davem

Buy one on the DVDs and really watch using the pause button. You will learn so much about the race. Check out the course, particularly the start area on Google Earth. No support is allowed at all. You can't even hand your sunglasses to someone.

QQ --> J ---> F Think my first sub 3 might be on the cards...

Anyone know what time the last start is?

One of my hobby horses is the use of the word Accident. Accident implies it just happened. No responsibility. Every vehicle related death has a cause. There are no accidents. Either through negligence, malice, breaking a law, drunkeness, vehicle not roadworthy etc. Every vehicle death starts with a conscious decision by a driver to operate a vehicle is a certain way, that decision is what leads to the incident that results in death. The majority of deaths are caused by Collisions. This more accurately reflects that there is a cause and responsibility must be taken. I have previously emailed the both Radio 702 and 94.7 Highveld traffic reporting departments and raised the issue. Both agreed with the sentiment but habits die hard and they still report on Accidents every day. This may be just semantics, but I believe it is more when we start to understand cause and effect and ulimately culpability. Slowpoke, sorry for your loss. I know the above doesn't actually make any difference to the situation, but I only hope that a mind or two is opened to the concept of cuplability.

Thanks Edman

Seems bearings are a waste of time. 0.3W is nothing. But 22W on tyres. Hell, thats worth looking at. Edman, do you have a link to the research/webpage. Thanks for the feedback.

Max The white ink comes free with the paper. Stop trying to con us. We are on to you..

New batteries? The flu will have an effect but not that much.

How much difference do your bearings make? I am a long distance triathlete. Courses are generally not particularly hilly so bike weight is not a particularly big issue. I have made the decision to race with Gatorskin clinchers as it reduces risk of not finishing but at the penalty of increased rolling resistance. I was wondering what the benefits of better quality bearings are. Given that rolling resistance is just an energy expense, how can I cost effectively improve performance. The areas to target are the hubs and the bottom bracket. My wheels are 60mm HED Jet carbon clinchers which use the HED hubs. When I turn the hub by hand, it does not feel particularly free to spin. When the wheel is on the bike, the wheels spins freely with no signs of friction. By comparison, I also have yachting pulleys that with a light flick will spin for a minute. They also have a 700 kg working load capacity. When I spin my wheel, obviously there is a lot of turning inertia created by the weight of the wheel which I feel discounts the test. With the wheel stationery, should the hub free spin? The same applies to the bottom bracket, my bike has Shimano 105 drivetrain, not sure of the BB model. Can I reduce friction by changing the BB or the bearings? (My knowledge of how the BB fits together is limited). What impact does the type of grease have on the resistance? Being a tri bike, risk of ingress of foreign substances is likely minimal. Please give me your thoughts.

I somehow doubt you run your own business. Cyclelab proposition is a premium service for a premium clientele in a premium location. Sound like that they met that proposition in your case. They probably do fall short on occasion too. Its difficult when you aim at a high standard. Many people are prepared to pay for that, and probaly pay significantly more than they would elsewhere. They factor in the friendliness, knowledge, service and backup. While BMG probably works out of an industrial area from a warehouse environment and for those that don't mind grease under their nails, its probably great. I doubt the person behind the counter is particularly skilled in client relations like the premium store employee. He probably knows way more about bearings but bugger all about bicylces. There is a massive difference in cost structure. I would bet that CL buys its bearing from the wheel distributor rather than the bearing manufacturer. They probably know that can get the bearing cheaper from BMG. The reason for this is that by reselling the official (and expensive) part, they won't have come backs that it damaged your wheel. It will work, and it is supported by the distributor. Again there is a cost to that, call it an insurance against failure and come back. So at the end of the day, you milked the knowledge of the one and purchased from the other. That's probably why the other stores don't bother with trying to help source the part for you. At the end of the day, CL is the winner for showing they are prepared to go that extra mile for the customer.

Ordered my Rydons at about 12 noon. Delivered to my office the following morning in Johannesburg. And they chucked in a free gift as well. Amazing turnaround. Very well done!

What's with the easy gears? EpicRider must at least have some competency with a name like that. 53/39 up front. 11-23 for the flat races. 12-25 for the hilly ones.

Parktown prawns

The secret to buying on the hub is patience. If you want what you want, exactly when you want it, you will pay a premium. If you are happy to wait, sooner or later you will get a bargain. I have bought three bikes and a set of deep section carbon wheels (all unable to tell the difference from new) at less than 50% of new cost.

