Organic

Rode in C as well, and I must have finished close to you. I actually thought the ride was quite civilized compared with some previous years, although the wind did make it hard and the combined B + C was less than ideal. There a lot of braking, but I only had to unclip once (near UCT). The final section from Camps Bay on was also good. People rode better, and there were fewer people insulting each other. For the first time in 4 years there wasn't even a crash in front of me as we turned down to Sea Point. One of my more enjoyable tours.

Not that I'm aware of. The road works on Main Road in Kalk Bay have been finished, so we should have more than one lane. Last I saw (which was Thursday morning), Chappies looked like it would be clear too - they'd almost finished clearing up the rubble on the road.

As far as I know, the Club 21 stuff is all organised purely by volunteers (existing members), and they receive little to no assistance from the Cycle Tour. They are not (the the best of my knowledge) at all related the the Cycle Tour organisers, although they do have access to contact details and records of potential members.

I think they're baboon monitors (and others doing research on the baboons).

If you have OpenOffice, open it with that. Select Tools->Protect Document->Sheet (to untick the 'Sheet' option). Then you should be able to fill in the yellow blocks.

I think this is the reason for many of the seeding drops. It looks like your seeding index for an event gains a point for each month over 6. I don't recall them applying penalties to the previous year's Argus last year - only to races older than that.

Was thirty-something in A last year, and demoted to C too.

What sort of strength rider are you aiming at?

These threads (yes, they're different threads - they just look the same) have some opinions on the Fulcrum and Ksyrium: http://www.thehubsa...._fulcrum racing http://www.thehubsa...._fulcrum racing

Allow me to add (from personal experience): Clean QR, lube the QR mechanism and the thread. Clean and lube dropouts. Lubricate the saddle clamp bolt (not the seat-post clamp) I've had many creaks that turned out to be fixed by those first two in particular.

I had this too. I almost crashed I got such a fright. Search for 'Mavic Squeal of Death' on the net for more details. I bought some special Mavic freehub oil from the bike shop (about R150 for a lifetime supply if I remember correctly - they had to order it), took the thing apart, cleaned it, lubed it, reassembled it, and it was fine. There are videos on YouTube, and it's quite simple to do. The freehub actually looked well lubed and pretty clean when I opened it up, so I suspect it was just a speck of sand or something that caused the problem. Not the best design.

I second this, especially regarding the insane squeal and stupid freehub on the Ksyrium Elite. I thought my wheel was going to explode. The spokes also tend to wear into each other at the back, whereas the Fulcrum (Racing 3) spokes are offset a bit so that they don't make contact.

Did you pay UK VAT? I believe it's 20%, whereas SARS will charge you 14%. If you're unlucky I imagine you could end up paying both UK and SA VAT, although it sounds like you were lucky.

Just to follow up on this (sorry Meezo, missed your message): I got the hanger alignment checked. It was slightly off, but not hugely. I got that perfected. The shifting action certainly changed, but it looks like it just moved the won't-change-up and won't-change-down problems closer together. So I ended up with the three smallest gears (11, 12, and 13) that wouldn't change up or down nicely, particularly under pressure. I then swapped in the spare hanger. Again the shifting action changed a little bit, and I was able to find a cable tension where the shifting works if I shift carefully. Currently, after the chain and cable have had some more time to wear themselves in, it is working fairly well, so I'm happy with the performance. It's fairly borderline though, and a single notch on the barrel adjuster would make it either not change up or down properly. So for the moment I'm sorted. Thanks all for your suggestions. I can't really give a definitive answer as to what is/was wrong, but I suspect it's a combination of the things that Johan mentioned above: - hanger alignment - cable - jockey wheels (I cleaned an re-lubed these) I also suspect that my shifter has some manufacturing imperfections that make things worse than they could be. I haven't tried is replacing the jockey wheels. I have a spare set on order, and I'll try swapping those out next time I have the problem.

A colleague of mine and a friend were cycling down Red Hill over the weekend, from the top towards Scarborough side, when they found the road blocked by a crowd of children armed with sticks. The first rider slowed down to get past the children and was mildly beaten by the children who told him: "We're going to steal your bike". He pushed them away and rode through. His friend, who was a hundred metres behind, was a little less successful and got pushed off his bike. He managed to get back on and ride away. There were no major injuries, and no serious damage. The children were apparently small enough not to be a serious threat. But it's probably only a matter of time before they learn a more effective way of stopping a bicycle with a stick, grow up, or start carrying more effective weapons.

