nuge

ok, i'm in for saturday, although i'll be joining you guys from somewhere before boyes drive. i'll be on my black and silver aluminium cannondale, white helmet - look out for me, although i've got a feeling it'll be easier looking out for you guys! cheers

+1. geev heem annuvva chans! if they tell you to sod off after that, then 1) public forums, 2) the media, 3) the UN, you get the peekchah...

fever? no ride... sorry, it's not worth it.

i had a gu once (dudes were handing them out free on top of suikerbossie a while back) and, shortly after opening, i found i couldn't get it off my hands. it stuck to my left hand, to my right hand, to my face, to my handlebars, my right knee... those things are a hazard! then i dropped everyone up the next climb (sugar rush) and bonked on the way home... i can't win.

and ask them for some free kit! the rapha stuff is rather, um, (can i say it?) sharp!

just bear in mind (unless it's changed and i don't know about it) the SCC can only award damages up to R5000. better than nothing though. don't know how the logistics will work out though if you're in different parts of the country... for a contract to be binding there needs to be a "willing buyer, willing seller". if there's been misrepresentation on the part of the seller (eg, older parts than claimed which makes a substantial difference to the value thereof), then (i think) unless the word "voetstoots" is clearly stated in the deal, then the onus is on the seller to reimburse the buyer if not happy. either way, good luck!

yeah, but you gotta get your seeding up first in order to ride there! chicken vs egg? dinosaur vs dodo? contador vs yo' momma...? um... ok i'm out.

you not imagining things, i had the same problem - bought a frame and these very nice looking bottle cages (the aluminium versh) were included. be careful though, because after a couple months of trying to jam in and remove a bottle that didn't quite fit, the aluminium on the one cage workhardened and the cage and bottle snapped right off. if you find bottles that do fit properly, let me know!

If you are a genuine sub 3 rider, its not going to make any difference to you. If however you are one of those guys who will ride a 2:55 - 2:59:59 on a perfect day with no wind and your normal plan is to wheelsuck the whole way - hopeing to hang onto your betters, then the Boyes will bugger you. oh dear, then i'm in trouble...

interested to follow this one - i have a similar prob. a year ago i had a calf strain which felt like a spasm of one of the smaller parts of the muscle about halfway up the calf which wouldn't release after a ride. had it treated and recovered, but every now and then i feel it coming back again and have to force myself to back off. in fact, even now when i rotate my foot i can feel something getting caught and releasing as if one of the muscles is getting stuck over one of the others. weird.

Whilst doing the Herald 42km MTB race Saturday with my daughter my bike just collapsed under me. looks like you need to get your daughter her own bike - you and your daughter aren't both meant to be riding the bike at the same time! in all seriousness though, that's pretty hectic (was probably darn scary!) - look like a combination of fatigue under the down tube (crack in the tube) and shoddy welding as the seat tube appears fairly intact. probably got too hot during welding causing the material to become too stiff and brittle and likely to fail.

half the guys are going to kill me here probably, but there's nothing wrong with 105 - i run a full 10speed 105 groupset and it's great, i mean what's half a kg (or something like that) between friends? back to the topic, i reckon most would say that the difference between alu and carbon way outstrips the difference between 105 and ultegra - the verdict being to go with the better frame and lower spec on the premise that one can always upgrade components later (and prob cheaper than vice versa).

tough one. the old adage is that if it's above your throat (head cold) you're probably ok, but take it easy and monitor it. if below the throat (i.e. towards or in your chest) then straight off the bike until fully recovered. i had a head cold last week (sore throat, bit of sneezing) so toned down on the training a bit (didn't stop, just more recovery/low-intensity rides) - lasted about a week and then went away (ok, thanks to a few advil cs tablets - man, those things work well!) was feeling better by the saturday and managed the rollercoaster ok on sunday. listen to your body. even if you think you've fully recovered, if you're training and feeling like crud, just go home, you're actually injuring yourself.

good to hear, been considering getting a new pair of bibs from them, sounds like it's settled.

good choice! i reckon the giant is uber-sexy... and i think you can get brand new mavic carbones from cwc for about 10k. giant tcr, sram force, carbones - mmm, droooooluschish

you obviously didn't select the "please cheer me into the finish" option when you entered. only problem is you have to pay in biltong apparently...

gotta admit i had the opposite happen on my commute home on my trusty unserviced s/s road bike a few days ago - i pass this dude on a mtb, say hello and he doesn't even offer a nod. then he charges past me through the next red robot (yes, makes me ill to say i am seriously in the minority here) as if to make some kind of a point. anyways...

see you in the start gate then, Marius

i see - i presume you're using an mtb then. i converted my old aluminium road frame to a single speed using some donated parts, duct tape and string and run a 39x15 (the 15 cog was all my lbs had at the time!). luckily there is only the one 2km or so stretch which is maybe 2-3% at most so it just works the legs a tad. the real bugger is heading south along main road straight into a howling southeaster - which picks up just about every afternoon like it's waiting for me...

well, here we go again... journey for sight: i knock off about 15mins on my time from last year - result: still seeded in the same group. cape cobra: knock off 26mins from my previous year's time - result: still seeded in the same group. i need a drink...

also ride the old s/s to work as often as possible (22km each way 3-4 times a week), but as i live in ct i probably only do about 50m of climbing each way, them thar's some serious hills ya got there! what ratio you use?

haha, at least lance's chemist is sneakier than contador's butcher!

i've seen this in action. several years back a friend of mine simply started dating the first girl that would actually date him (it wasn't easy for him, you see) in order to, as he said, "pick up chicks". we all thought he was a total ponce until he rocked up at some party with (someone else's!) hot blonde girlfriend. scary creepy...

doesn't sound like a very smart bike shop assistant! considering carbon bits sell at a serious premium, i woulda thunk they'd be pushing the stuff in lieu of whatever else is lying around their shop. or maybe they're just hippies trying to keep your carbon footprint on the DL! were they pushing you towards bamboo perhaps?

whoops, see you've already had the bloodwork done, apologies. maybe what skaap said?