Sequoia

My suggestion is an old steel road bike with 36 spoke wheels and 28mm tires. My bike is cheap to maintain and fairly bullet proof, even under my not-quite-svelte 105kg. I've had to bunny-hop potholes and drain covers and even onto and off the curb a couple of times. No issues. I've tried my hand at singlespeeding, but found it impractical for my commute. The Cape Doctor blows against me in the mornings and in my back in the afternoon.

I used to be a "wanter", but then I started overlanding and doing 4x4 trails. For the time being, it is Engel fridges and suspension upgrades. But that pimped out 29er is shouting loudly. Bloody engagement ring... it is ruining everything... Ah well, she's worth it.

I work in the area, and can also recommend Olympic. I've had really good service from them.

Interesting article. I agree. I have 180's on my road bike and mtb, 175's on my single speed play bike and 170's on my commuter. I can spin the 180's at the same rate as the 170's and although I *think* I can feel a difference (making larger circles and all), I chose the long cranks more for the reduction in seat height that they gave me, than for leverage advantage. I have a 98cm inseam, so my saddle is m*erse high. But Mr Zinn is making good money out of 200+mm cranks, so there is definately a demand for longer cranks.

They can and they do. So does most diesels. Even turbodiesels. When you drive them like diesels, that is. And you service them religiously. I have no experience with modern diesels, but have driven plenty of turbodiesel 4x4s over the years. Fit an ETG and you'll be fine. When you start cracking heads and blowing turbos, you are in for some serious expenses. I am VERY hestitant when it comes to buying a turbodiesel outside of warranty. N/A diesels like the current cruiser pickup's 4.2D go on forever. But they are heavy on juice and slow. Not ideal when you are staring at R10/l.

I like my diesel bakkie. Plain and simple. It rattles and shakes and growls and saves me hundreds by not being fast enough to get caught in a speed trap. It is perfect for my needs, but I do agree that spending R800 to fill up, is a bit of a riller. Commuting to work on my bicycle saves me thousands, though.

To be honest, in the end you must go with the one that feels right. Simple as that. Many have said so, because it is the truth. You will be spending plenty of time on it, so YOU have got to like it. Technically, they are very close, so choose the one which you feel most comfortable on. You like the colours better on the one? Well, then choose that one! I know it is almost impossible, but don't worry so much. You won't be on an entry level bike forever... Pretty soon you'll want to upgrade and then the fun starts all over again.

Yup, RIP - he was a legend in his own time.

Barend, although I agree with what you're saying, I don't think you understood me correctly. It is not about fitting EITHER shorter OR longer cranks, but mixing them up - 170cm on the short side and 175 on the long side.

Has anybody ever done a serious study on the effect of fitting a shorter crank vs fitting spacers to the shoe sole? I know for instance that Sheldon Brown is against fitting a shorter crank, and I have always believed that this was the general opinion. But is this based on science, or hearsay?

I'll also put a vote in for Specialized. I have a pair of the s-works ones and I'm quite comfortable, even on long rides. A bit more expensive than my shimano Sh-225's, but cheap when compared to some flashier brands. Having said that, I also have an old pair of Diadoras that I use on my commute to work and they must be the best money I've ever spent on cycling equipment. They are ancient, but just keep going.

Thanks guys. JB, good point about left and right. Doh...

OK, hier is een vir die techies... I upgraded my LX Hollowtech II crankset to a XT crankset to get 180mm cranks. Now I want to put the LX crankset on an old Avalanche Tange steel frame that is lying around quietly rusting. I'm thinking of making a dirt-tjeep runabout singlespeed. Problem is - Despite my bestest efforts, I seem to have lost the spacer found in the non-drive side crank's clamp. This is not the BB spacer, but the squarish black one with the small metal pin sticking out of it. Question - What now? I'm worried that I will over-torque the clamp if I leave it out. Should I use some other form of spacer? Maybe buy a replacement? Or just leave it out and be careful?

