nuge

have a blood test done for EBV, even if only to rule it out. sounds like it's more prevalent than folks think and you'll hurt yourself in the long run if you continue training. buddy of mine currently has it after doing epic, joberg2c and freedom challenge this year. he's been told to stay off the bike for 6 months at least.

hey velo, that being said, until about a year ago, i had some lumo splash tape on a bike ('92 cannondale 2.8) i recently converted to a s/s (btw, thanks again for the brakes!). anyway, a few years back when i first got sti's, the guy at my lbs lovingly replaced the original tape on the bars - he obviously knew real style! so if anyone knows where i can get new lumo splash tape, please let me know!

naah, i reckon it's been cut out of the upholstery from a certain local steakhouse. it's actually making me kinda hungry - damn subliminal advertising!!! oh, nice bike, munch!

Ashton is a bit of a culinary backwater, culinary backwater maybe, but a plonk drinker's paradise - they sell vino at the petrol station cheap cheap - bring you own bottle/camelback/used-papsak/whatever!

htfu and go over boyes... (been waiting for an opportunity to use that internet abbr.)

go old-school - the cheapest cycling jersey at my LBS in 1999(!) was a blue, yellow, white, red, striped Alpina jersey which has held up really well and i still use regularly... looks great with my aluminium (gasp!) cannondale!

ha, back to down-tube shifters! awesome

bummer man, even if you think you may have damaged it take it back to the Hyper and see what they say - if they're selling rubbish they should darn well be told about it! put their after sales service to the test! rather get your kids decent 2nd hand bikes (with safe brakes, yikes!) that you'll be able to sell on - speak to Neil at Neilswheels (in the Checkers centre on main road, Plumstead right next to the cash converters) and see if he has anything for your kids - his number is 021-761 7563/076 999 5370. he advertises on gumtree fairly regularly.

it's a PPA conspiracy - they are the sporting division of the illuminati, the free masons and who or whatever built the pyramids i mean, consider this: the argus seeding index was radically adjusted and, hey, everyone rides that one so basically pretty much everyone's moving up - think about the revenue possible if everyone reseeds! anyway, the really big question we're all missing here is how many people are going to lash out the 50 buckeroos to get their new numbers?! considering that right now H bunch appears to be the place to be i'm happy to hang out there for a while (although now reseeded to G), but if the big guns have all moved up a group, should i do the same? quando, quando...

well done PPA - finally adjusted the argus seeding index to make a little more sense. i'll stop moaning now! cheers...

agree, i typically shorten a chain so that when it's in small blade/smallest cog combo the bottom jockey wheel is pulled down just far enough for the chain to clear the deraileur comfortably.

couple of old pieces of chain, random stuk steel plate left over from a security gate installation and a vice grip to add leverage (the piece of steel plate i had wasn't long enough!), hey presto, you've saved yourself a about 150 buckeroos! btw i used a piece of old 8-speed chain and i have a 10 speed cassette, so just wrap it around the largest cog (just be careful near the spokes, though!) and druk. works fine.

Zwaanswyk road - the winter TT series used it as a hill climb last year - the last few hundred metres must be well into double figures gradient-wise.

on a more serious note: nutritionally they've got pretty much everything you need, they store neatly in a cycling jersey pocket and they come in a biodegradable wrapper. banana's are the evolutionary pinnacle of energy supplement design.

The only symptoms I develop if I’ve been going at the bananas is a need to groom other people’s heads, a propensity to hunch (so I just spend more time in the drops) and a need to scream in a frenetic high-pitched caterwaul for no apparent reason which I find quite satisfying. Anyone noticed patches of back hair?

yeah, what he said. seriously, (although i don't really subscribe to this with my bright yellow/white/blue striped alpina jersey and '92 2.8 cannondale converted to s/s) when you really get down to it cycling is fashion first, sport second - a pure european tradition! just take a slow ride through camps bay on a sunday morning and you'll understand. my 2c... i'll go now B)

do you even need to change gear on the IDT? if you have one with adjustable resistance you can use whatever gear lines up nicely with the RD. not ideal i know, but better than nothing.

this kind of thing happens to me on a regular basis - last time it was a pedestrian on kalk bay main road, young guy trying to look cool or funny next to his young lady. i don't think it got him laid...

i'm with eldron here - if it's only slipping on the smallest cog it's 9/10 times the limit screw. and it's a really easy fix - prob only a quarter turn out. cheers

haha, i take great pride in the fact that my "carbon footprint" is limited to my fork and one stem spacer (and just because the bike shop ran out of alu ones due to my high, but comfortable, stem height!)

Hi Rob, pm sent. Best regards.

that is awesome! maybe he took a wrong turn at Grabouw... B)

haha, yeah just remove the 39t completely and ride everywhere on the big blade - problem solved! B)

Is it maybe just the fd spring itself being really tight compared to the other fd you have? I upgraded my fd and rd a short while back (ok, all 105, but a lot newer than the 600 stuff it replaced!) and noticed before I even put it on that the fd spring was pretty darn stiff compared to the old one. Upshifts just needed a little extra grunt to get onto the big chain ring so no big deal or anything, but it made quite a difference when downshifting. I get a little nervous sometimes when I hear this serious "KA-KLUCK" (no comments, please) when I hit the small lever on the left STI. Had nothing to do with the cables or anything, the spring is just set really tight. Don't know if this is normal - any ideas anyone?

I use energade pretty much exclusively simply because it's available just about anywhere so it suits my lazy-ass, convenience attitude to cycling! I go for the 1 litre concentrated bottles that make 5 litres which for some reason taste better (and is way cheaper per litre) than the ready-mixed version. Also, while on the bike I try and stick to a strict "less, but more often" rule of drinking - a couple of sips every 3-5mins to try and avoid the sugar buzz some guys are talking about. Gulping down a couple of mouthfulls after a hectic climb will only shock your stomach.