Trackmonster

I have raced at Paarl Boxing day and can say without doubt that it is the most exciting atmosphere I have ever experienced in SA cycling. The crowd get seriously revved up and you just gotta love it. It puts a great big smile on your face as spectators lean over the fence trying to high five riders, throwing hilarious chirps at the riders and other spectators, cheering for their champions, simply enjoying the "spirit of the bike" and all the excitement and fun it brings. Crazy track to race on though as its got no real banking as you go around the corners trying not slide out and the surface is seriously rough. Seen some radical crashes. Trashed a brand new tubbie in one sprint race. Temperature was 45 degrees plus and we would hide in the stands tunnels to avoid sun stroke and exhaustion between races. I will be there in the grand stands to join in the amazing vibe this December.

Oh hell, I'd better throw my new Spez frame in the bin then. Its already outdated! Will manufacturers please make up their minds! I have wider rims and bigger volume tyres on my 29er, does that make me the latest innovator!

Wide lightenings maximum recommended weight is 90-100kg. Arch Flow ex are wide and strong. Go at least 30mm wide. Much better.

Bought some items from them and arrived within 2 weeks. No import duties just vat. They have the best prices for group sets.

So, with a race known for extreme corrugations, fast dirt roads and some technical rocky climbing, whats the best shock setting. Particularly for the corrugations. Should the pressure be dropped a little to handle the corrugations but then its too soft for the roads and climbs? The rebound may be better set at fast instead of slow or visa versa. Then add tyre pressure to the equation. Softer for the corrugations and rocky climbs will help but on the fast road sections, softer is not best. Whats your set up for this race?

There goes any Momsen order I was considering. I can vouch for the Merida service mentioned. They were excellent. Either go for the Merida or a Titan which is an amazing bike and distributed by Merida.

Those are Cinelli Ram bars from China. Very nice and very cool. I have a similar set. You just wrap your bar tape up past the levers to the corners. About a centimetre or more away from the "R" on the word Rammer. No bar tape on the main top cross sections. Very comfortable.

I have a Look track bike and its the most amazing ride imaginable. The ergostem has such a cool responsive feel and every pedal rotation shoots the bike forward. I love the new Look bike. At least they are truly pushing bike design. Unfortunately I will never fork out that kind of money for a bicycle.

Flows bro. Go wide. Tiny bit heavier.

Was possibly the best cyclist SA ever had. Unbelievable. RIP.

Arch are not as wide as the Flows. Wide lightening rider weight limit is 225lbs. I went through all these options. Wanted the Wide lightenings but too heavy for them so my choice for a nice wide, strong rim and wheel is Flow rims on hope hubs. Wide rims are much better in my opinion. I have tried them all.

Bro, I run 1x10 with a 36t narrow wide Rapide chainring upfront. ITs perfect and I don't need anymore gears. I used to stay in my big chainring a lot just like you do, but if you use the right ratio on the single chainring then you will never miss all the gears. I will never go back to a front derailer and 2x10 or 3x10. If you ever need a lighter gear then buy a rear cassette adaptor 40t or 42t, remove the 15t or 17t from the cassette and run it that way. I will never use such a small gear even up the mast in CT or much steeper climbs. Anyway I run XT and am an XT fan so blowing thousands on 1x11 isn't going to make any difference to me with one extra gear I don't really need. Go buy a narrow wide chainring, put it on and give it a go. My Narrow wide cost R500 so its not a financial risk worth worrying about.

some suggestions: 1 leg curl supersetted with 1 leg extension 1 leg squat- put your one foot on the ground and the other up on a bench behind you. Hold dumbells in your hand. Squat down on your one leg to parallel and back up. Alternate legs each time but do double the reps on your lazy leg and don't use weights for your strong leg. Superset this with one legged plyometric jumps- stand up on the leg you just squatted with and do 6 jumps as high as you can, as quickly as you can each time. (these are killer!) Scissor lunges- one foot forward and one foot back. hold dumbells in your hands. Go down to parallel on your front leg and then back up but keep your legs apart at all times. (don't bring your feet together) Alternate legs each time front and back. As you do these more and get stronger, increase the distance between your legs so you are more stretched out. Finish off with one leg calf raises. Alternate your legs but do less reps and less weight on your stronger leg. Cheers...enjoy.

