stratus5

Now why the heck would I do that? I understand why the teams crossed the white line. PPA surely understands the issues with slow wide teams as well. Why take it further with a specific club? Recognise there is a problem with the race format and act on it going forward.

No not yet ;>) This will be a first. And I don't deny being naughty and will accept any sanction, but it does seem a little harsh. I just think that perhaps clubs are easier targets than sponsored teams.

I guess it does not really matter in the big picture. Would you be happy with being disqualified though?

No. Why are we even being investigated. Surely there should be multiple investigations going on? Like about 220? Why the favouritism. A friendly warning would have sufficed, but an investigation is formal! If the rules are then applied we are disqualified. There can be no other result from an "investigation"

I was told that evidence exists of our team crossing the white line possibly down the back of the Op de Tradouw pass whilst passing a slower team.As a member of the team I do not deny this. We crossed the white line on a number of occasions as it was the only way to get around slower teams who would not move over.BUT ... nearly every team that past us crossed the white line.We have wonderful photo's of the event that show every top team (thanks Facebook and event photographers) riding across the white line on numerous occasions.So I am sure that the rules will be applied equally and any photographic evidence of any team across the line will be used to disqualify them. The rules will of course be applied fairly and without discrimination. edit: I may have been misled and no formal complaint may have been lodged PPA as I claimed earlier.

Thanks Frail. Now we have photographic evidence of all the wheel suckers in AL Seriously out of a group of 122 there were only about 15 cyclists that did any work in the front and a core of about 8 did 80%, (Outriders, Onyx, TinyK and the big guy in yellow). I understand that not everybody is strong enough to do work on the front, but there sure were a lot of dedicated sprinters pushing their way to the front (but not quite the front obviously, because that would require work) in the last 5km. Karma is going to get you.

Yup, Its Wayne.

Taken by a friend this morning ... "M3 outbound near hospital bend, on the wrong side, was flying thru Hospital bend in the middle of the lane"

Passing a slower group, a drink advertising (swing drink stiff armed to the outside at head height???) rider caused me to take quite considerable avoiding action to avoid being smacked in the face by the bottle. Apologies to all behind me! I think these cyclists are genuinely trying to be considerate, but they might not have thought it through...

No Blue Train this weekend, most rode in their seeded groups. It was Reinhard Ellis and Chris Maurer from the Outriders who decide to try and bridge the gap right between E/F and G/H at the start. They did it quite quickly, but were somewhat tired after their effort ;>) The rest of G/H caught up later.

Nobody servicing any shocks? My last quote for the fox front shock was R4500. Some worn parts ... told them to get stuffed. That was pretty much its replacement value.

Hi, I do this piece (Blouberg/Koeberg) between Tableview and Durbanville nearly everyday. I cross over at Gie road (nice cycle patch down Blouberg Road till here), onto the Western side of Blouberg road and then ride along the pavement through the Kia motors dealership. I stay on the pavement all the way to Plattekloof Road, before crossing over at the robots, after which its fairly stress free. Most days its on the MTB, but today is on the road bike (Killarney night). There are some small pavements to bunny hop, but nothing your standard road bike cant handle if you keep it smooth ;>) No punctures along this stretch yet.

Powertap dropped the pricing on the G3 hub to $789 on 1 August. I see the online bicycle shops are still trying to sell their old stock at a higher price :<(

I have had the Shimano durace C50's (2010 model) and would not recommend them! Both the front and back rim have cracked down the centre of the aluminium rim channel between spoke holes. This has caused the rims to fail outwards. Luckily the tyre did not blow off as that could cause a nasty accident. Shimano support locally are singularly unhelpful! A new rim, which they don't have any stock of would set you back more than R8000! They also claim the RC80 rim, which is supposedly identical will not fit and its a mute point as they don't have stock either.