I have a holdfast tow bar-mounted one and I am quite happy with it. It is the one on which the bikes "stand". I drive a bakkie and every now and then take my mountain bike up to the farm in Nam. VERY bad road between Pofadder and Onseepkans, but I've never had problems. It is pretty strong. Just make sure to lock it, as the fasteners can work loose. Having said that, If my car was without towbar, I'd probably not buy one just for carrying bikes.

Am I being stupid, or are the tyres used in this test WAY too narrow for practical purposes?

Dang, Barend beat me to it!

What is your inseam? Do you have long arms? Long torso? What is your riding style? Flexible? What bikes are we talking about? Point is, it is nigh impossible to prescribe a frame to you knowing next to nothing about you! I'm a firm believer in a "as small as possible" frame, but I know other people disagree. The important measurement is top tube length, as saddle height is easily adjustable. The bottom line is - try it out, if at all possible. It must be comfortable, otherwise you are probably not going to ride it!

When's a 26er a 29er? When it's a Pugsley... Face it, you're not going to win any races, but the guys who own one are pretty passionate about it. Plenty of discussion on these a while ago on the 29er forum on mtbr.

Johan is spot-on with regards to his analysis. The problem is that people try using a common sense approach to things which they don't understand. You get it with most sciences. There are many sources on the web coming out in support of Johan's views. This guy did a finite element analysis of a bicycle wheel. http://www.astounding.org.uk/ian/wheel/index.html His conclusion: "From these figures, I conclude that it is perfectly reasonable to say that the hub stands on the lower spokes, and that it does not hang from the upper spokes. It is also wrong to say that the force distributes all around the rim and all the spokes contribute to holding up the hub - over a third of the spokes have an effect that pulls the hub down! " Sheldon Brown also has a link to a guy's site who tested the lateral stiffness of various wheels. Quite interesting reading, even though his sample size is a bit small. Lastly - No-one who is even slightly open-minded could possibly believe that just because something is new and made by XYZ-company, it must be the best. Companies are in it for the money. They want to sell. There are various ways of selling, but when selling to cyclists, using big words and shiny materials have worked since the first pedals were screwed to cranks.Sequoia2007-12-19 02:02:38

Hmmm... I think I've jinxed myself with this thread. This morning, as I left a was-red-forever-now-green traffic light, something went *thunk*. Not a loud noice, but a definite dullish sound. Originating from somewhere around the BB-area. I felt a slight movement in my pedal. I rode another 5km without issues, but will pay close attention to the bike before I get on it again later this afternoon...

I'm currently running UST Larsen TT's on non-UST rims. Just pop in at your LBS and get the Stans tubeless conversion kit. Or have them do it. You can even convert normal tyres to tubeless for maximum weight savings, if you are prepared for the possibility of a bit of hassle. I know quite a number of the guys on the hub are running their tyres like this.

Brifter = brake/shifter. I think you forgot to eat breakfast this morning...

Working on a public holiday! What is the world coming to? Anyway, as the title said - how often do you break things? This question is primarily aimed at the big guys, because logic dictates that we should break more stuff than the lighter guys. I don't break stuff and I'm pretty heavy. I've been reading a couple of clydesdale postings over at bikeforums.net and it seems to me that there are some bikemonsters out there. They seem to be able to break anything: hubs. cranks, chains and just about everything else. On a road bike. The only thing that I've ever broken (accident damage excluded) on a bike of mine was a sprocket that broke on a really old peugeot 7-speed commuter years back. For the rest, nothing. Everything keeps going like clockwork. (Frantically tapping the desk right now... ) I'd like to think it is due to my superior powers of maintenance and a little mechanical sensitivity. So, do you break bike parts? Just by virtue of being big and strong? Let's see who's the heaviest on their bikes.

I don't think your bar and stem will make a huge difference. Do yourself a favour and go to a LBS. Compare the feel of two different handlebars - cheap and expensive. The same with stems. We are talking about saving tens of grams here. Of course, looking good is a completely different ball game. What brifters do you have? They are heavier than most people think. I will put money on the table that most of what you feel, is in fact the weight of your brifters.