racman

According to my research the main cause of Hamstring cramps is............ HAMSTRINGS !!! NO HAMSTRINGS = NO CRAMPS - SIMPLE !!! (However cramps in other places can also be caused by Mother-in-laws!!!)

Seeing as though you have just bought the bike from CycleLab, if it is not due to "cross chainin" then take it back for them to set the gears and have a look at it. They will have no problem assisting as their after sales service is what they pride themselves on

I use the Continental IDT tyre and find that A) it doesn't wear as quick or square as a road tyre and B) it is a LOT quieter than a road tyre on the IDT. racman2008-01-13 08:12:36

If it's not the bike then TCS still have nothing to worry about as their riders are so weak they can't even hold their bikes up without assistance (and I KNOW that Felts are not THAT heavy

No competition guys - at least TCS don't need stabilisers on their bikes like the guy in the pic. Must be a "Felt" handling fault

Where's the moderator !!! He used the "B" word and offended an INTERNATIONAL audience as well!!!! Hey Hang on !!!! He IS a Moderator !!!!!

That's evidence of precisely the other "fountain" I'm talking about !!!

you'll find plenty "fountains" displayed here, and some are even disguised as knowledge, but I would hesitate to say that there are fountains of "knowledge"

102km/h coming into Sabie from Graskop side. The biggest thrill was passing a Tour Bus and seeing the look on their faces racman2008-01-05 21:52:44

That is incorrect Big H. The speed sensor will show a slighlty faster speed near the valve stem due to the extra weight of the stem on the rim causing the rim to move marginally faster at this point. Although seemingly impossible due to the nature of rim construction, this additional speed is countered by the manufacturers machining the rim slightly thinner i.e. lighter on the opposite side to the valve hole thus avoiding the rim "buckeling" at high speed due to the imbalance. This was a common problem earlier on which led to the term "seeing its own valve hole", which later progressed to more vulgar terms reflecting the human anatomy! racman2008-01-04 22:13:12

But won't the black spokes have a slighlty differentt "ping" sound when tuning as a result of the dampening effect of the coating. This could also effect the sound of the wheel when riding i.e. quieter, which therefore effects the cyclist who subconscuously thinks that he is going slower and therefore pedals faster. This is why it is a scientific FACT that black spoked wheels are FASTER than silver spoked. racman2008-01-04 21:46:07

My final comment (before I go for a ride. Or I comment again later ). I have found that, in my experience, it is definately substantially cheaper to buy a groupset online and some wheelsets. My LBS (I use two) knows that I will do this and tried their best to match the online price for the wheelset I bought. Even though they were a few hundred rand more expensve after they tried to match the online price, I still purchased it from them. But when the RRP for a Campag Centaur (2007)was R10k, CWC was R5.5k, and I paid R4.6k from Totalcycling.com. In addition I wantd to substitute the cranks with Chorus Carbon which would have cost me an extra R2.5k from CWC but Totalcycling added only R1k for this. So, besides groupset and some wheels I will still support my LBS.

Not all of CWC stock is imported. As far as I know his Easton wheels, Bell helmets etc is sourced from the SA distributors. Where you mainly score is on groupsets, saddles and pedals. Having said that, my groupo was still cheaper to buy online. The bottom line is shop around

Moved my bike off the couch, getting comfortable now and waiting .......

I think Brandon was trying to RALEIGH support from all the wholesalers with his INTENSE and ELITEst attitude, in order to continue to try and make MAXXIS profits and get RITCHEY quick, quick!! SERFAS to say this has backfired and I for one will give them a NORTHWAVE in future!!!!

If I'm not mistaken you may also need a compact front derailleur. I use a 11-23 with my compact which works fine and very similar to my old 12-25 with 39-53. I chose this because of the following advantages: 1) As can be seen in my earlier post - slightly more speed on the 11 2) Slighlty lower speed (easier gear) on 23 3) Closer gear ratios which mean more useable gears 4) Fewer duplicate gear ratios 5) There are supposed spin-offs with lower HR due to smaller front chainrings but I cannot prove it. I personally think that Triple Chainrings will become obsolet in future on Road Bikes in favour of compacts. Also FSA (Full Speed Ahead) has quite a bit of info on their website as well. Browse http://www.fullspeedahead.com/ as well for info.racman2008-01-03 00:13:15

You might fnd this interesting ...::: 700C Wheel At 90rpm :::... <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 53-39 Rings, 11-21 Cogs 50-34 Rings, 11-21 Cogset High speed 33.2 MPH 31.3 MPH Low speed 12.8 MPH 11.5 MPH Comments Changes between each gear are the same (cssettes re the same). The tradeoff is easier climbing as the expense of a small loss of top speed. This s the lightest configuration for either set up. 53-39 Rings, 11-23 Cogs 50-34 Rings, 11-21 Cogset High speed 33.2 MPH 31.3 MPH Low speed 11.7 MPH 11.5 MPH Comments Low speed now almost the same. 11-23 cassette is heaver with gear ratios wider apart. 53-39 Rings, 12-25 Cogs 50-34 Rings, 11-21 Cogset High speed 30.42 MPH 31.3 MPH Low speed 10.74 MPH 11.5 MPH Comments The 12-25 cassette lowers the top speed on the conventional Crankset and makes climbing easier but at the cost of even wider gear ratios and weight. 53-39 Rings, 12-25 Cogs 50-34 Rings, 11-23 Cogset High speed 30.42 MPH 31.3 MPH Low speed 10.74 MPH 10.18 MPH Comments With slightly wider gear ratios the 11-23 cogs further ease climbing with the Compact Crankset while maintaining top speed. 53-39 Rings, 12-27 Cogs 50-34 Rings, 11-23 Cogset High speed 30.42 MPH 31.3 MPH Low speed 9.98 MPH 10.18 MPH Comments 12-27 is about the biggest (heaviest) cassette seen on Tri Bikes. Almost the same climbing can be achieved with the 11-23 cogs with a compact Crankset with a higher top speed, closer gearing and reduced weight.

OK, so should we then spill the beans on bike shops who buy from wholesalers AND CWC, and those whose accounts are in arrears etc - I think not!!!

I suspect that the REAL margins are made BEFORE it gets to your LBS and they then have to compete with Online etc with very litte margin to play with. Brandon, I must agree with Colonel, your comment is in extremely bad taste and you certainly have lost a fan here (are they (CWC) the only bike shop whose account is 60 or 90 days and will you be now using this forum for debtors management as well as marketing in the future, or has it actually got more to do with the direct/parrallel/gray importing" of CWC and nothing to do with their account. I know a bike shop that has a terrible reputation in this regard but I am sure you would not name them here as they don't import directly etc)racman2008-01-02 10:18:18

My favourite route FanD

Not found yet. For some reason this loss has hit the familly more than I expected. My wife and son still keep on looking out the window at the fron gate hoping to see him ( i must confess that I do too!) Anyway, it will be the last pet for us. It remains a misterythough and all evidence points to a theft, which I think causes more concern regarding reasons for stealing a GSD and what treatment etc he will be getting etc etc....

Hey Johan, how are you enjoying the BMC? Where's the photo ?racman2007-12-25 23:40:16

No news yet. Still looking, still hoping, still listening for a familiar bark

Aah, undercover are we? Well Merry Christmas to you as well Pantani - may you all your presents be worthy of "The Style Man" test!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!! racman2007-12-24 16:29:41