The_Break

This is a question that has still never been equated to give an answer. Personally, I am 179 tall but my legs are slightly shorter for the leg torso ratio than an average rider. I have tried 172.5, 175 and 177.5 cranks for many months each. Here is what I found: 172.5 - Felt fine as these are what are normally fitted by shops. 175 - I felt that these cranks helped me to climb a little better seated than the 172.5 and this makes sense due to the longer crank arm and generally lower cadences. 177.5 - These are awesome for time trialing and climbing seat, however I found that when I really need to take the cadence up over 100-110 it was a bit too long. I also road 177.5 on my racing bike with the 175 on my other bike of which I road equally. The 175 just felt better. My advice, go for 175 for your height as you will climb better and will have slightly more power on the flats too and they are not so long you will spin out. Have a friend who is 174cm and he also rides 175mm. We are both A bunch riders in all the big races.

I go to a shop, look at it, feel it, try it on, and then look at the price and walk out. Then I go to the internet and look at the price. Add some extra things, press a few buttons and then a few weeks later it arrives. Normally because I always get a better price, about 15-20% in real terms I buy the better parts that generally don't need returns or so. And if they do, I normally contact head office and they refer me directly to our local agents who are then obliged to help me with warranty claims as the sites I buy from sell officially. No worries, no fuss. For me, it is either money in my pocket or money in someone elses. Internet buying means money in my pocket very often. So many of the times our local shops don't have what I want or take 4-8 weeks to get it and then it is wrong. I would much rather deal with the 1st world.

No idea. You can have the guys at SARS give you a judgement before you bring it in so you know exactly how much you will pay. Phone the customs and excise department and ask to speak to an Adhoc Specialist. They can do this for you. I saw some really cheap pstuff as compared to Sportsman wearhouse where I last looked at Polars last week on www.totalcycling.com. Check under the heart rate monitor link on the left. Nearly half the price, but add about 25% for import.

Get on and pedal like hell is chasing you and when you find yourself among the pros one day you won't need to upgrade. They will sponsor you a bike.

Hi Solly I buy a lot of my stuff from overseas. Never had problems. Import duties are officially as follows, but unofficially you may get away with the import duty depending on which person does the check on your goods: Bicyles: 14% VAT + 9.5% import duties Bicycle parts and accessories: 14% VAT + 9.5% import duties Sporting equipment: 14% VAT So I guess it all depends on how your invoice is worded. I have never had SARS open a box so guess they only check the invoice. I know someone who buys from Germany and the entire invoice is in German except for a bold Capital letter phrase at the top which he gets the guys to put on the invoice "for customs" that reads. SPORTING EQUIPMENT. Guys at customs so overloaded it is a no brainer. He has yet to pay the 9.5% import duties like this. Hope this helps.

You taking up the road man! Problem wasn't your girlfriend riding at 40km/h an hour it was your car riding at 40km/h. It is guys like you who wish they could cycle half as well as their girlsfriends who join sites like these and think they know everything about cycling, because their chick puts out maybe 150W whilst keeping up with Mr. Clydesdale from Doughnuts R Us.

You taking up the road man! Problem wasn't your girlfriend riding at 40km/h an hour it was your car riding at 40km/h. It is guys like you who wish they could cycle half as well as their girlsfriends who join sites like these and think they know everything about cycling, because their chick puts out maybe 150W whilst keeping up with Mr. Clydesdale from Doughnuts R Us.

I still reckon permatubes are the way to go!

So long as man is human there will always be cheating. Without rules man cannot survive cause he has the natural tenedency to destroy himself. He therefore needs rules to survive, however he will always break the rules so as to get ahead. This circle will never be broken so in actual fact there is no answer to this question, only opinion.

Hi Jenna-Lee Gees, does your legturer want you to fail. That's probably the toughest topic you can get. Maybe you should start by writing to the UCI and CSA to get the official reason why drugs where banned in the first place. Then you can just hand that article over for marking. Ok, but seriously, like dirt-rider says, drugs are not safe to use and do some serious damage. It is mainly about protecting the athletes as guys on that level will do anything to win. Teams, managers, doctors, everyone gets involved and the poor athlete sometimes doesn't even know what he is getting. It get's dangerous cause he may want to win and live long, but everyone else just wants to win! Read up on a guy called Tom Simpson. He was one of the originals and his story is an amazing one. If anything it may just give you a nice way to start your article.

