goya-goya

I have used Q-Rings for about a year now... they are awesome! ...especially uphill where you do not have the luxury of being able to pedal circles because your hammies are not nearly as strong as your quads... so in pedaling with your quads - MASHING- uphill... you get to a point - with round rings - that your torque keeps alternating between force and then just turning... this is where I always used to slip out... no more! After using them for 7 weeks... 6 of my buddies and I went to do Sani pass... I am not the fittest or the strongest in the group, but I got to the top about an hour faster than the other guys! ..and I never really struggled! I guess if I actually raced up I would have struggled... but at just above touring pace, it was sublime... To all of you guys who say they are ***... sah-weeeet! ...stick to what you know... if you are already strong enough to turn circles uphill then dont even bother... Q-rings are for MASHERS!

Cycling is not a sport you can get better at in a few weeks... Keeping that in mind, it takes a lot of hours and calories to get consistently better at it... Some of your training is also the consistency of your training and if you make your training feel ***... you may not do it... and what is worse than having an awesome training regime that you never do! If you enjoy the suffering - this sport might just be your calling! My suggestion: if your avg Cadence is 90 for a course... try train at 95... or switch to a higher gear and keep your cadence... There are better ways of increasing strength and aerobic capacity than tying your legs together and hopping uphill... unless you enjoy it!

https://www.bikehub.co.za/classifieds/9619-thompson-elite-layback-seatpost-410mm-272mm/ there is definitely a difference

Dude... Dunkeld Cycles are in Dunkeld square: Google Maps Link to address Ask For Marc or Merlin... They have always gone the extra mile for me when I was in a bind!! Marc organised me a bike case for the Transbaviaans the day I was leaving!! sahweeeet! :clap:

I was whinging about the change of the route before the event! I want to publicly eat my helmet!! The route was awesum!!! ..and just for the record: if we had to cross a river 500m wide and 1.5m deep - we would have had to cross this about 4 times!! -... we all would have suffered some sort of hypothermia... Thanx to the guys for an great race... We came in near the end... had mech issues... at Check point 3 the mechanic was a marvel and sorted us out...sah-weeeet! People on the route - riders and officials where very pleasant even at 3am!!! Well done to everyone who did the ride... only you will know how well you did!! See you all at the Trans Drak!

I am sooooooooooooooo pissed about this... I really wanted to ride the Baviaans Kloof... I hope everything subsides by Saturday and they change the route back again!! I am all for safety... but it means I have to wait a year again to do this... F*%k it... if the route is remains changed... I will go and do it alone in December! See you guys there on Sat... Good luck to all...

I think you are more OCD than me! You seem to always be cycling!... We are going for a ride there on Tuesday.. The best part of the teak trail for me is between the pine trees... gonna miss that... however the Hilton 50miler has way more forest trail

You have done Groenkloof?

Good luck to everyone doing this race... see you all there... I am sooooo excited...

everything is temporary - even closures... and the removal of choice makes it all the sweeter when it is available again..

I am sure Lance wrote that just after he secured his shares in Trek! :lol:

I used to cramp every race - but then I only trained once or twice a week! I tried everything in all the threads, and websites... only one thing helped: training for the distance you want to ride and they way you want to ride it! yup there is no shortcut, unless you are truly one of the cursed then the chemicals might help, other than that training is the solution for most... also will help if you get a "fast bike" :clap: :clap:

I have had just about every Mobile SP and their variants except for 8ta...(starting with -I think it was Sentech) I have settled for doing without mobile and working with ADSL... there is no beating fixed line :clap: If i am in a jam: I take out my cell and struggle with the speed for the short time... else I go home and zoot arount the web on 4MB- mostly about 3MB :clap: If getting mobile is absolutly essential then your check out your signal strength not just where you live, but where you will be spending time: coffee shops... work.. home...

