Christie

Raced on GP4000 last year. Raced 2005 on Pro race. My experience: Pro Race wore out much faster, was prone to cuts and had less grip in the wet. I did not notice a big difference in my speed or the race results achieved due to the difference in tyres. So I prefer GP4000 . (For some races I was too lazy to take off the Gatorskins I train with, and still achieved more or less the same results.)

The trainer wears the tyre down faster. It will not not have an effect on the rest of the wheel.

Thanks for the advice Oom H.

I need some advice. Where can I find a good wheelbuilder in Gauteng? Arno at Fritz is very good, but only if he does the job himself. If he gives it to some of the other guys is comes out poorly. I want to have a powertap hub build into a Reynolds tubby deep section rear wheel. I've heard good things about Cyclelab, was thinking to try them first. Any advice would be appreciated.

Re the Wheels: There are a lot of similarities between Fulcrum and Campag wheel: rim profile look the same, same quick releases. I would guess they use the same metal, spokes, nipples and bearings too. So chances are that there wont be a significant mechanical difference for a certain price.

Fulcrum wheels are made by Campagnolo. So each Campagnolo wheel will have a Fulcrum equivalent with different stickers on. I think the lacing of the spokes is also different, most Campy wheels have the G3 lacing (looks very nice) on the rear wheel, Fulcrum more conventional lacing. Mass, stiffness etc. should be the same. I've ridden a set of Zondas for training wheels the past 2 years. Great set of wheels - I hit a big pothole in the dark one morning at speed, hit the front and back wheel. I was riding with a Zonda front and a DTswiss/powertap rear. Got double pinch flats, wrote of the rear rim, front wheel was'nt even out of true - so I like Zondas. I don't know Mavic wheels, but they should be good too. I would suggest you compare mass vs. price, and buy the lowest mass for the lowest price. These are not the only possible factors to consider, but are the easiest parameters to compare qualitatively. (Fulcrums may be easier to addapt to a powertap hub.) I would hold off on new unproven stuff like Q-rings untill the whole pro peleton rides them. For me that is an easy way to verify if something provides vastly superior performance. If something gave a gaurenteed improvement, they would all have them. Almost all the pros now ride with powermeters (powertap or SRM), which is a good indication that they are useful.Christie2007-03-06 11:02:07

Go have a look on totalcycling.com You can buy a top of the range clincher wheelset for around R5k to R6k.

I'm sceptical about cycling gadgets. Most of it has to do with bike companies trying to sell more stuff. The ceramic bearings may be rounder, lighter more expensive etc. The question is: Would Jan have beaten Lance if he had ceramic bearings? NO! Will it improve my race results by 10 seconds? NO! But like somebody with a black bib who wets himself, no one will notice, but it will give the owner a warm feeling, so I guess you will sell some of them, Ivanb.

I'm not a believer in the advantages of mild aero section rims in bunch racing, but I like them because thet look fast. In SA the races are mostly 100km, and a lot of that time is spent drafting. So decide between deep section Zipp 404, Reynolds Stratus, Mavic Cosmic, or any other mid/shallow section wheel you like. In theory, the more aero the profile of the rim, the higher the radial stiffness of the rim, the harder the ride. I love Campy parts and wheels and for style reasons you could go all Italian, but Mavic, American classic etc. also make great wheels.

Colnago is one of my favourite frames. Second hand bikes sell for next to nothing nowerdays, I would guess you can get mabe R4000 to R6000 for the bike. So I also suggest keeping it. Some nice Campagnolo wheels, and a matching set if ITM or Cinelli stem, bars and seatpost will look nice. Wheels: for clinchers I like the Campy Neutrons going for about R4000 on totalcycling.com. Also, the rear wheel has 24 spokes, so can be converted to a powertap wheel if you want. Wheels make a noticable difference to the ride of a bike, expecially when accelerating. Some super light wheels have got rider weight limits, make sure of those. Handlebar - go carbon. Extra stifness is noticable when you stand, and extra damping would be most noticable here. Fairly expensive, about R1500 to R2000. stem: Little difference performance wise between carbon and aluminium. I like the ITM milenium 4ever aluminium stem for about R730. seatpost: Same story as with the stems. Carbon offers bling, but not much other advantage over aluminium. Extra bending stiffness would be hard to notice here, and most noticable damping in this area will come from the saddle, so most seatposts will feel the same. Again, I like the ITM milenium aluminium post for about R600.

imo the carbon revolution is mostly hype. Carbon is the thing the bike companies have been praying for for a long time. By changing the whole pro peleton over to carbon, the mass of cyclists watching the TDF on TV starts thinking: "Hey, if they're riding carbon, I must get rid of my alu frame." So the bike industry made $ millions. Look at stems and cranksets for example: The easton EA70 stem (alu) weights almost the same (135g vs 130-135g) as the EC90 stem (carbon) and is much, much cheaper. Why would anybody buy the EC90? But they sell, because carbon is the bling thing right now.Same thing with cranks - The cannondale aluminium crank is lighter and stiffer than the cannondale carbon crank. I must confess that I joined the carbon revolution, and bought a 864g Scott CR1. It does not look nealy as pretty as the Eddy Merckx it replaced, being nude carbon finish and I'm not crazy about the big oversize tubing. Did my race results improve because of the bike? No. If you want a new frame, go for it. It will feel different, it won't make you faster. Imo spend money first on a power meter and good coaching to make you faster. Then look for a good set of wheels - perhaps buy a set of Zipps with a powertap built in. If you have got cash left, get a nice carbon frame for the bling of it . Christie2007-03-04 08:42:28

I don't think there is anything bad about Willier bikes - they should be great bikes. I don't like the company because of the stuff they've done in the past.

