I can't believe Jock missed the big picture here. What do you weigh? What are you using the bike for? What's your budget? Do you like a stiff frame for sprinting, or do you want a more compliant frame for comfortable all-day rides? Put these in order of importance - weight, strength, price.

That's a decent start. By the way, none of the materials you mentioned can beat steel in every category.

given the disturbing world HDT has entered of shared finances and house saving, one often wonders where that new bike will come from. esp the mountain bike.

maybee i can roll it into a mortgage and SWMBO wont even notice ;)

Thanks for the welcome, people.

I am indeed envious of the look of those bikes, Thylacine, but somehow think I don't have the cash.

I may as well just ask 5 dumb questions now before I go shopping tomorrow, seeing as the worst can happen is flaming:

1] Anyone buy from Clarence St. regularly? Any advice or particularly good salespeople?
2] I don't think they offer test rides, but then again I don't think I want to ride a new road bike around the city (I'm not used to road bikes, only mountain) yet anyway and probably have no 'palate' to distinguish a good bike from a great bike. What should I make sure I have done there so that the bike will fit me - would they fit pedals and attach the bike to a trainer for me to try it out stationery? Or would they measure my inseam and work through details like that? Or do they just look at my height and start pulling out bikes for me to try mounting and checking it seems right?
3] I've got a helmet on order over eBay, but not here yet... can you usually get bikes delivered from Clarence St when you buy them in shop, even if for a small charge?
4] The Tourmalet, for instance, has a Bontrager crankset that I don't like the look of. If I buy one, would most LBSes be happy to swap out the Bontrager for another crankset and should I expect that to cost the full price of a new crankset, or just the price difference between the standard cranks and the new ones? And should I expect to be sneered at if I tell them I want to swap out standard components simply because other ones would 'look better'?
5] Assuming I can get the bike delivered, I may as well only pay Clarence St prices for the stuff I really should buy at a retail store. So, I'll get shoes and the bike there and bottles/pumps/tools online. Assuming I can get pedals much cheaper online, they'll be easy enough just to screw in by myself won't they? Or should I pay retail prices to have them installed when I buy the bike? What about saddles - can anyone with basic tools easily change saddles themselves?

What level components are on your MTB?
1. - Can't help there.
2. At the very least, they should have you on a trainer for 20-30 minutes, and they should make some adjustments to the bike to help with fit.
3. Dunno.
4. They'll be happy to swap the crank for you. Expect to pay full retail for the new crankset, and maybe get a deal on labor. They legally can't sell the Bontrager set as new once it's off the bike, as from what I was told, they need some sort of license to deal in 2nd hand goods. My advice? Learn to like those cranks.
5. Pedals are easy to screw in and up. One side is reverse threaded. Even someone who's been tinkering with bikes for 30 years (not me, of course :D) has been know to strip pedal threads. A saddle is an easy swap - getting it properly adjusted takes more time.

i got my tourmalet from clarence street, and my feelings on them are mixed, leading towards not happy at all.

the original sles guy i dealt with was tops, i THINK his name was steve? he had a similar bike as the one i was looking for, none of my questions were too stupid for him to answer and he really went out of his way to help me. all was good till i went to pick up my bike and he wasnt there.... some other asshat was who pretty much threw me on, said pedal a few times and off you go.... not particuly what i was lookin for after 2 grand spent.... hence i had major fit issues for the 1st year i had that bike. when i tried to get them to address these issues, i was pretty much ignored which didnt sit too well. hence, ill never buy anything from there again.

Clarence let me test ride mine? i dont know if that has changed yet.

Hey! I don't build 'em buddy, I just ride 'em and crash 'em :p

It's not like I have a clue or anything. :)

Thanks for the answers.

My MTB is over 15 years old and cheap - shifters, for instance, are 'Shimano SIS'. The only adjustments I ever made to it was raising the seatpost constantly as I kept growing.

Expatriate - thanks for the crank advice especially. At the moment I'm even thinking of spending extra on the Chambery over the Tourmalet, simply because it's full Ultegra with better wheels and that means no Bontrager cranks and no more 'upgrading' post purchase to worry about :/ It sounds like unless their pedals are significantly reduced I'll shop around on eBay.

HDTVKSS - assuming you were really wanting a Lemond for your next bike, who would you buy from next time around? Unfortunately, I think the discounting of Clarence St will probably mean that they'll be the most inviting shop to buy from, even with the possibility of 'bad staff'.

As for test riding - well, I'll hopefully get them to set me up on a trainer or something. I'd actually *prefer* that over a proper test ride as I know whatever road bike I get will take time to adjust to (drop bars and the different posture feel weird to me still) and test riding in the city would be as nerve-wracking for me as taking a first driving lesson on the Pacific Hwy.

maxim, best I could say would be to shop around until you find a decent store who will fit you out properly and let you test ride. Don't rush in to a Lemond because the price is good. And trainers do not give you the same feel as a real road ride. You never have to take a corner on a trainer !

