sometime

I do plenty of training on the road on my MTB. Don't bother with the expense of fitting slick tyres. You're there to ride on the road when you like and then going off road when you want without having to hassle about changing your tyres each time. Besides there's nothing better than passing some roadies with R100k bikes whilst on your MTB - the noise of the knobblies is quite effective is drowning out their puffing and panting as their ego's drive them to try stay with you.

Beautiful engineering on that Rohloff Hub. I really like the idea of a belt driven, hub geared MTB. I remember racing SabieX about 4 years ago with a guy with that setup. All was going well until his belt snapped...

Damnit Eldron - I'm starting in A batch and seeing SS riders keeping up and beating me when I'm working my *ss off always messes with my head! They should put you SS racers in your own group to minimise the pyschological damage to the rest of us cycling mortals.

The course is pretty flat with no real climbs that I can recall - you might get away with a slightly longer ratio than that but I'm no SS expert (I rode the route on a 1x9 26er last year (38x11:36) and barely got into lowest gear). I'll be running a fully geared bike this year.

Not saying you guys did anything wrong but the whole MK west area requires sensitivity from all parties. I'm involved in the conservation of the Melville Koppies and there are always ongoing discussions and negotiations taking place with conservation groups, walkers/hikers, African church groups, the Police, security companies, JHB City Council etc etc. Cyclists have been off MK West for some time now so I think if people start riding it again and don't recognise that they are very much a third priority as far as the management of MK are concerned, we (cyclists) risk getting into some confrontations and possibly a repeat of the muggings and assaults that took place there a few years ago which will be in no one's interest. My 2c - I'll probably stick to hiking not riding the Koppies. Edit to add that cyclists aren't allowed on the Melville Koppies so don't be surprised if you're confronted by someone.

Under 3 hours at the least but actually impossible to answer with any authority. Certain cyclists are very talented when they're young but never achieve anything as pro's, whilst some top pro's only started riding seriously in their late teens. Just go out there, do your best and keep training hard. If you're good enough you'll find our soone enough. No race result as a 15 year old is going to give you that answer.

Nice bike SIR! Love the colour combo

FYI Bishop's parents are probably a big part of the Shelfish community in CT...

So Baster Brak - what did you do to promote this event on the Hub and in the media? What have you done do promote respect and goodwill for the sport? What have you done to promote our local riders achievements?

Another example of Saffers' culture of entitlement.

Them's the rules but my wife and I have 7.5 bikes between us so clearly not all the rules apply. Then again our first date was a MTB ride so getting to have a wall full of bikes during our marriage shouldn't be surprise.

Gearbox is an issue on the Golf and somehow they just don't seem to perform in a 7. The Nissan SR20 is a great engine but VERY tall and heavy. The sumps scrapes the tar while the bonnet has to be raised to clear the cam cover. We have one racing with us but the track performance is modest at best. Sorry to the OP - we've completely hijacked this thread!

20v motor costs maybe R4k, Ford T9 or Toyota T50 'box similar amount. Fairly simple bolt into chassis and off you go. Do some research on the web -there is a lot of time, engineering and expense that goes into making bike engines work in a 7 and ultimately you might get less than you hoped for.

3SGE is a nice engine - we have one racing with us, but it is heavy and now out performed by the likes of the Ford Duratec motors. If you're going old school then there's little to beat the Opel 2 litres for out and out performance potential. Turbo engines are not suited to 7's - their power delivery isn't linear enough for a car that thrives on precision. Weight and heat dissapation are also a problem with these engines. Our 20 valve motors are bought second hand and run for season after season with few problems. 16 valve engines have more tuning potential if you're going for really high revs and really high power but they're old and scarce now so the 20v makes more sense as a control engine.

Agreed but she must understand that you NEED another bike - I believe it's better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission. They should add that to the Rules.

A R60k Birkin will be at least 20 years old so will need quite a bit of work and given the nature of these cars you will get plenty of chances to rebuild it so that should satisfy that need. Not common to find chassis only. What's a gixxer motor? If it's a motorbike engine then I wouldn't recommend it. They were the in thing about 10 years ago and most have been changed back to proper car engines. Best option is Toyota 4AGE 20 valve.

Rule #12 While the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.

See rule #12

No need to build it yourself or spend R400k. You can buy a second hand Birkin for around R60k.

Nice car and no reason why you can't put a bike on it. I've got a Lotus 7 replica similar to the one below and trust me it's tiny compared to a S2000 and if this guy can put a bike on a 7 then a S2000 is not a problem.

Sounds like she's a keeper.

I can only assume Eldron isn't married as clearly he believes in N+1 bikes and has no concerns over the S-1 limitation.

Cheers - you too! See you next week and hopefully this time my bike and riding skills don't let me down.

I've been running Schwalbe Rocket Ron's on my training wheels which probably spend 60 - 70% of their time on the tar. They should meet your performance requirements. They do wear relatively quickly but given the fact that you can buy them locally for R245 (29x2.2) which is probably 40% less than comparable tyres like the Race King, might make them a viable alternative.

Well until I see you in action on the bike that impression is all I have to go on... But I have no doubt that I will meet you on the bike someday and then it'll be me looking for my hairspray and slippers