Minion

I like the Giant Control Blast bomb. It's compact, light and works very well for controlled inflation of tyres. http://www.velovert.com/photos/pieces/originals/127/127-12794.jpg

SAA once kicked me off a flight due to overbooking and charged me a cancellation fee for the priviledge (Full story). As a result, I will never willingly fly SAA, SA Express or Mango. This pretty much leaves me Kulula/BA for the routes I want to travel. The Kulula flights have always been late on the dedicated routes (like CT-JHB), but they're pretty good on the routes where it's actually a BA flight (PE-JHB). I've found their customer service to be good though and I'll take late over kicked off and not refunded any day. They managed to temporarily lose my front wheel going down to the Argus, but tracked it down and delivered it to my hotel that evening.

Am I right in interpreting the new rules as saying that if you travel with a 20kg suitcase and a 20kg bike case, then it will cost me an extra R300 for the case (R200 if I pre-book)? If so, it's better than the old policy where I'd have had to pay R25/kg at the aiport (R500 for the bike) or around R50/3kg pre-booked (R350 for 21kg extra). By my rough calculation, the new policy is cheaper than the old whenever my suitcase is over 12kg.

We're living in a dictatorship. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvKIWjnEPNY

It depends on the 203rd and 204th digits of Pi

? http://www.euroncap.com/results/ford/focus/2011/430.aspx It's adult pedestrian head impact rating in most areas is poor or marginal, though. I'm really interested to know how he managed to get underneath without causing any visible damage to the car (at least not that I can see in the photos).

Tour de Frances wins are a pretty useless stat for comparing groupsets. 31% of the losing riders at this year's Tour were also on Shimano, 41% were on SRAM and only 28% of the losers were riding Campag. Ergo, Shimano and SRAM are the groupsets of choice for Tour de France losers

I agree 100% with what Barry has said. For best value, a second hand bike is the way to go. You'll need about R2000 for all the accessories, leaving only R8k for the bike. That can get you a second hand bike equivalent to a R16k-R20k new bike. Second hand bikes also keep their value fairly well - if you decide to upgrade or stop, you can get most of your money back when you sell it.

To possibly make things harder, Competitive Cyclist in the US is having a massive sale on BMC (though only for today, I think). Not sure how their prices compare to local. Just remember to add about 17% for VAT etc. on frames and about 30% on complete bikes when doing the comparison. Also add the 17% to the shipping amount.

The rolling resistance data on the internet says they may be, but I want to get some to perform my own testing. The entertainment value of the testing alone makes them worth the price.

Where can I get latex road inner tubes? I know CRC, Wiggle etc. have, but is there anywhere local (preferably Gauteng)?

Couldn't you just switch the shifters and leave the other parts? That may be the cheapest option.

I think one of the problems is that bonded lug is a weaker point in the frame. The Ti-epoxy bond in the lug is not as strong as the epoxy-epoxy bond on a carbon-carbon lug and definitely not as strong as the brazed bond on a steel-steel lug. On the subject of carbon-Ti bike, the Independent XS with carbon tubes and Ti lugs sits very high up my list of desirable bikes: http://www.ifbikes.com/OurBikes/Road/XS/

What's the promo code for that?

2:03 isn't good enough for a windy Argust.

Where did you buy it? If the shape of the rails makes it's impossible to mount on a normal seatpost and they didn't state this, it's defective. If you bought it locally, you should be able to return it for a full refund under the CPA, regardless of whether you've taken it for a test ride or not.

Have a browse through the Fit Track for some free Argus training programs to give you an idea of what you should be aiming for: http://www.fittrack.co.za/TrainingPlan/Cape%20Argus%20Pick%20n%20Pay%20Cycle%20Tour%20Training%20Plans.aspx

1 bar of pressure is roughly equivalent to 10m of water depth. Resistant to 5 bar would theoretically mean resistant to 50m.

Find a training program (I think Fit Track has some) and follow that. You will make progress by just riding around, but not nearly as much as if you follow a structured program.

The rough rule-of-thumb given by Zipp is that the aero advantages of a deep section wheel, such as the 404, compared to a shallow wheel like a 202, outweigh the weight disadvantages on any gradient up to 8%. You gain more power being aero than you lose being heavy. Basically, any race in SA will give you more advantage from aero than weight.

Aerodynamic, stiffness and inertia comparison: http://www.rouesartisanales.com/article-15505311.html

I reckon the best value for money wheels would be a set of second hand Zipp 404s (2008 or later model). Light, strong and aero. New, I'd personally look at a set of Campag Shamals or Fulcrum Racing 0s (basically the same wheel). These are only good value if you buy them online, though.

Speed Services is reasonably priced and convenient. The cheapest option I've used is normal parcel post.

Do feel free to elaborate.

Engineer: The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.