madison

Paddy Agnew is actually briliant compared to the new guy.

I had a issue with the shifting on my rear derailleur after day 2. I took it to the lab & they installed new cables front & rear plus new housing & charged me R136.00 which I think is very reasonable, so no complaints from my side. I could probably have sorted the problem myself by cleaning my existing cables, but by the end of day 2 I was simply not in the mood for bike maintenance.

It has never happenned on a new chain ring, usually on an older chain ring. The problem would then go away once any burrs had been filed off the rings. It was the fact that this started so early on with a new chain ring that got me thinking that there may be something that is causing irregularities on the ring. I always lube as you have described & use finish line wet lube.

How do you change gears properly? I have been riding mountain bikes for more than 10 years & this is the first bike I have ever experienced chain suck in the middle blade.

Some suggestions please. I am experiencing chain suck in my middle chain ring when riding in very wet conditions. I have recently (3-4 rides ago) replaced my middle & big chain rings, chain and cassette. All were replaced round about the same time, so the drivetrain is all new parts. I ride a Giant trance X0, LX crankset (all replacement rings were shimano), SRAM PG970 cassette & PC951 chain. Thanks

I received mine about three weeks ago. On Saturday I get an SMS informing me that my license has been dispatched & will be available for collection on the 4th May

Successfull lubrication has less to do with which lube you use & more to do with proper application.

I Don't shop at Pick 'n Pay or ride Argus. Not sure where the wife shops.

Kimmage seems to be condemned because he was not particularly talented & doping did not really help him, so he dicided to turn whistle blower. Will we ever know if his true motivation was revenge or because his morals got the better of him? Can we only ever trust a truly talented rider who profits from doping & then turns whistle blower? Anyone remember Jesus Manzano?

I was reading the latest issue of Mountain Bike Action last night & they did a review on tubbies for mountain bikes. This seems to be the next innovation in tyre technology, but purely for the elite racers. besides a performance advantage & being able to run at lower pressure than tubeless, what makes it usefull in the world cup XC scene is the fact that you can still safely ride the bike with a flat tire, allowing rider to get back to the tech zone for a wheel change. Apparently the top XC racers have been secretly using tubbies for the last two years. There is currently one company that makes a 26" tubbie rim & Geax are now producing a 26" tubbie. There is one other company (cant remember the name) that makes custom tubbies. At around $170 for a custom tubbie they are not cheap, which limits them to the elite. Interestingly though, tubbies have found their way into mountain biking via 29ers, using cyclocross rims & tyres. The closing comment in the article is that if money was no object & they had helicopter tech support on each ride, they would switch to tubbies for every ride, such is the performance advantage

http://www.velonews.com/article/87593/the-explainer---whose-blood-is-it-anyway Interesting article trying to explain how the Italians are pursuing a Spanish investigation using evidence obtained in a French event.

For what it's worth, I have a Trance X0 & I am quite satisfied. I previously had a Giant NRS & I actually think the Trance, despite it being somewhere between a trail bike & a XC bike performs better on uphills than the NRS did. Downhill of course the two cannot compare. I would say if you are going to race rather go for something like the anthem, epic etc. If you are more of a mid pack rider just out to have fun, go for something with a bit more travel. Fit is also very important. The Anthem medium was way to small for me & the Anthem large was way to big. The trance however fits perfectly. I stand to be corrected, but you cannot compare the meta4 to the trance X, a better comparison would have been the meta 5.5. Cannot comment on the Mongoose, but I see a lot of them around so there must be a few people that are happy with them.

Any idea who stocks Pedros Lube?

Not the race. I rode the whole trail a number of years back on a fully rigid bike & all I can remember was that it was the most uncomfortable experiece ever. From what I can remember the trail was pretty good. This was a long time ago though, so I am not sure in what state it is now. Maybe phone the hotel & find out from them.