G-Unit

It's less relaxed than my 140mm stumpy was. Can't comment when compared to a real race machine, though. It's certainly not skittish or difficult to control on steep stuff, which is usually a side effect of real race geometry.

I should add that I am disappointed to see how many of these are around. They're more common than a East Rand roadhouse on a Friday night. SC is no longer as 'boutique' as it used to be. Still a kief bike though.

I have that exact bike, and I love it. I've owned it for about 4 months now and it is light, fast and comfortable. It handles very well in single track (not just for a 29'er mind you, but for ANY bike). When using the propedal on the RP23, it is extremely effiicent - very close to HT speed on the flat fast stuff. My only gripe is that I have recently had to replace worn bearings in the VPP linkage as I have picked up quite a bit of play on the rear triangle. Imust point out that I bought the bike 2nd hand, so I cant vouch for the amount of hours done before I bought it.

Hey, any new takers for Cape Pioneer? About a month to go! Training is going a lot better, so really looking forward to this.

I agree that the Vuelta was much better than the tour. However the plaudits for that need to go to Froome Rodrigues and Valverde as well. They all did much to animate the race. But it is good to see Contador back.

So do you have 2 pairs of shoes?

+1. That warranty is worth its weight in gold. I got a brand new frame after finding a small crack on my old stumpy.

Doing road and MTB, which route did you go with the pedals? Do you have different shoes with different cleats?

Hmmm... This should be interesting...

Rubbish. Full carbon TT bike with TT bars. Also, remember to wear an aero helmet and a onesie skin suit. That **** is like greased lightening in VG singletrack.

I was right on the other side of the pen, and thought that I'd come say howzit afterwards. I never saw you after the start, since I'm a heathen who runs 30 gears. :-) Hopefully see you at VG.

It's about 10km away But ja, that's got a sh1tload of ST. On the side, don't you get hot with that beard? Saw you in B batch, but you're very scary-looking, so I didn't say hi.

No man, it's Maggie Thatcher.

I think people should be more realistic about how good a route one could put together based on the given terrain. Seriously, I don't think you can find much more climbing and single track in that area. In terms of wind and dust, well that's August for you. What I do think needs to happen is that the Advendurance structural engineering department needs a big Sidi up the @ss for building that blue b@stard of a bridge. My 3 year old builds safer bridges with his lego blocks. What does need to be added also, is that Fritz and the boys had copped a lot of flack in the past for various issues and have almost always addressed the problems.

*Etiquette

Usual question - anyone seen the results up somewhere?

That little blue bridge at the end was a piece of ****!

It's much better to have it after the race with some ice and vodka in it.

Fair enough. But I'd still rather do a MTB race in the first place.

Fair enough, but I still think its a bit like taking your Toyota Hilux to a track day at Kyalami. You'd still tell your buddies that you had a jol - but deep down you wish you'd had an Audi R8 to thrash around the track.

My point - one will have more fun at a ROAD race on a ROAD bike. I do however echo most people's sentiment about not giving a rat's ass about what other people think.

Okay, stupid question - but why even bother doing a road race? If you're just there to piss about, then rather save the money and go ride where you usually do. Unless, of course, the idea is to try to beat some people. In that case just get a road bike. I only own a MTB and the 2 road races I've done, I just loaned a buddy's old road bike. Much better - you can stay with decent riders and do a decent time. Otherwise IMO, it's just a waste of time.

I'm no expert, but I would say what you measured is what it is. Practical over theory...

Measure it. Make a mark on the ground and using the valve as a reference roll out 2 or 3 wheel circumferences (whatever you have space or a long enough tape measure). Divide by the number of revolutions and there you go. Obviously the more revs, the more accurate.

The other way to beat him is to get a bike that is 14kg lighter than his.