Willehond

Windblown, it's not the same guy! Willem D, contact Kristel directly via a private message to find out where in Belgium Alain is. Here is a message that sh placed on the thead about Alan:

Based on tests by Tour magazine, the technology of the Dogma gives neither good stiffness to mass ratio, nor superlative comfort. It weighs more than a Cannondale CAAD9 aluminium frame, probably also more than the previous magnesium Dogma. It may be the ultimate frame, just not as far as mass, stiffness & comfort, or a combination of these factors are concerned. It is the ultimate in the fields of cost per gram and marketing, perhaps. I'm probably wasting my time with this post - I guess you sell Pinarello, but not Parlee or Serotta, right? I love the Tour magazine tests. In fact their frame tests helped me pick mine as it got rave reviews from them after tests that don't just contain fluffy marketing terms like 'feel' and 'stiffnes', but puts actual figures against them. What is clear from the tests are that some of the Italian frames are not too light, not too stiff (frame and/or fork) and therefore not worth the premium. Frames from marks like Scott, Storck, Cervelo and Canyon get great technical scores and usually come in much cheaper. Custom frames are a whole diferent ballgame. The thought of something unique and personal appeals a lot and probably ages better. Just ask the guys who recently bought Princes!

The assumption is that you ride Shimano? Usually the biggest four or five sprockets on a cluster come as a set, so you have to buy the whole cassette. Also look at SRAM cassettes if you ride Shimano as they are compatible and sometimes cheaper than Shimano. Don't just look at the cassette that came wit your groupset, but look others too (in other words, if you have Ultegra, consider Dura-Ace, Ultegra, 105 cassettes too. Might save you money or give you wider options) I think SRAM even has a 11-28 option. Cheaper than Dura-Ace, but I might be wrong (this one time only of course!)

As i said this is merely a opinion. For starters the merckx bikes are made buy a guy (or he gets it made) that is one of the best cyclists of all time and now he wants to coin it with his "name". Nothing wrong with that and i wish him all the best. Pinarello has a rich pedigree that goes back yonks and its Italian (basically where the history starts). So i dont say the merckx is not a good bike but in my opinion its not in the same company (pedigree) as the pinarello Not so fast bud...the new Merckx and the current range of Pinarello's are all made in the same factory in Japan! A company called Toray makes them for the 2 mentioned companies, as well as a company called OPERA! But I dont think that makes them any less special. Pinarello until recently held the record for the most TDF wins until surpassed by TREK! But even then, thePinarello wins of Delgado, and 2 of Indurains were on French made TVT92's disguised as Pinarello's! Although Colnago have not won a TDF, they were the choice of Eddy Merckx for his earlier bikes...and taught him all he needed to know about building bikes! And they are genuinely made in Italy. Only the old style lugged Colnago's are made in Italy, the others are made in Taiwan! If they were so great, why did Rabobank and the others drop them? Thay are trying to play catchup with the others. Nostalgia is great, but paying for it is quesstionable. It's not the best because it was good yesterday. That is romantic, but not realistic. Yes, they are very nice bikes, but seriously not worth the pricetag (Pina or Colnago). If you want a top end bike you should not pay more than R20k if function is what you want, but I'm guessing that if you are looking at a Pina you are not a realist anyway. Pianrello's are midlife crisis bikes. Have you ridden a new Pinarello? A couple of months ago my LBS had a tryout day and borrowed a very pretty Prince decked out in Chorus all shiney and new and took it for a 100k spin. It was really nice to ride. It felt like I expected a top-end bike to ride and I think it is really nice, but I honestly don't think it deserves the price premium. Yes, it's pretty and desirable, but it has no magic element that makes it a must-have, but hey it's my opinion. Can you imagine what I would have felt like had I BOUGHT the Prince at tht moment only to be replaced by the Dogma a couple of weeks later?

straatvark, stick to the salted roads and make sure you hose the bike off when you get home. As long as you don't leave it on the bike you should be fine. BTW you get 10 hardman points for commuting in that. I feel the pressure... See you in Bourg D'oisans!

To go with the Rolex and the young blonde secretary?

