TheTashkentTerror

Do you still have his number? Asking for a friend.

I did - searing pain at the back of my hip 3-4km into each run. Happy to share what worked for recovery if you are interested.

Minibus taxi exist (for the most part) because historically, specific ethnic groups were forced to live outside the city, and not provided any form of public transport infrastructure. As they were also denied a proper education or job opportunities, they couldn't afford to buy their own cars needed to commute back into town to be able to mow lawns or wash dishes of be a nanny, or whatever other menial task their limited opportunities afforded them. So through that, taxis became a part of the system. The people that ride them don't really have a choice, I'm sure they'd love to drive, or catch a roadworthy bus or train into work. The issue now is, when the local govt does try to do the right thing like adding new MyCity bus routes to previously unserviced (poor) areas for instance, the taxi owners (who would stand to lose their livelihood) fight back and make life very difficult for anyone who participates in a competing scheme. Passengers, drivers, anyone. They are a problem. In my experience they are the biggest threat on the road due to the quality of the vehicles, the number of people at risk and crazy chances that the drivers take - who admittedly are often "slaves" to very demanding taxi owners. (side note: while they are the worst, they are followed closely on my s**t list by large dudes in large bakkies with a large sense of entitlement). I don't know what the solution is, but if there is a fight to be had, it must happen at a local Government level and not on the roads by people like you or I. Blocking taxis off or pulling other crazy stunts in your car wont help, it only makes the road less safe for everyone. Just let them in, they are taking 20 people to work, compared to most cars which only have 1 or 2 people in them. In many countries, there are dedicated car-pool lanes and dedicated bus lanes (which we do have here) that give people-carriers a level of privilege simply because they are doing a service and carry far more people to work than you or I. If it makes it easier, then see it that way. Allow them a certain level of privilege and just let me through. If you want to fight, petition, protest, speak out...but please don't fight on the road. I'm tired of worrying every time my significant other has to drive in to cape town.

I too noticed that my 26er and my 29er went the same speed when nobody was riding them in the garage. Fortunately I also noticed that I was consistently faster on the 29er than the 26er for the same amount of effort. This made it easier to keep up with my friends and have more fun!

Also, some comments suggest that "tough" and "stupid" are a "zero sum game". They are not. It is not one or the other. You can be both very stupid and very tough at the same time. The best/worst example I can think of is Tom Simpson, whose last words were "Put me back on my bike".

When you do a running race that is so long that people can talk about "the last 100km", then you are tough whatever the case.

Godwin's Law. I don't mean to be a grammar nazi though. Oh s**t what have I done?

OK well then I'm sorry if I misinterpreted your post below:

Lol, but in the mean time you are happy to assume that he is not doing his job properly on the basis that (as the president of the UCI) he's too busy taking a moral stance against perhaps the highest profile cheat the sport has ever known.

OK hang on, I'm confused. So for years Lance and the UCI were complicit in covering up doping. I'm aware that EPO usage (and other forms of doping) was probably happening across the board in the pro peloton, but Lance and previous UCI leaders were part of its rotten core - google Hein Verbruggen. Now a new UCI president is showing some sort of ethical backbone and is getting criticised? That lance is more popular on the Hub is not really a proxy for right and wrong. I'm sure Ted Bundy gets more google hits than the police officers that caught him. I'm sure most people don't know who lappartient is. Its not relevant. He's the UCI president and is (seemingly) trying to take the moral high ground. It's pretty refreshing to see for a UCI president. So am I missing something? I'm not being sarcastic, that's a sincere question. I may well be ignorant about some back story that is preventing me from seeing what appears to be the popular opinion. For what it's worth, I am actually a fan of LA.

1. Admin informed, 2. Account blocked 3. Decision to name (whoever may be) the guilty person in this story is left to a neutral 3rd party, whilst given the accused a chance to voice his side of the story. It all sounds reasonable. There is a risk that somebody else may be scammed in the mean time. But, if you are genuinely worried about being scammed in the next 24 hours, maybe just don't buy anything on the hub until then. I'm pretty sure anybody reading this thread wont buy from anyone dodgy in the short term. Any anybody who didn't wouldn't have seen the naming and shaming anyway - so would fall victim either way.

Logically, if a situation can be fixed, and a person claims to be sorry, then wouldn't they just make it right? So to me, "I'm sorry" only applies when you can't fix what you've done. eg1: "I stole R100 from you wallet. I felt bad. Here is your money back". No need for sorry. eg2: "I'm sorry I ran over your cat." This situation falls under example 1. Give back the money.

If I can just weigh in on reliability: Almost anything (apart from mallet pedals and apparently the new dropper post) made by crank bros has had serious reliability issues. IF you want to see just the tip of the iceberg: just read the comments section here in what was arguably the bravest interview of all time: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/ask-us-anything-crankbrothers-monday-june-27-1000-pst.html To quote a friend after his pedal broke during a technical descent: "The pedals will be replaced under warranty, but my shoulder wont." I wouldn't go a country mile of anything made by crank bros. The pedals might be more comfortable or something, but I still have the first shimano pedals that I bought 12 years ago. They still work perfectly. I think I washed them once.

I gave a used bike to a guy that often helps with manual labour in our garden. The bike was a decent scott hardtail, (R17K new) so not totally high end but definitely not something he could afford. I've tried to prep him with some of the basics but he still doesn't have a strong opinion about the wheel size debate, is undecided about going 1x and wasn't near a TV when Armstrong gave Ullrich "the look". So please bear this in mind if you engage him in a bit of cyclist to cyclist chit chat. The bike is defos his.

If people call me names like c-bomb (or similar) then there's HUGE trouble.... ...huge trouble for me, because I tend to back away from conflict out of fear and it leaves me feeling bad about myself for days afterwards. Luckily there is the internet where I can assume a separate persona and talk tough to people. Yeah!