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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.
35 minutes ago, Shebeen said:My view on elite sports requiring dedicated training from a young age? For every pogi/phelps/nadal superstar there are 99 other kids who dreamed of the same but spent their childhood drilled at practice putting in the same hours and never got there. Is it worth the 1% chance of professional success over the 99% chance of doing a sport so much that you don't enjoy it? ** Not in my books, I'd rather take the odds of picking something up later and then working on it.
Competitive swimming(IMHO) is a dumb sport, it really is if you think about it. You dedicate a massive amount of your youth to building up to maybe just having a shot at the only thing that counts (olympics). Squad swimming kids are at the pool early 3 mornings a week from a young age. forget 10 000 hours, for swimming you need 30 000. It's a recipe for burnout and no way to grow up even if you do get there - the best possible outcome is you get really good is a kickass college degree(that you hardly studied at because your eyes were so burnt from all the chlorine). Simple answer. reduce the amount of olympic medals for swimming, it's really not such a big sport in the scheme of things but is only held up because it is big at the olympics.
Moving on we now have the chinese sporting model, which is version 2.0 of the cold war academy. They throw money,coaches etc at promising kids in olympic medal sports. eg. Does china have a canoeing scene? no, not even a club or a race but they now have olympic medals in it because they have sent a battery of kids through a boarding school for 15 years doing it for the state.
another example Lily from china who won olympic sailing gold. her parents saw her 2 weeks a year from the age of 8 and had never seen her actually sailing. Actually a sad story, she doesn;t sail anymore is much happier being a broadcaster/commentator
https://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/04/sport/xu-lijia-china-sailing-olympics/
Instead I like the Norwegian model, let the kids play, if they show promise then work on it much later
https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/how-norway-won-all-that-olympic-gold-again/
edit: added this from another link,
** figures generalised obviously much closer to 0.000001% and 99.9999999%
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.
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3 minutes ago, amac said: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.
Apologies, I not you said he is 10 in the heading. Too young for training. Ride regularly and do other sport as well.
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.
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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...
1 hour ago, Prince said:Hi Guys
After many years of not running i am back to running 5km/10km sort of distances, Parkrun sort of thing. I am looking for some suggestion for new shoes, not expensive as i will never run marathons etc again. I am a mild over pronator. Used to run in Asics gel DS trainers
Asics GT2000 are brilliant shoes. Offer enough stability, yet decent cushion.
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.
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4 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:try setting the connect permission in the phone to "Ask before connecting" and make sure the App is not running in the background. I've never heard of anyone using AXS having this issue. It must be a settings issue
Thanks. Will check this out.
5 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:Why would you want phone and derailleur connected during a ride. Simple question. The app snd connection is only required for set up , updates snd troubleshooting so what’s the purpose of having the connection active during a ride?
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.
38 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:why would you have your phone connected to the derailleur and running and update while also trying to ride the bike??
If you computer is installing updates do you also run massive excel models?
I ride with the phone. The phone and derailleur connect by bluetooth. I don't understand your reference to computer and excel ?
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.
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.
4 minutes ago, David Moloko said:Hi Amac thanks for the reply however where I live there are no bike shops only bought the shoes online.
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.
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.
10 minutes ago, Cookie88 said:He got ill again?!
Last year had an appendectomy. This year got sick a week or two beforehand.
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21 minutes ago, Sid the Sloth said:He is racing in Brazil at the first World Cup and has been training for that as far as I know.
He was going to race with Simon Andreasen, who got ill.
1 hour ago, Shebeen said:bit hard to hate the whistleblower
I don't think he came out of it with much $$$.
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.
4 hours ago, mecheng89 said:Does Gerald de Kock commentate on all cycling disciplines? Can hear his voice over the PA at the event.
Max Cluer. He commentates on all world cup xco events.
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 ?
3 hours ago, DieselnDust said:That collusion still goes on today. The problem with the outcome of that incident is the instigators got off scott free and the two entities with the bigest turnover paid the fines and took the rap for an industry. They're all still chummie chummie...
Dr.Leatt paid his price for his sin atoned and move on. Maybe there's a really positive story here.
PS: YChecking in with some peeps in the medical industry, it appears many many doctors were doing what Leatt got nailed for so indeed a Robin Hood story. What I'd like to understand is why is this being raised now? What is the game at play here?
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.
1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:brilliant post
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.
2 hours ago, Mountain Bru said:I'm not sure if it was always going to be in place for the womans race or if they changed it due to the conditions. But if it was always the plan to have it there for the woman, it kind of would make sense to leave it there for the practice sessions and just tell the men it won't be there in the race.
Like if men and woman want to practice at the same times, or if they don't want to move the thing the whole time depending on who is on the course, you have to have the ramp in place and just tell the men not to use it. The men can still practice the exact race situation with the ramp in place, but the woman can't replicate their race conditions if it's not there.
I saw a post by Candice on IG which indicated she expected the ramp to be removed for the race.
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Newbie post: Looking to buy a mountain bike , no idea where to start . Please help
in Ask Anything
Posted
I suggest you try and find out if there are any cycling clubs or cycling groups that you can join in your area. Getting a bike and riding on your own is not the best idea for a number of reasons. ( Accidents, security, mechanical failures etc.) And if you are only going to be riding by yourself, it is my experience that it is quite easy to let yourself down. So find people to ride with.
Then find out what bikes those people have. In the beginning you may not have the fitness to keep up. Don't worry, cyclists are a friendly bunch and won't mind waiting for you in the beginning. But you don't want to be unable to keep up because of lack of fitness compounded by an inappropriate bike.
Your best option - and i know there are going to be howls of protest - may be to buy an e-bike. They are fun to ride and suitable for riding in groups with non e-bike riders on low power settings. You still get a very hard workout if that is what you want. As a beginner they are easier to ride than non e-bikes and they allow you to keep up with fitter riders. A reasonable e-bike is going to cost much more than R10 - 15 K but it is more likely to be well used and you may avoid buying more than once in a short time frame.
Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy the shopping experience and more so that you enjoy your new sport.