I bet they have developed something like that, but it has been shelved cause the guys make more money from all the tubes they sell and extra tyres that need replacing when all us boys and girls check out the small cuts in our tyres. Anyone want those permatubes?

Either way, clincher or tubby, if you are on a level where performance difference like this count them punctures are the last thing to worry about when waking up the morning of a race, looking at the weather and choosing your wheel-combi for the day. Normally if you puncture, race is over anyway unless you have a back-up vehicle and can timetrial like Lance. If you want to be highly competitive, my opinion is tubbies are the way to go. If you want to be assured of finishing then buy anything that you can fix on route. And if you really want to make sure you finish a race, I have two sets of permatubes in the kist. Still in wrapping and all!

Tubbies are said to have less rolling resistance due to higher pressures they can be pumped up to, 12bar max on my conti tubiess vs. 8.7bar on my clinchers. Extra pressure means faster, but some have claimed it makes the front wheel bounce around a bit when too hard during hard cornering on rougher roads. Not experienced this myself I must say. Conti do a cheap training tubby called the Giro. Haven't checked pricing for a while but I think you may be able to pick them up for just over R200 depending on who you buy from. Tubby rims are in fact lighter than clincher rims as they can be made totally from carbon fibre and thus do not have the extra alu in them. If you check out the weights of tyre tube combinations you should notice that tubbies are actually considerably lighter when taken on a % basis. Conti competition tubby = 230g Conti GP4000 + Conti race tube = 205g + 100g = 305g Conti GP4000 + Schwalbe extra light = 205g + 65g = 270g Not sure how good the extra light tubes are though. Have heard they punture slightly easier. Really can't say. All in all, tubbies will get you there faster due to tire pressue.

Don't tell them who you are!!!!! They will send a guy after you that looks like a real Yeti and then you will need to wear a downhill helmet for looks and not safety! Ok, but seriously, don't use the hub to get revenge or dis a company or product. It can be construed as devaluing the brand or company and then it becomes a legal case. Don't forget that even though you are anonamous, your are probably linked via your email back to yourself and if I am correct, this forum's rules won't offer much protection because you may have broken them already. I have no involvement or knowledge about MC, but just save yourself more hassle and listen to these guys, I am sure they will help get it sorted for you.The_Break2008-03-10 14:16:58

Hi Windblown Personally I prefer riding on rollers than on a trainer that grips your rear hub. I always felt as if the bike was leaning to one side no matter what I did and I always felt it was not good for the poor thing when it was twisting and creaking in its locked up state. Then there is the concern about tightening the hubs up even more than what the quick release does. On wheels with cone bearings it will cause a tighter assembly and thus I dont think it is very good for wheels with coned bearings. Not sure about other assembly configs. Again, as I said I personally like to ride on rollers as they are "safer" for your bike and if you get used to them they help with balance and also pedal stroke.

Maybe Cyclesure should look into pram insurance as well...

. The_Break2008-03-02 01:06:38

Hi Johan All fair, all fair! Guess we could argue till NASA publishes a white paper on chains and then some. Ok, guess we should all be at peace here and save our energy for the races then. Sorry for any offense I have caused then. As for me keeping anon, it is more for political reasons regarding clubs and sponsorships than anything else. I am a bit hot-wired so I know when to keep things under wraps. My mouth has got me into trouble before. I will do my best to only say things I would say should I post under my name. All good?

I think you hit the nail on the head! Here's a nice article that covers a lot. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html Thought I would give it a bash before steeling someone elses ideas. I think you should be on TV rather.The_Break2008-03-01 06:52:29

It may be because diesel could eat the frames paint or something like that. Maybe the "safety" (can actually only combust under high compression) factor too if the shop was worried about that. Not sure, but that is why I said remove the chain and dry thoroughly. I don't get diesel near my frame cause I am scared of the same thing. Used to use petrol, but was always worried about the safety factor of leaving it lying around. Kids with matches enjoy playing games! Paraffin also works well I believe. Never tried it myself though.

