MORNE

LOL..as a matter of fact thats exactly what i did. took a headshock off a trail 1 bike back then...got a Project 321 lefty for all steerer tube for a carbon PBR lefty fork, plonked a cane creek headset in there....and i had myself what was called the cannondale "bad boy" back then. Later swopped it out for a rockshock fork and still used the same headset. looked VERY similar to this. all blacked out...although the one in the pic is the 2019 version. you basically built 700c wheels onto it and made it a badass looking hybrid.

you dont need a special cannondale reducer or headset. cane creek makes everything you need to fit a standard fork in an oversized canondale headtube. been there...done that.

if i can convince my wife to sit out this year i'd join that little growing group in the middle there for lots of stories in my second language along the way...aka "kakpraat" haha

saw your pics and story earlier in this thread when you posted them a while back and my transformation was similar lol....two different people. well done!

ive mentioned it in passing on here once or twice but i thought ill share my episode for the members still trying their best to lose or even start. About 5years ago i was at my heaviest. 105kg. (EDIT: actually later closer to 115kg - more below) Seeing the scale go over 3 digits for the first time was my wake up call. im tall (197cm) though, so with that comes all the anecdotal BS family and friends spew about length vs weight ratio blablabla. Well i didn't feel comfortable in my skin for someone who just hit 32 back then, and succumbing to the sedentary lifestyle, and the possible 'lifestyle diseases' that come with them just didn't feel like something i wanted to happen. I was just plain soft around the edges. So i started my journey learning about everything from caloric expenditure and eating habits to macros and fad diets etc etc...like we all do. I learned a lot. I never really ate unhealthily....though i guess portion size was probably my biggest downfall....that second helping right?. Emotional eating....and stress drinking (job related - although drinking wine while designing helped with creative inhibitions lol). Once i got a hold of that, as well as becoming less emotional about food in general (it is fuel..nothing more), things just started happing on their own almost. I didn't REALLY do anything more than i was already doing....still cycling over some weekends (not religiously but I have always ridden bicycles for fun).....enjoying being outside etc. Nothing major in terms of joining a gym or anything. I've never liked gyms....i feel if you can't motivate yourself to do the work at home or in the street or whatever...then you'll end up donating that gym subscription money to them for free anyway. I had some 10kg dumbbells , my bicycle and some shoes i could run in if I wanted I guess. (I hate running..screw running) That being said....the single biggest thing for me was starting to count what i put in my mouth. it takes you about 6 months for that knowledge to become almost intuitive through daily repetition (so you don't have to carry a scale with you). You'll also shock yourself when you realise just how much more you were actually eating to begin with. Because i was counting, I naturally also started drinking less...because those calories count too. Win win...and the weight just started melting away. When i lost my first 10kg within 3 months...I was hooked. Some people avoid scales...others just go by the way they look and or how clothes feel. I weighed myself EVERY morning. it motivated me and reminded me what i was busy doing. you'll find your biggest hurdleto be family andfriends too. you will start getting comments about looking 'unhealthy' or 'why are you eating so little' or a total disregard for what you are trying to achieve. JUST KEEP GOING. That then became 20kg....and then 30kg, then 35kg... when i finally hit my goal of 80kg. (EDIT: forgot to ad that my starting weight was actually closer to 115kg a few weeks after I was toying with starting as I went into a 'depro beer binge' about being a fatty first haha) (Disclaimer: ...it is an expensive journey....you will need a whole new wardrobe) Everything started getting easier....it's like you are restoring an old clogged up rusty neglected machine to its showroom condition. Your metabolism pics up....your skins looks better, you feel better, you sleep better...you become better at other things too . An efficient machine just does everything better. i was 35 and in better shape than when I was 18 (also 80kg, but stronger now)....and i kept it that way. December 2019 my mother came to visit from Oz for her 60th and obviously the beer, wine, food and festivities were aplenty...gained about 5kg...which just shows you how easy you gain when you let go. But it was fine...as I now knew exactly how my body responded to tightening the belt again - so to speak. I knew how easy it was if you just put your mind to it. You and your mind are your biggest obstacles. If you can beat those F$%ckers into submission at will...you'll have no problems. Started Jan 2020 (like everybody) with some goals again....but mostly my wife that wanted to lose some weight and asked me to help. We, stopped drinking completely - it started as "dry Jan" but i felt so good i'm still going. Suffered the worst withdrawal of my life around week 2 haha. I mean i have been boozing casually since 16....so this was this first time my liver didn't know what the hell to do with all the free time on its hands since I was a teenager. I don't crave it anymore...although i do miss a glass of wine every now and then....but you can still lose weight even if you drink moderately. I lost my first 30kgs while still drinking...just count. And that excuse about being anti social is also not an excuse....there are plenty of non alcoholic things for sale these days in stores and restaurants, well in cape town at least. Beat your mind into submission... i'm 78kg this week. feeling stronger and leaner than ever. you can do it too, i promise. PS: some extra motivation - my wife's phone still has older pics of me on it...and as icing on the cake...the face recognition feature in the photo album recognises me as two different people haha.

the route is the same as this years long route 99er but the finish (at least last year's) is right before the d'urbanvale circles in adderley rd...then a neutral zone back to the racecourse. edit: So no...no odendaal rd finish. in that sense it is faster than the 99er.

imo the 'unpgraded' site should be fixed rather than threads being shut down left right and centre by our new authoritarian communist HubHQ overlords

same. i don't even bother anymore. as mentioned above....also get random logouts between main screen and forums on computer.

