andretraut

I was once given the chioce, "me or your bikes", so I went shopping for a king size bed, which my wife questioned immediately. So I replied, how the **** must I fit both my mtb and my road bike in a normal double bed, and still have a good night's rest. Once she realised that I was dead serious, she stopped her sh*t, and accepted the fact that I will cycle! The moral of the story, I am still married to my beautiful wife, and still ride both my bikes frequently,.... and still hide the new stuff and the receipts!

I ride a compact crank on my Merida Scultura (came fitted) and I love every minute of it... cause I don't stay in the flatlands. Here in Cape Town we've got a real mountain that looks like a table, and the Argus revolves around this mountain! There is a good article in the lastest Bicyling magazine on compact cranks...ride it if you want to!

Damn cool bikes, notwithstanding the price tag! Like they say, if you can't stand the heat, rather leave the kitchen, and let the guys with the moola decide how they want to spend their bucks!

**** chamois cream, who needs it anyway?

Scuzzy, the seatpost mount bottle cage works well, provided that you use a tight fitting cage to hold your bottle. Topeak makes a clamp and you should get one for around R75. However be careful of your rear wheel travel, as a lady I raced with in Die Burger snapped her mount on her Giant Trance when her rear wheel caught the bottle cage.

Sias, USN Testo is good to enhance your strengh training and assist to build muscle, however used on its own you will hardly notice the difference. Only effective if used with lots of protein, and other workout related enhancers such as NO Xplode (BSN), or Nano Vapour (Musle Tech). Great stuff if you want to add muscle and become a body builder, but not a great idea if you want to improve your cycling speed and endurance, as added muscle will slow you down. Regarding mood changes, you will not notice an effect other than a stronger errection!

Choices, choices! Ok, ok I will take the bike!

I am trying to justify my envisaged procurement of a Pinarello Dogma with a Most Lightweight wheelset in the nearby future (my absolute dream bike!), and then came across a very interesting story in the Mail and Guardian online, which obviously explains my endeavors to always want the very best in bikes and gear. I gave a copy of the article to my wife, and she is not keen on the Pinarello, but would rather see me on top of a Dogma than a 20 year old bimbo with boobs the size of my Rudy Project helmet! http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-08-17-flash-bikes-and-that-midlife-thing

I find Rock 'n Roll Gold extremely good, and works well for mtb and road bike. Expect to pay around R100 a 120ml bottle, but well worth the price. Keeps chain smooth and clean, and easy to degrease during a wash.

Magic Light charged, tyres pumped, ready to roll...I hate the bloody rain!

Hi Chris, I am really keen to join your group ride, sounds like great fun, was just wondering what is the distance, and expected time of the ride?

Sludge All Terrain (orange box) is the way to go if you want amonia free sealant...awesome stuff. I know the owner of Sludge and this one is specifically made for Mavic rims which are better run without amonia due to corrosion issues and tyres which are prone to delaminate. Sludge ladies team came second in their category in the Cape Epic without a single flat. The proof is in the pudding, is'nt it?

My philosophy... if your head is worth R200, wear a R200 helmet, or else get a decent one!

Since my trusty steed was last featured in this thread, he has been upgraded to be 10'er with an American Classic wheelset, Selle Italia SLR saddle, Crank Brother Eggbeaters, FSA carbon handle bar, and some other odds and ends!

I had the same experience about three times, with once riding my bike at 25km... fortunately I managed to control the bike without a crash. This was a worrying situation for me, so I did some research to prevent a reoccurrance. Found that sealant in the tyres are responsible for an inaccurate reading on my floor pump, and instead of the pressure being 3 bar, the actual pressure was 4 bar or more. I now inflate .5 bar or so less, and never had the problem again...so far! It is always a good idea to use lots of soapy solution to seat the tyres properly at first, and make sure the beading has seated during high pressure. Ater that relaese some air to get the required inflation.

Trilawney, you are not serious! The 'timing chip' that you are referring to is actually called a number board. If you are going to keep on doing the shorter routes, you would not need a timing chip, so stick to your number board for now!

I also battled to get the adaptor, and eventually got one from Bowman's Cycles in Cape Town CBD. Give them a try. I think I paid around R80-00.

I agree with Supa Sonic, if you can get those hands of you little deeper in your pocket, go for a higher specced wheel, which you can source second hand on here. Back to your question, if you are running on Shimano wheels on your RC3000, chances are that you are using a Shimano group set, which will only allow you to use the Mavic with a Shimano body instead of the Campy.

DMC007, those Shimano RT76 rotors you got from Loudmac are awesome stuff. Got mine from CRC as they are not yet available in SA. Spoke to Coolheat (Shimano distributor) before I placed my order, and they said due to lots of stock of the RT75 they do not anticipate getting the RT76 any time soon. Regarding eliflap's comment on floating rotos, consider the RT76 just as good, as they are lighter and also displaces heat. And they look great. What more do you want?

That is what Andy Schleck also said before his mechanical failure with Sram, but has since swallowed his words. You'll be next to follow his brave example!

I will agree with the above Hubbers, wheels are the way to go to improve on your cycling. I have upgraded both my mtb and roadbike with proper wheelsets (Mavic for my rb and American Classic for the mtb) and the benefits are massive. Save some bucks and rather go for a decent wheelset first. If you want more later, get a better bike and fit the racing wheels.

If a Hubber advertises an item or a bike, act as if you are a Weight Weenie Agent and ask for the weight, even if you have absolutely no intention of buying!

Read a review on an Intense Spider in the latest Tread magazine. Very sought after bike with a frameset costing R18500-00. The bike is fitted with an American Classic MTB 26 wheelset, and gets a great review. Now why would they fit AC to a great frame, if it is not a great wheelset. Happy medium my ass!!!

You are recovering adequately after your training sessions, but nothing can replace no training days (preferably 2, but at least 1 per week). Strengh, endurance and fitness levels are optimised during these days, and not actually while you are training. I am also making the same mistakes by training too hard without enough rest, but my Polar often reminds me to take a break.

Ok, now that we know that you are doing better Wana-b, and that Bos is off the hook and can enjoy his sleep for a change, how is your Merida doing?