Red Zone

Well done to Murray, damn well deserved

Edit, posted in wrong place

He GoLefty, alu or carbon brake track?

You do have full range of adjustability fore and aft as well as angle, it is just a bit finicky to set up due to the twin bolts and funny clamp, I did it myself with no special tools, it just requires a bit of playing around. The seat tends to angle down as you tighten it up so you need to start with it pointing a few degrees higher than you actually want it to end up. The Slice was designed to have a UCI legal saddle position and a triathlon position (seat further forward), so you reverse the seatpost depending on which you want. When the seatpost is in the tri position, it has a hole at the back (trailing) side which allows you to fit the Cannondale bottle cage mount, which is a nice option, I have it on my bike and it is super solid and pretty aero.

The Slice was designed for comfort and a ride more like a road bike in terms of handling. I have no problem carving my whip down the Noordhoek side of Chappies on the aero bars at speed, I think I only break the tuck for on or two corners.

I race a Slice, Hi Mod frame, never ridden the Cervelo so cant really compare, but I just love the Slice, most of the comments made here are valid, also re the vintage of the Slice it is a bit old, but still a head turner - its a very sexy bike. The P2 is probably a bit more aero as as a newer design. I found the Slice very easy to work on, the cable routing is simple and its easy to replace cables. The seatpost design on the Slice is very annoying and getting the saddle set up right is a serious pain in the butt, but once its done its done. I would test ride both as it is probably going to come down to fit. But remember the cool kids ride Cannondale. Black colour scheme also rocks

How to totally dork up coffee

Oh no you took out 45 Fynbos plants on Chappies, that's going to cause a furore, the bunny huggers are going to chain themselves to your new carbon frame before next years argus to make sure you dont do that again. Perhaps get a hemp bike to keep them happy

Looks like there was a pumping tailwind to help out, still bloody quick to ride up there at an ave of over 27km/h

My take as a layman in these things is that there are two types of impact to consider, one is the sharp focussed hit, which causes a clear crack or break. The other the the more dispersed force created by a high speed crash, which could cause no visible damage but a weakening of the frame by creating micro fractures in the bonding agent. Quite frankly I would not have full confidence in the frame. Flog it on the hub as "hardly been ridden" and "under 500 km's on it" The last bit was in jest BTW

I think the problem is that your long rides are 75-85 km and you are racing longer if you cramp at 90 km. You have to train for the intensity and distance. Unless you do that you are underprepared. Start getting those long rides up to 10% over race distance and clap those interval sessions

Correct, blows my mind when there is a perfectly good sidewalk, which is far more pleasant (and safer) to use on the other side of the road

Bottom line, it seems overpriced for the performance it delivers, I don't want to spend R30k on a bike to have to replace, wheels, tyres, bars & stem and then get a bike that might not fit the bill as a great XC race machine

you can apply to join the Muhammadeyah Cycling Club here, sounds like you will fit right in http://mc2cycling.co.za/

That's the way to do it, I think that this is going to be my style next year (minus the booze possibly - I don't think I could ride after klapping it like that)

My problem was that there were so many cyclists laying their bikes on the ground and sitting around, that there was not enough space left in the pen, so some people couldn't even load into the pen.

That was my most hectic Argus ever, started in C group, with B group only starting a minute up on us, they were never going to stay away, we caught them going up Hospital Bend after about 5 minutes. The fact that the organisers didn't think / didn't care that this would happen baffles me. With the tail end of B probably only going over the start line after 30 seconds, then having to cross from the mountain side there was a tiny gap which was never going to hold. This made for a huge group, I am amazed that there were only minor crashes, fortunately Smitswinkle sorted things out a bit, with the B / C group hauling buttock over the top and along to Soetwater. Smaller groups from there out made the ride a bit more enjoyable. Minor mechanical near the end cost me a sub three, but just happy to have survived without breaking something.

And live report from Lakeside. Its pumping. Going to be a toughie today, not many sub threes

OK Boys play nice, we like to maintain a certain degree of decorum in the multisport thread. To sum up, preparation has nothing to do with luck. Chains break, so do spokes, gear cables, dérailleurs, bolts work lose, these are all mechanical failures and come down to bad luck. We ride our bikes for hundreds of KMs each week, it is something of a no-brainer that they will be well looked after. It is also trite to say that they will be in top shape come race day. Servicing will not prevent most mechanical failures that we are talking about, at best you will avoid a broken cable or pick up some wear and tear on a dérailleur which will might have failed on race day. You cannot prevent are those mechanical failures that simply happen irrespective of the age of the part. Stuff breaks, often nothing to do with age. Bikes are complicated machines with lightweight parts that break - if this happens in a race then its just plain bad luck. You leave your bike overnight with 2500 people milling around it is all to easy for your machine to be knocked over, which is often enough to bend a dérailleur hanger A puncture is part of racing, it will happen to all of us at some point, we should be 100% independent when it comes to puncture repair. In a race this will cost you no more than a few minutes. In Ironman this is small fry unless you are going for a slot / podium or if you are a pro. Therefore the race organisers should, IMO, in the interests of athlete satisfaction, fairness and to allow a level competition, provide support for mechanical failures, this should be readily available. I have worked for nearly a year to get to the point I am at now, to have my race stopped by a broken spoke or similar mechanical failure will be unbearable. If you haven't trained for an Ironman, dont try understand - you just cant. This is not some road or MTB race, of which there are hundreds each year. There is one Ironman SA, its damn expensive, damn hard work and a massive sacrifice for family, for some its a once in a lifetime event. Ironman is first and foremost about the athlete and his ability on the day. Mechanicals are rare and should not detract from being able to deliver your best athletic achievement on the day

If you are in the C group then rather ride the shallow section wheels, any other group and you will be fine with deep sections

Oh for the simple days when the golfers played golf and cyclists cycled.

Got some craft bibs at a good price (I think). The Pinerello stand is worth a visit, there is a sick Bolide there, which is worth a look, even at over R200k, its quite a bike. Nothing else really stood out, much the same as every year.

I am going with a 53/39 chain-ring with a cluster ratio of 12-27, I may not need the 27 but its nice to have for a safety net. Also going without an 11 prevents the temptation to churn a big gear

I would say that this is, in general, not true. Shorts are designed for different purposes, nothing can beat a good pair of cycling bib shorts for longer road and mtb rides. Tri shorts are a bit thin for mtb, although I have done plenty of offroad tri's in them, but they do lack a bit of padding. I do agree that they are probably good for spinning because of the thin chamois which is pretty comfy and will soak up less sweat than conventional bike shorts. But tri shorts tent to be a bit more pricey than some cheap bike shorts, which has always put me off using my tri shorts in the spinning class

You mean those other triathlons that Lance once called “a shampoo, blow dry and 10 k foot race.” - One of his better quotes IMO