Pronutro

You calling me a girl?

If we are talking tri, then whether the cassette is 11/23 or 11/25 matters little. If, on a tri, you are sitting in either 23 or 25, you are in the wrong blade up front. Get the big blade that will suit you best. Road racing and climbing steep hills is a different story.

Depends on how strong you are I suppose. I also do tri, and find it slightly more comfortable to stay in the big blade on a compact than on a standard. Not a big difference, but just slightly better on the cadence for me. With a bigger blade I get that "I have to downshift" feeling more. If you are stronger it may make sense to keep it standard though. I am not exactly in the top field (just under 6 hours for IM bike - I don't even have a tri bike, just standard steel frame road :-), so other input is probably advisable. For reference, my standard used to 53 or 54 (can't remember). My compact is 51.

This Joe(y) Soap?

If it's not about the bike, and you have gone into a shop and NOT bought the least expensive bike (for the type of bike you want: road, MTB XC, MTB DH, etc), then I have to wonder how much you truly believe it. "About the bike" is usually mentioned in relation to performance, aka, it's not about the bike (when it comes to matters of performance). Well, I hardly ever race, so feel little for performance. It IS "about the bike" for me, but for other reasons. I spend money because I like the bike, it looks pretty, it makes me feel happy, I like riding a particular one. Oh yes, it's about the bike ... I love bikes. I'll buy whichever one I like. If you assume that I bought it and am riding it for "performance", well, that's your prerogative. You can go and buy a Dunlop MTB and then tell me it's not about the bike Fully agreed that if we WANT to perform, then we need to learn to ride first, and worry about equipment as secondary. Some of us don't want to perform. We just want take a cruise around country side.

Yes, a 26er is going to be better than anything on those. Few will debate that.

If you want to improve your swim times, Fish Hoek comes highly recommended

Nah, slicks are so unslick on a MTB. Unless of course you want to ..... wait for it ... do a ..... waaaaait for it .... SUB 3

Not me

I will never again be Facing the Giant(s)

This is a Giant Mistake

Yup.

Awesome! Love it!

I agree. Not a single article can convince me otherwise, because of the real and undeniable way in which I can feel it make a difference. If I don't stretch for 2-3 weeks, the niggles start to arrive. I start stretching again, they go away. Proven to myself over the course of years. I don't like stretching, so often tend to slip, but am then forced to start again. Oh, I am not very flexible for all of my stretching, just not as tight as I probably would've been. And I also don't do any of those quick warm-up or cool-down stretches before or after training. I have a 15 minute routine that is done either in the morning or at night, every 2nd day or so.

It could, but not necessarily. It is considered a loose term. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girlfriend

Download the http://www.myfitnesspal.com app for your phone. Plenty SA foods listed. Keeps track of what you eat in a diary on your phone. Like the comments above suggest, do it for a month. It is valuable to go through the exercise once. By doing it I realised that I consistently came in under my designated calorie count (68kg's), even though I thought I ate a lot. Now I roughly know what and how much to eat, in order to make my calories. The side effect > I actually started experiencing way better recovery rates

Me

I have the larger one in white

That sucks. I got the LG1+ chainguide in my order last week ... must've been one of the last. Phew.

Couldn't agree more Truth be said, I would still have fun on a 26er as well.

I didn't buy a 29er because I want to go faster. I don't even race. I just want to ride around the country side with a camera in my backpack, and though I love to have company, this is mostly alone. A 29er seemed best suited to that purpose. But I suppose the marketing department sold me that, and I just bought into it. At least I am happy. Thanks Mr Secret Marketing Guy, for helping me out.

Yup, me too. Stuff arrived no problem.

+1 If they go down there are some things I just won't know where to get ... like my beloved e-Thirteen rings

It seems like my favorite chainring does come in a 120 BCD version. So happy now ... http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=70951