linnega

I don't see Basso becoming an anti-doping spokesman. He is too quietly spoken. I bet he will go about his business as he always has and try not get caught this time. Millar however still strikes as guilty as he is quick to criticise and talk in general terms about doping. As soon as he gets to talking about himself he reverts to the dopers rhetoric. "cycling is doing more than any other sport", "the sport is clean now", "I've been tested a gazillion times" etc, etc.

Will have a look at the references quoted. Can't from my phone I'm afraid. Apologies if you find my tone belittling - definitely not my intention. Enjoy Christmas eve one and all.

May your Christmas be blessed and Christ filled. Celebrate tomorrow with the reverance the day deserves. Those out on the roads and trails, be safe.

Perhaps I need to rephrase the point - please point me in the direction of the research that confirms the efficacy of helmets, "obscure" or otherwise (although all research would probably be obscure as emotional opinion/accepted wisdom is generally given more weight than proper research on all issues). As for the rest of the arguments, lets stay away from anecdotal evidence because it can neither be confirmed or refuted, and is mostly based on the opinion of either the rider or one medical practitioner. Slowpoke, your comment about testing the efficacy through a real life situation hits the nail on the head, but works both ways. You need to recreate both helmeted and helmetless crashes in exactly the same conditions to properly test efficacy, and you need to repeat it multiple times. I am sure you will get no takers for a helmeted crash at 50kph so the point is kind of mute. As for road conditions - both you and Ewep are spot on, road conditions are different in different countries, but tar is still tar, rocks are rocks and heads are heads.

Lets try stay on topic - comparing bicycle helmets with seatbelts, baby seats, motorcycle helmets and other proven safety devices is a pointless exercise. As for why I refer to UK websites, you answered your own question, we don't have any advocacy groups. Thing is though, peoples' head are peoples' head on whatever continent. So the research should translate pretty well. Bike lanes are irrelevant to the discussion as the research indicates that helmets are ineffective, so the number of times you fall has no bearing. Can't really see where the comment that I should move to the UK comes from. I am proudly African and proudly South African, but that doesn't we can't use the learnings on other continents to improve what we have here.

Mmmm...sounds like this thread is all about the psychologist challenging a surgeon on a surgical matter.

Willehond, fair argument about the objectives of the cycle helmets website. However, I have yet to see any evidence other than wholly unreliable anecdotal evidence to support the use of helmets. Considering CTC's only goal is the promotion of cycling it is hard to see how their position on helmets would be biased. I also do understand that some people feel they have the right to criticise people for not wearing helmets - I of course, reserve the right to tell them to go ****themselves.

Explain the apostrophes around "organisations"? CTC is about as respected an organisation as you will ever find in cycling.

You guys have managed to raise three separate arguments - all contentious and certainly no side can claim they have all the answers.The first on "following the road rules" has been discussed in the last month or so, so I won't get into that. The second on legal enforcement of helmet wearing was so strongly opposed by CTC (the world's premier cycling advocacy organisation - where Phil Liggett was president at the time) that the proposed law was not passed. The reasoning is on their website (www.ctc.org.uk) and is well supported by an analysis of all available research (see www.cyclehelmets.org). Do yourself a favour and read a little. The balance of the research there deals with the third argument - whether helmets are effective (or whether you should choose to wear one). As for the w**ker you wouldn't ride with someone not wearing a helmet, I wouldn't want to ride with someone as close-minded. linnega2007-12-22 12:46:10

The only thing I can agree with in this thread is that CSA should take a stand - and remove pointless laws that are damaging to cycling. There is no good reason to wear a helmet. It creates the wrong impression that cycling is a dangerous pastime. The safety benefits are debatable, but negligible at best. I find it ridiculous can be so militant about something as trivial as cycle helmets without taking the time to at least apply their minds.

I often ride my Giant TCR Comp with slops and normal clothes. Keo's are wide enough pedals to ride on without a problem especially over short distances. The only item I may wear are my shoes the ride is a bit hilly.

Looks awesome. Probably would be even better with carbon Campy or SRAM parts (hell even Attie's Token stuff). There would still have been enough cable exposed to bling - especially with that gold.

With a bit of complaint. He did tell everyone that he preferred not to wear a helmet.

