Jump to content

amac

Members
  • Posts

    38
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by amac

  1. I was recently gifted a new mtb helmet. When I first put it it on it was noticeably thicker on my forehead than the one it replaced. It has a very small peak which adds to the protrusion. At first I thought I did not like this and it would compromise looking ahead. But I soon realised that it is noticeably better because it shades my eyes against the low early morning sun. With the previous one I had to lift a hand against the early rays.
  2. I find this really interesting. At what age do kids start dreaming of elite sporting success ? I suspect that at primary school level kids aren't dreaming about anything more than success at the next event they compete at. I think kids pretty much live in the moment. I suspect that a lot of parents spoil childrens' sport. But there may well be kids that truly love swimming and being in a pool. Are they being " drilled" ? I have noticed that with for example motorsport, success is linked to starting at a young age. ( Binder, Rossi, Verstappen, Pastrana, Carmichael, Stoner etc.) I am sad that we no longer have inter provincial xco racing for nippers and sprogs. I was told that this was because the parents were overly competitive and this made the competition undesirable. I took my child to interprovincials. It was an opportunity to go away for a weekend, make friendships with people from other provinces and for the kids to play with peers at these events. Sometimes the races were disappointing because of crashes, mechanicals etc. But the race was a small part of the weekend. Overall it was really enjoyable. I can't think of any event that was not worthwhile. I posted previously that a 10 year old is too young for training. I stand by that but it is important to ensure we all agree on what training is. I don't regard riding 45 minutes to an hour on a couple of weekdays and perhaps an hour and a half at the weekend as training. It's just fun time together. Training is when you ''have" to ride. When riding includes intervals either on an indoor or outdoors uphill. Training is less fun. But is often still rewarding. (Seeing progress is motivating.) With cycling it is also less fun because it is an individual sport. So is swimming, but that is usually a club activity and kids are in pools with numbers of other children. I think that is an important difference. I don't know the answers to these interesting issues, but I think it unfortunate that adults form strong opinions and attempt to control what other people may enjoy. ( I have no idea what happens in china and I am not advocating for kids to be taken away to train for the glory of a country. ) But I do think it sad that kids are prevented from inter provincial xco racing, while provincial races and schools races are permitted to go ahead. If parents are the problem, they must be a problem at any level of competition, not just inter provincial. I think inter provincial is important because kids in smaller provinces do not get to glimpse elite athletes at their provincial events. It is inspiring for kids to meet the likes of the Hatherleys and Lills. But these elites only compete in the WC and perhaps to a lesser extent near Gauteng.
  3. Apologies, I not you said he is 10 in the heading. Too young for training. Ride regularly and do other sport as well.
  4. Hi Dirk I hope the following helps: 1. A lot of crashes happen at the start in every age group. 2. You can try to mitigate the risk by trying to give yourself space. Put your elbows out. And try to leave a gap to the row ahead. ( Hard because other riders see space and try to move into those spaces) 3. I recommend trying to position yourself on the outside. You can sometimes find space on the outside where the middle places and the inside are just a crush. 4, You did not mention your boys age so it is impossible to give training advice. Keeping it fun is key. Arranging for him to ride with his peers is ideal. Try and ride regularly rather than making cycling a seasonal activity.
  5. When my daughter was a little older than your son is now she was riding a 24" avalanche. About 15 months later we upgraded to a 2nd hand momsen superlight. We always had fun, but when she got onto the light bike it was so much more fun for all of us.
  6. Some years ago I was mugged in the bush at knifepoint. I landed up losing my camelbak, my phone, some cash, tools and tubes. The mugger was intent on taking my bike because he was disappointed at the small return. I was able to negotiate that he leave the bike. The incident really upset me and for quite a long time. The mugger, while searching through my camelbak left himself open to an attack. I didn't exploit the opportunity. I thought about this quite a lot afterward. I don't carry anything. I sometimes still ride alone. I think carrying could be more dangerous. I know a guy who was attacked riding past 3 guys that he did not think were going to attack. On a bicycle you too vulnerable. It is too easy for handle bars to be knocked and you have no chance to avoid falling. In which case you could be overwhelmed before you can draw whatever you are carrying. Worse you could be injured/killed with whatever you were carrying. What will be...