I will never fly SAA or hand my bike to them. Anyone who has trained for months for an international event and then spent a fortune getting there, only to be greeted by a bunch of useless thieves and even more useless airline staff deserves a medal just for dealing with this rubbish. If it was me I would be throwing punches at the airline staff and looking to do anything in my power to claim damages beyond the mere cost of the bike. Sue them bro!

Im 115kg serious cyclist (Trackie). On a duel if you don't have the correct frame and rear shock the bobbing or fishtailing can make steep climbs very difficult. The only shock that can handle my weight on the climbs is the Spez brain shock because if set right it does not bob. I had a Spez epic duel and it was ok on the climbs but still flexed in the rear stays and was not great for very steep climbs. If you stand on the hills you can also get fishtailing where the rear stays move slightly from side to side and this makes climbs more difficult. I ride a 9.8kg rigid bike now and its perfect. Problem is a duel will be faster downhill on technical terrain. I'm searching for a duel frame and shock that may be able to give me a decent uphill ride but haven't found one yet.

Best of the lot. Would buy from them again.

I had the same brakes and had problems with the seals too. Careful with Avids they can be problematic if you mess around with them and don't have the right parts, oils, etc. There are agents who service Avid brakes in Cape Town and Pretoria. The Avid agents are Cape Cycle Systems, rather just call them and get it sorted out properly. 021 761 3528.

100% thats why it says increase the carbs in the notes and dont do the diet if you are racing. I ate 2 times more carbs than are in this diet. This is a diet for overweight people who are serious about losing weight. Not for racing snakes looking to shed a kilo or two. If you want to shed a kilo or two then there are 2 simple tricks anyone can do: 1. Eat soup (any soup you want) for dinner instead of a big heavy meal and you can have dry toast with it. or 2. Cut out all carbs after lunch time. Simple as that.

Here is the diet I mentioned earlier in this thread. Please note that it does not work if you dont do intense exercise at least 5 days a week for 1-3 hrs. Take any diet supplement you want on this except one with calories in it. Most of them are all caffein based anyway. If you dont train on a specific day then cut out the last meal and one fruit. For the ladies, cut down on the portions, keep them small and frequent. Also cut out 1 fruit and the last meal. Good luck and dont quit early. Notes: It takes +/- 1 week for your body to get used to split food groups. Splitting food groups: - Helps your body absorb more of each meals nutrients faster and more efficiently. - Will also get rid of excess fluid in the system so you don’t retain unnecessary amounts of water. - Speeds up your metabolism You should do intense training/exercise at least 5 days a week for 1-2hrs a day. You can fry foods in a frying pan but can only use Spray and Cook Olive Oil, “Light” olive oil or grapeseed oil. Meals can be more than 2 hours apart but no less than 1.5 hours apart. Fruit can only be eaten in between meals and 1 hour apart from a main meal Portions may be varied according to your energy levels. If your energy levels are low then add another carb meal or increase the carb portion. If you don not exercise for more than a day then cut back your carb portions. If you need to carbo load before a race day then simply increase your carb portions and also add a carb meal in at night if absolutely necessary. Racing on this diet is very hard so rather do it in the off season. Flavoured balsamic vinegars may be used on salads and vegetables. Season as much as you like- salt, pepper, herbs, spices. Coffee or tea should be drunk with honey or sweetener Eat as many vegetables as you like except avo’s. Binge once a week. Binging actually gives your body a shock and speeds the metabolism up a little more. Don’t feel guilty, one good binge meal will not hamper your progress. Burgers, pizza, fries, whatever you want. If your blood sugar levels drop then eat rice cakes with diabetic jam. Aminos are taken with proteins and vitamin B is taken with carbs. I find that Aminolique is sufficient for your daily amino intake or you can take minamino. A normal multivitamin and b-complex will suffice. Try to also take magnesium, vit C, calcium and zinc tablets. No bread except for rye bread and no pasta. These could be part of your once a week binge. If you crave sugar then tea or coffee with sweetener will help. You should try and stick with this diet for at least 6 weeks at a time. Note: if you cycle at 5:00 in the morning then eat your breakfast at 4:00 or 4:30am, your next meal will then be at 9:00am after your cycle. 7:00am Breakfast - One cup oats (uncooked) or 2 cups (cooked), fruit, honey (alternate with 2 cups Special K or even 1 cup Pro Nutro or Smart Food) (Non Fat milk) - Protein shake optional (no carbs in shake) - Vitamin B Complex 10:00am Mid Morn - 2 slices cold meat (no fat) - Small salad or steamed vegetables - Amino acids 11:00am- Fruit- apple, pear, peach, orange, nartjie (1 piece) 1:00pm Lunch - Lentils or kidney beans or both (1 cup cooked- you can buy these in a tin from the supermarket if you want- brine only please not an oil base) (alternate every other day with potato or sweet potato (1 x large) or rice (1 cup cooked)) - Vit B complex 2:00pm Fruit- apple, pear, peach, orange, nartjie (1 piece) 3:00pm Mid afternoon - Carb free protein Shake or - Small tub non fat plain yogurt with honey or sweetener Note: If you train at 5:00 or 6:00pm then have another carb meal 1 hour before at 4:00pm. Carb meal to be 1 to 2 small slices of rye bread with honey or diabetic jam. 5:00pm Fruit- apple, pear, peach, orange, nartjie (1 piece) 7-8:00pm Dinner - Meat, chicken or fish (grilled or dry fried with spray and cook olive oil) - Vegetables - Aminos 9-10:00pm Late night - Carb free protein shake - Aminos, if there are no amino’s in your protein shake

