The current Avanti Kona comes as a tri bike with aero tubing, 9sp 105, bull horns/aero bars and Mavic Cosmics (not the carbones.) Back a couple of years the frame was the same as the Giro model, but equipped as a tri bike.

Vanilla middle of the road aluminium (aluminum for Brother Pat) stuff.

Actually this year the Kona is 10sp, last year was 9sp.

This is odd. It's not on their 2006 website, and the Aussie distributor's website is hopeless. I'll try to remember to check at work today. It's my last day there, so hopefully I won't forget. I know it exists, because I bought one.

[edit] Description here,
but still no photo.

Anyone know where to buy Conti Supersonics locally at reasonable prices (~$60)

I had the green Corsa....goddam those frames were rigid. A 7-hour day would do my sacroilliac no favours!

hey Ed, I raced with the mighty Crowe last night, and even held his wheel for a couple of laps. :)

He's a BIG dude: big legs, big arse, big tallness

Thanks Expat. If worst comes ot worst, it seems like a few others make disk compatible racks as well, so I'm not stuck if Topeak don't make them anymore.

I can remember when I first came across him as a junior. They used to call him 'baby Huey'. Then he started kicking everyones arse and it became 'Crowey'. :D

Don't those shoes look nice...

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5...s%20twat.0.jpg

Simon Gerrans

Flanders hard man. Peiper said some good advice to him when young (assume 16ish) was find a training bunch with hard men.

Gerrans is about as tough as they get. Even the shocking outer calf tattoo. Classic

Yep. You can see why he was a lock for the old 100km TTT.

Massively powerful, Huey.

Went to my school, too....:D

pilfered from crikey.com....


Gene doping has become a reality for world sport, well ahead of its predicted arrival. Pundits thought the Beijing Olympics would be the first place gene doping would be detected, but reports from Germany this week suggest athletes have been using the technique ahead of the Turin Winter Olympics, due to start late next week.

As reported in The Globe and Mail overnight, the trial of a German athletics coach has revealed worrying evidence that gene doping is already a reality for athletes and drug testers.

A quick science lesson. Gene doping is the process of transferring genes directly into human cells that blend into an athlete's own DNA, which then enhance muscle growth and increase strength or endurance.

In this instance, a drug called Repoxygen, designed for gene therapy on patients with anaemia, is the culprit. When used by athletes, it induces the release of erythropoietin, or EPO, which stimulates the creation of red blood cells to carry more oxygen to muscles.

While the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency have a test for synthetic EPO, there is currently no test for Repoxygen, which gives the body the gene to stimulate EPO production on its own.

The language being used to describe the development should be very worrying for any athletes using it. As Owen Slot wrote in this morning's Australian, “the grim new world of gene doping” has long been viewed as the “apocalyptic future of performance-enhancement in sport.”

Perhaps more worryingly for athletes, the prototype never made it into production because Oxford Biomedica, the drug's developers, thought it didn't stand a chance on the open market.

It would take a sophisticated lab to produce it, which “would be very irresponsible,” according to Alan Kingsman, chief executive of Oxford Biomedica. “For a start, we only went as far as testing it on mice. To use it on the human body would be playing with fire.”

If we know athletes competing in Turin are using it, does that raise suspicions about athletes competing in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games?

They're new, so they should be making them. I think they retail for $69.95 over here. And your frame has the lower mounts, but no uppers. You'll need some band clamps too. The Topeak is a great design though.

Check this Jock. Official anouncement from CNSW.
http://www.nsw.cycling.org.au/files/...ry/Issue38.htm

Yup, lazy buggers just lifted it straight from the CA website! :D

Went down to watch the EVCC crits today. Joined up, been put into "D" grade and first race is next Saturday. :)
Hope they don't kill me...

go Odin, good luck.

I cant be stuffed getting into racing. But ill probably have a go at road racing in a few years, unless I really get into ss/fg

Has anybody heard anymore about the World Messenger Championships this year? Like where they are in Sydney.
We probably should get organised and get a bike forums contingent together

Gerrans = Nails!

