Last time I was riding up there on my own after dark, I was thinking about the tales of people being followed home from AC and wondering how long it would be before folks were being mugged at night for their bikes. Only a matter of time, I reckon…

It’s already been attempted hasn’t it, about 6 years ago. I dare say its happened since also. Pretty sh1tty state of affairs really,

alex – well that would presume that for Contador for example, the team were helping him dope. Not sure the rest of the team’s performance really backed that up though. From the Hamilton book and interviews though, it sounds like the whole Fuentes transfusion service was a little unprofessional at times but at least Hamilton took responsibility for personally checking the blood was his own (even if he got a bad bag once).

That’s true, I forgot about the gory findings in his fridge. The reason Hamilton was so adamant that he didn’t dope (or at least the doping of someone else’s blood) was that he always checked the name on the bags, and never had someone elses. It must be tough for these doctors, what are they going to write on their cv’s when they are applying for jobs at the local hospitals, now that the are banned from working in sport, I hope that they put some cash away for a rainy day.

And no, I’ve new chain rings, changed to rotor ones, not changed due to wear, the chain seems fine too, and cables etc.

That’s the odd thing, I’ve held it up to a new one, and no, they don’t look worn, no obvious bends, nics out of the teeth, and I’ve put in another wheel with a new cassette on and it indexes just fine. I was so certain that it couldn’t be worn that I thought it must of been the free hub initially.

Is there any scientific way of checking for wear, I’ve not come across a tool for this,

The first seems to be a problem for me as it would mean that the team just let him do what he wants during a TdF where he’s a GC contender.

And for that matter, why don’t the doctors test the blood that they a re-infusing to make sure that its clean? Especially in the case of Landis. Something about these cases never really rung true for me. It s not like the riders were taking out their own blood, storing it, then putting back in, they had help, and you’d like to think that the team doctors knew what they were doing.

I just can’t see why Bertie would of taken it at all. He isn’t one for noshing down on too much sausage like Ullrich did. I agree that the most likely explanation was a blood transfusion, but he’d of used his own blood, and it still begs the question ‘why did he take the stuff in the first place’.

Not all manuka honey has the same health benefits, you have to get the higher grade stuff for the supposed benefits apparently. Mmmmm I might go and make some toast, sans bleach.

I’ve a carbon bike, (cervelo r3sl) and that’s a pretty nice, light bike. I’ve also a kinesis racelight rc2. The frame of course is a bit heavier, maybe 500 grams heavier. However the racelight is head and shoulders better than my old BH full carbon. To be honest I don’t feel that there is a massive difference between the racelight and the cervelo when I run wheels of the same weight, climbing times are the same, descending is just as stable. The only thing that I maybe do notice is that acceleration on climbs feels a little more immediate on the cervelo, but I’ve a feeling that that might all be in my head. Alu is out of favour, that’s all. Easy to see why, when under paid Asian women can pop them out of a mould in no time flat, no pesky tubes to miter, jig up, welders to train up, etc.

If you want to go fast, it’s not what the bikes are made of, it’s how much drugs you are willing to take, has Pantani taught you nothing?

A lifetime ban for having a contaminated protein shake would seem a little unfair?

LOL. Do they believe in santa claus too?

Cenbuterol has been used in some protein shakes etc, as a ‘cutting’ agent, it is supposed to promote lean muscle mass. However, I am pretty damn certain that Contraband certainly did not take clen knowingly, I mean, why the hell would he? It’s not like he’s got a weight problem, and it doesn’t have any benefits to the cyclist, none that I’m aware of – if it does please enlighten me.

Saying that, I don’t for one minute think that’s he’s clean, but clen, really, really?

Although not highly accurate, get a piece of string, loop around the head tube, take to the rear dropouts, then measure the distance between the string and the seat tube the distances in every instance that I can think of should be the same. Also to the OP the wheel being out of alignment with the seat tube is never good! Either they were made on the piss, or you may have bent something through use, which might be covered by household insurance if the warranty people at GT don’t want to help.

A good bike shop should be able to locate the source of the discrepancy that you have found. The most obvious cause is a wheel not seated in the dropouts correctly thou, although I’m sure you’ve checked that. Best of luck!

Yunki’s chicken looks a bit scary. We just got 5 chickens yesterday, they are pretty cheeky, but not vicious (yet). A guy in south wales was blinded by an injured seagull, a horrible story.

In a similar vein to the chicken question I was surrounded by sheep once, they came at me from all angles and surrounded me as I was trying to take a shortcut home on a ride. I was pretty scared and tried to threaten them with my bike, waving it around madly, it just made the look in their eyes even more malevolent. I was thinking how many of the wooly w@nkers I could fend off before being overwhelmed, I reckon 2 maybe 3 tops. Chickens, well….. if you had eye protection, or a full crash helmet I reckon you could take out maybe 100/200 before you got tired and they got to your veins and major arteries. Free range chickens would be stronger, due to the exercise, they’d beat you down faster than a caged hen.

