Witkop

http://www.dealclick...ar-Cleaner/4814

motorcar bikes are just like their motorcars. Look carefully and you will see all the design and cultural shortcomings of the big motor manufacturers are replicated in their "perfect" bikes.

Porsche a mountain bike for roadies............

Groenies is great for beginners. In fact fountains (Gasp) can also be beginner friendly. Just takes the right "ride captain" to shepherd every one through. If you want an easy ride there are some good pieces of gravel. If you want to start learning to ride single track, it is also excellent. I have piloted a number of NOOBIES through it all without any injuries. this weekend is a bit chaotic, but I am interested to get back into early sunday morning routine.

will have to investigate as it is just up the road from me. Any ride buddies in the MOOT?

Road shoes are designed for only cycling, whereas mtb shoes allow for some walking and pushing of bikes. The interface (fancy word) between road shoes and the bike is more secure and has greater contact area. This allows for better power transfer and stability when pedalling. MTB shoes uncleat easer and have generous "float" In the end road bike shoes are more efficient on the bike at the cost of being downright dangerous off the bike. also road bike pedals are one sided which makes clipping in under pressure a tad difficult. (this explains the slow starts at road races) So only four types of people will even consider using mtb shoes on a road bike: noobies: these can be ridiculed Cyclo-cross: these cannot be ridiculed as they will probably punch you in the face and ride you off their wheels (they lucky are rare in South Africa) Mtbikers on a road bike, easily identified by baggies, hairy legs and mudded shirts. Like cyclocross riders they are rare but will accept a bit of ragging, but will definitely have a comeback line. Noobie triathletes: just feel pity for them remember the actually will be running in those shoes during transition. Their maths is a bit wonky as the time they saved will be less than what they would have lost on the time trial without proper shoes...........

In Gauteng the Saturday/Sunday thing has a bit of a history. Pretoria as the capital had a very high concentration of civil servants and military personnel, who being conservative and Christian actually wrote into their sport club constitutions that they would not compete on a sunday. You actually had to secure written permission to compete in military/ gov department colours on a sunday. It was believed by those in PTA that the majority of the people in Joburg were either Jewish or Godless, so it was okay for them to do sport on a Sunday (but not a Saturday). So by the early 90's as a sportman you could race on both saturday and sunday.. This tradition has been for the first time broken with the Deloites marathon which will be run in PTA on a gasp SUNDAY. The reason being is that they expect over 9600 entries and the traffic in Lynnwood at about 8AM when the marathon is about half way will be too heavy for the runners to run safely. It seems that on a Sunday PTA is either in church asking for forgiveness or in bed recovering from another camo bulls loss, so the traffic is not so bad, except for the select club cyclists....

By the sounds of it the WPPPA will soon have to table a motion to tar all the single track in the Western Cape. Just in case..... The gravel was a point of debate well before the race. Large sections of the Giro d Italia ext are or were gravel. Paris Roubaix gets its appeal fro cobble stones and gravel. To argue that gravel road is not part of road cycling is to be naïve. Only in South Africa it seems that our government has laid on all these tar road for the exclusive use of roadies. Sad fact is that there is actually more gravel road than tar in South Africa and it is simply short sighted to not include some into road races. this is the next grip, there are actually "Mtb" races that are exclusively on hard pack gravel roads............ If you don't want to chip your carbon frame, then use your steel beater bike for that race. Oops, you guys don't have a decent commuting bike, because you only "race".......

Asking for a warranty on a second hand bike, is like asking for a guy whether is ex-wife is worth dating......

If the warranty does not replace the frame, it is plastic so consider epoxy resin. Dremel out the crack to the surface of the carbon, then use an epoxy to fill the groove and sand flush. The worst that can then happen is the crack comes back, but as the frame was a write off anyway, so no real loss.

In my experience there is a higher concentration of "gay" atheletes as the level of skill and expertise increases. When testosterone is not enough to win, sexual orientation becomes irrelevant. To get your knickers in a knot about atheletes sexual preferences is definitely counter productive. I think Putin is very worried about the increased gay, lesbian and feminist back lash against his very "macho" Russian Regime. Being exKGB is very not gay.

