goya-goya

Dude... I flew in from JHB for the race... so I had to build up my bike in durbs... seat posts have to be tightened to spec on carbon frames else... well ***!... I thought 5nm was enough... and because of the continuous standing and sitting with the awesome singletrack...my seat dropped 8cm and I never realised it until the cramp set in!! ..and even struggling through the last 30km... which was the worse of the sections... it was still awesome.. I gotta do Karkloof... everyone has raved about it

Guys... either you are spoilt for choice or just whiners... I am not sure yet.... yea there was some unpleasant parts to the ride... but you had to go through a city and a rural community... I will not tell anyone that their outlook is wrong... perhaps just different... I am sorry you did not have a great ride. if you picked up your bike for 30 meters you would have been able to walk past and avoid the excrement completely... as to being in your back yard... what a pleasure!! IT WAS AN AWESOME RIDE... I will be back... hell YEA!

The last realish "climb" was a bit sticky... but i cannot say I remember any other issue... although that was nothing like Clarens!!! Dude it was so awesome... I am sorry you missed it

Yea... that was part of the 3km i spoke about... but if thats all you can remember from the ride... then thats cool...

I heard that some of this route was used for the XC or Marathon SA Champs earlier this year and that the organizers spend R250K making the singletrack... so... I went down to durbs to race with my brother and check out the track around Inanda dam - near Hilcrest... All I can say is WOW! - well not really - I have loads to say: 80km from Inanda dam to the Blue Lagoon... Guys imagine Groenkloof/fountains... 60km of it! but only the real singletrack part of it... not the district road... I gotta say... my arms and shoulders were not prepared for it! if any of you guys from outside of KZN want to race there... I have some advice for you: Train for short super-steep climbs!... not thing like that up here... and load of them! ...the longest climb was about 100m ascent but over the 80km we did about 1400m ascent... nothing like the MTN series ascents... but it was tougher than any of them!! BUT the absolute bliss of riding next to the dam....on endless singletrack in lush bush... up and down.... eeeeish!! There were some dodgy place that we rode through to get to the Blue Lagoon... but it was 3 km... If any of you get the opportunity to ride there... no questions... just go!!

my questions would be: How easy is it to engage into the pedals after getting off?What is the amount of float that they provide?Do you have to ride them with carbon soles because the contact area is so small? I am sure one of you Eggbeater evangelists will have these answers

Well we know that is not true! What a bloody pity... I am sick and tired of thuggs... I am glad the guys are OK. How do these guys hijack cyclists? do they have guns? knives? How many of them? where do they wait... at a slow technical spot? Please any info would make other cyclist safer?/

mmmm... The Golavane took the black route... however... some of the routes could possibly overlap

Dude... on the black trail there is a section about 60km out... where there is single-track down through the bush/forest... immaculate trail - KZN has great soil - not the rocks we are used to up here! Super Awsum!

So long as you take her mood swings and general issues too!

Yes they are the pedals I ordered... Carbon... not Graphite... like 10g difference but they were a gift from my girlfriend

I have a confession to make: I made a whine about CWC.. when they said the computers were packed away when my order was late... Well I got my order... a bit later than expected... but I got the wrong thing!... I ordered carbon Look Quartz pedals... and they gave me the graphite ones... I called to complain because the order was late and they sent the incorrect stuff... So I spoke to - I think Stephen ... Let me add some salient information: The order was sent to them just before they started moving premises so the late-ness can be excused;They did send me the CORRECT pedals!! I was looking for the word "carbon" on the pedal as with the older type but the new type just has a "c" Just as I was about to let rip into Stephen at the incompetence of the organisation... my friend who had Googled the new model, told me that I was the idiot... the correct stuff has arrived... Now let me give koodo's to CWC and Stephen...He did not argue with me when I told him I got the incorrect stuff... He just asked me to please send it back to them... and once I had the tracking number...He would send the correct stuff - THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! .. He was extremely apologetic... when my buddy informed me of my ignorance... I told Stephen of my mistake and apologized for being a right ASS! He just said cool we all make mistakes... and he was glad I got my order I will be ordering from them again!

now how the heck do I kill a topic?