Bro, having won Bodybuilding Mr SA a couple of times and 7 other titles many years ago I can advise you on the following: If you are overweight there are very few natural supplement products that actually work. All of them rely on caffeine to speed up the metabolism and there are a few other ingredients that help but you wont see significant changes. The diet supplement industry is full of scams and government is trying to put laws in place to stop them. Sure Hoodia supresses your appetite and makes you more active which helps to lose weight. You can get it at clicks. Ephidrene does the same but you can burn out eventually. It is scheduled but ask your pharmacist and see if they will give it to you. Its banned if you are a pro. In reality if you can get Clenbuterol then its probably the best but its illegal to compete using it and its scheduled. Yet in small dosages it is by far the best and all the pro bodybuilders use it to lean up. I can give you loads of diet advice which is easy to do and will work. I can send you a diet I used when competing and it took my body fat down to around 2.5%. Its hard core though and the few top cyclists I have given it to lost loads of weight fast but struggled to maintain their energy levels as they were doing big miles every day. Yet for a couple of weeks off season its perfect. The weight comes off fast. The diet was actually given to me by a mate of mine in the USA who was one of the top bodybuilders in the world and was known for being one of the most ripped.

Fakes don't come out of the same factory. The main factories are tied into such heavy legal agreements and have tight controls or they will lose all their business from the big brands. Fakes are made in small carbon shops and there are lots of them. You can do a carbon fibre course, get your hands on a mould and start building bikes.

Bro, now you're just stirring. The refund info did not come from Cycle Science, it came from a friend of mine who found out quite some time ago that his bike was fake. The refund is real. Although he seems to be the only one who has received a refund.

Agreed Finish Line is the best bike shop in JHB. Only wish I lived closer. I saw the Titan at another shop for R60 grand and also thought it was a typo. Its a hard tail, not even duel. Whats so bloody fantastic about it. Its not even a sought after brand yet so they guys are really jumping the gun here. I would rather throw that kinda money at a handful of other brands with race wins to their name. I definitely rate the Momsen Vipa as the best frame for the money out there. Although the Pyga looks very cool too but obviously not carbon.

Well guys and girls its been great fun and really entertaining. I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread the past couple of days. Between the Hub, Devi from Carte Blanche, the lawyers, 702 and The Mix radio stations, even perhaps something from ASG or Pinarello international it appears that Cycle Science may have realised that they were doing something wrong. I have heard that a refund was made to a Cycle Science Chinarello customer in the last 24hrs. Its nice to see that Robbie and John have started cleaning up what is surely the biggest scandal to hit a cycling shop in a long time. It didn't have to blow up into the size scandal it has become, if only they had handled it differently from the start. Perhaps we have all learnt something from this as it has been quite educational. Loads of laughs and a really cool vibe between Hubbers. I hope the store will make good with the rest of the affected customers so they can try regain some of the reputation they had before they changed their ways. I look forward to seeing that.

Bro, the bike is fake, come on man give the guy his money back and move on. Its fraud, counterfeit, trademark, copyright infringement. Its illegal! It wont end well. The only people breaking the law are Cycle Science, not the customers. It should never have gotten to this point in the first place. There should have been an immediate apology and a refund. Now look at the mess!