There is an index for wealth distribution. It is called the GINI index. The bad news is that RSA rates as one of the worst countries on this index. The worse news is that has got progressively worse since 1996. So much for the ruling parties promises of social reform......Couple that to the ever declining Human Development index and it is obvious that there is a growing disparity between government rhetoric and ideology and reality.

Rule of thumb, for racing go for the smaller frame, for touring and cruising go for the bigger frame. Second rule of thumb (as I have two thumbs) Top tube length is the fine tuner. Longer torso, longer arms, longer frame-go for the bigger bike even if the stand over is a bit tight. Shorter torso go for the smaller frame and use a shorter stem and longer seat post. Rule of big toe, 29ers angles are different from real mtb bikes. So you may have to move the saddle more forward than on your other bike thereby shortening the length of the bike. Also your handle bars may be higher on a 29er, as the geometry will be different. Second rule of big toe, ride before you buy. Pinky rule shop around, your brand may not be the best, or the cheapest. (in some perverse cases the cheapest may be the best) Second pinky rule, the bike you like and the bike you buy (if they are the same bike) is the best bike in the world. Elbow rule, Red is a good colour for a bike. That with white tyres...........

If the rules have not changed from last year: tri-bars are allowed for age groupers. The bar end may not extend beyond the front wheel. For the elites tri-bars are not allowed to extend beyond the brake levers, as their race is normally draft legal. Elites can thus use "Stubbies" The draft box distance at Worlds was also extended (almost doubled) from two to three bike lengths (I may be wrong as I was not planning to pass to many people) Oh, and the front zip must be zipped up for the event, in fact most were moved to the back. For guys racing in sailfish tri-suits this is a rather important technicality. I was warned at GN champs last year to zip up.

Just a bit of paranoia, could this be an attempted hit? Does your friend work for the SAPS or justice or have some interesting enemies? There was a case in PTA where it is alleged that ex-husband commissioned a hit on his ex-wife......Randomness is scary but directed action is worse. Best to open a case of attempted murder at the police.

why around import duties, buy the frame and components separately. Sometimes suppliers invoice and ship complete bikes in this way. Shop around online as well as the LBS, sometimes you do get a bargain

planet X. But the rand is a bit crappy at the moment. Import from them is reasonably painless http://www.planetx.c...-race-road-bike http://www.planetx.c...iagra-road-bike

bospiet I am sure there are a few of us who would love to join you in your efforts. Good luck. Ps consider using Voortrekker monument. Do a park run twice and then cycle the route eight times (or include the amphitheatre and do it six time) finishing with a final lap, like we did ten years ago for SA champs...

29er espresso? 29er cappuccino? 29er energy bar?

Okay let us see, CGT and GNT have both declared that neither province has time to host a trails before SA champs. GN indicated that all who qualified for SA Champs last year qualify automatically this year. Anyone else is welcome to apply for a slot based on their NW champs results and last years results. CGT has invited all athletes to apply for slots at SA champs. I am sure Craig will have a fair selection committee to ensure the best get to SA champs. I don't know about what is happening in the South (I think FS had their trials earlier this month). But I think time has run out for any more trials before champs in March. Recovery, admin ext will just not give athletes a fair chance at SA champs. I suppose you can watch the TSA website for options. The best option I can suggest for Bospiet is to cycle either to the VTM parkrun or the Mcarthy Run (at Rietondale) run the 5/10km cycle home and run another 5km. If he is wanting a slot at SA champs he must go to the GNT website and contact GNT with has POE emphasising his 10km run times and his 40-100km cycle times. If he can run faster than his age group times he may get into the team. In his age group 25+ the world champ was posting 35 min for the first 10km and Ross (First SA home) was posting 38min at SA's he was faster) The fastest time at SA's last year in his age was 33 min. The slowest was 40 min. So SA standard for 25+ is a sub 40 min on 10km run. Bike is between 1 hr and 1:30 for 40km (equal to 35 to 40km/hr). If Bospiet is achieving these times then I am sure that he will be considered for SA champs.

Some people are so naïve and gullible. In cycling these rare individuals are easily identified, they ride 29ers.......

next one is SA Duathlon Champs in March.......

http://www.outsideon...est-TF2-10.html http://www.triradar....20-bike-review/ Italian vs some other country's bike: the winner is.......Italian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0019aOh9j5M&feature=player_detailpage

Just as a Porsche is better than a lexus Fondriest is better than a scott. even Chuck Norris agrees