Hi, I started riding casually at 43. Did a 4:30, then a 3:50. After the 3:50 I was motivated and joined a cycle club (Outriders). Fitness built really quickly and Gerhard Genis hurt us over the December/January period of 2010/2011 with lots of long rides and interval training. Did not think I had improved much, but on the day I had a blinder in the great weather of 2011. Did a 2:53 out of C group at age 45. Suffered from too much riding and not enough training since then ;>)

Gunshot victims bleed and may need assistance. Injured Terrorists may need to be handcuffed etc. Definitely don't want any of that blood on you.

LOL. Nothing like a good placebo to sort you out. OCYLOCOCCINUM is a homeopathic remedy. From Wikipedia: The preparation is derived from duck liver and heart, diluted to 200C—a ratio of one part duck offal to 10400 parts water.[2] This is such a high dilution that the final product likely contains not a single molecule of the original liver. Homeopaths claim that the molecules leave an "imprint" in the dilution that causes a healing effect on the body, although there is no evidence that supports this mechanism or efficacy beyond placebo.[3][4][5] You are more likely to have duck doo doo in the water than a molecule of the claimed ingredient.

Hi Sean, It may be even simpler than mentioned above. If the bracket has separated from the right chainstay, then you only need to pull out the left chainstay, which is already loose, so thats a simple job. Clean up the glued areas and put it back together as mentioned in my original post with a pin and epidermix glue.

Hi Both the chainstays and support brace look to be glued on. I suspect there is also a pin that goes through the chainstay, locking it in place. It seems to have broken or fallen out of the left chainstay, but its difficult to see from the picture supplied. If there is a pin in the right hand chainstay, remove it by drilling it out. You might be able to pull the chainstays out of their housing, since the left one is loose, but if not their could be a few ways of using a jack between the BB and a bolt through the droputs possibly. If you need to go the jack route, clobber the righthand chainstay housing with a rubber mallet at the same time and even consider heating it up slowly, but not quite hot enough to burn the paint, unless you are prepared to repiant. Heat will make epoxy glues a bit softer and expand the alumumium BB so the fit is looser. Once out, the fix is easy. Simply glue the bracket back onto the chainstay. It only cracked because of the shear forces applied when the left chainstay started to move. Sand the inside of the BB tubing and the ends of the chainstay. Apply glue push back in and pin with a stainless steel bolt. Use glue on the bolt and file the ends off so its pretty once the glue has set. Best glue is probably epidermix 372 from ABE. Can get it from builders warehouse or most hardware stores. Its an epoxy glue and is bulletproof for most similar applications.

Definitely dont wrap the carbon all around the frame. The fillet type repair that I mention above is similar to a metal weld. Very good way of fixing a crack and very strong if done properly. Again, I think that crack is purely cosmetic, where the two faces of the half mold process join, but repair as above just to be sure.

You can also use a spray on adhesive. 3M makes one. AMT will have it. Spray some adhesive on a thin plastic sheet. Stick the carbon to the plastic. Cut the shape you want. After you have put the carbon where you want it and tacked it down with some epoxy. Peel off the plastic.

