Ratty

She is very cute! I love how we "push" the thing we love the most on our kids. My boy is only 15 months and we already have his next 2 bicycles picked out. For Xmas he will be getting a scooter like your little girl.

anyone know of a good shop to get a stumpjumper serviced? So far its been to two and come back worse than it went in. First one the gears didn't work when I got it back (they were perfect when I took her in). Took it to a different shop to get that sorted and got it back with almost no brakes. I don't know which shop stuffed the brakes up though, but the 2nd shop was supposed to go a complete check. Guess they never checked the brakes. Oh and I live in Tableview, work in Mowbray so anything inbetween or close by is good. My favourite cycle shop is still Geco cycles. Have had a service and bike setup done there, also and bought a few things and always had great service and lots of friendly useful advice. Unfortunately I just don't have the time to get there.

me?? neverrrrrrrrrr... I just honestly think peeps that don't ride hardtails' date=' do so, cos they can't. So they are either old or injured.. This off course excludes any DH riders.[/quote'] hmmppf... I take offense to that. I'm not old (haven't even hit the 30's yet) and am not injured and had no problems riding a hardtail down rocky singletracks etc. I just have more fun on my Stumpy. I can ride over things that I would avoid if I had a HT. I do have the luxury of locking my rear shock though when I do the pedal power rides. You can really feel the difference on uphills and downhills as expected, but also on the flat.

I have for some time now suggested that PPA have a seperate devision that deals exclusively with MTB events and seedings. To date I have not had any response to any of my requests. These mainly consisted of the following: 1. Seperate committee 2. Seperate subs 3. Dedicated mtb numbering boards and numbering stickers on frame 4. Seperate seedings for MTB and road events' date=' with a slightly modified system for seeding 5. Seperate website[/quote'] I agree, think it would be great to have seperate mtb / road seedings! It really makes sense.

My question is why are there so many idiots without helmets!

I read somewhere that the reason the seeding is later is because the first road race is later so they are only aiming to get it done by then. Basically they couldn't give a stuff about the mountain bikers!

I've successfully ordered from them a few times. They are not always the quickest to respond but normally very helpful when they do.

Make sure it sits nicely on your back. I've found some fit me really well and others are uncomfortable. Make sure you get one that fits the stuff you need with you on a ride. I don't do very long rides so mine is the smaller one, fits a tube, bomb etc but not much else and has a 1.5l bladder. I always take a water bottle with as this is not enough for me for even a 2 hour ride. If you are going to do long rides / stage races I think the bigger ones are the better option. I've had mine now for more than 3 years and its still in good condition so IMO worth spending the money for the one you want as its going to last you a while.

I get really annoyed when they give medals to people that DNF and then the poor people who slaved away and really struggled get to the end and there are no medals left!

Agree' date=' the weight difference isn't even noticeable anyway...[/quote'] Try 500g's difference!!! I got my bike 2nd hand. I knew it had slime tubes in and for almost a year I didn't get a puncture. Recently I changed to normal tubes for Knysna and found out that all this time I had been riding with tyre liners as well as slime. I weighed the slime tubes with the liners and then also the new tubes and there was a difference of 250g's on each wheel. I can actually feel the difference when riding my bike.Ratty2009-07-27 03:47:45

I get wonder woman's point. If you really are a keen cyclist you would have been out cycling more while you could. Your whole life is about to be turned upside down, all the things you could previously do whenever you wanted have to now be planned around the baby. So if cycling wasn't a high priority before its going to be even lower once baby arrives.

One of the key things, she has help "Kenneth?s older sister, Hege, came with us as Super Nanny" If you don't have help its impossible to find time to train!

I was fairly fit before falling pregnant, was doing fun rides up to 60kms on the mtb and did a sub 4 argus 2 months before . I cycled up until 6 1/2 months into my pregnancy so I thought I'd be ok when I started riding again afterwards. My first ride back was 6 weeks after having natural birth. I did a 13km loop at Harkerville and almost DIED! My heart rate went through the roof everytime we got to a hill. Don't expect too much too soon. C-Section recovery is longer than normal. Other factors to think about is how much help will she have with the baby. If she is alone all day and not getting any help during the nights she WILL be exhausted for the first few weeks. If she has family members who can help look after baby during the days so she can catch up on sleep it will make a big difference. Agree with what the others have said about priorities changing. You want to spend as much time with a baby especially if you have to work during the day. Its also very important though for someone who did lots of exercise before baby to continue doing it afterwards otherwise there is a good chance of depression. Its something to do with your body being used to the endorphins (sp) produced during exercise. Ratty2009-07-21 03:01:11

The other organisation didn't get the timing accurate. Ok, it was only out by a few minutes, but still annoying. Why don't they use timing mats so at least the people who have timing chips can get an accurate time.

They did a great job fixing my gears after I got my bike back from a different shop with my front derailer not working at all. Unfortunately my bike came back from them with the brakes hardly working so I need to take it back, hopefully they will fix them for free as they were working before I took the bike there.

Won't be long and you will be struggling to keep up with him!

If its a drive to get there, then not worth it. I stay just down the road so its the closest off road venue for me and great if I'm short of time.

This is almost like the "I'll break up with you before you break up with me type scenario". Saying that you won't deal with Specialized anymore is a bit pointless if they have already said they won't deal with you. There could be many reasons. Maybe you haven't paid on time, or maybe you are just not selling enough. If the shop down the road is turning over more Specialized goods and also selling the bikes then as a rep it makes more sense for them to put more effort into that shop. Also you posted what your shop assistant told you. Ever heard of broken telephone. Have you actually spoken to the rep yourself?

I tried one of the gels last week and sorry to say couldn't finish it, I thought it tasted disgusting. Don't know if there are different flavours that taste better?

I might be interested, depends on cost, venue, day and time.

I hate the gym, but with a 1 year old at home I don't get my chance to cycle during the week. At least with the gym I can go after 7 at night. A fried of ours has been gyming 3 times a week and its made his cycling a LOT better than before. He has had the help of a personal trainer though.

We just got a Winnie the pooh ride on for my kids 1st birthday and he cried when we put him on it :-( Not a good start.... Can wait to get the Y-Bike though as its KTM colours. Means he can match his dad.

We hired a trailer 2 years ago that had a bike rack on it. Can't remember makes / brands though. It worked really well.

I looked into this when buying my first decent mtb and spoke to a lot of people as well. The biggest problem with spending money on a womens specific bike is trying to resell it if A) your wife doesn't like it or B) she likes it and wants to upgrade. Its also a very personal thing. I used to ride a small mens epic which was very comfortable for me. When i rode a Ladies small epic I felt like I was going to fly over the handle bars and the Medium Ladies epic was too big. I think for someone starting out on a mountain bike, it doesn't make too much of a difference. The most important thing is to make sure she gets a nice comfy womens saddle. You can always put a shorter stem on. For a road bike however its a different story. I really struggled with the gear levers and brakes on a mens bike. Now with my women specific handle bars etc is a LOT easier. I also don't think you need to get a full suspension. Remember that she is starting so she won't be flying over rocks etc. If you have a comfy saddle then the hardtail is perfectly comfy. The huge advantage of a hardtail is that it will be lighter for her and make climbing a easier (or pushing).