at about 3 weeks old ( the size of a big mouse ) but she shea was named Izzy ( after the name of the paramedic that helped catch her ) She is now 12 still small and i call her Granny Mouse .

On Monday i was given the all clear by the surgeon and my physio to start spinning slowly and easily . Wednesday to the date was 5 weeks from the horrid op . Ive had good days , bad days , sleepless nights , painful twists and turns when not thinking about a movement ( thinking I'm bullet proof ) Getting frustrated at my own in ability to put my socks on or even worse my jocks . One thing i did do religiously is the suggested rehab exercise's and rest periods ( when tired go lie down for a few minutes , this sometimes turned into a two hour siesta with my favorite cat next to me , she thought she was in heaven )and of course pissing my wife off at the same time . The exercise's you are given to do are painful in the beginning but as your strength returns and pain levels subside you begin to understand the reason why . I started spinning on Tuesday at a leisurely rate of between 60 and 70 rpm with no resistance for one hour . HR never got over 85 . Wednesday i did same but increased my HR ( sinning faster ) to just over 100 . Today i did same and ended with a average HR of 86 for my one hour ride . . Worst of all was the pain in my butt cheek bones from being off a bike for 5 weeks . Ill be doing this daily untill the 31st Oct and Sunday 1st Nov im going for very slow and cautious ride on my MTB around my area for an hour to get the feel of how it will be actually riding my bike again .So far I've done everthing according to the book ( if there is one ) and so far I'm on track with my own timing and aspirations . Im not sure how long it will be before im back to my 30 kph ave for a 40 km plus ride but as soon as i hit that milestone ill give feed back on how it went and if i had any problems getting there . Im sure im not the only cyclist coming back from hip replacement surgery but im updating this thread for future readers going through the same . Guys like one of the other hubbers commented " do the rehab and dont be a hero " . .

Great comments about Sunweb management , Kelderman cracking , Tao doing all the work , Bilbao strong ride , Hindley not working but winning etc . I wonder why or who gave Ben O Conner the go ahead on that climb to try for a break away after having two fantastic days in a row and on the queen stage he attempts it again . I know they need exposure for a new sponsor but that move move was bound to fail from the onset .

I recently bought a road bike after 3 years of MT biking ( Covid forced it ) I was looking on the Hub and found enough to wet my apatite . You need to have a reasonable understanding of the group sets ratings that come on bikes .Cheaper bikes tend to have entry level group sets on which do not have a long life if ridden daily .Middle of the range group set', a good brand frame and you are good to go .Take a visit to your LBS as they will always have trade in bikes or just bikes for sale by cyclists giving up . Go aluminum frame because if after a while you find a fault ( crack ) it can be repaired at much less than a carbon fiber repair .. Dont fall for the " you need road pedals and road shoes " Just put the same pedals that you have on your MTB and use your MTB shoes untill you are ready to commit to ride road daily .

What a great read and what an adventure that was .The second link http://johannrissik.blogspot.com/2008/10/sishen-saldanha-ride-i-am-sharing-this.html.. Reminded me of my travels by train in the late 60s.( as a teenager ) to many cycling events . My dad would book the ticket return and i would either leave from Germistn or Park Station . I would have my bike with wheels and pedals off wrapped in a hand made bag covered on the inside with grey horse blanket . My single back pack was for clothing and my meal pack .( Too expensive to eat dinner and breakfast ) and i also didn't want to leave my bike out of my sight .The compartments were a six bed unit so my bike was always on the top bunk . . On arrival i would assemble my bike and ride to the peoples home i was invited to stay with . The bike bag rolled up small enough enough to not hinder me on the short ride .I have wanted to do a trip like that since young but life , four sons and business got in the way . Im recovering from a hip replacement i had 4 weeks ago and when i mentioned this story and my wish to do it i was told in no uncertain terms ( i cant repeat her words ) its out of the question at my age now . . So ill just dream on .

Its the shortest distance between point A and the line

I bought a rear Chaiyong two months before lock down and had already 1600 km when lock down was enforced .It held up well in the conditions we ride in up on the High Veld . A lot of gravel , farm road , single track and thorns as winter approaches . I found it had good traction on climbs and rolled well on descents at high speed , no side wall flexing . I had one puncture which was a nail through the side wall . I sorted thar out with a mushroom plug from the inside and it never let me down again . Once lockdown opened up again i pumped the tyres to 4 bar and only rode on the road as all off road trails were to far from my central point . I did another almost 5000 km on that rear and then it looked like a slick with no tread on the the centre three knobs . Not a bad tyre but the price on a 29X2.35 was much the same as a Maxxis which i prefer and have now got on again .

