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PlemPlem

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Everything posted by PlemPlem

  1. Yes I did, I took the plunge and ordered/ received a new Pinarello F12 frameset. I built it with the current Di2 Dura Ace 9150 groupset but changed the 'Direct Mount' Dura brakes to SRAM S-900. Pic below! My feeling is that I can brake just as well as any disc brake in the dry. The new DM brakes with Swisstop pads are far superior to any older centre bolt mount rim brakes. And I do nor ride in any rain by choice!! I gotta say that (having ridden both brake types on demos) that discs feel better, might be the future etc. and might brake better in the wet but I was just not prepared to deal with all the necessary (perceived) disadvantages already listed in my opening comment. The opinions will vary and good luck to all but as this current time, road bikes with disc brakes in South Africa(!) just do not make sense to me. P.S. I do not ride in the rain if I can help it!!
  2. I also read this general sentiment being discussed in a few other articles across a variety of platforms and I do not doubt that the bike/ group set manufacturers kind of want to push their wares into the market and further on to the consumers (us) in order to increase sales! However, my point was though that certain teams, who do have a choice whether to race with rim brake or disc brakes (Ineos for example), actually still demand rim brakes instead of discs! If discs are so much better/ faster descending down mountains in the rain etc., something that occurs regularly during GT's, why do they not want to use them unless rim brakes still offer major advantages over discs? I hope Gary Blem is reading this; maybe he can comment!
  3. Well, I rode the Otztaler Radmarathon spanning Austria and Italy twice which includes climbing four mountain passes. One was Passo Giavo with a descent of 23km and 20 odd hairpin bends. The first time in 2014 it was raining and I was riding with my standard centre bolt mount Dura Ace rimbrakes riding on my older alu brake strip 303's. I did not have a problem stopping and worried more about skidding in the corner. In 2016 it was dry and I was riding the same bike with my current 303 Firecrest's. No brake issues despite reaching speeds of up to 80km/h between bends and repeatedly hauling full anchors. I am not saying that discs might not have been better, just wondering whether the difference between the two types would actually have been that significant. On the subject of weight; in 2014 I was 92kg and my bike was 8.4 kg's and I failed miserably on the last hurdle Passo Rombo at 194km. In 2016 I was 82kg and I tweaked my bike down to 7.6kg and I smashed the race! In the high mountains every milligram counts! Hence I repeat my opening statement - unless you ride regularly in Europe and race down mountain passes in bad weather then discs make sense but for the rest of us here in sunny SA, rim brakes without all the technical hassles just make more sense (apart from the vanity aspect!).
  4. No, please don't! One discussion is enough!!
  5. Fair enough, the discs work a little better in the wet but the size of the tyre patch and the friction on the road is still the same though. If you lose traction at 500N (just as an example), what difference would the the brake type make when one looses traction at 501N and both brake types would be able to achieve this? If the difference was as great as made out to be, why are some of the pro teams not using them more?
  6. I was thinking about this during my deliberations as well. Your brakes can only work and slow you down as well as the traction/ friction between the tyres and the road surface. So if the road is damp/ wet, how would a higher brake force impacting on a wheel (discs) stop the wheel more quickly and not lose traction, as a good set of Swisstop pads will also easily be able to lock a rim brake?
  7. Hi Ouzo, Not a question of dis/liking one or the other, just the issues of one over the other. I actually wanted to prefer the discs as I tend to fall for new technology when it comes out, however this time the case against discs is far stronger than for (in my opinion)! But I also accept that there are others out there that want discs, so live and let live.
  8. While recently selecting which frame type to go for, I researched a myriad of articles, videos and opinions from various sources from the internet. There were countless arguments for and against for both brake types! At the risk of causing the world's cycling community to split down the middle, here is my 'opinion'. This includes: disc brake set-ups still have 500 - 800 gr weight disadvantage, depending on group set and frame. Yes, disc weights might be coming down slowly but are not yet compatible with rims at the present time.The rim brake installation instructions listed the bike frame and brake manufacturers manuals constituted of two pages; i.e. not really required but mentioned it for comparison sake. The disc brake equivalent was more than 20 pages! This included installation and mounting, aligning, filling the oil, bleeding (with some sort of kit and all kinds of special tools required), maintenance and so on. Rim brakes can be installed, change cables, replace pads and adjust within five minutes per brake. I can only guess how long this would take with discs.Various considerations to consider when changing a flat/ wheel in a hurry. I saw the various acts of drama that a number of riders and their mechanics had to go through when replacing a wheel during the recent GT's and classics races. Its great when a spare bike is ready for you when racing but not for us normal riders who have to struggle next to the side of the road. Quick releases rule here.This includes the risks of bending the rotor disc when struggling to get the wheel out and the closing of the calipers when a wheel is removed for travelling. The incessantly annoying squeal of the brakes when being applied. Lastly, the need to change ones existing wheels when changing to discs. I was not prepared to sell five sets to now buy new ones.The main 'for' reason for discs is stated to be the improved braking performance. Various comparison tests by a number of publications and bicycle sites have been performed and most agree that there is a slight improvement for carbon wheels in the rain, not so much in the dry. But dare I say that for 99% of us this increased performance is not required, unless you go 2-3 times a year to Europe and race down the various mountain passes in the rain. Even so, the four major WT teams Ineos, Jumbo Visma, UAE and Sunweb are all still choosing to ride with rim brakes. The performance of the newer direct mounts is not that far of that of discs. Currently the score for the last six Grand Tours is : Rims Brakes 6 - Disc Brakes 0 ! Yes, there is a certain visual 'cool' factor with disc brakes but is that enough to fall into the bike/ group set manufacturers marketing trap that something that has worked for decades is suddenly not good enough anymore?
