michaelbiker

Another upvote for Sufferfest here. Just a word of advice, it can get really tough but stick with it. If you feel you struggling dial it back a bit. It’s better to finish the session than give up. Certain workouts absolutely crush me (Shovel and A Very Dark Place) but I have increased my numbers by 25% since lockdown started by doing 3-4 workouts per week. Don’t overlook the yoga. Its really good for rest days. They were also offering free Wahoo Tickrs for annual subscriptions quite recently. Not sure if it is still on.

One other place to check is the valves. Had a similar issue recently where I hadn’t screwed the valves in tight enough - they were cheap valves so they didn’t seat so well in the rim. I thought at first the tape was to blame because the air appeared to be leaking out the little drainage holes in the rim. After a bit more torque and a couple of rides the leaks stopped and all was good. Soapy water is a must to seat the tires properly too. Especially if they were super tight to get on in the first place.

I am in full support of Strava changing their premium subscription rules. I would rather pay for the product than be sold as the product to advertisers and have my feed filled with crappy adverts trying to sell me stuff I don’t need. It’s one of the reasons why Strava is the only social network I participate actively in. R50pm might seem like a lot for something that you were getting for free but how much does a cappuccino on your coffee stop cost these days again? We need to stop thinking that these services cost nothing to run. The computing power required to process Strava’s daily data would likely fill South Africa’s largest data centre. Running systems like this isn’t cheap and with the way the world is now it is a lot harder to justify running at a loss.

It depends. They are great if you use them. If you can get into Zwift or Sufferfest then they can be quite fun and you get a good workout in minimal time. But obviously they are not worth it if they don’t motivate you to ride.

Hey everyone, I am spending December in the area and was wondering if anyone rides these trails regularly and is looking for a riding buddy to tag along. I know the trails relatively well, but I don't like the idea of riding them alone during the week.

I ride with a tubolito. Saved my bacon the other day when I completely ripped open a Kenda Honey Badger tire. They make a lot of sense (even at R500). If you compare the amount of weight and space you save. I have it in my tool bottle plus levers and a multi tool. Definitely won't ride without a spare tube, a walk home in the dark taught me the hard way.

I bought a set of Rocky AS33s laced to Carbon-ti hubs for my Scalpel from bikeonline.it. They came in at just over 1200g for the set. Super stiff and really light. http://bikeonline.it/en/wheels-29/1544-rocky-as33-carbon-29er-carbon-ti-x-hub-sp-wheelset-from-1275g-2000000000000.html?search_query=RockyAS&results=5#/nipples_colour-black/compatibility-shimano_sram_10_11s/front_hub_standard-qr15_through_axle_15x100mm/rear_hub_standard-x12x142mm_through_axle_12mm/hubs_colour-black/rear_wheel_camber-standard/number_of_spokes-28_front_28_rear/spokes_type-alpina_blade_superlite

Qatar, Virgin, Ethiopian all don't charge for bikes if they fit within your baggage allowance. (I've flown all 3 within the last year without issue) I won't go near SAA as they tend to cancel flights at the last minute (especially local connecting flights) and their planes are old and rather uncomfortable for international travel.

Check out Dion Wired. They seem to have the best prices at the moment and are willing to price match. As to the TV, it's so confusing. I am in a similar boat with a similar budget and leaning towards one of last year's ULED Samsung 65" TVs for around R23k from Dion.

It’s luck of the draw with free shipping I’m afraid. I ordered three bike racks and some odds and ends. The order was split into 4 packages. One rack was cancelled. One item was sent post office and the other 2 came in a week apart via DHL. Duties were 15.4% plus the R100 DHL per package. Note, this was not DHLs fault, CRC seems to be having issues with one of its warehouses. That being said, customer support did say they have no control over how the items get sent with the free shipping option but it does look like larger items get sent DHL by default. YMMV.

Yeah, it doesn't work that way on the Delonghi unfortunately. It has a single button to do the entire process, and the milk is always first.

I have the exact same Delonghi. It makes amazing coffee, but don't bother with those style of attached frother units, they make really terrible froth and a huge mess. They also do the froth first and then the coffee, which means you get a whole bunch of froth at the top and all the coffee at the bottom. They are a huge mission to clean too. Just terrible... I use a Bialetti Tutto Crema to make the froth. Perfect everytime, and really low tech. I highly recommend the Bean There coffee beans. You will need to play with the timing and the grind to get what you like, so be patient. Once it's setup, there is really no easier way to make a perfect cup of coffee in just a few minutes.

Also check out https://ciclimattio.com. Ordered a bearing tool for a Lefty hub. Came in 4 days UPS door-to-door. Cost me 10 Euro shipping and they carry some esoteric parts. Good customer service too. Another good one is http://bikeonline.it. Built and shipped a set of custom wheels within 4 days! The owner is exceptionally knowledgeable and helpful. Wheels arrived 6 days later.

The problem with high protein in your diet, is that in the absence of carbs, your body will go through a process of gluconeogenisis (mentioned somewhere in this thread). To oversimplify the process, the liver converts protein to glucose in the blood. This becomes counterproductive if you are insulin resistant and are trying to lose weight. The diet is low-carb, high-fat (medium protein). A good guideline is about a palm-sized piece of protein at mealtimes. Bonking goes away once you've passed through fat adaptation phase. Your body is basically craving carbs. This can take between 2 and 6 weeks depending on how hard you train. I remember really suffering in the first few weeks, but got up to 4 hour rides without any issue really quickly. I now never take food with me and only ride on water. If it's a really long ride 5+ hours, I mix a pinch of salt with a bit of coconut milk and water.

Jura if you can afford one. They are bullet proof and very consistent. Delonghi is also good and almost half the price. That being said we use a Bialetti manual milk frother to make cappuccinos. I consider the coffee we make at home better than the coffee from the better coffee shops using the Delonghi and Bialetti frother combo.

It's actually really nice to eat. Similar to broccoli. They sell it all over Italy when in season.

Not really from today, but its raining outside and I am bored, so I thought I'd post a few pics from Saturday, taken on an awesome ride up to a tiny abandoned village in Italy called Scoppio.

Lol! The photo was taken literally an hour after I got the bike home.

Cannondale Scalpel Si 2 Eagle. Posted in the Cannondales thread, but felt I had to post it here too!

Pair of brand new Scalpel Si 2 Eagles with an Italian hilltop town in the background. Life couldn't get better.

Is that him educating everyone how to say his name? Sounds super creepy.

+1 for Welvanpas Black Route!!! Best singletrack hands down...

What sepia said. Keep it pumped hard and store it over night on the side that is leaking. You can keep it level if you put it on top of a box or a bucket. It should eventually seal.

Any idea when they booked their flights? I think the rule change only applies to tickets bought after they changed the rules, which was a couple of months back.