Gumpole

There has been a lot of this lately on the Hub, with some people with matric level Physics shooting down the salespeople (who are without), but here is a little more BS from Zipp..... a Wheel with negative drag!! so it actually helps push you forward and I also imagine that the faster you gi the harder the push!! http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/2007/shows/eurobike07/?id=results/eurobike072 Zipp probably meant to refer specifically to other manufacturer's disc wheels, though, as it also says its new Sub-9 disc achieves a negative drag figure when equipped with its updated Tangente2 dimpled tubular tire. According to Zipp, the Sub-9 produces -80g of drag at a 15? yaw angle, effectively yielding 11 watts of forward power. Shapewise, the Sub-9 almost looks to be an 808 toroidal rim blended with a small-diameter flat disc in the middle. Naturally, just about every surface on the Sub-9 is graced with Zipp's ABLC dimples.

Rugby starts neeext week, my club rides have been pushed 45 minutes earlier for 'summer' start, grumble, grumble. ahh well the sun is shining and I will be drinking some beer. Does anybody notice how the new Amstel is much better than the breweries stuff? (positive silver lining to this posting )

I dont know if this is of any relevance but try this: get your front wheel and hold it in your 2 hands by the ends of the axle. lift it up, twist it, move it around in the air. Now while holding get somebody to spin it as fast as possible... now try and twist it move it etc. It is a lot more difficult, why the weight is the same.. or is this aerodynamics at play???

dont know what the difference between GP4000 and GP4000S is but my GP4000s are still going great after 4000+kms

I think if you are overweight the benefits in losing extra fat far outweigh the actual loss of the weight. Sias, I am not saying that the Vets are slow, just that if you take a TT up one of the Alpine climbs there will be a bit of a gap between the top Tour contenders who normally win with a performance of 1800m/h, and a SA 'elite' rider and 'Vet' So maybe it should be 6% for LA at his peak, 5.5% for top SA climbers, 5% for good vet climber, 4% for B/C start rider, 3% for me , 1% for the 6hr argus rider.

In the original example.. (assuming a smooth surface though)... 600m ascent, assume VAM of 1200m/h for a moderate athlete (me). Then the 13km is done in 30 minutes. If there is a minute loss for every extra 100g then I will be 10 minutes slower on a bike that is 1kg heavier - impossible. Maybe 1 minute for evry kg?

after the 2005 Ride for Site (huge bunches, crashes all over) and 2006 H2H (Huge bunches, crashes, incl. me) I have decided to boycott races which are f l a t and consist of wheelsucking, guttering and crashing. Spinnekop, if crashes in flat races are the fault of the 'inecperienced riders' then explain the amount of crashes in the Tour, where the entire race group is smaller than a start group in any one of our big rages?? I mean if these guys F it up, then you just have to face the fact that flat route = large bunches = crashes. Thats why I only race: small races or big races with plenty of hills AND road closure.

Where is Robbie, or has he made himself unavailable??

So Fanie you have the powerlungs AND the Q-rings??

Slowjoe, your Garmin tells you that you have done 513/ 514m of climbing in 6 laps of Kyalami. My Polar tells me that I have done 445m of climbing in 10 laps of climbing. One of us needs to get our HRMs calibrated/ fixed - hopefully it is me (I like the idea of climbing 1000m in 12 laps!)

A lot of bikes get distributed in one form (or with one spec) and then the components change. A few years ago you could get a lot of bikes in europe with compact cranks, but those same models were available with ultegra normal cranks in SA. Besides Christo, all bike manufacturers give a full spec of components on their websites, literature. you should be looking at the quality rather than the weight of this stuff... and checking that they haven't 'down graded' components.. eg Dura-ace levers and crank set, rest is ultegra or 105.........or swopping out the wheels for Shimano WHR550 or Mavic Aksium

DOWNLOAD THE power calculator, and you can fiddle around with weight, gradient etc etc etc.

http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/ e embarrassing how little difference a 100gs makes

I love my compact cranks - less embarrassing than a triple! If you are a A group, top vet, or pro then you will miss the 53-11. All other cyclists can bury their pride and get a compact!

Jaa I know Marius, but wind or temp never make someone faster (assuming a circular course). For example I often ride at kyalami, always 10 or 12 laps. My times vary according to wind, temp and mainly my fitness... but I would never suddenly improve my speed by 1.5km/h - especially with a lower HR...

well Marius, If it is a 'regular weekly ride' then I can understand a day when you are cycling extremely badly due to 10 or so factors, but I have never have rides where I am 1.5km/h faster than my normal 'fast time' for a route, especially with a low HR.

When I joined Club100 it was R600 joining fee + R400 annual membership. This included all the kit. I have found all the people that I have chatted to on the saturday and sunday rides as friendly, never ride 4 abreast, but some disagree. I would imagine that cyclelab is the same. Dont see the problem with riding 10kms to a clubride - good for extra mileage, and if you are a beginner you can just drive. Quentin, do you ride on saturdays?

another chain question... doesn't the rear derailler move forward and back with each pedal stroke ( as the chain moves up and down it is also moving left and right - to keep the same shape without stretching) ??? Would this accelerate wear on this component?

Brilliant, Tour riders get suspended for not taking EPO injection..

Contador, in my opinion is doping (never mind his links to operation puerto for the moment): 1. He is a rookie/ very young.. immense physical and mental pressure but he wins the tour - impressive. Last time this was done was LA in 99 (EPO) and Ullrich in ? (naturally dopoing) 2. He can match the best climber in the world day after day... and the best climber in the world dopes... 3. Discovery are masters at 3 things: winning the TDF, completing the TDF with all 9 riders and never ever doping. But once riders leave they all become serial dope offenders.... maybe the 'controls' at discovery are just really good?? 4. Contador can TT far too well (see point 2). The P+P might see it as the 'wearing yellow' factor. I think not. Clean riders at the TDF: I think valverde, after previous doping and puerto problems decided to go it 'clean'... how well did he do this year - nowhere. Other dirty riders: I hate to say I mistrust Levi but last time I saw somebody so dominant in a TT it was Vino (oops), Ullrich (double oops) LA (triple oops). But Widget, the reason that I think the tour IS actually cleaner this year is that the guys that were fighting for a top 10 are now fighting to win the thing. So for the Tour organisers who are doing their best in difficult times.