Andymann

I have a Vortex - you cant go wrong. I've had it for about a month now and it's damn nice

Thanks! Thought it shouldn't be a problem.....

I tried that, but the road wheel spacing is 135mm I think, and my MTB frame is 143mm - I was a bit wary of bending the chainstays too much.

Thought about that, but on the odd occasion that I might want to do a road ride on the mtb ( ) then I don't want to have to take of the tire again. I suppose I cant have my cake and eat it.

Seeing as they are shooting people riding MTB now in Pta East, I'm going to have to put my MTB on the indoor trainer until the crap dies down (hopefully). I have a spare set of wheels, so is it possible to fit a 700 x25C Road tire on an Alex/Syncros Mtb rim?

I was thinking a whole bunch of pamphlets handed out at the security entrance to Plastic View and at the taverns. Or if we do go the night ride/critical mass route, we hand them out with a coke maybe?

Now that I think is a very smart move - I live in the area, and have had dealings with some of the residents of the settlements - by and large, they all want crime out of the area as much as we do. The only way we will win this fight, is to get them to turn on the criminal elements in the community. How would we do this? A R2000 reward would go a long way. Possibly even a show of support by cyclists - if we routed this months Critical mass through the area and handed out toys similar to the Toy Run. If we can convince the communities that cyclists can benefit them somehow, my guess is there will be a few more guys wandering around sans hands....

I commute to work by motorbike on occasion, and sometimes a specific situation arises in traffic not unlike what the road layout is in this case: Car going North is courteous and allows a gap for Car (Taxi?) travelling South waiting to turn into side street on left. Motorcyclist (me) going North doesn't realise this and comes up the inside of car, almost getting flattened by car turning in right in front of me. Cue much braking and hand signals. Strictly speaking though, I *was* in the wrong. I hope this wasn't the case in this situation.......

We have an informal settlement just up the road from us in Pretoria - heard yesterday at our Community Forum that the residents of the settlement caught a guy stealing and cut off both his hands. I know it's wrong, but I cant help but feel good......

Got the better of me too I'm afraid - also just did the one lap. Really needed a long ride before W2W, but the heat was just too much. 6:30 start next time?

I wonder if Heyneke Meyer would agree?

Do you have an indoor trainer? If so, I can send you a really mean IDT set which will really sort out your hill weakness.....

www.dinamic-coaching.com I went from being a mid-pack Duathlete in 2011 to winning the 40+ Age group at the I-Flex series in 2013. You can only get so far on a generic program - if you want to get that last 20% which will move you from mid-pack to podium you have to investigate an individual program which caters for your strengths and your weaknesses.

Just a quick one - bought myself a new Tacx Vortex, so far so good. I'd like to know though from any other owners, do you leave the magnetic brake plugged in and power on the whole time, or do you turn it off after training. There's no mention of this anywhere in the manual that I can see.....

We used to turn our road-bike bars around in school to help us wheelie and I still have all my teeth, so I guess you could.

We very seriously looking at bringing in one of these - what's it ride like?

I recently replaced the Syncros (ALEX) wheels on my 940 - with some Ritchey WCS. I'm usually loath to comment on whether you can actually feel an upgrade but in this case you really can. The Ritchey's are way stiffer, at least 500g lighter and just roll so much better. And I'm a lot more confident with the hubs - both the hubs on the Syncros wheels were those unbranded Shimano Malaysia jobs......

I think you'll be lucky if you find some - there weren't that many Grid 5's around to start with, and I remember the pads were hot property back then - I used to leave mine off just because I knew if I didn't, someone would have stolen them! I do think I still have my Le Turbo Grid 5 team badge somewhere. If I can find it, I'll gladly send it down to you - It wasn't part of the bike, but might be nice just to have it though....

My wife rides a Scott Scale 910, I ride a Scale 940. I specifically wanted aluminium, and I did a lot of research before I bought my bike. The problem I found, is that very few Manufactures make a top-spec (Full XT/X9/X0) aluminium bike anymore. So it almost pays to spend the extra cash upfront, and go for a Carbon frame. Having said that, I've ridden her bike quite a bit and so have been able to do quite a good comparison. Her bike was initially much lighter - about 1.2kg, so yes it did feel a bit more nippy. It has a better fork, and much better wheels. However, it also cost R30K, where mine cost R13K. I have recently upgraded my wheels, my seatpost and stem (to get a better fit), a set of flat Carbon bars (because Booth Carbon bars are the same price as Alu bars!) - all basic things you would probably do anyway to get whichever bike you buy to fit you well. This cost me around 10K, and now I am within a kg of her bike. The ride quality is almost identical, and I really struggle to feel the difference - apart from the better fork - hers is way more plush. My suggestion - If you have the means - may as well go carbon, otherwise, go Alu, and over time you will be able to build up a good spec bike which will be pretty close to a Carbon bike anyway. And as a bonus, you will end up with something which is pretty unique.

Oh for sure. I'll keep a lookout for you - can you not still order them though - If you have a young racer looking for a bike let me know - maybe I can help with a few new bits.....

I was always a fan of AC, but recently switched to a set of Ritchey Vantage II Aluminium. Not as featherweight as the ACs but apart from that they are pretty impressive. Best part for me was I bought a set of Maxxis Crossmark, put on the Tubeless Rim tape and valves (included in the price!) and pumped the things up with a hand pump. Easiest tubless conversion I have ever done.

Hey Nick - I'm curious - did you ever manage to "place" my old Bianchi S-Pro frame? I'd love to see how it turned out......

Isn't the difference between Chiense and Chinese about the same as the difference between the Pinarello and the Chinarello? Looks the same, close enough to recognise what it's meant to be, at first glance difficult to spot the difference, but to the trained eye the error is glaring

Second-last I-Flex race so we will be in PE........