  9. Maybe you should not ride through Stop streets ( and maybe red traffic lights) and rather ride according to the rules of the road, then these near misses might not occur! Too many cyclists on the road ride like the rules do not apply to them and cause other motorists to regard us as morons.
  10. Are you going to take notes while you riding?
  11. Also, make sure that you are using the correct chain. I had a similar problem with a mate of mine road bike whereon he tried to utilize a 10 spd chain on his 11 spd groupset. Various compatibility issues of chains from different manufacturers utilized on other manufacturers gear sets can cause endless havoc, without being immediately apparent.
  12. The is a small place in Centurion called vanH that make leisure clothes in small quantities, as well as custom cycling gear. Their shorts are brilliant!
  13. Don't feel alone, shorts definitely better for me. Please try to go to the toilet just before a race, having to get totally undressed; i.e. take your top and vest off in the process! Never mind doing this somewhere during a ride when the urge is stronger that your ability to keep it in, just ask Tom Dumoulin!!! With shorts its easy, just undo the drawstring and whip it out or drop them.
  14. I ordered my new frame from them in January but due to Italy closing down, the delivery has taken a while. I have just been informed it is ready for delivery/ collection from their store in PTA.
  15. I hope so too! The general consensus in Austria (from a mate of mine there in St. Anton who has also entered), is that as they enter into spring and summer, the spread of the virus will be curtailed as it does not like the warmer climes and that by late summer the mass hysteria will have died down and the race should take place. Time will tell! I would hate to do all the training for nothing.
  16. I suffered from terrible hot spots in both feet anything from 2 1/2 hours onwards. After seeking out help from a lot of 'experts' and reading about various cures on the web, one podiatrist gave some good advice. I then sorted out my own inner soles for my S-Works shoes and installed separate and loose support pads bought from Dischem at a fraction of the cost of professional inner soles. If you send me your number, I can send you pics how I achieved this. I can now ride all day and not feel any pain anymore.
  17. OK, the starting places draw took place yesterday and five Saffa's of the original 10 applications have made it and are in, subject to them paying the entry fee by month end! Now the real training starts.
  18. We are not discussing runners, swimmers or different bikes etc. here as all those other sports use different muscle groups with different exertions at given times. We are responding to 'Silly Billy' in the UK who is on his indoor trainer asking for advice what might be best for him in that situation. Live and let live.
  19. Of course riding outside in always the best but we are responding 'Silly Billy' here who is on an indoor trainer in the UK with the grotty weather they currently have there.
  20. \ Frank Dubowitz at the Rosebank Sports clinic (opp Rosebank Hospital). A number of local sports people go to him! He cured my hot-spots!
  21. Depending on your PM, you are correct that for different bikes you will struggle to interchange it between them, especially if it is crank spider based. If your PM is pedal based it is obviously easier to move it around between bikes.But this was not the question; any PM will always be more expensive than a HRM. This becomes an economic discussion whether you want to spend your cash or not. The one major difference is that your intensity of your required training session according to your training plan will always be the same, if Power based! In other words, if you are planning to achieve a TSS of 90 in an one hour interval session on your trainer, the TSS 90 for the same workout will be the same today, tomorrow, next week etc. Your HR will change daily according to way your body feels. So if you are doing a TSS 90 workout, today your ave. HR might be 150, tomorrow 155, next week 145 etc. So if your workouts are HR based, your intensities for the workouts will also always change, which might be counter productive to what you might be trying to achieve. To be clear, HR is still very important as it will tell you in what state you currently are; i.e. if your HR is higher than usual, you might be coming down with a bug. If low, you might be getting fitter but also might not have recovered sufficiently from previous sessions. Ultimately, what you want to see is your Power zones and FTP (workout intensity) go up while your ave. HR either remains the same or, even better, slows down.
  22. Found out from ASG that the cost for hiring a space at the Expo has been too exorbitant; i.e. they wanted R 40K for just a 3m x 3m space. That's why the Expo was so poor thus year. The organizers are pricing themselves out of existence. In case they haven't noticed, only 22000 riders started this year, a few ago it was close to 40000! If this carries on, there will not be a CT anymore!
  23. Have a look in the Bus/Sell forum - there are a few good specials for proper dedicated bike bags for Sale and for Hire. Better than any cardboard box, especially for a Carbon bike!
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