Hi Casspir. We all know that chains lengthen right? Easy to see when you hang an old chain next to a new chain. Don't say I know exactly what the mechanism is, but I would think it would be due to the tension created in the chain when you are pedalling. Metal has something called strain which is, simply put, a characteristic of a couple of factors, one of them being the force exerted on the metal, in this case a tension force. Simply put, if a graph of the force (x-axis) is drawn compared to the strain (y-axis) then the strain increases initially quickly with force and then starts to flatten off. Now depending on the material there are 3 things that happen when a force is applied: 1: Non-elastic strain: This is when the force is low and the metal just experiences a force. There is no movement between the tiny metal structures. 2: Elastic strain: This is when the force is near the top part of the graph where it becomes horizontal so to speak. There is movement between the tiny metal structures in the metal, however when the force is taken away the metal moves back to its original state. Just like an elastic. 3: Plastic strain: This is when the force is so great that it goes beyond the horizintal point on the graph (also where the graph would dip down for metal that have a plastic point) and the metal stretches so to speak. On removal of the force the metal does not spring back to its original position, however remains stretched to some degree. So, that is what I think happens to a chain. It is the repeated big forces on the chain that slowly stretch it out over its life cycle. I also did a quick calculation with another thing called tensile stress and it falls within the general limits of what I was saying above. Sorry for all the detail, but there really is no simple way to explain this theory. Other than this I do not know what could make a chain stretch, but it definitely does and this is ultimately what helps to cause chain/sprocket/ring wear as the links do not seat due to the "changed spacing" of the little roller pieces and thus cause a bit of friction and wear. Obviously grit also plays a role. In any case, if anyone tells you that chains do not stretch or lengthen then just ask the LBS what they use a chain guage for. Hope this gives some insight?The_Break2008-03-01 06:32:44

I don't have a problem with opinion or fact, but I do have a problem when it is conveyed with an attitude that inadvertantly breaks people down. Luckily I am flame proof. However, what an attitude like that does is cause the not so outspoken people to keep quiet in the event that they get flamed. We all have a lot to offer and if we were considerate to others and acted kindly toward each other then there would be so much more we could learn. One more thing I know is that people who are secure in themselves and what they know will go about giving advice and if the advice is consistently accurate then people will grow to respect that person and that is when the advice is very valuable. However, insecure people often feel the need, mostly unwittingly, to force their opinion on others or shut them up so that they feel they are needed or respected. Unfortunately, people mostly take a dislike to this and then there is no way you will want to take advice from them, even if they are right. It all comes down to respect. People will go to the ends of the earth with you if they trust and respect you.

Bornman! DO I have to explain everything to you? Why don't you just take a chill pill. Seriously, do you get off to the fact that you think you are the "know it all" of cycling. Why don't you try and be nice sometime. Comes across very hipocritical when you are all smiley on TV and then act like you do on the hub. You should hear what people say about you when you not listening. I guess no one has had the nerve to tell you in the case you hold a grudge against them for the next decade, so I thought I would get it over with early on on this forum. If you don't agree with what I say then give us your opinion, but sarcastic and rude remarks you will do best to keep to yourself.The_Break2008-02-29 09:35:34

Be careful with high pressure washers. It has been said that they can force water into your hubs. Not sure how true this is, but it is not hard to imagine it is. Seals on hubs are not very tight as they need to allow for very low friction. Probably not good for your BB bearings either. Try fitting a powerlink. Personally I use a powerlink on my training bike, but a normal link on my racing bike. Powerlinks make it really easy to clean the chain. Just unlink, wash in a bit of diesel, dry thoroughly, link again and apply lube. Works wonders!

Here is a great idea. Next time anyone comes across this, take a pic and post it on the site, but with good pics with fingers, and aggression and all. Then invite the team managers, club secretaries, presidents and sponsors to have a good look along with all the other people on the site. Pic of the month gets sent to the local newspaper. I am sure this kind of behaviour will stop pretty quickly unless guys ride in neutral kit.