linnega

MW - the point is really that the hooting is unnecessary. There is no accident waiting to happen unless the motorist chooses to pass unsafely. No need to "warn" the cyclist. Simply slow down, wait for the cyclist to move over or until a safe passing stretch of road is reached and then pass. It is bloody rude of a motorist to expect a cyclist to move out of his lane simply because he wants to get past.

I am surprised that Valverde has been able to escape without being condemned in the same way as Ullrich and Basso. There does appear to be plenty of circumstantial evidence linking Valverde to Fuentes. He is after all very old school and out of the Kelme academy of drug abusers, so there would be no real surprise.

...so you may want to raise your saddle 2.5mm. Frankly, I wouldn't bother - 2.5mm is no big deal in terms of saddle height.

I see they are hoping to raise $2mil. I can't see there being enough die-hard fans to give $100 to the "cause". He would need at least 20,000. The fact is that USADA is very thorough. If there is any chance they would lose in CAS they would most likely not sanction the rider/sportsman. Hamilton's case was a good example where one of the panel even gave Hamilton the benefit of the doubt. At this stage it seems there is no reason why the case would be rejected by USADA and frankly going to CAS would simply be a waste of money and time.

I think that kind of misses the point, Barry. The problem with these girls is they have no real experience at XC style racing. They need to hope their aerobic base is good enough and get down to getting some experience - they only have about 18 months before the Olympics. It may be a good idea for them to build aerobic base at next year's Epic though before the Olympics in August.

Does that mean there are 2713 gay readers of cyclingnews.com?

By far the best gloves I have used are Chiba CrossWind gloves. Don't know of anyone that stock them here, but you can get them from Oldham Cycle Centre (www.oldhamcyclecentre.co.uk) for 14 quid. Next best bet is the PRO gel gloves that you can get at most bike shops.

My Nokon cables have been excellent for the past 18 months gear and brakes on my road bike. Only issue is the corrosion of the outer anodizing in the friendly Durban salt air. Not a big issue functionally but a bit crap cosmetically.

I would be inclined to say you have nothing to worry about. I would expect some degree of lining up would be required if the bolt had worked its way loose. If the bolt tightened reasonably without stripping the threads once lined up then I don't see what you would have to worry about other than the bolt coming loose again.

There are a couple Mr Price Sports stores open now in Gauteng: - East Rand Retail Park in Boksburg (North Rand Road - opposite the Mr Price Home) - The Hendrik Potgieter store mentioned - Festival Walk Shopping Centre in Kempton Park. The kit is decent, but nothing special (other than price). The same kit has been used for a few years now by the Mr Price Westville club and the other Mr Price sponsored teams, clubs and academies.

Generally Dura Ace will wear quicker than Ultegra as the materials are lighter and less durable. Whether that is specifically true of the 2007 models, I can't tell you. Chains will never need to be replaced after 800km (more likely around 3k for a superlight chain) but even so that could be easily solved by getting a quality aftermarket chain from KMC or Connex or SRAM, or just get the Ultegra chain. My understanding though is that the chains for the 10 speed Shimano drivetrains are exceptionally good quality - probably the single best component in the groupset.

I'm all for driver awareness and am as vociferous with friends, family, colleagues and people I don't know. However, South Africans don't respond to anything but tougher legislation. We need vehicles to be confiscated for serious offences like driving in the yellow line, speeding and drunk-driving. The law could then be changed to allow cyclists to ride in the emergency lane as it would actually be safe®.

The earlier question about whether a PnP R200 helmet provides as much protection as a Giro is an emphatic yes and probably more. Bell/Giro make their helmets to be as light as possible with the best possible airflow and to just pass the minimum safety standards. If your dealer is telling you that the expensive helmets offer more protection then he is a lieing bastard and don't buy from him again. The "research" done in the US (Seattle) on children was discredited and the researchers eventually withdrew the paper. You do have to hit your head extremely hard to damage as as your skull is 1000s of times harder than a bicycle helmet. Helmets are extremely effective at low speeds, but then your risk of serious head injury at low speeds is extremely low. At high speeds there is no evidence that helmets provide any benefit but logic tells you that the milliseconds that it takes for the helmet to crack may provide some impact absorption. Once cracked the helmet cannot provide any protection. All this is obviously academic as many of you believe in your helmets and will continue to wear them - but then many Americans voted in a moron as president so it isn't always logic and clear thought that win in modern times.

...or high heels. High heels are too expensive - attitudes are free. One of the guys here in Durban stuck a whole bunch of "safe passing distance 1.5m" signs on all his favourite routes after Mark Hegedus was killed. Got him a fair amount of publicity and the city manager gave a statement that no legal action would be taken as the signs were in the public interest.

While Austin is on the topic of "MTB Rocks" - I remembered that there had been a bit of discussion about which tyres to ride on and Rock had mentioned that he really enjoyed his Specialized tyres that he had stumbled across and TitusTi gave the range a thumbs up. Well, I was idling around a bike shop in Durban and I noticed the Specialized range was in stock. Basically similar tread pattern and a mixture of different compounds and height of knobs to achieve slightly different results. Well I ended up getting a Specialized Pro Roll-X tyre. For the first time since I started riding the MTB (a little over 18 months now) I was immediately comfortable with the grip and roll of the tyre. It feels fast and seems to stick through all sorts of mud, soft sand, roots. I think I have found my tyre of choice especially after the Larsen TT's were absolute crap during the DusiMfula race - rubbish in the mud and rubbish on the sand.

There are a few of us around that are born and bred roadies discovering the joy of mountain biking and the absolute lack of pressure to hold on to the bunch when the heat is on.

Not really a surprise as Unibet have assembled a good team and their stance on drugs is as clear as T-Mobiles current commitment. Barloworld have no stars with Hunter probably their most senior rider, and their drugs reputation is sketchy and stance is not clearly articulated. More interesting though is the UCI's contention that they can make the force the major races into the ProTour and insist on guaranteed and compulsory participation of all Protour teams. Look for teams like Euskaltel to not be invited to Milan San Remo. Discovery may also be excluded from the Giro particularly if Basso is implicated further in Puerto.

But Valverde does everything the traditional way. He trains with his mates in the mountains, he eats what he wants and makes up for it with a combination of unbelievable genes and unnatural enhancements. He is has an excellent relationship with one Dr Fuentes who was his team doctor at Kelme and has continued that relationship.

Perhaps you guys want to throw in a helmet debate as well? Simply put: 1. Campagnolo is better because I say so. 2. Merckx and Armstrong both used drugs - difference is in Merckx's time everybody was doing drugs. 3. Helmets are for sissies.