Dude... Ditch the sale... We are all duped into feeling obliged to give-him-an-other-chance! Enough already!! There are many LBS out there.. take out a Bicycing Mag... and look at the back... there is a huuuge list of shops... Shop around... or buy from someone here. Do not take their poor service... not to mention them trying to take you for an idiot! There is no excuse for downgrading your bike-and then to say they do not know how that happened... not to mention the scratches!! eeeeesih! Try selling the bike now to get your money back! PS... for R30K I hope that was an awesum bike!... oh wait-perhaps they sold you a FAST bike! :lol: :lol:

what makes you fast downhills? assuming that you have the appropriate hubs and wheels... compared to the next bloke with the same bike is: 1) the heavier you are the faster you will go! 2) speed is also directly proprtional to the lack of brains :clap:

Personally I do not judge a person "bling-ing" their ride... so and expensive or cheap anything is cool... The "Experts" are chopps! I can guarentee you that the speed they feel is when the setup is suited to their build and the geometry suits their position... compared to the bike where it does not suit them well!... if you have a steep headtube angle and your shock is firm... you will be fighting over bumps... if you have a long wheel base and you try zig-zagging you will feel the difference.. also if you are used to a heavier bike the lighter one will seem lighter...only for a while! Other than being a powerhouse... on the same bike your setup is the next biggest factor in making you faster... oh yes and a black bike! ..and it also helps to ride with slower, weaker people :lol: ..all i am saying is that if you have 10 bikes all have the same tyres and hubs and they have all been setup for your geometry... you will be hard pressed to find the difference... yes the lighter the bike, the better the power to weight ratio... but that is because it is light... and the lighter the wheels and tyres and pedals and crank and dont forget your shoes... the easier it will be to generate the power to move the bike... sah-weeeeet!

@bennie dikwiel :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

This is perhaps as a result of my OCD... I cannot for the life of me phathom what the hell people are trying to say when they say their bike is really fast! You wanna know something about physics: the only thing that makes the bike fast is the force that produces movement and the forces that resist it... On a flat surface the geometry does squwat!!! ...and the only thing that makes a bike move is the force you create or gravity! once it is moving there are factors that will resist the movement: friction... this can be found on your body, your hubs and your tyres.. i guess you BB too but that is confined to increasing speed or maintaining it.... if you wanna get really technical we can speak about air pressure, wind and gradient... So when you sell a bike and you say it fast.. please say it is because the hubs are awesome or that the tyres have a low rolling resistance or that you are a freek on the bike... The bloody bike cannot be fast!!!!! humpf!

I had a problem finding a saddle... I went through 7 saddles before I found the one that I currently use. My body position is very agressive so I sit on my hip bones and this is what caused my discomfort: numbness, severe pain and in long rides I would have to stop riding for the pain to subside before I could continue. A saddle choice is not about what other people use, but your fit: how do you sit on your bike; do you change position; many other factors your LBS will ask you. My current Saddle choice is ADAMO. It is pretty heavy at about 350g... but duuuude... I can now ride in my tri suit for 6 hours and feel no discomfort!!! These guys are the agents TROISPORT. Speak to Mark.

Black route is supergroovy... Its all i do... 700m descent in 25km... yummy... Groenkloof is half that - but then groenkloof does not have the slate rocks! My best part has gotta be the downhill after the the "viewpoint", the windy bits in the pines, the part next to the river... my only issue is the slate-type rocks that provide the perfect slippery UN-terra-firma when leaning in to corners on the descent after the first windy climb to the "viewpoint"... - perhaps I need to learn how to ride better

I guess I will add my few cents worth: the main difference - in my opinion - between MTB and Road is the consistancy in torque over terrain... This makes for serious differences in training. MTB alternates where road is more consistant... dont forget that riding in a bunch at the speeds the roadies do is not for the feint hearted.. as well as tearing down rough terrain on a MTB if you ride on a straight flat road at amble pace obviously it will be easy for road and MTB... any ride can be hard... we all just train as hard as we can to maintain a pace just below BLOW! If you think any race/trail is easy... you are not riding hard enough!!