Wallee Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 I have an awesome MET Veleno helmet you can buy for R500. Still in the box, never been used. Size medium.
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) wallee, your pic clearly shows the helmet OUT of the box... Misleading advertising, dude... BTW - I have a Bell Faction (sparkly magenta) that cost me all of R 450. It's hot. It's heavy. And it's strong. Do I care that it's hotnheavy? No. But then it only has 4 vents (okay, 10) the size of my pinkie, so it doesn't have any weak spots that could fail catastrophically should it connect with a stick of candyfloss. Here it is in action... Edited June 21, 2012 by cptmayhem
RockCoach Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 If I can take your attention back to the cleats and pedals for minute... Try to practice unclipping on both sides. Many falls happen when one becomes used to a preferred side. You occasionally need to stop on uneven trail forcing you over onto your less preferred foot. If you can't get the other foot out... A funny variation on this happens when you get your usual foot out but fall over the other way
Clinton1 Posted June 21, 2012 Author Posted June 21, 2012 If I can take your attention back to the cleats and pedals for minute... Try to practice unclipping on both sides. Many falls happen when one becomes used to a preferred side. You occasionally need to stop on uneven trail forcing you over onto your less preferred foot. If you can't get the other foot out... A funny variation on this happens when you get your usual foot out but fall over the other way A friend mentioned that funny variation earlier, I will need to keep my eye out for that As regards both sides, I was doing this while practising earlier. I have ato admit that the left foot seemed to come out a lot easier even though I made the same number of click turns to each adjuster on the pedals. Perhaps the one cleat is at a slightly different angle.
(Deon) Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 . Dude, I did not even see what you wrote.. these avatars are becoming waay too distracting.
Caerus Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 The graph is based on feild tests which I have already conducted. The weight test is simple... does it fall off when you acidentally leave it on your car roof after a ride and drive the precise distance from 1 KFC to another. If it stays put, it can be classified as a "cheap heavy" helmet. If it has vanished, it was a "expensive light helmet" The ventilation test is also relatively simple. Put the helmet on a bald test subject. Make him/her (we don't discriminate against bald or bearded ladies) ride the precise distance from one Mochachos to another (considerably further than the KFC method of measuring displacement). After distance is covered, wipe subects head with standard tissue, and weigh. If net weight (excluding tissue) is more than 5g, then the helmet is "cheap and sweaty". If less, the helmet is "expensive and well ventilated". The "Fast Looking" test. Wearing each test helmet, ride up to the nearest Vide Cafe on a saturday morning and see how many lycra-clad patrons stare (with envy) at the top of your head for more than 5sec. If the percentage of gazers is less than 63.2%, then the helmet is a "cheap crap looking helmet". If more, then the helmet is considered "expensive and 'fast looking'"... simple! Lastly... the impact testing... this is more complex... My 'involuntary dismount' style is such that I don't often hit my head (convenient for me. not so convenient for science). But on the few occasions that I have hit it hard... the "cheap-heavy-sweaty-crap looking" helmet still looked crap (and didn't suffer any other performance defects). The "expensive-light-breezy-fast-looking" helmet got a dent and the peak fell off, and therefore became "expensive-lighter-breezy(with-no-sun-shading)-crap-looking" There you have it! Science!I wish you had been my science teacher, it all makes so much more sense now arendoog 1
Clinton1 Posted June 22, 2012 Author Posted June 22, 2012 (edited) So I took my cleats for their first proper spin today. Firstly, a few people can say "I told you so" as it felt a helluva lot better than my takkies. BUT.... Surprisingly the thing that stood out most to me was not improved peddling efficiency, which was what many indicated would be the main reason to switch, but rather how great it felt to go over bumpy sections at high speed while standing and your feet remain attached to the bike and in one place! No more readjusting your foot position the whole time or worrying about bouncing off altogether. I don't doubt that there is an improvement in peddling efficiency as I already felt myself pulling up and feeling resistance. Pulling up was obviously something that you (I?) naturally do but obviously with no benefit with takkies, or very little. Another BUT... I would still suggest that anyone new to the sport not bother with shoes and cleats immediately but rather just get out there on takkies and hit the trails. My reasoning is two fold. First, the additional expense. I assumse most people would have some type of takkies at home whereas going for cleats you are looking at about R800 minimum in total. Secondly, I now got to have a second round of excitement by switching over to cleats after 7 months of takkies. Prior to this I was able to push myself with confidence that I could put my feet down at any time. Now that I have that confidence the cleats are not as much of an issue as I'm sure they might have been if I was brand new on a bike. I'm sure others will disagree but this is my opinion based on just having gone through it myself Edited June 22, 2012 by Clint_ZA
fandacious Posted June 22, 2012 Posted June 22, 2012 some people might argue that having your feet not come off your pedals is indeed an improvement in pedalling efficiency.,..
The Ghost Posted June 22, 2012 Posted June 22, 2012 For the best peddling experience get rigid carbon shoes too
RockCoach Posted June 22, 2012 Posted June 22, 2012 If you want to learn how to pedal efficiently try using one foot at a time. Just a few minutes each side on a flat road...
VT2jp Posted June 22, 2012 Posted June 22, 2012 It's true, only when you hit the deck and flatten a helmet one day will you realise its worth. DO NOT SKIMP on a helmet and always wear the damn thing, even if you're just cruising around the block. Remark from my surgeon was that I would have most likely been dead if it wasn't for the Bell Sweep XC on my kop at the time! - thanked Bell and upgraded to the Volt.
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