Andymann

Hows this for a left-field spin-off of the whole DG positive - thanks to his test and the resultant publicity, Drug Free Sport SA has upped their testing protocol to such an extent that my nicely planned SURPRISE honeymoon location for my wife and I has been scuppered because they need to know where she will be in case they want to do a test Thanks a lot DG..........

I bet if you rode the Epic on weed, it would feel like you would be taking the rest of your life just to finish

OK my apologies - you can still get the wear parts, just not the bits you need to do the 9-10-11 sp conversion.....

From my good mate who does the servicing of the Bonitas Team bikes - he's also a bit grumpy because apparently the Super Record bits wear out quite quickly....he was told this by the local importers

Ok, final answer to this question - yes you COULD, but now you can't! Seems like the crafty Italians have realised people like us are building hybrid shifters, and have stopped supplying the parts separately....So where you could order just the two gears and the springs before, now you have to order the whole shifting body for about R1000..... Which is a bit bloody worrying when your indent springs wear out - because now you can't even order those....

Damn right - remember from a few years back when we went up to the Water tower we came back down past Marco Polo, and the guys were dishing out free beer!!!

+100000Just make the critera known for each batch - A: 0% - 15% B: 16% - 19% C: etc etc etc.....so that when you do your seeding race, you at least have an idea where you will end.

Exactly. I know of a case where someone in G applied for a re-seeding to the elite ladies, and was told that you had to have an index of at least 20% to be amongst the elite (that elusive list I was talking about!). They then said "Aha, but your seeding is good enough for E". Which begs the question, why was she not in E then from the start, and, if it was an error, why the extra R150? I wonder how much money is made from the re-seeding.....

That makes sense - you need to start in the group you were seeded in originally. No prize money - just give the winner a free entry to next year...

Every year the organisers put on a great show, so this isn't a rant! - I just came up with a few things which I think might be worth looking at - feel free to add, or flame at will! 1. Seeding – this always seems like a bit of a hot potato. I suggest make a list of the 5(?) main seeding cycle races which will be used for the 94.7. Then make the list you use for seeding the groups public. That way, if you do all five seeding races and your average seeding percentage of all 5 is say 25%, you can then match that percentage to the group seeding list and you will quickly see what group you will be starting in. If you only do part of the five seeding races, then you can expect to be dropped down a bunch, or two. That should solve a lot of headaches regarding seeding, and give people a goal to work towards. 2. While on the subject of seeding, perhaps include some MTB races as well as a few Multi-Sport races into the seeding criteria – I know a top-10 ladies Ironman finisher and Elite Tri-athlete who was seeded in H – purely because in preparation for ultra distance events, cycle races are done as a “time in the saddle” issue, and not a fastest finishing time issue – 94.7 excluded of course!!! 3. Most 94.7 competitors I know are super-competitive. Why not offer something for the winner of each batch right down to Batch SS – an acknowledgment on their finisher certificate, or even an exemption from the following year’s entry fee? 4. Maybe a separate batch for Single Speed and MTB’s who want to claim bragging rights as the fastest MTB or SS? 5. With the MTB race now a week earlier, what about a prize for the fastest combined MTB-Road time? There should be more than enough time to add some sort of sticker to the road race pack, to identify you as a combined time rider, or even a link to the entries, where you can select that you will be participating in the combined time competition. Just my thoughts.....I attribute it to 94.7 withdrawal symptoms!

I road with the lady in E, and let me tell you there was no wheel sucking going on there - In fact on the N14 she was right in front driving the bunch. Very strong....

I saw that too - and the one guy looked like he was riding in the 60-69 age group! Respect! Sorry I couldn't help the last 2km, I was pretty much spent! I think we lost the time on the N14 - the bunch just didn't want to get going......

Thanks! Missed my goal of a sub 2:40 by 30-odd seconds, but I reckon with the wind it was one of those things! Were you on the blue Trek?

That should make the group about 12.....

There should be two of us in Ocean Basket kit - all going well we are aiming for below 2:45.... White Giant TCR and Blue and White Bianchi Infinito....

Ok, so I won't be at my PC tomorrow - anyone looking to push for a sub 2:45 in E - I'm on a white TCR Advanced, Zipps, and Ocean basket kit. E4404....

Hmmm. That it does :-)

I made a set about 10years back when I was stuck out in Ellisras. I used three old rollers from a tube conveyor (complete with bearings) and used an old belt to drive the front one. It worked ok, but was a bit agricultural! In the end I tossed it into the scrapheap and bought a new set!

I hope no-one on this thread is with FNB, because if so, poor Steve from *BEEP*bank is going it find it even more difficult to get customers :-)

Oh, and don't use your Mothers wooden fork for stirring the grease while its getting hot....She still has the new one I had to buy her, and I still have the now very black one I used.

My chain and cluster is due for replacment soon, so I'm going to try a trick we used to do years back as kids when we all rode MX and had no money for fancy lube - we got a pot of Castrol MS grease - the black stuff - and dumped it all into a half-GTX tin, slowly heated the tin on the stove (when my Mom wasn't home) until the grease turned to liquid, and then dumped the cleaned chain into the hot liquid grease... the theory was that the hot liquid grease would flow easily between the rollers of the chain, and then when it cooled, it would turn back to grease inside your chain. I'm not saying this was definitely the case, but I sure as hell remember that when the stuff cooled, the chain was covered in a nice layer of grease, and didn't seem to have to lube chains for months thereafter. Surprisingly, it also never flew off. I also don't remember having to buy too many new chains either. I know I'm probably going to get flamed for heating grease and upsetting the molecular structure etc, etc, and I'm a bit worried about heating a thin bicycle chain in hot oil/grease, but if it works, I reckon this type of solution will be a good one....

And of course now they have go and shortened the race, so all the calcs will be even more theoretical!

I've done 10 94.7's so I have quite a lot of data from my times vs. the winners time. I also love playing around in Excel, so I took all the data I had, and used the forecast app and managed to come up with that prediction. It's VERY theoretical though! All depends on the mood of the bunch, weather, things like that. I always base my perfomance on a seeding index, and I work towards that - its a great leveller!

Thanks - yup. I have been reading a bit and it doesn't seem like a big issue at all. Just to clarify - on the training bike it's all 10sp (incl. chain) apart from the RD which is 9sp - it works fine..... Great - can you remember the part no's of the bits you changed?