You are obviously new to cycling and have not got the experience to do your own servicing .MTB services will always be pricey because of the nature of the beast , pivot bearings , shocks front and back , dropper posts ( If you have ) hydraulic brakes , disc pads , quick shift levers the list goes on . If you ride your bike daily off road through sand , streams , puddles and rough bumpy terrain your bike would need regular service for it to function the way YOU expect it to . Smooth gear changes , absorbing the rough terrain , giving you confidence to go off a big drop off without the shocks bottoming out , quiet frame movement when bombing along farm roads ( pivot bearings working ) etc . So unless you can control all these items functioning 100% its a costly affair . Dont compare online prices of unbranded spares to the OEM spares that the LBS SHOULD be using . I do all my road and MTB maintenance myself and enjoy it but have cut short doing a shock service myself .I will identify the fault , take the shock or fork off and take it to an experienced mechanic to service and or replace seals etc If you have a technical acumen invest in the tools as you find fault with a specific part and yes GOOGLE is your friend to learn the tricks of the trade . . Bike maintenance takes time and for that you need to pay the LBS for what they know and do best .

Ride without gloves or very thin un padded gloves on your training rides . This will harden your hands and build up calisys on the parts of your hands that need to be protected and are in closest contact with , grips , brake and shift levers . A tradesman of any discription has these calisys and their hands are as hard as stone .Then get a good pair gloves that allow you to feel ( padded or un padded ) that give you the same feel as if you were riding without them . A glove is there to protect your knuckles as well from thorns and bushes but also your palms when you take a tumble . Riding with scratches and maybe cuts on your palms is very uncomfortable . Harden up the hands and the gloves just make more bearable . Soft hands with good gloves is not an option . Once you get a blister on a ride it will irritate you to the finish . I used this method of training with out gloves for years and still do . I have hard hands , lots of calisys and no blisters ever when swinging a 4lbs hammer for a few hours t .

Harryn thank you for an honest and frank answer . The water bottle is for ease of having it available and the Garmin was put on the frame just for the pic ( its not doing its work ) I have consoled myself to the fact that i will be off my bike for at least 4 to 6 months and then only start on my indoor at a very relaxed pace . Mtb trails will have to take a back seat for a while so il be doing much the same as you did and ride alone or with small trusted groups . My physio is a friend and also a cyclist so i am under scrutiny from her and my wife 24/7 . My wife doesn't like the DIY work that i do that's now on her shoulders . . Looking at the pics i have i realise how major an op this is and shock to ones system . Im 68 so will be very careful in future as i now know how brittle my bones are . But i will be back as the saying goes .

How long was your recovery and are you still riding today . My crash happened a road bike .

On Tuesday morning i left home at 8am going for my daily 47 km ride through the( residential 70% and 30% Industrial )areas . It was windless so i was hoping to do a PB on the route which has 520m of climbing on it and some good flat sections were you can really the hammer down ride at a 40 to 45kph on them . Going up the one climb which is a one way for me there is a section at the top which is badly potholed and has a lot of lose stone lying about . I had my head trying to navigate the pot holes and stones and when i looked up there was a VW Touareg stopped ahead of me crossing my path ( she was going into the company's driveway . So i turned to the left to go around the front of the car and i slipped on the lose stone and fell with my hip hitting the edge of the one pot hole . I estimate i was doing about 20kph when this happened . As i tried to move my left leg i realised i had either dislocated it or broken the femur . I used Namola to get the EMS out there and the response was fantastic . Three tow trucks , Two Emergency services and One security company with in 5 minutes of pressing the Assist Button " My son also being a paramedic got the call and came along at breakneck speed because its then legal to use lights and sirens . The lady in the VW was so traumatised that she did get out the car and when she got inside sat crying at her desk and sent an assistant down to come and talk to to me and see if i was ok . . The end result is that i had a fractured hip which ended up being a left hip replacement . Im off the bike for at least 6 to 8 weeks before i can attempt getting on my spinning bike and then eventually on my road and mtb to get back to my fitness im at now . On Saturday i did my first 100 km road ride at 31kph ave giving me a3Hr 14Min time . I was setting my goal for a sub 3hr 100km by end of October , well i suppose that's not be . So moral of the story " ride fast and hard , fall at speed and skip across the tar " The last pic is of my Zimmer 2020 Walker with 2,0 upgrades to carry my water bottle and other goody's. I also have my Garmin (circled ) on it to measure distance and time . The physio has warned me not to exceed 10kph .HAHA.

