Scooterza

I have taken a policy decision - no matter HOW tired I am or HOW early I have to wake up in the morning, I NEVER turn down sex! But I must also admit that if it does impact my performance, it may mean I finish 1588th instead of 1572nd so no REALLY such an issue and a bit of a romp with the wife is way worth losing 16 places!

I am not a uber expert but my understanding is that modern soft tails ride well, are not too heavy and offer considerable benefit to the weekend warrior rider whose butts are not as bulletproof as those of the pro teams that ride the hard tails. So if you are a guy who keeps his bike for some time, rather get a decent soft tail.

Fritz - best ride I have done in some time! Well done. You will always have a few issues I guess but I had a good time.

Pretty simple I reckon - if they are alone, stop and help. If they have several others with them, stop and offer assistance. If they say they are ok, let them get on with it. If there is clearly a bunch of people there, ride on as you are just making a mess of things if you stop and add to the traffic jam.

That sounds pretty hectic! I saw the giraffe's galloping around like crazy and the thought did cross my mind that if one of those hit you, your head would be spinning for days! Can't believe it actually happened to someone. Anyone know more info?

By the way - I heard on the radio (702) about a cyclist being seriously injured in Cullinan. Anyone know more details?

POSTED THIS UNDER THE "FELL THIS WEEKEND" but relevant: Did the Cullinan 40km ride this weekend. Was a pretty cool ride but saw what felt like a higher number of injured cyclists on this ride. There was a guy who looked to be in his 50's lying near one of the water points on his side (recovery position) with medical staff. He looked pretty out of it and the water staff said the guy lost control in the thick sand. The 2nd one was the worst - a youngish looking guy - probably late teens - lying in a rocky section with blood coming out of mouth and nose etc. Looked like he may have face planted. The third was a woman who feel on the downhill heading towards the base of the mine dune. She fell just in front of me but I suspect her injury wasn't that bad. She was kinda out of it but often you are for a minute or 2. It was to my mind a relatively technical route and I really enjoyed it. What I didn't enjoy was all the people getting off their bikes and then blocking the route for those who wanted to ride. There is nothing more frustrating than making it up and over a technical section only to have to bail JUST near the top because some chop has blown a gasket and decides to stop and STAND IN THE PATH! WTF!! Get off the path or at least get to one side so others can get past. On some areas, there were 2 lanes of traffic where guys were pushing their bikes so NOBODY could get through. GRRR!!!

Did the Cullinan 40km ride this weekend. Was a pretty cool ride but saw what felt like a higher number of injured cyclists on this ride. There was a guy who looked to be in his 50's lying near one of the water points on his side (recovery position) with medical staff. He looked pretty out of it and the water staff said the guy lost control in the thick sand. The 2nd one was the worst - a youngish looking guy - probably late teens - lying in a rocky section with blood coming out of mouth and nose etc. Looked like he may have face planted. The third was a woman who feel on the downhill heading towards the base of the mine dune. She fell just in front of me but I suspect her injury wasn't that bad. She was kinda out of it but often you are for a minute or 2. It was to my mind a relatively technical route and I really enjoyed it. What I didn't enjoy was all the people getting off their bikes and then blocking the route for those who wanted to ride. There is nothing more frustrating than making it up and over a technical section only to have to bail JUST near the top because some chop has blown a gasket and decides to stop and STAND IN THE PATH! WTF!! Get off the path or at least get to one side so others can get past. On some areas, there were 2 lanes of traffic where guys were pushing their bikes so NOBODY could get through. GRRR!!!

There was a post some time ago where the aerodynamics of rooftop vs rear bike carriers were debated at some length. There were some who said that a rooftop, whilst it may have seemed to be less aerodynamic, may actually be MORE aerodynamic. I was of the opinion that a rooftop would introduce way more drag. And now I have found an article to prove I was right. Not being one to shy away from an opportunity to crow from the rooftops when I am right, the article appears in the Ride Magazine - November 09. The conclusion of a pretty scientific study was that whilst rear mounted bike racks do expose bikes to more dust and grime and the possibility of being "rear-ended", from an aerodynamics point of view, they are superior to rooftop mounted models. The bike carriers used where Thule's ProRides (Rooftop) vs Euroway (Towbar mounted). Results: Rooftop = 26 percent less efficient than the car without any rack Rear mount = 15 percent less efficient than the car without any rack. In the subaru Impreza 2.0R car used, this equates to just under 1l per 100km saved if you use a rear mounted rack vs the rooftop.

Also take a look - I posted a link to a video showing how to fit a tubeless tyre to your rim. I wasted a lot of time, energy and sealant before I watched that video. Once I watched the video, I was A for Away!

Rocky Rhodes Rhodes Rough Rider Rhodes Ramble Trans Tolkien (it is in the area where he apparently got inspiration for his books not so?!!)

