rudi-h

OK, here goes! Berto Froome Nibali Sagan Kittel Cavendish Talansky Rui Costa Kwiatkowski

tubeless doesn't stop punctures, new tyres do

I only use a high pressure hose with clean green. obviously not directing the spray directly into seals etc. but its really the only practical way unless you have the time to spend 30 minutes after each ride with friggin earbuds and all sorts of solvents or to carry it into your bath etc. as has been suggested on this fred.

cycle to the start and back...

much better to see the taxi before it hits you than when it smashes you from behind... so yes, a lot of (smart) runners do it and it is fine

Don't know what 19.82 seeding index means. You can go look at the stats, but its not very often that there are many sub 2h40's in anything higher than D bunch.

With the old 97.4 route: If you can ride a single 58km loop at Suikerbosrand in under 2:20, you will ride a sub-3h 94.7 if you have no punctures or mechanicals. Now the route has changed, so make it 2:15 for the 58km loop at suikerbosrand to be on the safe side.

I don't think the problem is with the tyres. Perhaps confidence and/or riding style and with this I mean does she lean into corners or sit upright and take sharp turns? Larsen TT's are reasonably good tyres and unless you are riding really muddy stuff or cornering like mad on a technical course, tyres won't fix the problem.

by hard training only you can certainly be the best amongst your friends and you can let some heads turn with your performance, but to be the best ALLWAYS involves a large portion of natural ability / talent etc. and its different for every sport. A good example is rock climbing. With rock climbing 99% of what makes a good climber is to be fearless. No matter how much training, I for example will never be able to lead a hard pitch 800m above ground on El Capitan, even if I would train enough to do the same moves blindfolded in a climbing gym. As for Alex Honnold, his lack of fear of hights is almost direspectful to gravity, yet this is the reason why he is famous and why it may take another century for somebody to top his solo climbing achievements! Bottom line is that I think DH racing it to some extent similar to rock climbing as it requires a lot of guts and "no fear" mentality which is something that you are born with. Its less obvious than e.g. with rock climbing, but some of the attributes that you need cannot be learnt.

Not so sure if that's true... Im a reasonably good sportsman with well above average physical abilities. I reckon I would ride places where 8 of 10 MTB'ers out there would push their bikes, but by no means am I exceptional. For one, I have tried relentlessly as a kid, but I can't pop a wheelie for more than maybe 10 m before I lose balance and go sideways. I practiced this as a kid for literally hundreds of afternoons and never got it right. So the bottom line is that even if I had tried to do Danny MacAskill's tricks for 8 hours a day since I was 5, I don't think I have the necessary levels of balance (and maybe guts) to attempt the stuff that the top guys do. Not even to mention the red-bull rampage okes...

GPS altitude measurements are very poor. This is an example of a vehicle driving around a circuit. The latitude data is solid and it is very easy to identify the pattern, however there is no order in terms of the altitude data. Same goes for a bike GPS. Altitude is a mere indication and does not have any form of repeatability.

Seeing that they're going full blown F1 technology here, I wonder how long its going to take for the first "electronically controller" dampers will be available... As much as I am opposed to this level of complexity, this is imminent for the top end bikes will start incorporating electronic technology in a few decades from now. I'm sure there will be merit in actively adjusting the damping based on bike inclination, speed etc.

OK, so I am correct in summarizing that: 1) The Re:Aktiv is a seemingly very complicated mechanism that results in a steeper damping curve than any other shock on the market 2) It will still have three stiffness settings (CTD) that will be selected manually based on the type of riding that you are doing.

Damn, you seem to know quite a bit about shocks. So if I understand you correctly this means that the Re:Aktiv concept is going to do away with on-shock adjustment settings such as CTD, propedal, etc.?

Quote I am pretty fussy about what I eat and do keep a subconscious track of carb and protein intake; if anything I don’t eat enough protein. I do know from years of racing that the LCHF diet won’t work for me. Does anyone have any ideas on how to beef up, how to put on weight, specifically muscle mass. (Please don't say pump iron and eat supplements...) Unquote You've answered your own question. You know what you are doing wrong, but you are looking for a magical quick fix that doesn't involve you changing the way your are currently doing things, both in terms of your diet and in terms of your training... In other words, you know that you need to: a) eat more to ensure you get enough carbs, fat and protein b) do some form of balanced all body exercise (it doesn't have to be pumping weights) I have found that in order to change these habits, I first try to do something distinctly different for 1 day every week. If I were you, I'd have a 600g T-bone steak followed by a waffle once a week just because you can and make sure you and review your current diet to make sure you get enough nutrients during your normal every day meals. In terms of training, take one session a week and do something different. It could be a short session (literally 20 minutes) of push-ups and pull-ups (assisted or unassisted depending on your upper body strength), running hills, swimming a few lengths, playing tennis or whatever you can do other than your normal workout for one day a week that will improve strength. Try that for a while and see how it works. I had a very similar issue but not with weight, it was flexibility. I knew I am/was way too stiff and I hoped for a quick fix that doesn't exist. So now I force myself to take 1 training session per week where the focus is 30 minutes of stretching before I do anything else.