I have dealt with Aktar at Woodmead on several occassions. 1. Purchased my Tri bike at an awesome price. 2. Purchased many smaller items from them at very reasonable prices. 3. Took my gf's road bike for setup (purchased on the Hub). They swapped her seatpost for a shorter one at no charge. Did setup at no charge. We did buy a few things but they still spent a good 45 mins at no charge. 4. Purchased some gloves, stitching failed after two rides, manufacturers fault. Swapped out, no questions asked. They are always friendly. Solomons is a very good business to deal with.

Thinking some more. Look at the way Cervelo uses elements/parts of the logo or the way that Ceepo uses the partial Ironman logo on the Viper. You can create more interesting design without just writing the brand.

Hi Collin Love the base colour layout but must concur with Mampara. The word Racing doesn't add to the brand. Makes it feel like a Motorbike team sort of thing. Love and Passion are words normally associated with red. Perhaps make the words red and keep the spades black. Make the spade on the front fork vertical, not aligned with the fork angle. The brand is written seven times on the frame. Down tube x2, rear stay x2, web address x2 plus underbelly x1. You also feature 6 spades. Add to that the very bold branding on your wheels. Personally, I think this is over design and detracts from the great colour scheme. I think you will make better impact with more minimalist branding. It will also leave some space for your customers to place some personal sponsorship if they like.

Is Specialized not the guy who sells knock off Livestrong kit. He got very rude when confronted about that.

Justin This is price fixing / anti competitive behaviour, exactly what the Competition Commission are trying to stamp out. They refuse to supply someone who will create competition. Do you have documentary proof of this? If so I am sure the CC will love to hear from you.

On a Tribike, you sit far higher and further forward. This holds you in the aero position and provides a more powerful position for triathlon conditions. Bear in mind, there is no drafting allowed, so you have to do all the work yourself. Weight of the bike becomes less of an issue and aero makes the big difference. The aero is gained from your position, not the shape of the bike frame. A lot more than 6 min over 90km. However, 70.3 in East London is a far hillier course than typical for a triathlon event. There is approx 600m of climbing over 90km. Not a lot when compared to a road race, but straight out of the swim and with the small issue of a half marathon afterwards, you want to save your legs as much as possible. If this is your first and you are not particularly competitive, your road bike will be fine. The benefits when you go on to do full Ironman are far more significant. If you do use the road bike with clip on bars, if may be wise to investigate a forward facing seatpost that helps replicate the typical triathlon seat post angle 76/78 deg vs 72/3 for a road bike. Good luck.

I was on the scene of the accident shortly after it happened. Two cyclists were down and one motorcyclist. One cyclist (Brad) had fairly serious but not life threatening injuries. Really deep laceration to the buttock, minor face lacerations. Looked likely a broken leg. Other cyclist, did not get his name, had a pretty serious ankle injury most likely broken. Motorcyclist also had broken leg. Was not much we could do but keep the chaps comfortable until the medics arrived. Kevin who was riding with us zooted off to Teak Place and alerted the medics at the MTB race who were there pretty quickly. Considering where we were, there was pretty speedy response time from at least another three medical emergency units. The lady paramedic, who came from Teak, took control of the site and was very professional. The wife of the injured motorcyclist left her husband and was attending to Brad. The other motorcyclists were very helpful and concerned. They took control of slowing down traffic. Lessons learned: 1. No one on site knew the emergency numbers. Call them all, see who gets there first. 082 911 (Netcare), 082 124 (ER24), 112 (National emergeny call centre), 999 (National medical and fire emergency number), 10111 (Emergency police). 2. Alert the police as well. This was an afterthought but given the seriousness of the accident, they should have been there to investigate. There was likely some culpability for what happened. 3. Afterwards I was extremely grateful that the cyclists were not more seriously injured. Although I have a calm head in these sort of situations, suddenly my first aid training seemed so far away. I will be digging out that book again and doing some refresher work. 4. Motorcyclists are people too, the chap's wife stepped away from her own family to help others. If anyone knows Brad or his buddy, please let me know, would like to follow up with him. davem2010-05-24 01:42:52

Proteas don't understand the T20 strategy. You can never catch up the runs you don't make in the early overs. Working the ball around the wicket for ones and twos just is not good enough. How many times do we finish on a mediocre score with wickets in hand. I would rather have 7-11 chasing 6 an over than 4-6 chasing 12+ an over. davem2010-05-14 04:37:18

Understand the the bike that will fit you best. Read up on www.slowtwitch.com Both are clearly stunning bikes that can win any race. But they may not be the best fit for you.

Thanks for the laugh

All debts prescribe after three years. If in the last three years, they have made no attempt to contact you, tell them the "debt has prescribed, irrespective of whether it was originally due." They will go away.