pihman

Hi, I've been a casual bike rider for many years until recently when the relocation of our offices made riding to work much safer. Since we've got a pretty even climate and I don't have to ride too far I ride rain or shine. Although I am only five minutes walk from the local train station I feel almost compelled to ride my bike to work instead. I can see how people can become gym junkies.

Having not yet turned into a full-on bike aficionado (although I must admit I can feel that coming on sometime in the near future) I started out on an Avanti hybrid 'fitness' bike which proved most unsatisfactory in many areas particularly in the gearing and rider comfort. I have since switched to a Cannondale Synapse which I find is almost perfect for my style of riding.

The streets of Sydney are not very bike friendly, with limited bikelanes or bikeways, many of which are merely the outside part of the kerbside parking lane. Add to this the poor road surface - in the past 6 weeks I have replaced three tires and four inner tubes (which each had at least 3 patches). I thought I would be saving money by riding the bike but what with buying accessories, clothing and tyre/tube repairs no joy so far!

What the heck, I love riding the bike and probably should have started riding to work years ago.

Johnny_Monkey

Whereabouts in Sydney are you? I lived there for 4 years but didn't ride there.

jock

Bike lanes? Those things are plain dangerous coz they're not maintained at all. Take a whole lane, head down, ride fast.

If you're replacing tyres and tubes at that rate can I suggest buying tyres more suited to training than racing and shove some of those hideous tuffy liners in (at least they keep the glass out of your tubes).

And when you're ready you should come and visit us at the Aussie Thread http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...4&goto=newpost

We'll be sure to corrupt you quickly and painlessly

pihman

I'm in Stanmore which is fairly close to the CBD.

Johnny_Monkey

Inner West isn't it? I lived in Chatswood and Wollstonecraft on the North Shore.

pihman

Spot on. It's not too far, but I haven't used any other transport for getting to work since the beginning of March so I get a decent amount of exercise each week.