OK sweet... I will chill... Thanx for your time to reply to my question

Yea I did cut it a bit close.... I hope you are right about the 1pm thingy

Not really ranting... I just want to get opinions about telling a customer that the computers are switched off and that there was nothing they could do until Monday... and the fact that they did not take any preemptive "old school" paper - at least - makeshift plan... Steven was adamant that ONLINE was packed up! and that the computers were packed up... I am not one for speaking to the boss to get stuff sorted out... if it does not get sorted I just dont go back... not upset... not angry... just prefer to to go somewhere else

I always buy from my LBS or ChainReaction Cycles... I decided to give "Local-is-leke" a try... Chris Willemse Cycles were the object of my experiment. Now I have heard loads of good things from this site about them... so I had an open mind. I placed the order on Wed 14 Sept @11pm - no idea why they do not have Credit Card Facilities - Had to EFT.. only got around to it on Friday morning-long story short:phone in the car... needed to add beneficiary... too much hassle at night! Money was EFT'ed via ABSA to their ABSA account on Friday morning... I checked my order status on their website " Payment Received"... cool No worries... I know they are moving this week and hence wanted to get the order out before the weekend - task accomplished - I think?? My issue is with calling them yesterday. Basically I wanted to know if the order had been dispatched or where it was? I called a guy named Steven - not sure of the spelling sorry if I offend the bloke - asked to check on an order... this was the response: "I cannot help you the computers have been packed away!" I would have thought a small printout of all live orders before "switching off the business" would have been a simple thing... Am I expecting too much from local business minds I am not even sure, and neither are they, if the items are already shipped...if it has been shipped I could get it today if not... I will have to wait until next week Monday before they will get to it... by then CRC would have sent me the stuff for cheaper and I would have been able to track my parcel... Thanx for your time to read this

I have ceramic bearings in my BB in my race bike... and not in my other bike... the other bike does not spin sooo smoothly... could be that it is not installed quite so well... or that the ceramic bearings actually do make a difference... To judge the difference is gonna be a bitch... but when I am struggling up a mountain and I know that there is nothing else to make this easier except my body... there are no more excuses... this kind of mind game on myself is a bit of a luxury... because I am just as fast with the other bike! It just makes me feel better

I am sure you are sick of advice by now... It all depends on the kind of riding you are gonna do... I bought a cheapie 3 years ago... worst mistake of my life! i was never keen to ride to ride it because i was not really fit so every ride was hard and because I never had the time... the rides were 3 per month...eerrruggh! What I am saying is that: its NOT about the bike... especially when you start... your biggest feature on your bike will be YOU! get fit... stay healthy... rest well... and ride whenever you can... if you dont have the time to ride... by a dog! if you do have the time to ride... and you are healthy and fit-tish... it will be great to start with a 2nd hand bike that has some of the tune able features - shocks - this will make your ride pleasant... if you get bitten by the bugg: ...dude you are gonna get your mind tweequed at some remote places... or even local ones.. last week I was at Segwatiranch... the veld was burned down... the route was rocky... but there was one little section that has 4 little switchbacks and you could see them from 1 km back... it was just awesome! looked like alp du hez! hehe also saw girraffe, jackels, Zebra and Wildebees and some buck thingy - they all look alike to me! Enjoy

Seriously guys... web site designers and IT guru's who setup the site access... please could you just enable the DNS for users to access websites by typing in "complete-cyclist.com" and not having to type in "WWW.complete-cyclist.com" - that is sooo comadore64!

my Garmin 500 is great... Battery Life : lasted 17 hours during Transbaviaans... 9 hours with the light on! has loads of features... but after using for a year... you will only end up using the standards... no maps whilst riding... but software online is sufficient - unless you are a pro!

Found it! Phew! Good night all..

Seriously Guys I am bored... Everyone seems to be misunderstood... If I make a racial slur as "tongue in cheek" to my racist friends... it is not only in bad taste - no matter how funny it is - but it is irresponsible because I know it is not the right thing to do! Private/public - Yadda-yadda... Man up! say sorry! deal with the person who said it! Make every effort to stop other people saying it! sigh... Does anyone know how to stop getting notified on a particular topic??

Personally... I hate all bikers whilst they are on their bikes... I hate all taxi drivers whilst they are in their taxi's... ...and I hate all cyclists who ride abreast when there is no space... I hate that MNET teaser where Ashleigh Hayden speaks like she cannot breathe Hate is a harsh word- sorry! ...just sounds more dramatic than "dont trust" Dangerdassie was correct at some point we are all idiots on the road no matter what form of machine we use... out of all of these.. the biggest idiots are us cyclists! Yes we have rights to the road... but think about this for a second:YOU HAVE NO PROTECTION! A car... a small car weighs about 1 ton??? travelling at 50km/h faster than you(and what about traveling towards you!!!)... think about your odds... does not matter if the driver was a tosser-you are in ICU... just because you had equal rights to the road... good for you- you showed them?? When you go into the bush.. you respect the bush... you are there at your own peril... nature is not fair... be prepared for anything... calculate the risk of your actions... But somehow when people come into "civilization" they stop respecting the "bush". To allof you cyclists who ride on the road... you are a brave bunch of people... please be careful.. stay ever alert and BE AFRAID OF BIG SHINY THINGS THAT ARE HEAVIER AND FASTER THAN YOU!!! Let them be right! So long as you are Alive and Safe!!

Well I train mostly on the 44 front and the 6, 7,8,9 at the back... Works for me...