PlemPlem

Hi Button, Sorry to hear about your problems! I was also comparing this frame, together with a Canyon CF SLX EVO and a Pinarello F10, but maybe should relook my choices! On this very issue; while watching the recent TdF, the commentators Matthew Keenan and Robbie McEwen actually discussed the merits of sitting o the top tube while descending down a mountain. This seems to be a more recent way to go aero (since CF was seen doing it)and Robbie particularly stated while this riding position does have some aero advantages, which pro's can/might exploit, he certainly would not recommend it for us weekend warriors as this adds significant stresses onto the top tube for which a bike was not designed, any bike! This goes as far as not sitting on it while waiting at the start of a race! His recommendation was to stay of it and rather lean forward over the handlebars. While some riders have had no issues on their bikes ever, it does not mean that it will not happen, especially while hitting a bump in the road while sitting on it. The design strength of the top tube is supposed to be longitudinally, not laterally. Also, a lot of others factors come into it such as rider weight, road surface conditions etc. Just saying..... I hope you come right!

Just fly over with a bike bag and pile all parts into it. I once bought a whole lot of components and a frame in Germany like that. If they stop you at customs at the airport, you just tell them that you are returning from racing in Europe! They will not know the difference.

Usually when I import equipment/ pasts for my cars or bikes and have it sent down here (with an official invoice that has to be attached to the shipment), I have to pay at least 15% Duty and 14% (now 15%) VAT; so you can safely assume 30% additional to the purchase price! Add shipping and you would be close to 40%. Also, customs have unique way to calculate the fees according to a ROE that they seem to make up as they go along! Rather fly over there and bring it along!

BMW GS1200 Adventure! But only ride when the other morons stop racing around the countryside!

I am coming down to Ballito for one week and am enquiring whether there are any organized group road rides that I could join, either daily or maybe on weekends.! Thanks!

Carbon29 Sadly you seem to have totally missed the point of the article! It is not about the motorist driving badly/ driving too close/ endangering cyclists/ taxis breaking every law etc. or whatever else comes our way! We know they do! It is generally about that we, all cyclists who are also allowed to use the roads, get our own house in order first and behave properly on the public roads, the same way that we want all other road users to! This means that we do not: jump Stop streetsjump red traffic lightsride more than single file on a road without a shoulder, thereby blocking the road for the motorist behinddo anything else that is against the law of the roadsinfringe anybody else's right to utilize the roadWe are ourselves motorists as well and we can all see how other cyclists (mis)behave on the roads such that I myself get pissed off with my fellow cyclists while driving! If motorists can see that cyclists generally behave properly while riding, their current crappy attitude towards us will also improve in due time. It works overseas (Germany, France , Austria), therefore it can work here! This Tit-for-Tat is useless and a cyclist will always come off second best in an altercation with a car!!

Are you referring to MTB (I am a road cyclist)? I have been running Road Q-Rings 52/36 without any hassles with my Shimano 11 spd Di2 Dura Ace groupset!

One thing that many are ignoring is, that with any sort of technical gizmo to assist with your training, is that you can accurately track your training improvement from a certain departure point. Accuracy of a certain Watt value is of course important but It is more important that the PM (or HRM) is reading a certain value at the beginning of a training phase and measures/ compares the anticipated end value at some time later in your program to establish the rate of difference/ improvement (just as the HRM did many years ago!). For example - when I started with my P2M in early August 2015, my measured FTP (in a lab) was 237W. Now in May 2016 after 9 months of dedicated training programs, my FTP is 310W; an improvement of approx. 30%! If I was Chris Froome, accuracy would be paramount, but for most amateur riders this is immaterial whether or not the PM is reading this 10 -15 W either way. Fact is that I can see and feel my improvement over time and I know that my concentrated training efforts are working for me!

Q-Rings - Smooth shifting and the oval ratio is approx. + and - three teeth on either 39 or 53 Chainrings. I have run them for over 12 years and would never go back! Depending on where I race , I change between 34/36/39 T and 50/52/53 T without any problem!

A few things I forgot to mention - Power 2 Max is self-calibrating; it does so every time you coast downhill or do not pedal for about 2 - 3 sec. You change the standard Lithium battery yourself while the spider/ cranks are on the bike, takes about 10 min. Again, no calibration necessary. One can get different models for different crank types or spider sizes. I use 110 BCD with 175mm Rotor Aero cranks and 11 SPD Q-Rings but standard round rings will also work. You also can get 130 BCD and others. I was lucky that I found mine on Ebay in the States and made sure I won the bidding war. For anyone looking for a PM, I would start looking there first! Great bargains can be found there with all kind of parts.

I have a Power2Max PM which is mounted permanently on my bike on my cranks in place of the spindle with my Chainrings. It communicates directly with my simple Garmin 510 with the standard Ant+ interface. It therefore records all indoor sessions on my stationary trainer, all road rides; i.e. every time the cranks revolve! It starts up automatically and goes automatically into rest mode when not cycling. Info recorded includes - Cadence (live and ave, Power in W (live, 3s & 10second ave, normalized power, TSS, IF and balance between left and right crank! basically everything you require at a reasonable cost, when compared with most other PM's such as Quarck etc. At the end of each ride the info can be downloaded from the Garmin into Training peaks where the PM info is overlaid with all other ride info such as ascent, HR, speed etc. Brilliant for PM training! I improved my PB at this years Argus by over 5 Min!

Hi Guys, I am looking for a partner for this years Panorama Tour. I am a A - B type rider but speed is not the emphasis ; rather enjoy four days of riding! Please call Till 0824520721.

Very true Jules, agree fully but I hate the hypocrisy about cyclists complaining about the lack of safety on our roads and then going out to break every rule in the book. Remember, most cyclists ridiculous conduct on the road reflects badly on all of us!

I was actually there when it happened; it occurred right in front of my car as it was facing the road while parked at the Engen garage in Boshoff Street, where it is a double lane. A large number of cyclists were getting ready to go to the start from there (just like myself). In order to go towards the start, one had to first cross the two lanes coming from town to get to the other side. A number of cyclists had already left and Ronnie prepared to do the same. I then heard the collision crash and saw Ronnie being flung through the air after being hit and then hit again as he came down. I hate any taxi on our roads as much as anyone but contrary to reports, the red taxi did stop immediately, pushing the bike, which was wedged in in front of his front wheels, while slowing down. Ronnie came to the stop about 30m from the spot where he was hit. The white bike with Top and Down tube broken in half came to rest in the gutter on the left in front of my car. It looked liked that the taxi was driving in the right hand lane on his side of the road in the direction back to the N3. From what I can make out, it seems that Ronnie tried to cross the street and pulled out in front of the Taxi when he got T-boned (not a head-on collision). He just must have not seen or looked out for the Taxi approaching from his right. The newspaper reports (Witness and Mercury) the next morning stated that the Taxi driver was not arrested and this seems to corroborate what I saw. It is a terrible loss and during the race I could not get those images out of my mind. We should all be thankful for still being around but I get highly pissed off when I see the vast majority of cyclists jumping Stop streets, red traffic lights, riding two or more abreast, generally not giving a Rats arse to the traffic rules and being rude to other motorists. We are our own worst enemies!

I am planning to record the race on my Go Pro. Once I finish and everything worked as hoped, I can contact you again re getting you a copy!

Well done Girl!