From Cycling News...
""Basically my left collar bone is in three pieces so they're going to pin that back together so it heals quickly, and as far as my right shoulder is concerned the AC joint has popped out because of the ligament tear, so they will screw that back into place," said Gerrans. "The specialist is really positive and says I should be back on the home trainer four or five days after the surgery.
"He said if I was a regular person and not an athlete they wouldn't even operate, but because it's both sides and I want to get back on the bike as soon as possible they'll do the surgery.""

He cant move both arms and he's talking about getting on the trainer 4 days after surgery :eek:

Apologies for another ripped off post from Cycling news but.... 8 months and 1440 Euros seems pretty lame. Unless there was a mechanical etc she must have been at fault...?

"The public prosecutor's office of Gera, Germany, announced Friday that Stephanie Magner, the now 19 year-old car driver who caused the July, 2005 crash in which Australian Institute of Sport rider Amy Gillett was killed and five of her team-mates were seriously injured, will receive a fine of 1440 Euros and not be allowed to drive for eight months. The group of riders were training in Thüringen, Germany, to prepare for a stage race when the accident occurred.

Magner, who was 18 years old at the time and had just received her driving license, was accused of involuntary manslaughter and five cases of negligent assault. Losing control of her vehicle for reasons which have not been revealed, Magner was also badly injured in the accident. Because of her young age, the milder German youth criminal law may have been applied in the sentence. "

But if she was in Australia, and took out the German team, she'd have gotten a slap on the wrist if she had a good solicitor. It's a lose/lose situation. Best to go win a race and claim a victory in her memory.

8 months no driving for involuntary manslaughter is ****ing ****house!!! Im pretty negative here, but $5 on she was hot and she had a good lawyer.
Ill tell ya why she lost control: She driving waaay to fast over a hill and lost it. * months no driving for killing someone, that stinks like dog turd on ya shoe.

HAs someone posted this in A&S? EDIT: I just have

thats bullsh*t. Why? Because it wouldnt have been a woman who took out a german cycling team. It would have been some yob in a commodore. The judge would throw the book at a hoon

Problem is, and the judges know it, we give farg'n licences to people who can't farg'n drive so it's no wonder they get themselves into trouble. It's not right to punish them when something dreadful like this happens, it's like giving a 2yo a loaded gun to play with and spewing when they shoot themselves or someone else. The government (read us) is to blame because we value $$$$$$$ above everything else and we're not prepared to spend what is required to do it farg'n right.

In the US, high school students get driver's education in the classroom, just like math and science. They have to take that before they can take the hands on class, driver's training.

Whats the BAC limit for full license/provisional license holders over there Expat? (I know it probably varies state to state).

No variance, but my response will invalidate your question. Last I checked, you could get your learner's permit at 15-1/2. That's like your L's. Back in the day, you needed to have it for at least 30 days before you could take your license test. If you passed the written test, they took you out in mum or dad's car for the practical test. You still need to be 16 to get your license, but now most states require the same 50 hours as in Australia. The difference is, most kids will do that 50 hours before their 16th birthday. The BAC question is moot, as the drinking age in all 50 states is 21. Zero tolerance if you're caught with any alcohol in your system while driving, prior to your 21st. After that, it's similar to here, with .08% being the limit in most states.

Couldn't agree more.

ahhh ok

I agree with the lack of Driver Ed. But what about all the drivers already on the road? Should they be retrained/retested? I think so, even though it will annoy everyone so it wont happen

Don't make me move The Aussie Thread to A&S... :)

It's never going to happen. 1. because we are too apathetic to really push the issue, and 2. the motor vehicle / oil lobby is massively financed, similar to tobacco, and not answerable to governments. The world is addicted to oil, and, although to a maybe somewhat lesser degree, motor transport. Forget the drug problem, oil issues are now a seriously destructive issue, and will continue at an exponential rate to increasingly be *the* major problem for humanity to face.
So as I see it Amy and the girls including the driver of the car are all victims in this crazy crazy world we jokingly call, Western Democracy. It's good but way way short of perfect and sadly I believe, it seems to be getting worse rather than better, or am I just a pessimist?