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buckstopper

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  1. buckstopper
    Nah, schmooz
  2. buckstopper
    See, none of that cr*p where I live... Grahamstown is like the Ireland of SA, in a strange way of course. Very courteous. We walked to our meeting this morning at St Andrews College, then to the bakery and home via the Spar. @JewbaccaGolf 4 sw not a bad idea for 10 years ago but imho getting a bit long in the tooth now. Also the 1.6 petrol @ 9l/100 around town and diesel schspansiv to fix when they break. And probs also on the midnight spares shopping list, especially headlights, mags, bumpers and grills.
  3. buckstopper
    Isn't the speed limit in NZ like 100? And Kiwis will dob on you (report you) to the cops if you speed. Where would you go to 'clear the carbs' in an RS? Or am i missing something? Is it like arriving at the coffee shop on your SL7 when you're at 2.5w/kg?
  4. buckstopper
    Announcing to family and friends of our move from 'FOURWAYS, CAPITAL OF THE FIST TRIANGLE' (Alberton, Boxburg, Kempton and Fourways) to this crumbling outback dorp drew some incredulous looks from some established folk. Other younger types (some of them RU graduates), said 'Ah coool' you gonna love it there so much'. We came here knowing some things and with some hope for some other things, and also with a plan, to a modestly good business, and with our glasses at least half full. We've drawn the 'Why Grahamstown' comment from some including locals... I digress. Did the OP ask about good universities? I forget
  5. buckstopper
    On the tyre issue, generally higher speed rated tyres have softer tread for improved handling. Which tend to wear faster, ask Brad Binder. Lol, have you seen how many students drive, not just Rhodes ones. And you're right GT is strange. The people are friendly, even though they talk slow. Imagine that. Oh and the cycling here is amazing, pick your weapon and from the cathedral you're 3km from a brilliant or in the country road, gravel or trail ride. No traffic or road rage stuff, or driving 30km to the start of your ride. Just leave home and wend your way through the cows, donkeys and potholes. Not much flat roads though, so you better enjoy climbing. This morning I took the dikwiel out to the Kwandwe game reserve gate. The turnoff from the tar on the Bedford Road just 16 km from my home in town. Not bad, you'd think. The guard at the gate didn't think I should go through the gate with buffalo and lion there. No traffic jams during loadshedding, or ever for that matter. And we're strange too. No one in their right mind could possibly want to live anywhere other than in the Western Cape. Strange. Yawn. Which is why we like it here.
  6. buckstopper
    My primary criterion was 4 airbags, so no citigolfs or tazzes (back 2010-2015) for safety and theft risk, no Civics or Unos either. 2 of my kids went to Rhodes, so for trips like to the beach, Oxbraai at Bathurst, boatraces at Port Alfred, economy was an issue. Also for the home loop to Joeys. My son put 100000km on his clock during his 10 years at RU. The car a 1.6 2012 Megane has lasted him into his first job and has averaged less than 7l/100 in total. One other piece of advice. Check what wheels are on the cars. Avoid low profile tyres if possible and high-speed rated tyres. They wear so much faster. Do some research...I would never fit a higher speed rating than H (I don't drive a sports car). My son had tyres fitted with price being the main concern. The tyre place put W rated tyres (safe to 270kmh or something) on a car that maybe saw 160 on a quiet road on a Sunday once or twice. They lasted about 10 000 kays. I'm a stickler for good tyres on a car. I put A set of good value H rated Kumhos on the car and they're still on the car after nearly 50000kays.