On Monday we did a real double century (ie 200 miles) for charity. Most didn't manage the full distance unassisted with temps reaching upwards of 42 degrees. Route was from Little Switzerland in the Northern Berg through to the Mr Price offices in Durban. The charity it was in aid of HABIT. Please donate if you can - these guys do an excellent job looking after abandoned babies. http://www.habit.org.za/donate.html I have done the ride before (in 2005) but this year we were joined by Phil Liggett. He joined us on the ride at 4.30am and rode literally to exhaustion in Pietermaritzburg after about 220km and abovementioned 42 degree heat. Most riders succumbed to the heat between Midmar and PMB (including myself) with most of us only getting back on the road at Hillcrest. It was great to see Phil riding so hard at his age. He is a thoroughbred racer of course, but with his schedule 320km on the best of days would have been pretty tough - yesterday it was impossible. Anyway, what was interesting is my perception of the depth of his knowledge of cycling was shattered over the weekend. I have long held the view that his knowledge must be limited because he seems to repeat the same well known information time and again when commenting on the Tour. Well, for the 3 hour bus trip up to Little Switzerland he was able to entertain us with unscripted and fascinating "tales from the peloton" with some real insight into older and current pro's. Anyone looking for info on LA would have been disappointed, as although they get involved in similar charity work, either the information wasn't shared or LA simply does not open up to anyone outside of the "inner circle". Phil did call Michael Rasmussen vacant, intimated that LA had been behind the decision by Discovery to pull the plug (a message to the world that cycling isn't worth sponsoring), and shared some insight into what happened with Astana and Bruyneel etc. His stories of Eddy Merckx and Luis Ocana were equally as fascinating, and I have to say, my impression of Mr Liggett's sporting knowledge and ability to entertain are forever changed. Add to that his obvious love for the sport and his accessibility. Just about everyone had the opportunity to chat with him and he seems as good a listener in a conversation as he is a talker. Definitely a memorable two days.

How do you see it anyway. I don't have eyes in the bottom of my feet, so when I clip in the pedal and cleat are pretty much hidden by my hooves.

One is the centre-lock hub developed by Shimano (although I think DT also have centre-lock hubs). If your disc brakes are Shimano centre-lock, then you need centre-lock hubs. Any other disc brake rotors will need 6-bolt or an 6-bolt-to-centrelock adapter available from DT Swiss.

That would be black walled - the white would be the graphic of a rim. Kona, I count the same as you - fourth from the right.

Depends whether the right lane was for right turning traffic only. If so, then turning from the left of the rightmost lane would be the safest. If the lane was for straight or right-turning traffic then anywhere from from the middle of the lane to the right would be safest (ie force cars in the queue behind to wait). Generally, I would recommend forcing all cars to wait behind you until you have completed the turn. There is no reason that vehicles should be overtaking a cyclist until he/she has completed the turn.linnega2007-12-11 04:31:02

I think you have made your point Pantani. It does amaze me however that people are initially all self-righteous, then indignant when their viewpoint is challenged and then choose to attack people's IQ's when they have nothing of value to add to the discussion.

Pantani, I have to agree with most of your sentiment. In a race it is often difficult to avoid crossing the white line. Racing ebbs and flows, and usually whole bunches will cross the white line. Would it be right to shame those caught up in the bunch - maybe, but it won't solve the problem. There are only two ways to solve it. Entire bunch disqualified if they cross the white line (rigorously enforced) or rolling road closures allowing full use of the road, for racing bunches.

Very useful reviews on Chain Reaction Cycles: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Reviews.aspx?ModelID=1047

Why are we still on this topic (Scotty??). Simple - use tubeless or convert to tubeless.

From my experience (albeit limited), that feedback is something I really appreciate with disks as opposed to V-brakes. That additional feel is important to me as I often need the brakes to help my front/rear balance. With V's I simply never feel like I have enough control tending to overbrake and mess up. When it comes to technical riding, I am absolutely incompetent so I need all the help (read dual suspension, good tyres, disk brakes) I can get.

Dylan - everything is near the border of East London as it is not a very big city. Like Buff says your options are pretty limited. The N2 route is popular but illegal - ie bicycles are not allowed on the freeway. The road out to Stutterheim is also popular and a decent ride. Personal favourite is the route from Amalinda down Buffalo Pass and up the other side. You pass through a few small settlements but I have ridden it often on my own with no problems. This route allows you to get through to the coastal road without dealing with town and the semi-industrial area between town and the airport. For a long ride, keep on the coastal road past all the resort towns (Kidd's Beach, Christmas Rock etc) through a pass with a difficult to spell name and then onto Keiskamma Pass. This gives you about 2.5km of climbing each side. Return ride distance is probably in the region of 130km from Nahoon. Speak to the guys at HQ though as they will know of rides out that way. There are usually weekend rides from Erik's (across the road from HQ) that go out to Keiskamma and back.