P P you are 100% correct about obeying the rules of the road . I train every morning through an industrial are (30% ) and residential area (70%) . In the industrial area i obey the rules and use hand signals to let traffic know which way i'm going . In the residual area i tend to slow down at stops streets and traffic lights , sometimes i ride wrong side of the road when crossing and turning into another but this is because there is no or very little traffic . My two pet hates are when i'm approaching a traffic light on red and a car comes past me (1.5m gap ) and then goes right over to the left when they stop and leave very little space to come through and the second one is the car that passes you just before an intersection and turns left in front of me . Cleats make good looking scratches on doors .

Measure the width of velcro on the shoe and go to a big haberdashery or material supplier shop and buy a meter or less . Find one of these corner shoe makers and get them to strip old out and re sew in the new one . Maybe you only need the one half replaced . These guys sew by hand so can get into small sections of shoes unlike the franchised shoe repair guys who use machines and tell you it cant be done . I have had many replacements done by my guy on our corner . Generally you can pick up within the hour and its in expensive

You can likely sneak through from Serengeti to Bapsfontein ​The guards are very touchy about letting cyclists through . We have done it a few times over the years but it depends who is on duty . Going around Serengeti is a no no because of the development going on .

Is rust an issue - reason I ask is because its astonishing the amount asked for what looks like rust buckets Trailers left outside will show signs of rust . Check underneath and especially the chassis beams If there are "no papers", how much would it cost and whats involved in "getting papers". "Walk Away " , it can cost a fortune in back license payments or trying to get it registered is a headache . If there are "papers" what do I need to look out for? Go to one of the license for you guys and ask them to do a Natis check on the vin /chassis no /make of trailer .. If there are any discrepancies "Walk Away " If it does not have a bike rack, what do I need to look at ito getting one mounted onto it.. Try get a trailer with a flat lid . ( Certain makes have angled shaped lids ( Harder to fit racks . Nose cone is good but also try get one with a tail gate . Also a bit obvious, but is age an issue?. Age is no problem as long as you can satisfy yourself that its in good condition . And then what else do I need to ask a potential seller? They always lie about how much its been used , when last was it serviced and were it was kept when not in use . . Change the wheel bearings before you go on a long trip with weight in it , Change the globes in the tail lights and flickers . Don't pay more than 60% of what a new one costs now . Dont buy home made they have funny things go wrong and maybe then its not a standard part to fix .Good Luck . I speak from experience , i buy and sell classic cars

I have a Garmin Edge 25 that i use on my MTB . I have just recently acquired a Road bike and need a holder to fit onto the road bike . I think changing it over from one bike to another is not a good idea as i'm sure those clips will soon break off . Can one buy just a holder or if anyone has one lying around ill gladly take it off your hands .

Consider getting a good thick padded saddle . It does not look the part but it sure feels the part .

* The scale shows 5 lbs of fat vs 5 lbs of muscle. (+- 2.7kg) QUOTE 100% agree , but it does not make for good reading on the scale but makes riding easier .

I am not taking part in this years challenge but keep an eye on the posts . My advice is dont give up keep doing what ever works for you . I had the bragging rights in 2018 as the best placed loser at 82 kg odd . I carried on with my diet / eating habits and training for 2019 but was beaten and i ended up 4th . I have subsequently not really watched my food intake but upped my mileage and ascent daily . I do a minimum of 45 km and 500 m of climbing daily but have gone up in weight by 4 kg . I am much faster on average speeds and climb any type of hill with ease in fact i enjoy climbing more than fast flats . I only ride a MTB on or off road so am now looking forward to buying a lighter road bike . Im wondering what the advantage with a 8 kg bike , narrow tyres and 8 bar pressure in them will feel like .