The_Break

I think it will be relevant to UCI sanctioned races which has loads of non-pro riders. Giro del Capo being one of them and I have seen one or two Chinese brands in there last year.

I think the gear is going to break. No offense but it is a really bad idea. There is no support to the flanks of the gear. Compare it to a track gear and you will see how much thinner it is.

I borrowed it from a friends who used to live in the states. I have seen cycling DVDs at Sportsman Warehouse a few years back. I think if you did an interent search for OVERCOMING on its own you may be lucky. It is the kind of DVD you will watch many times.

That would not make sense as there warranty claims would sky rocket and in countries with the customer protection act they would have to fork out.

The benefit is that the rider now has a guarentee that the frame he buys is correctly designed and tested. I have come across companies myself who do not use engineers to design soe of their stuff. One company in question I was working with at a stage had a "tech guy" who used to design their frames. His previous experience before joining was that he worked at a bike shop for 7 years. They made him responsible for design and sourcing of alu frames at their company. Now you guys tell me. Would you not want to know if you were buying a bike and this was the kind of company that "designed" it. $14000 is not a lot of money at all when it comes to bike companies. Probably what they pay an engineer for 2 months in their company or his yearly bonus. Absolute minimal so I do not think it is money making. I think it is there to protect the riders from sub quality frames that can fail and protect themselves and others racing with them. Don't forget, we are all thinking with our african mindset of corruption and theft. UCI are Swiss based and I highly doubt any of these guys are trying to get rich corruption style.

You got stop saying that man. No offense but it sounds really silly. Quality is not factory dependent, it is design dependent and comes down to drawing specification.

If you ever want to watch an awesome cycling DVD check out Overcoming. It is based on the old CSC team during the 2005 (I recall) TDF. It focuses on Jens Voigt, Carlos Sastre, Bjarn Riis, Ivan Basso and Bobby Julich There you will see 3 very awesome personalities in cycling in Basso, Sastre and Voigt. Very humble guys actually.

Ah, but you forgot about the one and only Jens Voigt!!!!! Armstrong also, he wanted to win at everything, but still had great sportsmanship when it came to his closest rivals. I remember when he let Ullrich take a mountain top finish so that Ullrich would be able to get the time bonus and hence keep in 2nd spot overall.

I think you need to change where you buy Tubbies.

Perfect example of why not to drill a BB hole. Ride through a spruit and water will enter the BB and possibly the chain stays. Think all is good cause you have a drain hole whilst in fact the water cannot drain from chain stay to BB. At least if you ride in rain then you know when to expect water in your frame and you can take seatpost out and dry. Like I said before, BB holes are not always the best solution to water in the frame. Each and every frame design is different and needs a seperate decision. In the case of this frame a BB hole would not be the best solution. Correct seat tube drainage would be.

I would rather have a well designed frame that is well manufactured and has a good street rep and handles well. The material it is made of is irrelevant.

No worries, I will give him a call tomorrow so he can come and defend himself here if he so wishes. Then you guys can ask him personally instead of shredding his name like this behind his back. It is actually disgracefull!

Not really. Felts are really good bikes too and there R&D guys are really good at what they do. I actually met with them last September in Irvine, California where I was marketing a patent of mine. Had a very nice chat and they are extremely clued up and thorough in there R&D, testing, etc. I guess they would have to be to have bikes riding in the Pro Tour. So yeah, I would not worry about that comment of Giant being better. They are both good brands with solid market status and I would assume after market service and warranty.

Your wife coaching you?

na stick with 404, 808 are for time trialling and big boys like fabian cancellara.

I believe the phrase would be something like: An accusationable inuendo.

Shamals are rock solid and can be fitted with ceramic bearings. I have a set. But I would not suggest them for aero. Crit racing and climbing stages yes though.

May Carla have already found the great big bike shop up in heaven. Rest in peace.

you sure are man! The aero advantage vs. the weight advantage is greater on aero. Just check out tests done by Zipp who compare times vs. normal box section wheels. The aero wheels going to give you a huge time saving vs. 300g, but if you are heading toward a 6.8kg bike then it makes no difference.

101 are alu training and racing wheels and not carbon. Don't waste your money if you are considering deep section. Let's put it this way, going with a nice light/lightish carbon tubby vs a not so lightish clincher is like chalk and cheese. If you really have the cash now to put a really nice bike together and can afford the Zipp 404s then also look at the HED Stinger 60 and check their weight restriction. According to a test done by USA bike mag they are the most aero wheel and winner of the comp. There are a load of wheels out there and you really could spend a lot of time trying to decide, but at the end of the day, going for the Zipps, Stingers, Campy Bora Ultra, Mavic Carbon (various) etc will all be good choices so long as they are not weight restricted for you and have a good warranty replacement or you have insurance. However, considering that you will be training on them expect to pay ±R500-900/tyre and also the hassle of havinng to carry a spare tubby or call a lift. Don't put slime in as it is then a waste to ride tubbies. Clinchers are ok, but just not tubbies. If i were you, buy the Zipps/HED and then get a seriously cheap even 2nd hand set of wheels to train with. My 2cents worth. That all I had left after buying my campy bora ultra tubbies. never regretted it though.

7850s are pretty heavy in comp aren't they? maybe stronger though.

I would go with the Felt. The 105's are where Shimano quality gets good, even though not the lighest.

Geez dude! You sure are walking in a minefiled here. Maybe you should think about deleting this as this may border on deformation of character/business. Don't know anything abouut these guys, but just saying for your own sake. Had something similar happen to me once and the experience is not cool even though youu may not be in the wrong. A letter from a lawyer and a court date is way unpleasant.

Novel. How does your free body look after removing them? Is there any damage to it where the "teeth" clamp up against the raised "splines"?

Maybe also give up on those smokes and wait till you grow up a bit.