The_Break

When you drive past a township and there are more solar heaters there than there are cars in your neighbourhood. When you tattoo your medical aid details on your forehead to make sure you go to a private hospital when you cant speak for yourself.

Kick a man while he is down why dont you. Better hope your BMX doesnt break.

You interested in asking Specialized Head of Engineering that question? PM me if you want his email. They take these things very seriously in the USA. Unfortunately we don't have the Customer Protection Act inplace here yet and you are the 3rd owner. May be worth a shot as that is a very unusual failure.

No problem with a public forum for asking question and getting answers. Making false statements is of concern though. In any case, nearly all teams have at least one doper in the side so interesting to see who gets nervous when the questions get asked.

More like 60-120min for the IM.

A surf wetsuit can be used. The reference above is for a speedsuit or swim suite which is not the same as a wetsuit or trisuit. The speed suites are what you would see on the olympic swimmers and are purely aimed at speed and rear end boyancy. Wetsuits serve as thermal insulators for the most part of their application.

We do also get blue bottles here from time to time. That could really ruin a day.

Check out the Ironman rules as there is a minimum temperature below which you have to wear a wetsuit. It would suck to not be allowed to start simply cause you never had one. PE water temeratures have known to change quickly after rains, etc so the possibility is there. It is also not easy to go from swimming without a wetsuit to suddenly swimming with one. Takes a bit of getting used to as it restricts shoulder movement ever so slightly which you need to get used to for good stroke efficieny. But yeah, you could probably save up to 10% with a wetsuit so maybe 5-12minutes. It helps in that it keeps your legs horizintal as stated before so you dont have t kick or use your core so much. Helps to save for the cycle and run. My opinion would be to get one as it will make you a faster triathlete overall for distances over the sprint for sure.

I can tell you one thing. Just finishing in the pack is not going to get you noticed anywhere in the world. There are a bunch of others trying to do the same. There is much to consider when trying to make it into a pro team in SA: Coach - get yourself a really good coach. Pick him carefully as you normally only get one shot. He has to believe in you (or the possibility of the impossible with you) otherwise you will not believe in yourself. Life plan - You need to start thinking and planning ahead. Unless you have got huge talent, the process of getting good, having the time and money to do this and everything else required is a long process. SO start planning and moving toward it. It is a hard road, but a very rewarding one no matter how far you progress so long as you see the journey as the goal and not the result. Reality is not everyone makes it. There is so much more and there is no real set way to get into a pro team. It is a path you need to work out, but yes there are ways to increase your chances. If you want some more advice send me a PM. I never road with a ful pro team setup, but I did manage to ride fulltime for a few years and did even make some money out of it. Not much, but I achieved the dream. Oh, and your figures of what guys in SA earn are probably close, especially at the lower end. The money is in EU and USA. If you can get there go for it. USA being easier than EU purely because of the language barrier unless you have someone to show you the ropes and help you make contacts. Like I said, you need to have a plan to work all of this out.

Wicked! DE is awesome! You taking your bike? Or renting one there?

Good point. Jetzt muss ich dann nur die Labor ein email schicken, aber ich habe kein zugang nach der Konto des Probike. Leider!

Agreed on that one. My record hurt my thumbs so much! Ow! They are sexy looking though.

Most universities can do this test in their sports departments or physiology departments for around R500 which will include VO2max, threshold power, etc, etc. It is only really useful if you use a power meter or are serious about using your heart rate monitor for training (even though it is limited in its use for a single test). it is however interesting experience as they can tell you just how well you compare to others they have tested and most of them are pro athletes or close. Stellies has a great lab if you are in the area. I can hook you up if you interested.

Sorry but I bought a real bike so cant afford the phonecall.

Absolute nonsense! It is design based not factory based. Citi Golfs and Golf 5 GTI were built in the same factory not even 2 years ago, yet you cannot compare them. In any case, Taiwan is where most of the carbon bikes are made and that is not China.

I have an idea!!! Why not put this to rest for once and for all. Let's get Pro Bike to send there frames to the Uber German Pruf Laboratory where all the big boys get their frames tested? www.efbe.de They are probably the place who can tell us top or not. In fact, they actually rate the frames: Standard Performance High Performance Top Performance

Can anyone identify the sub 85 IQers?

Rennies does work well. I use them regulalry in stage races and know of many elite riders who use them. Other factors are dehydration, taking in too much carbohydrate such as gels, poor fitness, incorrect bike setup whereby your muscles are over extending/stretching or just bunched up. It is also apparently also genetic to some degree.

No cool then. I am not bashing the product. I am just making the distinction between what is truly a top brand and what in my opinion is not. It is like seeing a Formula One car up close and personal. Then you climb inside and take it for a drive. It is something amazing. To then liken a normal passenger vehicle, even be it a very, very nice passenger vehicle to the Formula 1 car is not right. It may be an amazing car, but to liken it to an amazingly engineering technology leading machine does injustice to the word Top Brand. It is ike comparing the owners Porsche to Golf 5. Both designed and belonging to the Porsche/VW group, similar to the development partners Probike uses. He himself would not agree that a Golf 5 falls into the same class as his Porche. And like Top Gear presenters rate vehicles they have driven, why cant some of us have similar opinions on bikes we have ridden.

Nothing wrong with it depending on your max HR and just how much you suffered. You are about 22 years of age right? The equation you used is a very, very basic and very inaccurate one for a lot of people. My laboratory tested MHR on 2 seperate occasion is 206. It is really hard to get it there on the road. With equation it should be 188. My thinking is your MHR is probably between 205-210. For a short race like that - about 50-70min you could probably ride at about 90% of your heart rate without much cause for concern (more VO2max) if your mind was right. That should put you at about 188 or so which is not far off. Personally I have held an average of 190 for 1h30 minutes during a solo breakaway during our Provincials a few years back so you figure of 194 is not extreme. It hurt like hell though. However, if this heart rate is way off of your normal figures I would suggest getting it checked out with a doctor.

They both work well. I ride Shimano and have ridden SRAM in the past. I would think of the future upgrades you may want to make and check on compatibility if you want to change single parts at a time.

Maybe he worked at the local bike shop.

For Alu, try pick up a pre-owned Cervelo Soloist Team or Cervelo S1. I just sold one for R13000 with full Ultegra and you cannot really tell any major difference between the Alu and Carbon bikes. Do some reading up. They are probably one of the most under-rated bikes in the world.

See, that is another of the symptoms. Confusion. The other one is on your sack.

Seems like you are starting to see things from that tsetse fly bite you have n your arm. You had better go and get tested for sleeping sickness especially if you have headaches, joint pain, your nodes swell on the back of your neck and you run a fever.