I might go and pick a fight with ours, see if they back down, or if they reckon that they can take me out, there must be algorithm that I could apply to make my research valid even thou I only have 5 chickens, a bike helmet and a stopwatch.

Sweet, cheers. I think that the Stans website could do with a re-jig, it’s not 100% clear. Thanks boffins.

Just thinking back to being personally responsable for classroom of spotty idiots let loose with dangerous machinery has given me shell shock, I’m off for a lie down. :cry:

That’s why I didn’t waste that teaching was tougher, or less tough than (insert profession of choice). There is no need to be argumentative, I agreed with your wife! I daresay that a lot of jobs are ‘tougher’ but like you say I have no basis for comparison, however it was by far the toughest job that ‘I’ have done.

My wife reckons nursing is a lot tougher/more stressful. You might want to argue against that but

There is no need for me too, I have never been a nurse, but I can imagine that it would be a lot tougher than teaching. Not only do you have to deal with drunk idiots and unthankful people, you have to deal with folk dying, plus you get worse pay and have to do shift work.

Like I said, I have never done it, but I would support any pay dispute that they had also, it’s an incredibly tough job, I’d imagine and one that offers little in the way of reward.

The best thing I found RE: riding and back pain was riding my single speed as you are out the saddle a lot more. That works your hip flexors and core more, which in turn support the back. Since riding more on the road my hip/knee/back issues have returned.

Also remaining seated on a fs whilst riding over bumps that you would be out of the saddle for on a ht would put more pressure on your back. Spend the extra money you’d spent on a fs on a rowing machine?

Just like my dream, spooky.

I used to teach, I can tell you that it was by far and away the hardest, most demanding and draining job I have ever done. The planning etc I didn’t find tough or that time consuming, it was the constant demands from the kids, the management etc that just made it so draining. I couldn’t hack it and gave up, it made me a physical and emotional wreak. From 8 until 3.30 you did not get a minute to yourself, either setting up, morning tea ‘duty’ lunch duty’s data input, assembly’s etc etc. it’s not just the time infront of the class, it’s all the other things.

There were many things about the job that I loved, but I will never teach again. Unless you’ve done it I suggest you shut the hell up, it’s a tough job.

I had a dream last night that the carbon bars on my road bike snapped, I remembered it when I went for a ride today, probably the first time I’ve worried about it! Got home safely thou :D

What is the best method to carry a sandwich so it doesn’t get all squashed?

Baked beans and mini sausage, chuck in some hp sauce, nice crispy bacon bits, a, bit of scrambled egg, all in a flask! Instant proper English breakfast whilst you ride. Slip a couple of bits of toast in your back pocket, go’s without saying that. If you have two bottle cages pot another flask with steaming hot sugary tea in it.

Now, you’ll probably want a cigarette after all that, even if you may not smoke, so take a pack of fags and a lighter just in case, oh almost forgot take something to read, preferably a copy of the Sun.

I’m pretty sure that this is all standard advice really.

80% finished now, kitchen was out of a demolished building, cost about 5k to do, all up with the appliances and the new floor. Gotta get some new lights thou, hideous 80’s things. The best thing is the fridge isn’t magnetic, most with young kids will appreciate that i reckon, especially if their kids are as ‘talented’ as mine.

Bodum stove top espresso maker
Opinel stainless knives
Trangia
Endura 3/4 bib longs circa 2005
Myford ml7 lathe
Tag 2000 series watches from the 90’s
Every Toyota I have ever owned (5 of them)

I hate crap stuff.

Oh dear, isn’t that Ray’s old bike, I’ll bet that rear shock’s taken a pounding!

Lets face it, we slog our guts out for 40+ hours per week, sober and stressed to the eyeballs, for a narky boss, underpaid and overworked, and then give most of our wage away in tax, bills, mortgages etc..

Where as the crim works for himself, sets his own hours and salary, spends most of the day in the pub and pays naff all to anyone..

Yunki have you at anytime thought about becoming a career advisor in a school, I think you’d be great.

Stopped going to see him because I got fed up with people Billy Bragg talking all the bloody way through his sets.

There, FTFY and all that :D

2. Using a bigger allen on the stem bolts. I’d been using a multi-tool and it just wasn’t giving me the leverage to get the stem tight enough

“ping”

Be careful doing that, 6nm isn’t much welly.

