rudi-h

Just a general comment: Most bike shops advise you to get a new chain & cassette way earlier than it is really required, cause they make profit from it. I ride a chain / cassette until a) the chain breaks or b ) the gears start to jump. I have had my roadbike with Tiagra components since 2006. Have done very many 1000's of km's on it and not even thinking about replacing the chain yet. I think it must have at least 8000+km on the clock Then if you have to do replace it: Expensive chains are lighter, thus they have less steel in them = not as durable. As many have said, cheap chains work a dream and are just as good. Regarding the lubes, you can search for chain lube and there will be many threads with tonnes of info. I'm a wetlube guy though (slippery is allways better!)

20 mins on "slightly more than comfortable" pace - say 12km/h (that is the base speed) First interval: 3 mins on base speed +0.5km/hr, followed by 2 mins on base speed -0.5km/hr Second interval: 3 mins on base +1km/hr, followed by 2 mins on base -0.5km/hr Third interval 3 mins on base +1.5km/hr, followed by 2 mins on base -0.5km/hr etc.. (until you had enough or can no longer continue) So your third interval will be 3 mins on 13.5km/hr with a 2 min recovery on 10.5km/hr. If this is too easy, you can add +1km/hr every time, or increase your base speed, or just carry on for longer.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#/video/world/2012/11/27/pleitgen-green-cardboard-bike.cnn

Whatever you do, don't make an irreversible change... I think you might one day want a FS again and secondly you will never ever be able to sell the bike.

i think its possible. argus has like 5 significant climbs and the rest is super fast in the bunch. If you regularly train multiple 2km hill repeats, you will be able to stay with the fast guys on the hills and you wont lose them on the downhills and flats. However I think it is a tall order if you're not at least seeded in E I did a 3:07 argus in 2010 coming off a 3:01 94.7, starting in F, and my training wasn't too special. Good luck!

doping is similar to cheating on your girlfriend / wife. In essence it is selfish, unfair and just downright f*#-up, but still many people that you know do it and will keep on doing it. not long ago i've heard of a guy that went so far he even injected his racing pigeons with pigeon steroids in order to win a competition. I mean seriously!!!

very impressive!

depends. sometimes seller pays, sometimes buyer. obviously from a buyers point of view, the supplier that includes transport gets the sale

last december 4 of us cycled from PE to Knysna through the Baviaanskloof over 6 days. The baviaanskloof part is awesome and 2 days from willowmore to patensie is a really lekker ride and not too hard. I suggest you camp in the reserve, i.e. doosklip or rooihoek (i think those are the names) book in advance, those campgrounds are booked up well in advance!

welcome to the hub. post specs, prices, pitchars etc. then the hub experts will all have an opinion and lead/mislead you to a decision!

I'm not a dietician, nor somebody who has been overweight that can claim "i've done it before", but on numerous occasions I have managed to lose a lot of weight in a small space of time when I put my mind to it. I don't know anything about your training programme, but running is a LOT better for losing weight than cycling. If I run 8km 3 times a week, it is virtually impossible for me to gain weight, no matter how many garage pies, sweets, chocolates etc. I eat. Don't know if you cross-train, but I would suggest that you try that. A few fast short runs each week will do wonders and it will also make you stronger on the bike

I seriously wanted to buy one before! Hoped to use it for a desert trip on the sand

ZAM-BUK! This stuff is great, just apply after a ride, really helped me when doing a lot of saddle time previously

Its very disappointing for KE and his fans and I really do feel for him, but I think it's good for the sport as a whole. For the first time ever in any sport it is becoming seriously "uncool" to dope, and the message is now clear that doping will f&^k up your career big time. I think this is a huge step towards cleaning up the sport completely!

You've got the right attitude so you are already 99% there! PS bike touring is probably the coolest way to see the country (any country for that matter), so loose the cigarettes, get fit and and come back to tell us when and where your first tour will be!

DG is really a tjop. I remember when they won the "queen stage" of the Cape Pioneer Trek with the R100000 prize money, he said something along the lines of: Great for the organizers to come up with the prize money, but its still peanuts to what other sportsmen earn... To be unthankful for a huge stage purse while you're on EPO does not show much character.

I think what Nedbank did by pulling their sponsorship is the only way to clean up the sport. It may be frowned upon in terms of individual rights from the clean riders' side, but the doper culture will disappear when doping will cause the fall of your team and potentially screw your team mates out of their careers.

or go for a rohloff hub. i did that and needless to say i havent had any shifting issues for years. in terms of maintenance its basically a SS, just need to do a R175 oil change approx every 5000km.

nope, the point is to do things naturally. i.e. getting your nutrients from real food and leaving your body to take care of hormone levels, red blood cell levels etc.

conrad stoltz once said... If it doesn't grow, don't use it! take the advice from a real champ and live by that!

Edit: forgot to quote NotSoBigBen: "Ah so now it's the doctor/pharmacists fault the rider took EPO? Just wondering ...." A doctor is an accountable person and by definition is bound by a code of conduct. The same reason why its worse if a police officer or a laywer is charged with a crime. A pro bike rider is just an ordinary guy that happens to be good at riding a bike. It doesn't make the bike rider "innocent" by any means. But I agree that if we can make the risk too high for doctors to prescribe this stuff, then it should not be so easy for a bike rider to get it.

is recreational drugs really common amongst professional people? Maybe i'm just blind but I've never come across friends or colleagues that are involved with drugs. We just often drink too much, that's all

Agreed. That's how I got down to 30 minutes on a 1.5km swim. I started out with 38mins. I tried coaching last year and joined Philippe's squad at Bright Water Commons VA. It was very good and I enjoyed it, just got a bit much and cannot get off work early enough anymore. One day I'd like to pick that up again

I generally don't swim. Only do one or two swims in the week before a sprint or an olympic tri. Obviously when training for IM or 70.3 I'd do a bit more, but way less than the benchmark. Have only been in the pool 4 times since 70.3 in Jan and managed the same time on my swims in 5150 and BSG buffelspoort than previously. PS i'm not a good swimmer. Takes me 30 mins to do 1.5km, but that never comes down, whether I swim a lot or not.