V12man

I ride 34:16 on a 26 ss on the spruit and Northcliff and surrounds weekdays over lunchtimes - might be able to turn a 34:15 up past worldsview, but not much more than that and still be able to ride off road comfortably without walking.

Looks great - stickers are a winner. I am shortly to do the same in reverse - turn a girls 12" bike into a boys...

Finishline cycles - speak to Clint.

I have the work tray because I sometimes use it in the garden, (away from convienient workbench) and its usefull for washing bikes as well - I don't do that in the garage.

PCS-10 - those quick releases are worth the extra. If you can afford it, of course the PRS-25 is the dogs dangles too if you pack it up and store it away a fair bit. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=50293

Easy enough - Pinnacle Video transfer device - bought at the Incredible rip off a couple of years ago - pretty obscure device, but it works well, if a little manual. http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/PinnacleLife/Content/Reviews/video+to+ipod.htm

If someone missed a highlights package, I have them all ripped off my pvr - big, but sharable - pm me, and I will see if I can help.

Chris Delpierre - and thats a reference all the way from Jhb - ask him if he can ride a horse properly yet...

I have had good sucess with some of the photochromic glasses from these guys - huge selection and you can get them on the phone. http://www.oceaneyewear.co.za/ I see they also have straps on the accessories page, and some cool looking goggles.....

There are at least 3 big groups that regularly ride through that area in the am, and a couple of smaller ones. Cyclelab Dunkeld - they used to start from the circle in craighall park, but now I think they start at the dunkeld centre at 5:30am - Merlyn at dunkeld cycles will know The Illovo group - starts at Mcdonalds on Oxford at the top of glenhove - 5am tuesday - friday - hubber jmaccelari ropes them together There is at least 1 group that start in Linden as well - see them some mornings too

Try a left hand drill bit with a drill that goes in reverse - if you are lucky it will turn out while you are drilling. Otherwise try tapping it around in a circle with a small chisel or screwdriver and a hammer to get it out - remember - lefty loosey, righty tighty And buy a good torque wrench - expensive, but worth every cent.

Check your PM for lunchtime today.

Why a choice? - you have to ride them both - maybe not in the same year though. So the question becomes - which one FIRST? Epic? Do it when young and dumb prefferably... or if you want to pretend to be an elite rider. but everyone should do at least 1. J2C? Once over the challenges, and riding for the sake of riding. Transalp? Worth a look if you can afford it, its in Epic cost territory. Freedom Challenge? This is on my list of to-do's - in a few years time... Brother in law is riding at the moment - yesterday his average speed for the race was 4.95km/hour....

I bought mine from Finishline cycles even though they are not my LBS - speak to Clint - gave me a better than best deal, and they are a great bunch of guys - pity they are so far away for me.

The real problem is not when the feeling stops - its when the feeling starts again.... (this applies to other bits too... frostbitten ears are more common than you would believe amongst cyclists)

It is not about the destination, it's about the journey and who you meet along the way. My lunchtime escape today!

Which ones did you get? Ridden them yet? I am waiting for a set of extra cold weather gloves in my size - should be here tomorrow afternoon.

Drifters in Sandton City are stocking sealskinz gloves and a fair amount of winter kit. Alex Harris does not have a shop.

I give them to my domestic engineer - they come back clean - I think she sprays them with the muc off bottle that lives near the outside sink (bikewash area) My epic partner puts them in the dishwasher - but my wife would shoot me if I tried that...

Chain tensioner - build it before you decide - you might be lucky (like me) and not need one at all. Chain - anything you like - I use 7speed chains (cheap) Crank - just remove the blades - you will probably need to shorten the washers a bit or the ring will be loose - hacksaw worked for me.

2nd bike... no, not another bike, that would then be the 8th bike - I think I have enough already..... But the last couple of months will be pretty much exclusively on the bike I plan to ride for the CE - unless something breaks and the fix is in progress.

Spare set of climbing legs would be good... Spare brake pads for sure. and make sure your cleats are not worn out before the start - nothing worse than not being able to uncleat because that little bump is worn - and they do seem to wear quickly in the mud. And enough spare clean and dry kit for every day - nothing worse than cold wet gloves and sleeves on a fresh morning. Good luck - enjoy it.

@lloydkayak - youtube is your friend - there are many good clips to teach you how to froth there - just do a search - it's a lot easier to watch the technique than to try and figure out how to do it from text, but if you really must, www.home-barista.com has several how-to's.

@Tevez - This will give you an idea - http://worldaeropresschampionship.wordpress.com/recipes/ please buy a decent grinder, not a krups or a bodum. @Lloydkayak - that delonghi will be fine as super auto's go - its a reasonable machine for what it is (given my somewhat biased view) - My wife would shoot me if I took the super auto at home away - although she knows how to use the real machine that sits there, it's just too much of a hassle for her, and she prefers pressing buttons - the siemens we have at home has done nearly 1900 cups in the year and 4 months it has been there - the previous one did about 7000 cups before it broke. Lately she has been using the ground coffee options to brew rooibos tea in it from redespresso - which she likes, and I hate. Compared to buying coffee from a coffeeshop - the super auto makes good economics at less than half the cost of a nespresso machine per cup.

Try this - 4 days of being on the actual route. http://www.daytrippers.co.za/cape-epic-training-rides.php A good investment for a first epic.