Too good to be trueeeeeee!

Here is something to ponder:

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=136502

This post has been edited by henleong: Feb 20 2012, 02:23 AM

Have some maintenance question in mind
1) how long do you need to clean and relube your chain? need to buy tools to release master link?
2) hmm does brake requires any maintenance, it's the most important piece in your bike for your safety after all..
3) what else other than grease bearing (which would take up really some time)

I hate to train cycling.. going up hill is difficult but necessary.. and the sheer amount of time required to train up your endurance.. as what silvy said, the time required..

Perhaps the most famous death in the Tour de France after a crash during a descent was Fabio Casartelli in 1995. He died from skull fracture after getting involved in a high speed crash with several others. The Tour doctor at that time said that even if he had a helmet on it wouldn't have saved him. If anybody here can Google up the picture, U can see the amount of blood on the road. He was the 1992 Olympic champion & teammate of Lance Armstrong at that time, riding for team Motorola. The next day the peloton rode together in his honor & the Motorola team was allowed to finish together at the front of the peloton.

Another famous death in the Tour was Tom Simpson, who died of heat stroke on Mont Ventoux in the 1960s. His famous last words were,"Put me back on my bike !"

Chain cleaning for me does not take too long. Never timed myself doing it though... Normally I use turpentine to wipe off all the grime and dirt on the chain, and wipe down the cassette and chain ring. Then apply lube before I go riding next.

As for the master link, that depends on whether the link that you have is meant to be removed, or not. If it is meant to be removable, then you should be able to take it out without any tools. If its not, then you'll still be able to remove it, with bent nose long needle point pliers. make sure that its thin enough to fit through the links (you squeeze the link until it pops out. Some videos you can search for on youtube for this). But take note that doing as such actually weakens the link. And I actually had the master link pop out on me halfway though a ride before, and had to call a buddy for pickup. That's also the last time I went riding without carrying a spare master link with me.


Uphill training, the problem is not just the amount of time, but the sheer boredom of doing so. Up and down, repeat, repeat, repeat. But its sure better than dying halfway when you're on that 100km ride

I think the real issue is just the last one... maybe the 4th one as well. Considering the advent of internet these days, it's quite a surprise for me to find anybody finding getting in touch a problem.

I used to ride from 7am right up to 11 or 12, depending on the days' program. The longest ride I did solo was in 1995 I think, 160km from Skudai to Ayer Hitam & back, I got back to UTM campus at about 2pm. Tan lines was supposed to be a cyclists badge of honor. I dunno about nowadays la, we never used any sunblock or anything back in the day. Oh, & we rode rain or shine. The training must go on. But of course, finding time is up to one's creativity. With 9-5 work, 9-8 for some.... what U can do is make every ride count la.

good thing you found out... too cheap to believe anyway...

as long as your chain starts chirping and making some dry sounds... you clean and relube... else .. go with everytime you wash your bike as cleaning your chain will inadvertently dirty your bike especially your chainstay and wheels...by

only SRAM's powerlinks can be taken apart easily just by clamping the powerlinks with a needle nose plier... that being said.. it is still not recommended to do it too often as it weakens the pins and risk chain breakages...

shimano's are totally a no go... requires a chain breaker.. and from my experience... taking apart a chain and submerging it in degreaser kills it faster than cleaning with brush and degreaser... on top of that... you totally strip it off all lubrication that has already penetrated the rollers and pins... more work lubricating it back...

brakes require almost no maintenance.. just make sure no grime on the pivot area and most importantly is to check your pads... if you pads are embedded full of metal bits from the rims... try to pick it out or sand it a bit... else change it or you risk wearing your rims down too fast...


bearings best to be handled by bike shop... as there are side loads on the bearings that should not be exceeded or it wears the bearings down too fast... the only bearing you can safely touch is the headset bearings.. but you should first learn how to dismantle and re-tighten the headset system correctly or you might find it coming loose and your front fork judders when you pull the front brakes...

hillclimbs is not everyone's fav... no doubt... not everyone can be an excellent climber with training... but if you train... at least you don't suffer as much or you get used to it...

fabio's death on the descent of col d'portet d'aspet is still a highly debated topic nowadays... the tour doctors and pro helmet camp claimed that he would have survived the crash with a helmet... on the other hand.. there was reports that he would not have made it even with a helmet as he crashed face flat into a concrete slab meant to stop cars from going off the side of the cliff...

tom simpson on the other hand actually died of amphetamine combined with the heat stroke.. the amphetamine would have messed with his judgement on continuing riding despite his condition and that caused his demise back then...

This post has been edited by butthead: Feb 20 2012, 10:36 AM

imo, the 1st 3 issue is just an excuse imo.