  7. Asics GT2000 are brilliant shoes. Offer enough stability, yet decent cushion.
  8. I would recommend you look for secondhand. Kids grow so fast that you are replacing every 18 month to two years. If you buy second hand, you getting an almost new bike at around 50 % of the cost of new and you in for maintenance expenses until your kid needs a bigger bike. At which point you sell and hardly lose any capital.
  9. Thanks. Will check this out.
  10. I am am a techno retard, so perhaps it is my fault. As I said before, the phone and derailleur connect automatically. The derailleur doesn't ask permission to run an update. The light goes red and nothing works until the update completes.
  11. I ride with the phone. The phone and derailleur connect by bluetooth. I don't understand your reference to computer and excel ?
  12. Glad so many people love the GX AXS experience. I personally hate it. The bike came with GX AXS. 99.5% of the time it works really well. But I hate it that it sometimes does not work. For example, it occasionally does a system update. It will not work until the update is complete. When you have time constraints it is irritating. Sometimes it just stops working. If you remove and replace the battery it works again. I have also heard of other units failing in the cold. I am considering buying a mechanical derailleur instead.
  13. I helped put on an event. To give you an idea of costs : 1. Prize money all categories - About R22K 2. CSA for commissaires, calendar etc - About 5K 3. Timing - 6.5k Including music 4. Venue Hire - 8k 5. Marking and cutting trail - 7k 6. Event promotion, taking entries 22K 7. Safety officer 5k 8. medics 3.5k 9 marshals 8k You need a lot of sponsorship and a lot of riders to cover the costs.
  14. Okay. Order the cheapest pedals. They will come with cleats. Remove the existing pedals. The right side is easy. The left side has a left hand thread so you loosen by turning the bolt right. Fit the new pedals. Take the cleats and screw them into the front holes of your pedals. Then pull the cleats as far back as possible. Then tighten the screws. Make sure the cleats are straight.. On some shoes you may find it necessary to twist the cleat slightly toward the big toe side of the shoe. Then, before riding look at the pedals. You will notice an allen headed screw at the back of each side of the pedal. Loosen it as much as possible. You will do this on both sides of each pedal. Before riding practice unclipping. Lean against a wall and twist your ankle outward. In the beginning it seems tricky but soon becomes second nature. We use cleated pedals so our feet do not slip off the pedals. When you get used to being clipped to the pedal, it is much more comfortable than riding flats.
  15. I suggest you take your bike to cyclelab. Buy the cheapest pedal. Get them to fit the pedal and the cleat onto your new shoes. If you ever want to remove your pedals, remember that the left pedal has a left hand thread.
  16. Last year had an appendectomy. This year got sick a week or two beforehand.
  17. He was going to race with Simon Andreasen, who got ill.
  18. Seem to recall that US Postal sued Lance and he stood to earn a commission on whatever was recovered. He stated he would use the money to start his team.
  19. Max Cluer. He commentates on all world cup xco events.
  20. Please can someone in the know explain the xcc qualifying. Seems a lot of competitors didn't take part. Presumably they will not do the short course on Thursday and will accept starting 6th row or further back ?
  21. The point is it is not a South African company and it is not listed. It trades over the counter and if the complaint is legitimate the transfer secretary is extremely inefficient.
  22. Not sure that this is correct. From my read of the thread, it seems that the Leatt company was once South African. And some SA investors bought shares. Now the company is a US company with shares trading OTC in America. It has a research department in Cape Town. And selling / transferring shares is a nightmare.
  23. And why maintain a brand presence in a country in which the brand is unavailable ?
  24. I saw a post by Candice on IG which indicated she expected the ramp to be removed for the race.
  25. They have the ramp in practice so that you can safely determine how fast you have to hit the take off to reach the landing. If you too slow, you land on the ramp without crashing.
Settings My Forum Content My Followed Content Forum Settings Ad Messages My Ads My Favourites My Saved Alerts My Pay Deals Help Logout