Speed Devil

In response to the SS forums: Who remmbers the bomber and choppers? Does anyone still own one?Speed Devil2007-08-16 15:04:50

Imtb There are varies techniques that you can try. The first is your pedalling action. Try and push-n-pull on the pedals. By that I mean while pushing down on the one pedal then you pull up on the other, but to get maximum benefit of the action you must pull through the bottom of the stroke. think of cleaning your dog's poo off the sole of your shoe. As you bring your pedal through the six 'o clock position you must pull on the pedal. Secondly another technique that helps is to relax my upper body. I let my hands REST on the top of the handlebars, just curling them enought to keep a grip on the bars and control over the bike, but not gripping them firm and letting my legs do all the work as described above. Thirdly try and remain seated as far as possible. You will not only save energy, but also have a faster climbing speed. I only climb out of my saddle to give my back a break or when going over the top of a hill to keep up with the pack as they all jocky to get over the top first. Once you have mastered these three techniques you will be surprised how much energy you save and extra power you have a hill.Speed Devil2007-08-16 14:55:48

"Weight" is a relative term that people use very loosely. For someone who just does fun rides and sits in the back of the pack a weight saving would be absolutely useless, seeing as the draft from the bunch will just pull him/her along. On the other end of the scale if the same person pulls his weight and spends a lot of time at the front of the pack, breaking the wind and doing a lot of leading, then aerodynamics would be of more importance and the extra 100g would just add too his total forward inertia. Where a weight saving would be of greatest help would be on hill climbs, where everyone is evenly matched and it is just man against hill. In my opinion, if you can shed a few kilos off your body then rather go that route as it is a LOT cheaper, but if you weigh 70kg like me and can't afford to lose weight then go for the weigh loss option on your bike, but then do it properly. Trying to save only 100 or 200g is not going to make a big difference unless you are top end rider. Last year I replaced my old Dura Ace grupo with a 10 spd and fitted a new HB, stem, seatpost and a set of American Classic carbon tubular rims. I took over 2kilos off my bike!! The weight loss on my bike really helped on the hills, but with a change in riding technique I was also able to improve on my uphill speed even more. So before you just go throw money at your bike and hope for the best, make sure it is going to be money well worth spending, because once you start shedding weight you don't want to stop and it can work out extremely expensive.

It looks like some one had too much time on their hands. After riding that bike I will sleep like a log. If I ride that bike does it qualify me to become a branch manager?

Sammajoor ek hoop die nuwe saal maak nie jou gat te seer. Ons wil jou ook Sondag oggend sien!

Rob It sounds like my wife when she's got a g-string on....You know it's there but you can't see it until you look closer....

Hi Tony I had the same worries when I bought my IDT, seeing as I have carbon seat stays. But with practice I am able to keep my body relatively still while standing, which reduces lateral forces on the bike. By keeping my upper body almost still and not bobbing up and down my legs now do more work which is what I actually want. Make sure your IDT is firmly fastened to your back wheel. You cannot cause damage to your bike by over tightening it because the brackets tighten against your skewer, but you can damage your IDT by forcing it open if you tighten it too much. If you leave your bike in the IDT overnight then just loosen the bracket of the IDT on the rear wheel to relieve the tension and take the tension off the roller on the wheel too. Keep your tyre pressures at maximum to minimise tyre wear, but be sure to deflate them to normal pressure when going on the road otherwise you are bound to pop a tube or two