Thanks Meezo - will definitely get the alignment checked out. I'll follow up once I manage to resolve the issue, whatever the solution ends up being.

Thanks Johan. That's correct. It shifts correctly in the middle. It's reluctant to change down from the large gears, and reluctant to change up from the small ones. It seems like the problem is not too uncommon with 6700 and DA shifter/derailers. Regarding the wear, I was thinking more about wear in the shifter mechanism than wear of the derailer. I probably use the shifter more than the average user for the same milage. 1. I've checked the derailer and hanger and tightened them already, and it made no difference. They were not particularl loose. 2. I'll check the hanger. 3. It could still be a cable issue. I have tried three sets of cable and housing (two new ones and the old one, all Jagwire). Replacing the cable and the housing did help the last time this happened (about 10000 km ago). 4. Interesting option. I'll definitely check that one out. The chain is new - I fitted it yesterday, with little effect. BUT: I did start using Squirt as a lube a month and a half ago, and it's quite possible / likely that the jockey wheels are clogged up. I've already decided to abandon it because of the goo that ends up everywhere. Is it worth replacing the jockey wheels, and if so, is there anything with better bearings than the standard Ultegra wheels?

Thanks. You're right - it's quite possibly an issue that came with the frame that's been exacerbated by wear. I'll organise to borrow an alignment tool to test with. I have little faith in the mechanics at my LBSs - too many bad experiences from too many shops.

Given the slow progression of this problem - it didn't appear suddenly - and that I've never had even the slightest crash/accident on the bike, I suspect this is not the issue. I'll check it out though. I have a spare hanger that I can try. Thanks

The thought has crossed my mind. Repeatedly.

Hi, I'm having a slightly odd shifting issue with my Ultegra 6700 rear shifter. On the large gears (especially the largest 2 - a 23 and a 21), the chain struggles to drop down to the smaller sprockets. On the smaller gears, especially the smallest one (11 teeth), the chain struggles to climb up to the larger sprockets. So basically the tension in the cable seems to low for the smaller sprockets, and too high for the larger sprockets. As a result, the problem is impossible to adjust away. The last time I had this issue I managed to improve it by replacing the cable and housing. I tried that again (twice, to be sure that I hadn't screwed something up), but I'm still struggling to get good shifting. I've also replaced the chain and tried a new casette, which make things smoother, but don't fix the shifting. The shifting action is smooth and easy, but just not accurate. What are the odds that I've worn out the shifter (after about 30000 km)? Any other thoughts? Thanks

Same thing happened to me. It turned out that they (DHL) typed in the physical address that I used and found out it belonged to my employer (I used my work address since that's where I am during the day), so they replaced all of my details with my employer's details (phone number, email address). They also put my employer's customs details on the customs declaration. Fortunately the people at the office spotted it, and forwarded the email to me, and I could get hold of the DHL guy and get it corrected. But I really would have expected them to use the details I gave them. I spoke to CRC, and here is the system (I imagine this changes from time to time): Standard Delivery (free delivery if you qualify): < 3kg and < 300 GBP and < 60cm long : Royal Mail Otherwise : Courier (see below) Tracked Delivery (R200 extra) > 4.5kg and < 30kg : ParcelForce Otherwise : DHL Express

Snail mail can take 4 or 5 weeks even to Cape Town or Johannesburg. On the other hand, I opted for the 'Tracked Delivery' (for R200) and it ended up coming with DHL anyway. If you select the non-tracked delivery, it sometimes comes with ParcelForce anyway. And to tell the truth, ParcelForce is a lot less hassle than DHL, and just as fast.The DHL delivery took 8 days. I wish CRC would tell you which carrier they were going to use before the order goes through.

Does anybody know what the duties are on supplements - Isostar Fast Hydration Powertabs in particular? Thanks

Great. I can't remember off-hand what the seat-stay looks like, but I recall it being a bit oddly shaped too. I'll work on some suitably-cut foam to make it sit better on the sharp edge of the saddle-post. The angle adjustment looks useful - too many lights end up pointing at the ground. Thanks splat. Looks like an effective option. I take it it works with an external battery - the same type as the MagicLight front lights I presume? Thanks for all the suggestions.