jroux

Ability/Possibility is not gauged by the bike, you can do it on a uni-cycle if you really want to. But ironman rules obviously states that you have to do it on a road or tri bike.

Crazy D group! I counted 5 crashes, 3 within the first 3kms! Last one 200m from the end! Seems like people regard a fast time higher than their own lives, very sad!

Kwaai! I'll be riding on Fanie's wheel! Riding a white and blue scott R3. If the weather is kind i'll definitely do my bit, sub 3 would be very nice indeed.

Agreed that a wetsuit does not and should not give you the security that you will not drown. If you cant swim the distance without the suit you should not enter. I can definitely feel the wetsuit helps me saving energy because it helps me float better, but I don't use it to help me finish the swim leg, that's ridiculous! I will not go near the water if my confidence is on whether I can use my wetsuit. It's dangerous as well.

I'm no pro, for one. I haven't even ridden with the compact crank yet, still needs to get fitted on the bike. I was just interested what my options are if I don't like it. As far as I could gather from reading is that to achieve the same speeds as a normal 54T you'd need to up your cadence, thus if you have an 11-23 cassette you could more or less offset the effect of the smaller front chainring. I was just interested if it does not work for me, if I could just add a 54T chainring on. I'm no bike expert but how does a 55T/42T front and 11/28 rear compare to a normal 54/39 front and 12/25 rear. Do you have the same effect on the extreme ends of the cassette? Does this apply more to how your riding style is in the end or is the variants more aimed at what you ride more often example hills, flats, etc?

Thanks, will have a look!

Mmmm, thanks guys. Seems like for now I'll have to play around with the cassette then.

I have an ultegra compact crank(50-34), can I change the bigger chainring to a 52 or even 54? What do I need to take into consideration? Had a look through older posts, but too many results on compact, if there is an older post just send me the link. Thanks

I agree with thug, I use a coral tri wetsuit and they are great. R2000 compared to the imported brands new is a steal.

Thanks guys, great explanation.

Hijacking the thread but can anyone just give a quick explanation what the air bubbles do inside the oil? And don't just say the brakes fail, I gathered that much.

I am using an old Raleigh M-trax frame only because I wanted to get my hands dirty and built it up myself. I started out with the intent on using v-brakes, beause they would be easier than discs if you gonna go DIY. The frame is about 8 years old and Daxiet is right, a lot of things changed in 8 years and v-brakes are phasing out faster than a ZIM$10000 bill. Rather buy a decent second hand bike with an up-to-date spec and go from there. All I have left of my mtrax is the frame and shocks(only because new ones are so darn expensive), could not use anything else due to compatability issues. But hey, its still fun doing it yourself.

Thanks Werner. Will do. I got the addresses of cycle direct and cycle factory off the internet and will be checking them out this weekend. Will have a look at the others as well.

Hey saffer. Sounds great but I live in Durbanville(Cape Town), So Northcliff LBS is out of the question. I am going out to Table View This weekend to check out two more bike shops that would try and help me rather then make a quick sale. I like bicycles, not just riding them, but also working on them, but the technologies change so fast so you need to talk to informative people to better understand your choices. But ussualy they think you are a dumbass and try to use big words and lots of abbreviations to confuse you, but I do mt research before I go for help, and when they start with that crap, I just turn around and walk out, because I know they dont want to help, they just want to sell. Luckily the trusty Hub and its followers are there to assist or mock, lol! To slave, sounds like you have future bike tester there. You should call one of the big brands and tell them you have somebody that will REALLY give their bikes a test!

Hey slave, you are so right. Bike shops always try to sell you the most expensive stuff. I was looking for a cheap set of mtb rims(under R1000) and the best one shop could offer me was R2500!! Which is bull**** because they have bikes on the floor for just over R3k. Does that mean the bike cost R1000?!! I dont think so. Why do they always try to convince you that you need to fork out a lot of cash? Do the sales people in bikeshops work for commission?