  7. buckstopper
    Maybe it'd be worth the OP defining what he needs in a 'student car'. I would start with, in order, 1. Affordability 2. Reliability 3. Economy 4. Practicality 5. Safety 6. Risk to own (affordable cover) 7. Parts availability and price 8. Size, (bigger not always better in campus or res parking situations) 9. Resaleability 10. Colour, boring white probably best Maybe OP could award points on the above criteria and then let the aggregate score be the rationale. If he's a student he should aspire to being smart rather than clever, and he's already shown he is, by coming to the hub veluminati for advice PS As a student parent I made point 5 on my list a starting eliminator for cars to pick from, that I chose for my offspring and surprised them with when they reached milestones. I bought a Renault Clio 3 1.6 in 2012, a Jazz in 2013, a Renault Megane in 2015. All 3 proved bought used proved to be sensible IMHO
  8. buckstopper
    You will get a very high miler caddy for your budget. I would caution on that re maintenance costs. Also get insurance quotes on your short list before committing. Honda Jazzes have been favoured by upmarket older people who've been around and have had their bling car years. Go figure. We've just moved from the big smoke to Gtown. Our Jazz costs us R267 pm to outsure fully comp. (Yes you'll pay more as a student- check out Naked insurance). You'll get a very good low mileage gen 2 Jazz (made in Japan, not India as the gen 3s) for R120k. They say a man drives the smallest car his ego can live with. Maybe also look for a Duster but again you won't get a good diesel one for that price and you'll spend 60% more than the Jazz on fuel. And if a diesel breaks... They also need servicing more often.
  9. buckstopper
    Honda Jazz definitely. In 2014, my son, then a student, went from Grahamstown to do the T-Bav with 2 mates. They loaded 2x29er HTs and a 26er, their kit and then hopped in to a 2010 Honda Jazz 1.3 and drove to Willowmore, and back after the race. The seats fold flat and very low. My daughter left us her 2011Jazz when she went overseas in 2019. The car does no more than 6l/100 around town and on a recent trip with 2 fillups did 5.2 and 4.7. Today the car is used as"the dogs car", and also chosen over a Pajero Sport and Koleos for town inkopies. Warms up quickly, small for parking and not super precious. (No Toyotas or Polo's in our fleet. Just too hijack risky and expensive to insure.) Gangstas want Hondas too, but older Ballades and Civics, not The Jazz. Oh, and I seem to recall the Jazz also won the JD Power rating for reliability some years back. (2009-2014 iteration). Oh, also 4 airbags.
  10. buckstopper
    I work on the 0.5% rule. I lay a new chain next to the old one and look at the difference over the same number of links. If the difference is more than 0.5%, replace. The chain is nearly 1.5m long so 0.5% is about 7mm.(Admittedly this is for road/gravel 11sp).
  11. buckstopper
    Especially the decent, on a grevel bike with 40's, 160 disc and no springs
  12. buckstopper
    This year about 200 started in one batch. Does this mean that licenced Cats will be batch separately etc
  13. buckstopper
    Both my son and I have the R355 in medium. He has the stock wheelset set up with maxxis rambler 700x50's ( not yet available in mzansi). The Panaracers were not great. He used Pathfinders in the SwaRtberg 100 and did a 6h08 but didn't enjoy them coming off the pass. I run ramblers 40's, would probably go to 45s or maybe even 50s. The R355 frame handles the 50s fine. I run the tyres at about 1.7-2 bar. Sure road tyres would be faster and lighter
  14. buckstopper
    PN2PN is now R109 ( for the first 5kg measured volumetric), having increased by R10 for the first time since the product took off in 2014 (when the SAPO strike took care of the Speed Services option.) CG or any courier could be an option to collect providing you're OK to wait for the driver to come and collect from you whereas you can do PN on your run around route, and if course, they can help you with packaging material instore. I would argue it's about communication before the transaction goes down. The seller could indicate that they would go to PN on the day the money clears, or the next day or whatever. Thus the expectation of next day or drop it and run service is not an issue. A guy that buys stuff online surely is not needing said stuff super urgently... One just needs to communicate the terms and then stick to them.
