What would be the optimal physique for different types of riders?

I'm curious as to how much of a hindrance my squat little legs are at 29" inside leg. But there are other factors, like muscle make up. I'm short in limbs but quite stocky with decent muscle makeup. I doubt I'd make it to the top of any cycling discipline with my physique. Or do I have it all wrong?

if you're an adult and has been in cycling for more than 5 years you won't be a star but you might become a Jan Kirsipuu or Steven De Jongh wanna-be (they're sprinters by the way)

Also you can be a decent MTB racer on flatter courses with long slow climbs or on courses with short steep climbs.

Born in Zambia. Cant think of anything to say i'm proud to be Zambian

The same applies to Russia. Fugly! 95% of population are chavs, inwardly, outwardly or both at the same time.

metal

So I'm wondering if its the frame size thats causing the problem? I'm going to see if I can get measured properly as I think at 6ft riding a 19 inch may be a little on the small side?

Seems quite right sizing, post a picture of the current setup. The best would be if you also post a picture with you on the bike.

I can't drink that much! Can't even think how they can drink so much, I'd piss myself out. I can't eat snickers either. Tried a couple of times, they're too heavy for my stomach, too much fat/oil.

Ice tea and musli with yogurt. That's my food for marathons.

I can't remember such a place and such a church in Moscow.

Puty if I'm wrong, after all I live in Moscow.

Can't identify the city though.

317 ARE made from a softer alloy, Thus they are not stronger but weaker. Weight difference is less than 40g, actually it's about 20-30g. I had v-brake versions of 717 weighing practicaly the same as 317 (437g vs 440).

717 are made from maxtal, it's stronger than regular alloys used for rims.

riding becomes serious when it starts paying cheques otherwise it's a only a hobby no matter how much time/money is spent.

Shimano resin pads don't last at all. Once I worn them out to the metal in 20 minutes, yes, new pads in TWENTY minutes under pissing rain riding a very sandy trail and since then I will never use them again (well, I will today, on the road: too lazy to change them to sintered).

All SIDs with 28mm legs. FLEXY carp.

M only, L is too large for you save you have the shortest legs in the world.

I've got only one bike and use it everywhere. The lockout is great on the road

I've been using forks with lockout since 2004 but yet didn't manage to teach myself to turn it off and keep forgetting about it when I'm done with a climb hence in a race I never touch it and keep the fork unlocked.

When I'm on the road the fork is alsways locked out.

roller skis are for potty weirdos, there are no brakes at all. they need dedicated circuits to use them properly.

what's the point of roller skis in the UK? you've got no real snow and you biathlon army team is dead last every time.

no, their volume is too large to fit in 1.5" tyres. I tried once and lost a good tube. It blew apart under high pressure.

narrow tubes are generally lighter than 2.1" ones, they're worth buying (I like continentals).

Me too and its great isnt it?

I don't see any benefits. (it's not the UK)

I never wash bikes with soapy/muck-offy liquids, only water and brushes.

PS I live in a very environmentally unfriendly country, agressively unfriendly.

Excellent story indeed, I went the same way up to 4 bikes in 5 years. Then a couple of years ago I decided to quit spending money on bikes, at least to reduce spending. I sold everything except one bike (Zaskar/100mm forks) and some spare parts. The thing is that number of spare parts kept growing and finally I built a new bike from "spare parts" just a week ago.
oops. Now I've got two practically identical bikes (Al HTs, 100mm forks, Zaskar and one local brand) but I don't want to part with either of them but at least I reached the major goal: now I spend on bikes much less than before.

ah, one more thing: my weight went down from 92-93 kilos to 79-80.

erh, talking about "vague SLX", are they weaker than 535/585? I've been using them for 2 years and I'm quite a happy fit fatso (179cm/80kg) racing XC.

"supercute" and "bags are gay"?

go tubeless, pumpless AND commando.

is this an ad for golden bike parts?

God is a roadie.

I'd say "God is on the dark side".

take into account that Cav has the best train, as good as Fassa Bortolo's, Hushovd is a freelancer without any support from his team.

Garmin spoilt Thor's finish in the final stage, laymen!

Just remove your brain. Easy

I'm not that stupid :lol: My IQ is high thus I can sacrifice some points. :lol:

When I'm on vacation I usually lose some weight, around 1kg in 1-2 weeks. But when I come back to work it creeps back again. I hate my brain's need for carbohydrates. I want to be 5 kilos leaner and 5 IQ points more stupid.

The major problem with losing weight and going below a certain limit is that you're getting slow, lazy and a bit dizzy because of low sugar levels when you're on a diet. It hinders your brain and hence thinking and attentiveness: not good for a working person. The second obstacle is precise calorie counting.

Jan Ullrich once fell off the bike and hurt his arm when he was working on his weight before TdF.

8.5mm drill would work.

I like this bike: http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/tech/2009/probikes/?id=mary_mcconneloug_seven09

the frame is 5 years old!

what crazy legs said. Cavendish is a great all-round cyclist – just not when compared to the likes of Contador. He'd murder 99% of very good club cyclists on a climb.

I bet pro climbers outsprint most club sprinters.
He's in a different league and in that league he's no climber but the best sprinter in the world at the moment.

Ever heard of Milan San Remo?

won mostly by sprinters brought to the finish by the teams.

We've seen already that Cav is only a sprinter and nothing else, he survived the mountains hence he's a tad more versatile than Cipollini or Kirsipuu. I think it's because he's much ligher than them.

Car free roads. I crave their fitness but pity their weight obsession.

Thor is the name of the God. Mark? Who's Mark?

Actually I've been admiring Pellizotti in the fight for the KOM jersey. He's at the front for some days in a row and now I do start to respect that bulky sprinter proving himself right over the series of mountains that might do credit for decent any pro.

Just a thouight: there will be many mountains but only one flat TT thus chances are very narrow. Although there will be only one mountain top finish. The race and course are really stupid.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/naegears/sets/72157621577266583/

not enough information! more pics please!

as a totally irrelevant person: "this thread is worthless without pics".
Show me some pics from the race, please!

Put on socks without holes. You'll be fine. :)

Most of the 1st Cat road guys I ride with reckon that you will reach your base potential after 2 years (this is both fitness and race craft). From that point you will have to work very hard to advance significantly.

…and then plateau forever in 1-2 years. It works for a regular adult who takes up cycling, i've been watching local racing crowd for quite a long time. 3-4 years of steady progress and then nothing despite all the proper training. If someone is still progressing after 3-4 years then he/she hasn't trained enough.

Young boys/girls who do only cycling and nothing else they are different.