Hi, It should be fairly easy to repair. I actually dont think its structurally compromised at the moment. Some frames are built as two halves and then "joined" together. It has possibly cracked down that join where the two halves meet, but there is normally a layer or two of carbon tape under that join (under the crack) to give it strength. Since its painted, there is no need to make it pretty ;>) 1. Get a dremel or similar with a the sanding wheel that is about 1cm in diameter. 2. Put some tape down each side of the crack about 5mm each side of the crack and parallel to the crack as a guidline. 3. WIth the dremel at about 25000 rpm, carefully sand out the crack so that you have a shallow hollow about 2mm deep and 10mm wide along the entire length of the crack. 4. Try not to breathe the carbon dust. Its not good for the lungs. 5. Put new tape (preferbly insulation tape) along the edge of the sanded area and all around the underneath of the frame as you dont want spill over from the repair to stick to the frame. Its a bugger to sand hardened epoxy ;>) You need some good epoxy and carbon fibre. Ampreg 21 with a standard hardener would be good, which you can get from AMT http://www.amtcomposites.co.za/ They have an office in Jhb. Its difficult to source very fine weave (ligter than 200gsm) carbon fibre. The best you can get is probably 200 GSM standard plain weave. AMT stock it. I dont think you can buy less than 1m, but once you can repair one frame, you can get others cheaply and repair;>) 6. The mixed resin has about 1 hour of usable pot life, so there is no need to rush once mixed. 7. Cut a few strips (5?) of carbon cloth about 2cm wide. You can use masking tape stuck to the carbon cloth to make cutting it easier, or else the ends fray and run horribly whilst you are trying to cut and position it. Leave about 2mm of masking tape on the cloth to keep the ends in place. 8. Time to get messy. Get some gloves. Latex will do, but its not best for epoxy. AMT has the right gloves. 9. Wet out the strips of carbon weave with epoxy. Its easiest to do this on a plastic sheet. the sort of plastic you used to cover school books with works well. 10. Paint some epoxy in the raw sanded area on the bike. 11. Lay the strips of carbon weave along the sanded crack one by one, starting with the widest strip and getting narrower if you want to minimise the sanding required once the epoxy has set 12. Make sure you build up enough carbon layers, such that it is now higher than the top of the sanded out area. The sticky carbon mess now needs some pressure added for the best result.If you could find a piece of flexible plastic longer than the repair and about 3cm wide (1mm or 2mm ABS), or a plastic tube that matches the curve of the frame, that would be great. 13. Place the plastic on top of the repair and use insulation (must be insulation) tape to fix it in place. Wrap loads and loads of tape around the repair with as much tension in the tape as you can manage, without snapping it. 14. The pressure will now cause all excess epoxy to piss out everywhere and drip all over the place, hence the tape on the frame all around the repair, and a cover on the lower part of the frame that might get dripped on 15. Wait at least 12 hours and then unwrap your present. 16. Depending on how well you have done the layers and there overlap, you may need to do major or minimal sanding. 17 Sand sand sand with sandpaper (80 grit) attached to a sanding block so that you dont sand hollows, until the tape along the edges of repair starts to show. Then change down to 220 grit wet or dry paper and as you get closer and closer to the original surface, go through the grades until you get to about 600 grit. 18. That should be it. All you have to do now is fill any minor blemishes with auto filler (grey paste) and paint. Hope that helps.

Hi Ratty, I am sorry you had a negative experience. I dont think it is the Norm. If You Ever Want To Try Again, PM Me And I Will Make Sure You Are Properly Introduced To The Right Club members Who Will Make Sure You are Properly Looked After Until You Are familiar With How The rides Work. There Is Sweet and Easy Ride, But Does Not Always Run As Riders Outgrow It Quite Quickly. It Quite Big Just Before The Argus Though. Apologies For The Upper case Letters. I Have no Idea Why My Keyboard Does This In The Hub Conversations.

I think you might be being a bit unfair. The Outriders have multiple groups (up to 5) of different strengths on a Saturday ride. The "baby" groups nurture new riders and nobody gets left behind. If you join one of the "fast groups", on the standard Saturday route, then yes, the pace does pick up for the last five km from Melkbos (where they regrouped) to the first robot at the Blaauwberg netcare (no robots in between that). After that everybody cools down and chills back to Driftwood where we all have coffee. I really cant see why you would expect the group to wait when the ride is essentially finished and people are either going home or heading for coffee? If you did not know the way, then your frustration is understandable, but not everybody wants to ride the beginner route, when this perhaps this would have been a better option for the first ride if you were struggling to hang on. Its also quite difficult to know when somebody has fallen off the back of the group without looking around all the time, which is why there are sweeper riders on the Sunday rides, to make sure everybody is catered for. The Saturday ride in the faster groups do not have sweepers and its really unfair to the faster riders to be expected to wait on the final sprint home? If you joined in one of the middle groups, then there would always be slower groups behind you on your way to the finish. You could just regroup with one of those by waiting, just like you expect the faster riders to do.

Well done. I had to tear mine out in little pieces. Carbon seat tube, no aluminium. Bike was aluminium though. Corroded solid. Could you get a machine shop to drill or mill it out?