Jules

Ok Trying to pull the shimano crank off my Colnago with a crank extractor. Thinking: "this crank is on very tight.' So I put more pressure. Good, the extractor starts turning. But it's not the crank it's pulling off, it's the frikkin thread inside the crank. All the way to the end! So how the hell do I get the thing off now? It's the right side crank. Will take pics now.

Nice pics, DD . What night were they taken?

bwahahahahaha! Some of the looks we got were priceless. This one female jogger got such a fright when gaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhreeeeeeeeeee passed her semi-naked!

Breekwater, look at it this way: any publicity is good publicity. If people talk rubbish on your post, it directs eyeballs to it. If they don't, it fades into obscurity. I can tell you the turnover rate of classifieds here is brisk. You need something to keep your thread alive. If it's silly comments, so be it. Remember, the silly comments say something about the people saying them, not the goods being sold. People are not stupid. If what you are selling is a good deal, it will be obvious to buyers regardless of what others say.

Speaking of which: tubes which used to be available from PnP for R27 are now more than R40. These tubes are also supplied by Probike. I buy my tubes from the LBS now.

I sent Brandon a PM. Let's see what he has to say.

Good point. Probike marketing dude Brandon Els is on the Hub. Perhaps he can explain what's going on?

The rand is a red herring. Just look at CRC and you'll find great deals, weaker ZAront notwithstanding.

I think this price explosion is a little over-hyped. It was noted in a previous thread that online stores like CRC are still very well priced. And those sites factor in the weaker rand immediately. I'm not sure the reason for Probike's increases, but I've noted some time ago that competitors such as Silverback seem to offer the same product for less. It could be that Probike has gotten to big or is sponsoring too many cyclists, who knows? It's just anectodal, but I have seen an above-average amount of bikes for sale in the classifieds section. The prices of these bikes seem reasonable. I don't think cyclists will be hurt by the so-called price explosion. They have the choice to either buy from CRC direct or shop in the second-hand (and possibly financially distressed) market. So if anything, it'll be the importers like Probike who'll suffer, being squeezed by a weaker rand, lower demand and an increasingly competitive second-hand market. Ouch!

I'm confused. Was the quote for labour or for everything? Doesn't sound much of a difference if for everything. If for labour: that's insane.

Better not post too many of these pics: the Capies might feel obliged to respond! Thanks Nancy for the amazing organisation

Jeez I thought I was thrifty but BB and DR take the cake. I hate to be a prophet of doom, but I foresee the patch bulging out of the cut you describe. As for dental floss.... I would chuck it.

We all seem to agree that moving weight away from the perimeter will improve acceleration slightly. We also seem to agree, except for perhaps Kiwi, that this improvement is not worth paying silly money for. However, none of us has been able to quantify exactly how much the saving is. JB, I look forward to the discussion tomorrow.

I got seven. 3 X road (steel, alu and carbon), 1 X CX, 1 X MTB, 1 X SS and 1 X fold-up. Need to get rid of the alu to make more space for the rest.

Joe Low, perhaps GT Oke does not count his bikes very often and when he does, he is not surprised to have had one or two relieved of him. Thus, his surprise might have been the fact that all his bikes were still there!

JB's calc shows the difference in power needed to accelerate a bike and rider weighing 91,2kg and one weighing 91,6kg. It does not distinguish where the weight is saved. Kiwi is arguing weight saved at the perimeter of the wheel is more important. The key question is: how much more important?

I still think go for alu. Unless you're in the TDF or you really have money to burn, it's not worth the extra cash.

JB, your calculation does not factor in the difference in speeds of the nipples and I can prove it. Let?s assume that we have two bikes. One weighs 91,6kg. The other weighs 91,2kg. We accelerate them to 30kph. Let?s calculate their kinetic energy as per your formula: Bike 1: 1/2 x 91,6 x 30squared = 41 220 Bike 2: 1/2 x 91,2 x 30squared = 41 040 The difference? 180 units of energy or 0,43 percent. Sound familiar? You have agreed that where the nipple is will affect how much energy is required to accelerate a wheel. However, I have just shown that your calculation does not take the difference of speeds of the nipples. It only factors in the difference in weight. Again I ask you to repeat your calculation assuming wheels of the same weight, but with nipples at the perimeter and at the centre. The weight difference of 400g is a red herring!

Edit: inertia is the wrong word. JB, we agree that a nipple at the perimeter of a wheel travels faster than one at the centre. Do we therefore agree that it will require slightly more force to accelerate a wheel that has its nipples at the perimeter? Just forget weight for a moment. Assume the wheels weight the same. Jules2008-11-28 07:43:05

JB, not a trick question. The only difference I see in your two calculations is 400g for the wheels. The speed is 30kph in both calculations, as far as I can tell.

To add to this: A nipple at the centre of the wheel is going slower than a nipple at the perimeter of the wheel at the same bike speed. This is because a nipple at the centre of the wheel has a far shorter distance to travel. Therefore your calculation would have to work out the difference in speed between a nipple at the centre and a nipple at the perimeter at 30kph.

JB, I'm no expert, but your calculation assumes the nipples are travelling at 30kph. Surely they are going much faster than that?