EZRider

Meh, I ride for fun all the time. But when I pay to go to an event I want to race, even if I lose. It is fun to compete and try harder than before and to beat the fat guy in denim shorts. Nobody says you hippie lot have to take it seriously. Lots of people ride the argus with no time in mind, join them at the back if you like, but why complain about those who like bling and want to try for a pb? And I can tell the difference between deore and xtr, an air fox or sid and a oil coil shock. If you can't then, by all means, ride that game special you have been dreaming about...

26" Zaskar HT and it IS my dream bike.

Better for racing than your mud bike though....

Road riding is normally about racing. That's what the sport entails, so of course it's a pissing contest. If you don't like it or aren't fast enough then by all means, find another discipline. But smugness is self serving and those roadies who have angered you really don't care. It's amazing that road riders don't rant and rave about MTB. There are no "MTB riders suck" threads or lengthy monologues by magazine editors about how MTB riders venturing onto the road aren't embracing the spirit of the sport. I have news for you, most roadies, myself included, are MTB riders too, embracing both competitive and social aspects of the sport. You are not better, not magically cool and somehow superior, but, by all means, if it makes you feel better to think so then go for it. Ray Will not buy tread again.

I dunno, looks pretty real to me... anyway, it's on the web and the Hub, must be real.

I read somewhere on cycling news that he isn't. Waiting for his hearing and then going to concentrate on next years tour.

Pretty much like me. Have to keep going to though, or those working for me may be out stealing bikes instead. Nothing like hungry kids and an angry wife to motivate a man.

You have to catch us first...

Anyway, this is a win win situation. The world ends. Proof that God exists. Fantastic! Nothing scares me more than Nihilism. Not even hellfire The world doesn't end. Fantastic! I get to continue my so far pretty awesome life. See you all on the mountains.

That race is worth going to hell for

I use the Recon Gold on my zaskar and I can find no fault with it yet. I use to ride a fox r32 on my full suss and I can honestly see no difference. Will it last? Time will tell.

We Shimano types are like fixie mtb riders - we do it because we LIKE the pain We also eat stew, grow beards and don't shave our legs...

We are out riding our bikes, not weighing them!

Hard to like the new Raleigh road bikes, they seem intent on killing off the brand in favour of scott. My carbon Raleigh may just be a classic soon...

It's no wonder that MTB riders are so chilled on the hills, they are tired from all the online whining and complaining

Seriously? Roadies hit the tar at 70 km/h... I fall muuuuuch harder on my road bike than my mtb. And most roadies are mtb riders too. It's only "pure" mtb riders that have this strange sense of elitism: we are cool, accepting, caring, fiendly and responsible and it magically happened to us the day we decided to ride thick wheels only... Bollocks. As in life you get idiots and nice people everywhere. I ride mtb and road and use a Nokia.

Whatever Paul and Yolande are doing seems to work for them, she doesn't seem to be held back

A short while ago I posted a rant about paying a tread subscription and not receiving any magazines. It's only fair that I now post a rave: Well, thanks to Nolene and Donovan at Tread I am once again a very happy Tread enthusiast. In the post today I received every single missed issue, two pairs of Tread socks and a Tread cycling jersey. You guys are fantastic for making this right and then some. Thank you, Ray A Tread reader once more.

Thank you very much. Ray

Donovan has contacted me and promised to make this good. Thanks to everyone for their replies.

Enjoy splat, 2 copies make for good stereo reading on the loo.

Thank you for producing an excellent magazine. It is definitely the premium MTB cycling mag available and I used to look forward to your appearance of the shelves of our local vendor. I would also like to congratulate you on your sense of humour. At first I failed to understand your wit but through a long and complex journey (I am perhaps a little slow) the punchline has dawned on me and I had brief and heartfelt, albeit expensive, chuckle. A year ago my wife subscribed to Tread Magazine because we enjoy reading it and the lure of winning that shiny white IBIS was just too great. We waited for our copy to arrive but we may as well have been waiting for Godot - nothing. Two months became four and then six. Still no magazine and we even resorted to purchasing copies from the CNA. We contacted Tread via email and I spoke to Joanne on the phone. I was told that they had problems with certain subscriptions and were busy sorting it out. A few more months went by, still nothing despite continued queries from our side. In frustration I even mentioned this on a thread in "Rant & Rave" and long time denizen of this site asked me to give up my personnel details so that he could pass it on to Tread with whom he had dealings. I must admit to being hopeful but that was before I was aware of the scale of your prank. And then... a miracle. Exactly a year after paying my subscription, I received my first, and last, Tread Magazine. Along with a letter reading: Dear L*** D***, As a valued reader of tread magazine we would like to inform you that issue 8 was the last... To avoid missing any issues you will need to renew... at a nominal cost of R180.00 It was obviously within your powers to keep your end of the bargain and get a magazine into my home! I was puzzled by this whole affair but after some consideration I came up with the following options: 1) You are dishonest. I find this unlikely. I don't think R160.00 is worth a tarnished reputation. 2) You are incompetent. Plausible, but again, I don't think this level of incompetence is possible in a team that manages to produce a magazine of such high quality. 3) This has all been a joke at my expense. HA HA HA I get it. Ray

Hey Saudiq, I own a carbon Raleigh with 105 and Mavic wheels and it's a great bike. Stiff, light and responsive. The carbon frames are all good so get the one with the guarantee and the paint job you like. The second hand bike may be cracked, check carefully, and it also may not have a transferable guarantee. It doesn't make a huge amount of sense to go second hand if the price is the same. As far as campy vs shimano vs SRAM goes, this horse has been beaten before. Both pros and normal folk have had very good success and failure on all of them and will happily point you towards whatever they are currently riding. The XT groupo on my MTB is bullet proof, surviving technical stage racing with ease. The 105 on my road bike performs flawlessly and if it didn't I would change to something else as I am not a fanboy. Buy the bike you like as all of them will do the job. Ray