make sure to take one that fits well. I have an entry level wetsuit (orca S3 or something) that fits great and it significantly improves my open water swim times. A friend has a much more expensive one but a bit on the tight side, and his wetsuit slows him down and his arms even start to tingle after a long swim. I know there is more at play here than only the wetsuit, but make sure it fits!

I like froome, but also don't know whats up with bringing out the book now in the mid of his career and on the eve of the TDF. If he's planning to be a real hero, a book at the end of his career (after hopefully much more wins) would have been much more meaningful. also as the others mentioned, this surely creates a huge mess in terms of the current team dynamics. Like today when porte didn't feature it makes one think that wiggo would have been a much better wingman on the TDF. And now with the book and these allegations it would be awkard if brailsford would consider swapping porte and wiggo

bump wanted to go ride this afternoon just to be told that virtually the only open road around here that's not a national highway is a hi-jack hotspot. any musinaians that can give me some ideas?

Going to Venetia Mine for work next week and I've just learned that I've been bumped off the plane, so will be driving up there. Upside is that I can bring my bike along, any ideas where to ride?

Thanks, maybe time to try it again after 10+ years... One more question then: If its lighter and improves handling (as you mention), I guess the theory is that you can go faster at the expense of comfort. This makes me wonder why you don't see them on podiums of marathon type races? Is it fair to say that you lose all the gain that you make on the climbs on the downhills and technical sections?

Slight Hi-jack, but it is Friday afterall... So really now if you throw the cost benefits of a rigid fork out of the picture, how can a sane person prefer a rigid rig to a suspension bike? My first MTB was a rigid cro-moly Trek 930 (1997 model) and after riding a rocky downhill section my wrists were so broken that I used to pray just to get to the bottom. Haven't done it recently, but that bike used to take ALL of the fun out of riding downhill. Other than trying to be a tough guy, why would you want to ride rigid, any perks that I don't know about?

I think that given the amount of cash that people blow on bicycles there has to be opportunities for making cash in the cycling industry, but I don't think that being a full time mechanic is where that opportunity lies. If I recall one hubber started working at a bike shop on weekends which is maybe not a bad start. This gives you the opportunity to know the industry and learn the trade WHILE you still have a job that pays the bills. Once you know the industry a lot better and understand who spends the money and what they spend it on, it may be feasible to start something yourself. Going into something full time that doesn't pay much is a big decision and should not be taken lightly.

anybody know if LC has an email address that works? working in an open plan and hence not ideal to call for personal stuff outside of lunchtime

I think the quick answer, is that (flame suite on) due to Lance the TDF has reached a status as the ultimate grand tour and that is where the ultimate "showdown" happens every year. The fact that NQ opted for the Giro instead of the Tour is perhaps the following logic from Movistar: 1) He has not yet won a Grand Tour and perhaps winning the Giro will look better on his palmares than another #2 spot at the Tour. 2) NQ is not as balanced a rider as Froome or Contador as he can't ride flat TT's. He might therefore be pushed into #3 at the TDF which would be much worse than winning the Giro (and perhaps the Vuelta). 3) Movistar still wants to give Valverde a last shot as a GC captain As for Wiggo, I think if Wiggo was really serious about a second TDF title and and big "rivalry" against foome, he would have found another team already where he could be captain, so that's more an issue of he does not want to compete 1:1 against froome rather than not having the opportunity. Bottom line. The TDF is the "world champs" of grand tours and the Giro and Vuelta are there for upcoming riders to make their name. Only one captain per team is workable, so if a rider is serious about GC, its his own responsibility to find his own team. No doubt that we will see Froome, Nibali, Quintana, Contador and perhaps one or two of the new talents (Aru etc.) all together competing for the tour next year permitting good health from all these guys.

all works fine until you have one hell of a muddy ride...