...or Jeremy

I would also perhaps check out if you have sealant left. Often the sealant dries out and then if you break the seal, you get a leak.

I was riding along the spruit some time ago and saw a Guinea Fowl chick limping alon with something on its leg. I managed to catch it and turns out it had a shongololo (millipede) that had wrapped around its foot! Obviously took it off and sent it on its way. You would think the guinea fowl would be a bit more grateful! Foul behaviour!

Now let me not bore you all with a tale of woe and sadness such as has not been told since Bill Shakespeare's time! Suffice to say that I have been having "difficulty" with getting my wife's new MTB front tyre (tubeless) to inflate. After a few bottles of tyre sealant, a lot of time, 4 trips to my LBS, I finally watched THIS video and the scales fell from my eyes. I finally know how to get these damn tubeless tyres to work. My wife's bike stands downstairs on fully inflated tyres now and I am about to watch a movie that has been patiently waiting (along with my wife) for me to finish.

I have had my share of success and failure with patching. My rules are: 1) Sand properly! 2) Don't be schnoep with the glue - put on lots so that you can leave a nice layer (less than a millimetre but not so little that it is just a few molecules!) that allows your WHOLE patch to fit (ideally you don't want to cover TOO big an area but rather too big than too small). 2)Put that patch on but DON'T touch the sticky side of the patch with your fat fingers if you can help it. Peel off the silver foil and then hold patch by plastic backing film. 3) Pop patch in place and then push down HARD. I have done this on the road side by finding a flat stone and then pressing down over the patch with the tube supported by something hard (eg the road or another rock). Take extra care to push hard around the sides of the patch to ensure proper bonding. Don't be in a rush here. Let the patch bond properly. 4) As JB said, peel the backing film from the middle. You can do this by bending the patch down the middle until the plastic film "pops" but take care not to unstick your patch by being too vigorous. Biting down with your teeth works well here! You can then peel from the middle outwards. Be CAREFUL as you get to the edges to ensure that you don't peel the patch off the tube. 5) Try to get the exposed glue to not stick to your tyre by rubbing it with your finger - I have sometimes used a bit of dust to just "unstickify" the glue. Wow - "unstickify" - that is a good one! By following the above steps, I can honestly say that the patches really work. I still have the odd failure but usually this is when I didn't follow my own rules or as someone mentioned, the glue was old or something like that. I have had it before where I tried to peel off one of my old patches and it tore the tube but the glue held.

If you look at the following video, it should go a long way to ensuring you know what you are doing when you next have to bleed your disc brakes. http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-bleed-a-hydraulic-brake-on-a-bicycle-261910/view/

Yes it is a tough one. I am leaning towards the Merida - much nicer specs. But it is now 3 years old so hmmmm

Merida has disc brakes, Raleigh has v-brakes.

This is a double post but my other posting just isn't coming up under active topics for some reason! Hey all, I am buying a bike for my wife and have 3 options which I am trying to choose between - 1 new and two 2nd hand. I haven't seen the 2nd hand bikes but ASSUMING that they are in decent nick, can anyone suggest which of the following is best value for money? BRAND NEW bike from Linden Cycles: 2010 Silverback Saturn for R4400Suntour XCM HLO forks, Shimano Alivio rear derailleur, shimano M486 hydraulic disc brakes. Full specs HERE 2ndhand: Merida Matt TFS 700. 2007 model, Dart 3 Front Suspension Deore shifters, intergrated XT rear derailer,LX Cranks for R5000 2nd hand: Raleigh RM9.0 2005 with Shimano XTR (2006 groupset) and Rock Shok Duke front shock. R5000. Looks like this one has done a bit of work though. Ithink she will be happy on any of these but obviously want to get something that will last and perhaps keep its value to some extent. Any comments appreciated!

Also, since most ISP's allocate IP addresses as you connect (and you therefore usually get a new one every time you connect), blocking an IP address will usually only result in some poor innocent person getting blocked. Tracking by IP address is only really worth the effort for serious crimes. Moderating the first 2 or 3 messages a new member sends sounds like a good way forward. I run a mail message group for a CHURCH environmental group and we started getting "Click here to see my sexy steamy hot video" being posted. As you can imagine, they were not amused!

2 cylinder?

Let us know what happens to the driver.

I once was sold a tandem by Frans at Tour de Frans cycles that had been fitted with a 9 speed STI shifter set but had an 8 speed cassette. That thing gave ENDLESS hassles and when TDF cycles EVENTUALLY admitted that they had sold me a dud, they took it back on condition I buy a new bike! (Can you guess how often I have been back to TDF cycles?) The point is, I know how to set up a bike's gears and no amount of tinkering would get it to work. If it worked in some of the gears, others would be out. Endless adjustments back and forth but no reliable solution. I wouldn't recommend it.

I think you have spent too much time deciding what parts you want for your bike!