  15. buckstopper
    Maybe the organiser should amend the draft rule to exclude another gender from benefitting a rider.ie men draft men, women draft women. Men draft women is a dq, and vise versa
  16. buckstopper
    I live in the 'burbs in Fourways. Tranquil, green and restorative is my garden. Head out onto Witkoppen and the madness gets into my head space. For our safety and sanity my wife and I have made the decision to move to Grahamstown, small enough yet big enough. I will walk to work and walk home for lunch. Road, gravel and trail excursions into the surrounding African bush in solitude or with unstressed likeminded people await. Sorry for you Gauteng, I'm out too... FWIW I also could have been bliksemed by the likes of the perp sought here, as roadhogging bunches, or tyre fixers who do their fixing in the marked cycling lanes, are a pet hate of mine, and I'll also remonstrate with self entitled types. I'll miss the Cradle for the odd early weekday peace, but not on Saturdays when I give it a wide berth. Peace out
  17. buckstopper
    Just got back from Germany, ebikes and cargo bikes all over. Some interesting iterations
  18. buckstopper
    They did do a 52 in 7800. Not sure about inner ring possibilities though.
  19. buckstopper
    Had similar issues with a new H9 Polar so I took it back to them earlier this year at their Midrand office. This is what I learned - I've used their hrms for nearly 30 years 1. It needs to be tighter than you would think (the owner at Polar said "like 2 inches of play when pulled from your chest while fastened" (Mine had/has never needed to be this tight, but it helps to be tight particularly in winter). 2. Obviously wet. (I knew this) 3. Certain 2025 batteries are thinner than others and affect connectivity (eg Varta). I now use Energiser Panasonic or Duracell. And I'm not mixing the 2025s with 2032's which are thicker. 4. Below 2.9v it'll work more erratically but your head unit should also give you a low voltage msg. 5. You can also get erratic signal and in particular spiking going downhill fast (worse in winter if the strap is not tight enough).
  20. buckstopper
    Fit absolutely, and also steerer length. Pina cut very low
  21. buckstopper
    And soon 28mm tyres will become the new 23. I don't think the pinarello can take them whereas I believe the tcr can. I once looked at an F8 frame and didn't buy it for that reason.
  22. buckstopper
    My point is that you'd need to be above average to run 37 min. 33 min way above average. I'm sure you guys are pretty strong cyclists. Not just any okes... I'm a novice 61 yo runner (off an 80 cycling ctl) and have trained for a half marathon in 2018 and 2019 and am training for another one this year. I found the formula t2=t1(d2/d1)×1.06 to work for me in projecting my time based on my 5 and 10k times for the half. I will report back fwiw. I still think 37 mins is very good! Based on a 33 min 10k this formula says a 1h13 half. I'm hoping for a sub 2hr (5k 25.20, 10k 53). Great thread.
  23. buckstopper
    Doable, but for who? What VO2max is needed to do a 2h33 marathon? My Google research suggests about 64ml/kg/min. This would be regarded as elite for someone in their prime. (Ave male 20-29 years 40-46ml/kg min). Is it that cyclists with a running problem are just uber, and they don't realise how far above average they are? In the 2021 Boston marathon about 120 out of 15000 men went 2h33 or better (0.77%). A 2h33 marathon = an about 6h22 comrades. 45 men managed this last time. Coach Parry suggests that to run a silver (sub 7h30) you need to have "a great deal of running ability". What would be doable for a cyclist of same ability as a 37min 10k runner? A sub 1 hour 40km tt? A 2h45 Aurgust? A performance within 20% of a world class climber up the Hatacam?
  24. buckstopper
    I guess as a cyclist with a running problem (on a cycling forum with a random running thread) when I see a 37 min 10k being "doable" I want to burn my shoes. (BTW the Stryd table extrapolated the 37ish 10k time to a 2h33 marathon - also "doable", one would imagine ;). Interestingly, my running and cycling ftps are at the moment quite similar, although I would say I'm a trained competitive age grouper cyclist, but a novice runner with a reasonably decent engine (for my age).
  25. buckstopper
    What sort of rFTP would it take to run a 37 min 10k, and is a rFTP a similar number to a cycling FTP for a person who runs and cycles?
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