*Singgers*

Yes, alloy ones will fatigue. Brass one’s should last longer. Change whole lot at once and make sure new ones are properly bedded in and wheel stress relieved, that should help.

schmiken – Member

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/pro-bike-carlos-sastres-cervelo-testteam-cervelo-r5-26918/

Turns out they used to weight Sastre’s bike too.

Case closed. I’ll shut the door on my way out.

dirtyrider – Member

deep section wheels barely add anything unless your using ones with an aluminium brake track

ive got a 13.3 lb cannondale supersix with Enve 45’s on

That is very nice, what size?

schmiken – Member

Mostly for the pros they tend to add powermeters, overbuilt alu stem/bar combo (look at the Cavendish signature set) and things like comfier saddles or thicker bar tape.

Check my link at the top, it was the absence of these items that caused me to question how the weight was being made up, ie carbon saddels ti pedals, carbon bars etc. Looking at Sastres bike he has a lumpy seat post, but everything else looks pretty light, can’t tell on the bars thou. Most alloy bars weight in at below 240grams. And those wheels are at least 200 grams lighter than mine with those tyres.

I’m not certain that they would be much point increasing mass in many pro tour riders bikes. If you look at the power output of pro riders of say the same weight as me (72 kg) then they are not much different to that of a competent club rider, except that they can of course keep up that amount of power for a lot longer than someone like me. Also the pro’s weigh quite a bit less than your average Joe, and they get to bin their bike after a crash, season etc. Besides the terrible, truly terrible BH I had (apparently the same as Vino and Beloki) I can believe that most of the frames you get (bar some of the sprinters) are from the same mold.

Can’t believe my BH was thou, made of over cooked Spanish pasta.

As far as i can make out Sastre must of been ridding with some weighty V12 copies from Halfords to get that up to weight.

Yeah, the wheels are light. I built them up with some el cheapo Mojon hubs (270 grams the pair, both 28 hole thou, with revolutions and alloy nipples, they came out at 1320 or 1340 i think. By pro standards thou they must be pretty average thou?

The scales seem pretty good, they weigh in my cinelli at 21lbs, and my training bike at 17lbs, so pretty spot on.

I didn’t go flash on the pedals thou, as the titanium ones were not that much lighter than the cromo ones so i couldn’t justify it.

I might take a look at sastre’s bike, he must of added something somewhere.

Oh and mines a 56cm, so not weenie, although i don’t think the smaller ones weighed in at much less, you are only taking a small thin ring of carbon out of 4 tubes.

They used to, they can’t any more, the UCI added a clause to the weight rule that said the weight had to be structural, not just lead weights down the seat tube. And they do check (at pro-tour level).

So I didn’t just imagine that then!

(common one on Campag used to be a Chorus f/mech instead of Record).

That was because record front mechs are shite, the counter plate is carbon and bends, making shifting down under power quite, well….. terrible. I keep meaning to get a chorus for my bike, the record one is awful. Looking at Voeckler’s Colnago thou I can’t see the added weight, except the saddle. His wheels must be quite a bit lighter than mine, and anyone running Sram Red would be saving a chunk also. I’d have to add 450 grams to mine, that wouldn’t be easy without something nasty being bolted on. Not that I would ever have to, i’m just curious as to how it’s done when their bikes are more modern and expensive than mine.

Sounds about right fluxhutchinson, I can’t see that the cervelo of David Miller’s or Thomas Voeckler’s Colnago would meet the weight unless they added weight. I could get on weight weenies and tot it all up on a spreadsheet and check, but 1) I really can’t be arsed and 2)i’m going to drink another bottle of wine. (i live in NZ, so that’s allowed at this time of day).

I think that bar sprinters the ballast with weights must be it. Makes sense. That’s what they do in F1 isn’t it?

RealMan – Member

What everyone else said, and also

I’ve got an old cervelo r3sl, with old record 10 speed, clinchers and some average wheels, cheap pedals, 2 bottle cages and a computer, pump brackets etc and my bike still comes in at slightly less or slightly more than 14 lbs.

I kinda doubt that, you sure?

Well my scales aren’t cutting edge but the bike comes up the same as the shop scales. Does seem on the light side thou i’ll give you that. I have got light inner tubes, that makes up some weight and the tyres are a little worn, so is the bar tape :?

Thanks mboy, i’ll melt down some fishing weights and stuff em in by BB before the UCI turn up on my door scuppering my Sunday ride to the cafe – again. :P

Not all are using SRM’s thou. I have a powertap, a basic one and that only adds 300 grams over a really good hub lightweight hub. The deep dish wheel thing can’t always account, as they don’t always use them if it a mountain stage, windy, or both.

Maybe i’m wrong about the UCI rule on function, as it would be impossible get them up to weight otherwise?