1) when work starts at 9am, 1 can always wake up early for that
2) sun yes. but sun only come out after 10, so go earlier. or well, in the evening
3) rain yes, but takkan 365 days always raining?
4) this is an issue for me
5) agree. drivers in malaysia don't give a damned to cyclist. sometimes when cycling, those huge lorry speeding past me is just scary...

1) If really squeeze in time, I am considering to ride to work - since it's peaceful 40km road
2) well office starts at 8.15..
Problem is to get shower else you will stink for the whole day
3) Rain.. hmm that's mother nature
4) Cycling alone you can do boring hill repeat, go examine place you never did, or my simple obsession to calculate length of every road new my house..
5) There's many cyclist hater among driver, just like cars hate motorcyclist and bike so and on.. Just have live with it.. when big lorries come.. slow down and go side ways.. the wind thrust can really blow you off.. just experiences it that day during my PD ride..

Ma dream bike no more....

In aussie the lorry are seriosuly huge compared to the one in malaysia. I walk beside the road also got hit by the wind as the lorry passed by. Cant imagine how will it did to cyclist with deep profile wheels

short climbs tends to get old fast... normally short climbs are used for interval trainings where power output is more explosive over a short period of time... more towards building power...

it is better to do long climbs (10Ks up and more) in the long term as that builds your endurance and on top of it.. lets you get used to long hard efforts... in my word... build resilience...

actually cycling is a very boring thing to most people i know that have no interest... i see even worst when it comes to spin classes... other than the motivation to burn calories and fat.. i dun see how people can stand 30mins spin classes... i want to hop off even after 2.5mins...

i guess the internet doesn't cure the getting in touch problem... that is something what facebook is screwing up with the youth of nowadays... i am a major anti-FB person...

furthermore.. . there are issues as different locales and maybe you have a sort of distrust on a person that you met online... maybe i ol' fashion.. especially also hard to get the older generation of cyclists as i think they don't really get online or to forums that often... the old dudes are the ones who you should make friends with... they have knowledge of cycling beyond what you can learn from the net...

for me... your local bike shop is the point of gathering... ask them for rides and tag along with them... this is why i stress that sticking to a bike shop is important and having a good relationship with them is the most essential of all... if you make good friends with them... they will get to the point of calling you up for rides and stuff....

like lance armstrong says... every second counts... find watever time you have and keep pedaling... the passion and interest is always your fuel...

my longest was trying to get from PJ via Ulu Yam to KKB and Gap and return trip... can't recall how far it was... over 6 hours on the road and had a terrible time... originally aimed for fraser's but didn't went up as that time it was still the 1-up 1-down rule and i missed my going up window...

another one was the one heading into that ampang area.. can't recall the name now... some 140km loop of multiple climbs...rode from home again despite advise from a friend who rode there.. halfway into the loop... blown up and had to reverse... also one terrible day slogging my way home.. i think that was 190KM and over 8 hours in hot sun...

for me...

1)weekday ride - alarm at 7am start ride at 730 or SLEEP ALL THE WAY (lazy to wake up)

2)Talking bout TAN...


3)Rain... u shower also get wet what...
4)Weekday ride alone - Weekend with Le Butthead
5)Just faced few times where cars run over redlight and coming out from junction without bother im coming (he aware that im coming) so bang on it and threw my self on his fender.

cycling to work is good if you have a gym at your office building and you don't mind paying gym membership... that way you can utilize the bath and also use the gym for weight trainings and upper body workouts...

i don't think there are that many cyclist haters out there...or maybe i just got used to it... most importantly is that you keep to your lane and keep out of the way of drivers... they know their own part and i trust no one intentionally tries to kill a cyclist.. you know how much trouble you can get into it for that?

not only does the driver's car NCD gets defaulted by default whether the motorcyclist or cyclist is right or wrong... on top of that... a court case can be very likely in case it happens... hit and run will be even more interesting if you can recognize the car...

dealing with traffic is an experience i guess...

you're an idiot...

i bath in office toilet anyway... i bath in public toilet somewhere in Kuantan Toll Plaza as well... as long as there is clean water supply...

there goes my lunch appetite...

no worries~ save it till dinner then~

today's dinner, tomorrow morning's breakfast - lunch - dinner all gone...

be dead by day after tmr from hunger...

This was me vs Edwin Ng, 18 years ago (wow.. tht long edi!). Note the surroundings, that was Velodrome Cheras then. BTW, I got my sunglasses free from KFC No money to buy Oakleys then, even though it was waaaaay cheaper than it is now. How cheap ? U can get an M-frame for around RM300, Frogskins for RM170. After I beat Edwin, I moved into the semis, where I had to concede a walkover against a teammate, under coach's order. I ended up 7th, in my 1st ever sprint competition...

^


Retro era yo

that's the difference between having a father who is already a sportsmen and also having the right financial backings...

you must be hoping there was a ban on team orders back then wouldn't you... haha...