yep, cold. It's the last wekend in July, the weekend after the TTT which is in Gunning. Rod is trying to get a team for that also. He told me it's only 22km which I think is pretty short for a TTT championship race.

It's pathetic how badly Australian Cycling, or Cycling NSW promote their titles events and particularly masters events. I knew nothing about the NSW titles in Wagga till now. I found it very difficult to find out anything about the Nats prior to the event. Then I go to Melbourne for a semina on the friday before the Lancefield Nats and find out the Aust. Masters Track Champsionships were on that week!!!!! I could have been there to see the Waratahs go well. Bummer.

Hey! anyone know where I can get hold of a decent track bike?

Now see what I don't understand is, is if the material underneath is moving so much that it's causing the paint to crack, why does every time this happens on a carbon frame, everyone ALWAYS says 'oh, it's just the material underneath moving'?

You NEVER hear anyone on a steel bike or ti bike see a crack in the paint and go 'oh, it's just the material moving'.

You know why that is?

Durrr......I wunda.

Anyway, I hope yer bike ain't busted Hitchy. Seems like the plight of the Aussies at the moment, broken frames. Guess it's just our sheer power and inferior French bikes, ay? :)

Sh1t, I better go say nice things to my frame just in case these things happen in threes.....

what's decent? Custom made or off the rack? New or 2nd hand?

I have a nice Armani... Oops, you're talking about bikes. :D

Now this sounds like a bit of a gander (found it at the bottom of todays cyclingnews)

http://www.topbike.com.au/atb_home.htm

Oh, and if you're foolish enuf to be interested, entries close tomorrow :)

For an off the shelf track bike on the cheap http://www.hillbrick.com.au/main.html [Edit]and they sell Duegi wood-sole shoes!

For a custom frame you'd better talk to Thylocine

I've never ridden track but I've been thinking about it and if I can get a reasonable bike at a reasonable price (say up to a grand) I'd like to give it a try. I really don't think I need a custom bike, it'd be wasted till I get to know what's good for me personally and if I really want to pursue the discipline seriously. I've got a spare 2004 Orbea 10sp which I could maybe deal with.

I rode fixed gear for a while, then bought a specific track bike, started to race it and never looked back, it's awesome fun !

I got a Bianchi Pista for $550 USD, not sure what they go for here but close to a grand easily. Nice bike, heavy but cheap, steel frame, does the job nicely.

Options would be:
hang around velodromes and ask about second hand bikes. Search some of the forums and classified boards for a bike.
buy a new complete track bike, made by Avanti, KHS, Bianchi, Specialized, Fuji, and probably others I can't think of. Most of these are cheaper, beginner level bikes so price should be reasonable.

Tanx for that. $500 would be cool :rolleyes:

How did everyone go over the easter long weekend? some good rides were had i take it? I unfortunately never got out on the bike :( will work on that this weekend though!

Munchy when you heading up our way?

There were rides for me, every day in fact including a race on Monday (which we will not speak of!). Climbo managed to drag himself out of bed for the coffee run on Saturday.

I'll be up Maitland/Newey way over the next three weekends, but I want to race Calga so it looks like being just one or two Sundays. I have to catch up with Expat at some stage to do that trading thang, so at least one ride will be had. I still have the ugly bike with the fat tyres.

Had a quiet Easter, but didn't get a chance to ride. I did however, almost have a cyclist hood ornament on Sunday. Driving along Beach Road, going to the city when 3 lads riding in a pack of about 30 riders decided to jump into our lane and overtake the bunch. They were just lucky that I wasn't checking out the bikes for a change as I had to dive on the anchors to prevent running up their b*ms.

It's times like these I can see why car drivers get unhappy with us, especially as they were giving me a mouthful when I overtook them... :(

Just a quick but in.

Someone (I think from New Zealand) posted in an old thread I started about faulty Ultegra brakes and the announcement to bring your bike in to the shop immediately. Well, I can't find the thread, and my bike shop wants to see it when I bring in my bike because they haven't heard a peep from Shimano about it. If any of you saw this thread and know where the heck it is, can you send me a PM? I won't be able to check this thread (waaaaaaay too many posts to go through), but if you could drop me a quick PM with the link or at least about the time you posted an update and which forum it's in, that will really help.

Thanks,

Koffee

It good that being both a cyclist and a driver gives a bit of perspective for both sides, it is all to easy to cause problems with any type of vehicle really. But I am usually in your position as well, too busy checking out the bikes, and any chicks that are usually riding them (damn, such good legs!) to see what is ahead :D

I was out on a coffee ride when an old Oz champ and Olympian asked me why I rode so far across (towards the traffic) in my lane. It's basically for that very reason: to avoid getting tangled up with traffic. It might sound oximoronic, but the fact is that by riding way over on the towards the kerb you are actually inviting traffic into the lane with you. Ultimately it's going to be a tight squeeze/messy.

I'd much rather take up the whole lane (where appropriate), but I politely snuggled up to his right shoulder to keep the peace. We discussed how he now had only a very small amount of room to work in in the event of trouble and he suggested that he wouldn't be much of a rider if he couldn't cope. I wonder if the young guy directly behind him in the group was as skilled a rider as he is.

check here also, there a a few listed (frames mostly)

http://www.jub.com.au/marketplace/

Actually, with the wife in the car, I have to continually give a running commentary like, "man, check out the 486, Hitchy's got one of those bad boys", all the while checking out the female forms...hehehehe


While I hadn't considered this before, I can see the logic. I'd be having a stab, but I bet you wouldn't jump out of the lane and sprint off without having a good look. I'm still struggling with how stupid these guys are...I might only drive a Honda Accord, but one or all of them could have been killed and they were p*ssed with me. Go figure...

Yes, can at times be tricky comentating about one topic and having your mind on another :eek: Next time take em out with the car, I have accord that I am trying to sell that you can buy :D

I was a little annoyed with myself the weekend before last, they had the lake ride in Newcastle which I totally forgot about. It is a nice ride around lake Mac! Did anyone here go in that?

Well I guess I would have to admit to having a peep before launching. I have to, I wear an Ippogriffo otherwise known as the worlds noisiest helmet. Maybe they were expecting you to just peel right a little as you would if you were on your bike. Never mind that 18 wheeler next to you, he's sure to peel right as well... or at least you could shake your fist at him if he didn't

Not that I know of. And it's a bastard of a ride thankyou very much. :D Gawd I hate undulations.

Undulations put the goodness in your legs.


On a completely unrelated topic.....is anyone else a bit p1ssed off with the quality and lack of content on this year's series of SBS Cycling Central??? There seems to be about 10 minutes in the 1/2 hour on fat ass-clowns filming their own hi-jinks rather than highlights packages from Milan-San Remo, Het Volk, etc etc....not to mention MTB stuff and booooooring interviews with dopey track riders.

Thoughts?

I think you're being a bit too critical. I also think they do a pretty good job covering a multi facited sport like cycling. They are trying to cater for everyone and there are lots of people who like track as there are who like MTB, road etc.
It's certainly better than what we've been getting and very well produced IMHO.

you don't have a problem with the time taken up by:
-Tomalaris demonstrating his total misunderstanding of the sport at the opening and close of the show
-send in your video competition, inc. the 5 mins intro etc every week
-the text and win a Trek every week
-video montage taht takes up the last 5 mins of the half hour of riders crashing, etc etc.

Don't get me wrong, I know they have to cover all aspects of the sport, but the amount of actual content is pretty low, regardless of what discipline you follow.