Falco

Like I said. No accidental ingestion, cocked up prescription etc. Take one look at the photo and it is obvious he is a gym boy, not a cyclist. He knew what it was, he's probably used it in the gym on a regular basis. He took it thinking he wouldn't be tested, and now he has been caught. Too late to cry, he should be banned like anyone else.

What an idiot. It's bad enough when podium contenders think they can get away with it, now the backmarkers are doing the same. It's pathetic.

Wow, talk about a sweeping statement. The generalisation doesn't fit, but your comment will manage to piss off lots of bakkie drivers. Count me as number 1.

Maybe it was Jonathon Ancer

Sounds more like a determined decision to behave like arrogant tosses. If that's an example of how their management thinks, they need new management. Nett result: more motorists who have been converted to cyclist haters

Your post should have stopped there. It is a struggle to stay alive on a bike while obeying the rules of the road, now you want to look for loopholes that will make you feel better about breaking the law? Unbelievable.

I get between 124 mins and 129 mins on the standard battery. The bacpac is too expensive. I bought three extra batteries and a charger from Hong Kong on ebay, cost me $24 for everything including postage. I've never had a problem with Chinese ebay batteries, generally they are the same thing as the original with a different label, been using them on my RC trucks & helicopters for a long time, no issues.

That long haired twit was a tjop long before yesterday. He behaves like a self-important ******** wherever he goes I have seen him several times at the races behaving like the world owes him a favour. If he is the owner of NC, he really should spend less time brushing his hair, and more time on his business image. We passed the group twice yesterday, he was leading on the outside edge on both occasions, so what the OP stated is more than likely correct.

I see no difference between this and polystyrene. Both are designed to crumple and in so doing, absorb a large percentage of the impact. Both will do the job if properly constructed and maintained. (obviously including keeping the cardboard dry)

I use them on my race wheels, current set have about 1200k's on them, not one puncture so far, and still in fairly good condition. I check for small cuts after every race and fix with superglue as necessary. They do wear fairly quick, but they aren't designed to last forever. No complaints my side.

Who are we trying to kid here? It's obvious to anyone who knows anything about tools that this set is cheap and nasty. It's likely to result in lots of frustration, damaged bolts, and crushed knuckles. Rather use the same amount of cash to buy a few often-used good quality tools, and add to that as cash becomes available. Where tools are concerned, stay away from sets, buy once, and buy the very best you can afford. This set is crap.

This vit B thread is very similar to the one a couple of weeks ago. A lot of responses claimed that it was the way to go. My two training partners have been doing these shots, I haven't. It has made no difference to their performance, compared to mine. Neither of them are faster, stronger or able to train longer than they did before. IMO it's all in the mind. Eat, rest & train properly, and you don't need them.

This sounds like a soft Jock to me. Anyone got a profile?

Rider error. This will happen on most bikes. If in 2nd / 3rd on the cluster, the chain is under much more tension than it is when in 5th/6th. When you shift from the big to small chain ring, the chain tension is suddenly released like a catapult, and the chain comes off at the front.

Very true. A sprinter or powerful climber is going to wear out a chain much quicker than a fun rider.

I use 105 and Ultegra chains, clean them off the bike (use quicklink) on a regular basis, lube after each clean (one tiny drop per roller) and get about 3000k's between changes.

Exactly my point in the "cost of bikes" thread. Nobody is going to admit to going into debt to buy a bike, but we all know that lot's do. The only way you will get accurate info of purchasing habits is from the shop floor of a big supplier like the Lab. They would be able to tell you exactly what the numbers are. My guess is at least half of the +30k bikes are bought on some form of credit, and that even in the lower price bracket, a lot are bought on credit card budget plans.

I don't have a clue how to start a poll, but it would be interesting to see the results IF all respondents were honest, which is unlikely. The way I see it, a bike is a pure luxury item and should be bought from disposable income, once off if the person is a high earner, or saved for over a period of time. I know a lot of bikes get bought on hp, card budget plans etc, but that just doesn't sit well with me. The thought of getting a statement from Wesbank for a bicycle just doesn't seem right.

I think the real shock is going to come when you marry her. If it's a little dig now, it's going to become a lot bigger then...trust me.

There is only one word for that: Stupid.

This is an interesting point. If a "slow" (normally older) rider has the bucks to ride a 100k bike, and a "fast" (normally younger) rider can only afford a 10k bike, does this mean we must automatically look at the older/slower guy as if he doesn't deserve the bike? Older guys have the money, bike shops have the expensive bikes. Put the two together and you have a win : win situation imo. I'm an older rider, and I've reached a stage in my life where I buy whatever I want, irrespective of the price. If the racing snake laatie next to me doesn't like it, he can exchange his saddle for a pineapple as far as I am concerned. That's my take on it.

Don't get me wrong, my comments are not intended as a negative reflection on bike marshals in general, those guys do a great job (when the organisers have enough of them there). I personally did not see a marshal at the start of AM, nor did I see one on the route. Maybe they were there, but I didn't see them, hence my comment. It seems that most of the L groups had bike marshals, and that's great for them. With regard to the accident, if I'm not mistaken that was a backmarker group, and the accident happened around 11am? By then most of the front groups had finished, so drawing marshals off the race to handle the accident would obviously be perfectly understandable. My group, AM, started at 7.30 and most were finished by 10.30, so we weren't affected by the accident. I'm not knocking the race in general, overall it was ok, but there are definitely areas that can be improved, as per my original post. What I'm saying is we all pay the entry fee, so we should all be made to feel as safe as possible, and we should all get equal treatment. That didn't happen on Saturday (in my opinion)

The organisers need to have a serious rethink about the route and/or start group size. AM was hair-raising at times, with cars and trucks trying to get past such a big group. Especially within the first 30k's, and again in the last 10, the road width and heavy traffic make it quite dangerous for big groups of cyclists in those areas. I think restricting group size would be a good start, but the start/finish area is always going to be a problem. Not to mention that there were no motorbike marshals ~ wtf was the story with that? I'm still trying to work out what my 200 bucks entry fee actually bought. I hope the airlifted cyclist is OK, but that brings me to another point ~ I didn't see a single ambulance or paramedic anywhere on the route. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention and I missed them, but I'm pretty sure there weren't any apart from at the start.

You forgot "everyone who doesn't like cwc and/or asg is an a-hole". This is the hub, remember.

I recorded 1220