OT: i once had an employer that always got very annoyed when you'd say "i (as in myself) work FOR you" They would always say..."we are a team and we work together"....and as such..would never throw you under the bus. you win and lose together. You are only as good as the lowest common denominator. if the people you employ to work WITH you really only come to you with problems instead of solutions.....then you are part of the problem imo lol

just regarding psi numbers on printed on tires. I recently listened to this talk with the guy (aerospace/mechanical/structural) engineer who works with top guys in TDF optimising tire pressures for the likes of Sagan etc. (cant remember his name now sorry). it was basically about performance at that level and about minimising/maximising/optimising and how optimising is where the biggest gains remain these days with all else equal. Other than explaining very scientifically why most people run their tires WAY to hard...he mentioned how those numbers on the sidewall come into being and what they actually mean....contrary to popular belief. If a tire says 3-5 bar on the sidewall.....that means in the lab, it gets placed on a standard aluminium rim, and it gets inflated until it either fails structurally or pops off the rim (usually happens first). When they have those PSI numbers where the tire fails or pops off, they HALVE them...and that is what gets printed on the sidewall. Standard industry practise apparently. So if it says 3-5 bar on the sidewall, assuming a standard aluminium rim...that means that tire was inflated to almost 6-10 bar before it failed or came off the rim in a lab environment....and that is literally the only information those numbers allude too. they are NOT actually the working ranges of any specific tire. i thought that was interesting. edit: Josh Poertner (Owner/president of Silca) somewhere on here https://marginalgainspodcast.cc

thinking about it now...maybe being opposite a copshop is actually not the best idea? the creatures that might get held there overnight etc and released on R10 bail...including their friends that hang around outside waiting or whatever, means there might actually be more bad apples than avarage having a random opportunistic scope just because they happen to be there doing nothing (idle hands?). That also makes me think of this but in reverse...."wat die oë nie sien nie wil die hart nie he nie"

and as mentioned already, the time they take to load these days can be measured with the Gregorian calendar. i refrain from clicking images now....just try and make due with the thumbnail lol.

fine i guess the stock is insured. But as mentioned...maybe a false sense of security with the popo across the street(they probaly helped lol) Common sense (at least to me)would suggest the general rule of thumb is that when you carry high value stock...roller shutter or similar....especially 'highstreet' type street front stores.... edit: rook cycles in town learnt that the hard way last year too I guess. We've all seen jewellery stores...even in malls, pack up and then restock the store fronts EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Punny...

true...depending on the brand. for guys our length ive noticed that Trek, Spaz, and some of the botique brands like Santa Cruz etc run smaller than others. Basically if they offer an 2XL or XXL imo it means they run small and their xl is closer to L in other bigger (like giant) brands. that reminds me....Rocky Mountain should just make kids bikes with their sizing

also...the older trail bike geometries have those slack seat tubes mos....probably why they crack in the first place in that spot imo. +1 for a metal as F@#$ bike steel is real. plastic is for chip bags.

i'm 197 and my seatpost sits at about 260mm out of the frame. it is frame size dependant obviously as mentioned....but he's not THAT tall lol. I have a 205cm cousin. anything with an effective seat tube around 500mm will be just fine for that length when it comes to seatpost. any xl frame will gladly come in under 300mm seatpost giving you that 100mm if you use 400mm post....not to mention a dropper which is a non issue. PS...op if you are on asize L or smaller bike....yes then you have issues lol

proof that "Idiocracy(2006)" was a documentary and not a slapstick comedy.

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also, since you are from Pretoria and assuming thats what Jeep quoted you...try Hi-Q Silver lakes (Clinton) or Exaust & tire city menlyn (Justin) or any other for that matter. Both stores are owned by family and they do lots of this work for the big car brands in the respective areas. A lot of the showrooms just send your car to the shop next door/ down the road and double charge you lol. Go find out from one yourself about a Bosal or the likes.

you will go faster because of better gearing, you will go slower because you are used to having it comfy with all the squish, you will go faster because more aero, but also slower because single track. you will go slower because smaller tires but also faster because smaller tires. the Munga was a dead heat this year....a gravel bike and a DS bike crossed the line together. all in all.....i'd say whatever the outcome...it will all be down to placebo

i mean you probably used your old passport/id number you still have lying around haha....you know....to have your cake and eat it too as people do