As i said this is merely a opinion. For starters the merckx bikes are made buy a guy (or he gets it made) that is one of the best cyclists of all time and now he wants to coin it with his "name". Nothing wrong with that and i wish him all the best. Pinarello has a rich pedigree that goes back yonks and its Italian (basically where the history starts). So i dont say the merckx is not a good bike but in my opinion its not in the same company (pedigree) as the pinarello Not so fast bud...the new Merckx and the current range of Pinarello's are all made in the same factory in Japan! A company called Toray makes them for the 2 mentioned companies, as well as a company called OPERA! But I dont think that makes them any less special. Pinarello until recently held the record for the most TDF wins until surpassed by TREK! But even then, thePinarello wins of Delgado, and 2 of Indurains were on French made TVT92's disguised as Pinarello's! Although Colnago have not won a TDF, they were the choice of Eddy Merckx for his earlier bikes...and taught him all he needed to know about building bikes! And they are genuinely made in Italy. Only the old style lugged Colnago's are made in Italy, the others are made in Taiwan! If they were so great, why did Rabobank and the others drop them? Thay are trying to play catchup with the others. Nostalgia is great, but paying for it is quesstionable. It's not the best because it was good yesterday. That is romantic, but not realistic. Yes, they are very nice bikes, but seriously not worth the pricetag (Pina or Colnago). If you want a top end bike you should not pay more than R20k if function is what you want, but I'm guessing that if you are looking at a Pina you are not a realist anyway. Pianrello's are midlife crisis bikes.

I'm use to this behaiver from guys on road bikes and not on MTBs. But anyway. There was a crap load of law enforcement presence on that road and I'm going to take this up with DA councilor next time I see him. I would love to see a road block for cyclists only in Cape Town for just one weekend. 'n Helmut help nogal as 'n klomp baaaaie kwaad fietsryers jou begin blixem!!!!!!! Yes, having a big German with you is pretty useful in a fight, but also consider wearing a helmet to protect your head.

Well, you guys could have a great time by giving each othewr a nice soppy..... nevermind.

Die mark vir Afrikaans fiets forums is bietjie klein. Ongelukkig kan nie almal Afrikaans praat nie (of gee hulle voor hulle kan nie!) en dis makliker om maar so in ons slegte Engels eerder met alle fietsryers hier op die Hub te praat. Praat maar Afrikaans, maar nou en dan sal iemand moan. Ignoreer dan maar...

Beer? It must have been a mountainbike race! Roadies want coke! (The liquid black liquid...)

Congrats Desmond!!!

Has anyone upgraded to WKO+ 3.0 and is it worth it? I don't see what upgrades could be worth 64 dollars! Man, I hate it when I have to upgrade just to be current...

Does the red package remind you of someone's new kit??? Suddenly I don't want to see the Radioshack team photo!

As you see I prefer the terms (L)ight and (H)eavy to (L)ow and (H)igh to make it easy on myself. I won't even start on trying to remember my (L)eft from my ®ight...

I have both on my bikes (and also Campy on a loan bike!). The change from Shimano to SRAM is easy and intuitive. One ride and you are OK. I find switching to Campy more difficult because the small lever works exactly in tho opposite way on Shimano and Campag. With SRAM it's a lot easier to switch from Shimano as the shifting is similar. I prefer SRAM, but the new Dura-Ace also shifts great. Can't go wrong with either. One area that I do love Campag is multi-downshift. Man; just rrrrip and you are three gears down. SRAM and Shimano still lag there. Willehond2009-12-17 08:21:13

Chris, more here already: RIP Alan van Heerden

...................... prejudice?????? Snaakse naam vir 'n perd............

Sky are going to ride Shimano Di2! Clearly Electronic shifting is better than having one extra gear. Maybe they were just tired of waiting for Campag to catch up?

Assos is for those who prefer to have the stinging sensation to nly appear when they get their wallets out... Personally I don't like thick padding in shorts. The real cheap shorts often have these thick foam inserts and they are horrible. The fancier, medium range shorts have the synthetic inserts that are prformed and with differen densities. These seem to work a lot better and the stitching should NEVER chafe. In fact, the stitching should be on the outside and soft. Look at the better (local) shorts for good options: Capestorm, Velotex (only the higher end ones) and others like Giordana etc. If budget is no worry go for Assos. Take some painkillers along for when you have to pay though...