De Rosa is great. I like Cervelo too. (Canadian bike company) Don't like Wilier.

The biggest lever the UCI can get is to convince the protour teams not to ride. This would deprive ASO & co. of the top riders in the events. The problems for the teams are: the riders want to ride, the riders get paid salaries and the sponsors want the riders to ride. I cant see the UCI winning this one. I think this is the begining of the end for the protour.

Imo there is no wrong and right in this case. The problem is that the UCI is trying to imposing a structure on road racing from the top down. The race organizers, who own the events, have now had enough and are going back to running the races in the way they want. The riders are also not happy with the protour. Unibet is an unfortunate victim of the power struggle. UCI gave them a protour license, but the race organizers are saying they want to decide who to invite and who not. This is probably not a great system either, instead of paying big money to the UCI for a protour license a new/smaller team has to pay the race organizer for the favour of a wild card. The UCI's problem is that they have little say in the orginization of the races, so dont have that much leverage. Christie2007-03-01 23:25:50

The teams are under a lot of pressure to participate - they have sponsors to keep happy and must pay the rider's salaries. If they don't ride, the riders get paid for doing nothing. It looks like Tirreno-Adriatico will go the same route. But so far the big teams are backing the UCI - I wonder for how long? I think the brute force approach by the UCI won't work with ASO holding all the cards for now.

Saw an add for a size M Scott CR1 on chainwheel.com for R5000. It has been on there for a while, so perhaps he'll consider an offer of R3500.

Find out from the supplier - most reputable dealers will cover you with a gaurentee. Also, some of the deals are so good - new stuff for the price you can get second hand stuff here! Won't have a gaurentee if you buy second hand over here, so to buy new stuff over the net cheaply is usually better. I would advise steering clear of unknown brands like karbona etc - I'm a bit conservative in that regard - frame, stem, handlebar, fork should be from an established brand. For a good deal, I saw CDale Synapse 06 frames in chainreactioncycles for R4000 and something. It is a bit hefty, at 1.8 kg for the frame and 400+ grams for the fork, ( all CR1 owners gasp in shock) but it will be a solid bike and earn you some points with Crux and co.

Weren't the BMW mountain bikes built by someone else and just badged as BMW's? I would much rather ride a Colnago, or De Rosa than a BMW bicycle .

I love to spec bikes using my own selection of goodies. I've bought lots of components and wheels over the net - no hassles. Just remember to factor in 14% Vat for parts going throught SA customs. Don't buy clothing or shoes - lots of extra duties - works out the same as local price, so unless special price not worth it. I think a complete bike, built up has more duty than frame & parts seperately. Sites I've used before: totalcycling.com (low shipping cost for frames & wheels) comobike.com low price on italian parts, shipping with ups, fast but costs more coloradocyclist.com Had some nice specials on litespeed Firenze frames (frame & Easton EC90SLX fork for $999) Also had good specials on SRAM parts and their shimano stuff generally well priced. Shipping via UPS - can get expensive on big items. Its worthwile to contact the shop first via email or phone to find out if they have stock of the stuff you want. Sometimes a stem you want in a specific size can delay your whole shipment for 3 weeks! Have fun.

When the VA bunch went past the crash site, the bottleneck of the emergency vehicles etc caused the huge bunch to get stretched out very long. Front riders sped up before the back guys had passed the crash site. Some of my team mates got stuck behind, chased for 5km to get back on. Pantani, I'm with you - the VA bunch was very big for those narrow roads. Saw guys riding off the tar on the dirt shoulder early on. A team mate wrote off his Cervelo R3 just before Heidelburg.

With a budget of R24K, I'll dream about buying: (for example) Wheels: Campy Neutrons from totalcycling.com for R4500 Groupset: Campy Centaur, also from totalcycling for R5000 Bar, stem, saddle, seatpost: Make a selection for R3000 That leaves R11500 for the frame. Possibles would be CDale Synapse, Merida Scultura, or Giant TCR. My preference would be for a European frame with a beautiful paint job, like the Bianchi 928 (R11500) or a Colnago alu/carbon number. Or buy the whole thing locally - I see a 928/centaur is advertized for R25k on JJ's websiteChristie2007-02-26 10:54:37

More info on the frame test I've referred to: It was done by Velonews, and printed in their 17 March issue last year. It was not Tour bikes, but a selection of top frames. Cervelo put it on their website under http://www.cervelo.com/reviews/Flexing%20Their%20Muscles.pdf but they have changed their site since then - I can't open the article.

Saw a test of frame BB stiffness of bikes ridden in the TDF 06 on Cervelo's website last year. The test did not have the BMC, but: R3 was the stiffest CR1 was second. The 06 CR1 weight was 860 grams. I would guess the BMC will be up there with the R3, they have similar chainstay design philosophies. But to say the CR1 is not stiff would be ignorant and stupid. I would guess the Addict would be in the same league as the CR1, taking 50g of mass out woun't make it that much less stiff. It does have that integrated seatpost. Thes were lab tests, I recon very few cyclists would be able to tell the difference in stiffness between very stiff frames like the BMC, R3 ans CR1 when riding the bike. Christie2007-02-17 04:32:33