HammerHed

Coool!!

Very nice, and well done for doing it all yourself. I have just completed my latest bike myself, bought the frame off the Hub and all the other parts are new bought to my spec. I had a great time building it and learned so much doing it. If you are smart, like you have been, you can pick up most of the parts at a greatly reduced cost via the Hub.

the thing that got me in the beginning was that I kept on think I had a flat. One day I will have one and will only relise it when I get home. That's right it it feels pap in the back! After the first ride I reset the rear shock to my weight spec but that was then like riding a hard tail, so I reduced the pressure a lot and it feels firm but forgiving. Jeez got lots to learn about how to set that rear shock.

Thanks for the envy guys! Can't wait to put some serious k's on it. Upgraded from my GT 0.5 hardtail, it feels like a Bugatti. Go to learn to ride all over again.

Cure cramping by training harder and longer at the pace you race at.

www.escapecycletours.com

Last season I cramped during every big road race I did, and I had never cramped before. I tried everything to stop it, diet wise. Rennies Tablets, Sports salts, Calmag, even tried eeating more iron in the form of raisins etc. I did some research and eventually I put it down to muscle fatigue. I did not do enough base training during the early part of that season and had done mainly mountain biking training including lots of long MTB marathons and lots of short 40k races which I did as a total all out sprints. The end result of my training was that I was super strong for the road races but lacked the aerobic endurance to handle hard road racing at the 3 hour Argus pace, I cramped in the Argus at Scarborough and had to drop out of the front of the F bunch. Very disappointed. All the reading I have done about cramping points to muscle fatigue because I ate and drank plenty on all these rides. I also checked to see if I was anemic, which I was not. I started a course of CalMag for around 8 weeks before Argus and all this did not help me at all. Even took 12 Rennies during one race and still cramped. So my advise is do the proper training and I mean lots of base miles and then progress to harder muscular endurance workots and then move to more anearobic stuff. But if you dont have the aerobic base miles in from pre and early season training this can lead to cramping.

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I bought the Fulcrum Red Metal 3 wheels on the weekend. These are UST rims, the rims have no holes for the spokes on the inside and you don't need the tape strip, just slime and tubeless tyres. I put Mountain Kings 2.2 for the rear wheel and Maxxis Monorail for the front, both UST tyres. It was quite effortless to do. Ok I have got a compressor so that helped to get them to seal first time. I am looking forward to riding them, my bike is almost ready, just got to fix the rear disc mounting bracket, it is about 8mm too low for my Avid Ultimate 160mm discs so the disc touches the caliper. Dammed if I can find a bracket anywhere in Joburg.

I am looking at getting a new MTB wheel set for my S-Works Epic frame and want to buy a tubeless rimmed wheel so I don't have to use Stan's tape or whatever. I have Fulcrum 3 rims on my road bike and these are "tubeless rims", meaning they have no holes for spokes nipples on the inside if the rim, so you can basically just add a tubeless valve and tyre and slime and you are away with a tubeless system (No tape required). So my question is what MTB rims are there that offer this or am I hopelessly misinformed. I see that the DT Swiss rima all require a tubeless conversion with rim tape etc. Why? I thought UST meant tubeless in the style of a motor car.

Man, that is FUGLY!

Johan, can you repair chips in a carbon frame with Pratley's Epoxy?

Go for the Tarmac you won't be disappointed!

So my question is: Am I better off doing a deal with the bike shop on the Truvativ Stylo so I can trade it for a new XT crank and pay in the difference (I don't know what the price difference is right now but I am sure they will squeeze as much as they can out of it). Just talking from a weight, quality, durability, perceived coolness perspective, not price? Jeez, long question!

Thanks GoLefty, Is XT crank, new one, any good?

I am building a carbon S-Works Epic and have been offered a build-kit which includes a Truvativ Stylo crank. I have looked at it and the Truvativ Stylo crank is a bit heavier than the XT 880gm XT is 850gm. Which should I go for? I have no experience of either. What other options would you Hubbers recommended without spending too much? I mean FSA carbon is nice but at R8000 its a bit steep.

Cytomax, Cytomax, Cytomax. USN Pure Protein shake for recovery.

Just to make sure you watch it of course, this way you get to see the ads as well.

Nice one fandacious, I have a lot of faith in the future of this country. Imagine if Zim comes right and there is a huge demand for grains like the article says, farming there could be massive, massive business.

Now I remember why I had to increase the range of the speed sensor, I also mounted mine on the chainstay of my IDT bike, an old scrap chromoly thing that sits on my covered patio. Works perfectly for that application, I got speed and cadence on it, works great. Not sure how a GPS will help on an IDT??? Maybe show you which way is up!