Saddles and pedals etc, are not difficult to change out, I suggest you read through the Park Tool website which shows you how do do pretty much everything in a step by step format.

Speaking of crashing them. This is what I did to my nice new bike a couple of weeks ago. Along with a nice ride in the ambulance.

so that's where you've been :)

maxim, don't buy one of these. :D

If fit is a concern, buy from Hadley's. Jock will at least vouch for the fact that the Hadley brothers know a thing or two about road bikes. As far as pedals go, most road bikes don't come with any, or they come with cheap ones. Choose your cleat style, then shop online. Don't expect Jock to share his love of learning to ride clipless though.

Hey Maxim

Clarence St are the importers of TREK and every thing that goes with it. Chances are they will have any size downstairs waiting to be built up or will get it in a flash. I don't think they stock much, if anything they don't import themselves.

I did buy a bike there, along time ago (my Friend was the main mechanic at the time). I got a Lemond, it was on sale and he got it heavily discounted for me. I got for the frame & fork and another friend wanted some of the bits, we did one of those friendly share it round deals.

Being as big as they are, I do belive they can have good sales.

$3-4k, get a custom Thylacine, that's a top dollar frameset.

If it were me, that's what I'd be getting, steel or ti custom from the Tiger man.

$3-4k for a frameset? Maybe Tiger can hook you up.

It's way past my bedtime here, so I'll have to leave it at that.

Hang on.....3-4k for a frame? Now ya talkin'!

1) Go get fitted by Kennedy or Beasley
2) Call me 8309 0005 straight after!

:beer: too easy

Im a member of peloton sports, so id try and get it throuh turramurra cyclery, i THINK they can get them in ( they used to be able to). I was fortunate when i got mine as it was ultegra/105, with no bontrager gear in sight (sans wheels), i felt that the year model i have (2004) was better equipped than the ones after, in reagards to quality of components.

Just to distract it from bike talk for a minute. My father is a huge boxing fan, has been since the 50's (he is in his early 70's). He knows the stats for the most obscure boxers from any country (esp eastern europe). He, like just about everybody can't stand Mundine, but thinks he may give it to Green tonight.

He went back to Croatia for the summer, left on Monday so I'll get a call asking what happend I'm sure.

I surley hope it doesn't happen, go Green.

I spent an hour or so test riding bikes today. All were Treks. A 1500, 2000 and a 5200.
It was awesome... like having a pit crew again - they'd whack the pedals on and set the seat height, I'd disappear fer 15 mins, come back, they'd quickly swap pedals and I'd be orf again on another bike.

I was worried that they'd all feel the same and that I wouldn't be able to pick one from the other but there was a surprising difference between the amalinoomum ones and the carbon. The 1500 and 2000 were very similar (I couldn't feel the difference between alu or carbon seatstays) Both very nice to ride, a bit twitchier than my Giant but I expected that.
The carbon ride was hard to describe, veeery smooth and although lighter than the other two, it felt at least twice as planted and secure.

I can do you a deal on an OCR1 if yer interested.:D

I tried to buy a bike from Cstreet, waved 6 grand cash in their face to cut me a deal, the guy said even if I was his brother the best he could do would be to take $100 off rrp if I took it there and then!
I'm guessin his brother was probably banging his missus.

Needless to say I bought elsewhere and will generally not buy from them as it's pot luck on service and deals.
FWIW, I was in there on Tuesday for a drool, soooo much nice stuff!

**** dead mate. How much money do you have to spend on the bike?
If its that much I would be off to a specialist joint like thylo's.


To me frame geometry and fork rake is more important than frame material.

i think its very close. i used to do full contact mixed martial arts and trained with people who have spared with green and all of them have said hes a great bloke. unfortunatley being a great bloke doesnt win you fights!

i pick green, in 6. tko. if it goes longer than that , then its more mundines fight. dont forget that Green was in LA last year sparring a guy 35 KG his senior ( and then current heaveyweight champ) and was still giving as good as he got.

its boxing who gives a ****. If I want to go see a fight I'll go down to the Ducks Nuts on a friday night. At least its free

Oh yeah, I bought my MTB & got my Lemond warranted thru Turra, average deals, friendly people. Crap at fixing the bent cranks on my wifes cheapo MTB. Replaced them on 4th return.
I guess a little bit of the if it aint a 10grand pina/opera not very interested...?
My LBS does Trek/Lemond/Giant, think they have a 05 tourmalet in stock... PM me if you want their number.

I'd go carbon for that money -- I don't reckon there's any point spending that much on steel or alu.

that shop at the top of Hampton St., just down from South Rd (a few doors down from Blockbuster), is selling some Cervelo and Look frame-sets for around $3000.