niterider

Why on earth not? Unless you've specifically made me agree to keep communications private, I can do anything I like with that correspondence. And in this case I was in fact asked by Naas to post his final reply on the matter.

Can't find the info right now, but it was a statement from 1 of the major manufacturers, Bell if I'm not mistaken - the stuff about UV damage etc is baloney and 3 years would be unreasonably short. They recommendeded a 3 year upgrade window because of the advances in technology which meant that newer helmets would be safer, lighter and more comfortable. Of course if you're like me you'll hit the 3-year upgrade window through normal usage, ie crashing your head into the pavement

Hmm seeing I have just ordered one (cyclo ops pro PT300) i would be interested (its too late now tra la lah...) why its a BAD option. Looks like a great option to me - - no wearing out of tyres to worry about - no farting around clipping my bike into the trainer and calibrating the thing - no worries that I'm damaging my frame with the huge power outputs I put out If I had the bucks I'd definitely have one.

Why do you say this?

Here's some pics from our Saturday morning coffee ride. Nice to meet everyone! The first two are waiting at the top of Suikerbossie for the slackers who we later discovered had stopped for coffee before the hill even started niterider2007-03-12 10:51:11

Front or rear? I'd suggest you buy new - you never know how well a shock has been treated and how often (if ever) its been serviced.

Here's mine. I started in VA but punctured before Smits and rode the rest with B group. So the race time is the time I was moving (excluding the puncture stop). Actual finish time was 2:55. I'm 61kg if you want to do the w/kg thing. Race: Duration: 2:49:51 Work: 1869 kJ TSS: 217 (intensity factor 0.877) Norm Power: 241 VI: 1.31 Distance: 107.5 km Min Max Avg Power: 0 897 184 watts Heart rate: 63 182 149 bpm Cadence: 29 141 89 rpm Speed: 0 71.2 38.1 kph Pace 0:51 0:00 1:35 min/km Hub Torque: 0 31 6.8 lb-in Crank Torque: 0 101.9 20.3 N-m Edinburgh Drive: Duration: 2:49 Work: 58 kJ TSS: 7.6 (intensity factor 1.271) Norm Power: n/a VI: n/a Distance: 1.176 km Min Max Avg Power: 66 562 344 watts Heart rate: 101 101 101 bpm Cadence: 76 138 92 rpm Speed: 20 33.9 24.9 kph Pace 1:46 3:00 2:24 min/km Hub Torque: 2.8 30.4 17.0 lb-in Crank Torque: 5.8 62.4 36.9 N-m Smits: Duration: 4:07 Work: 72 kJ TSS: 8.7 (intensity factor 1.129) Norm Power: n/a VI: n/a Distance: 1.723 km Min Max Avg Power: 0 601 293 watts Heart rate: n/a n/a n/a bpm Cadence: 55 131 86 rpm Speed: 20.2 31.8 24.8 kph Pace 1:53 2:58 2:25 min/km Hub Torque: 0 23.8 14.5 lb-in Crank Torque: 0 69.1 32.7 N-m Small Chappies: Duration: 2:49 Work: 54 kJ TSS: 6.5 (intensity factor 1.179) Norm Power: n/a VI: n/a Distance: 1.281 km Min Max Avg Power: 130 594 318 watts Heart rate: n/a n/a n/a bpm Cadence: 72 141 92 rpm Speed: 23.3 34.8 27.0 kph Pace 1:43 2:35 2:13 min/km Hub Torque: 5.5 27.2 14.2 lb-in Crank Torque: 10 69.1 34.2 N-m Big Chappies: Duration: 5:10 Work: 101 kJ TSS: 12.4 (intensity factor 1.198) Norm Power: 329 VI: 1.01 Distance: 2.346 km Min Max Avg Power: 81 628 325 watts Heart rate: n/a n/a n/a bpm Cadence: 62 138 88 rpm Speed: 18.6 51.4 27.3 kph Pace 1:10 3:14 2:12 min/km Hub Torque: 2.9 27.3 15.2 lb-in Crank Torque: 7.2 69 36.1 N-m Suikerbossie: Duration: 4:57 Work: 97 kJ TSS: 11.5 (intensity factor 1.179) Norm Power: n/a VI: n/a Distance: 1.897 km Min Max Avg Power: 192 598 326 watts Heart rate: n/a n/a n/a bpm Cadence: 67 133 84 rpm Speed: 18.5 33 22.9 kph Pace 1:49 3:15 2:38 min/km Hub Torque: 9.7 24.1 17.2 lb-in Crank Torque: 23 67.9 37.5 N-m

Not sure/don't care who's responsible here, but there should be a media liason person on this race. It is/would be their responsibility to issue results and press releases. At the Cape Epic every evening they were recording TV summaries for global broadcast that same day. Here we can't even get the results by the next day. Poor show.

Tyres I've used in the last few years, and my experiences: Michelin Pro Race: Very nice tyres, but were prone to cuts. Managed to write one off after only 1 week, which made me look for an alternative. Conti 4 Seasons: Marketed as a GP3000 with softer rubber for the wet, and better puncture protection (ala gatorskin). Raced with these in winter and the grip is unbeatable in the wet. Then had them on as training tyres for quite a while now - they are lasting a lot longer than a supposed "soft compound" tyre should. Conti Attack/Force: Managed to slice the Force after only a month, but it was great up until then. The attack is still working well as a good front tyre. Kenda Kaliente: Wasn't expecting much at the price, nor with the fact that they only weighed 200g. But they have performed waaay beyond expectation with only 2 punctures in one year. Being used as a racing and training tyre. No problems with wet grip either, and wearing a lot better than you'd expect for a lightweight tyre. If I was shopping again I'd get the Kalientes. Affordable and perform very well. niterider2007-03-08 05:36:17

Latest Zonda's are a lot lighter than the old ones. 1610g is about 200g lighter than the previous version IIRC.

Save some money and buy Campy Zondas. Half the price of Eurus, and almost as nice. You will not notice the weight difference. http://www.cwcycles.co.za/specials_detail.php?idproduct=254 Or, if you want to spend money to go faster, rather than look faster, buy yourself a power meter and get some coaching.

Most stuff washes off in wet conditions - the river crossing on Sunday removed my finishline Wet lube completely. Had I used my usual Squirt I would have expected the same result. On long rides the solution is to relube during the ride. Squirt is nice cos it sheds a lot of muck and doesn't result in a massive buildup.niterider2007-03-05 07:55:45

Another vote for squirt. Tried WL, tried finishline wet and dry. Squirt is the mutt's nuts.