Sure you won't give me sh*t...Let's face it, you never give me any now...


It's excellent to see I'm not the only one who has their missus holding on to his testicles.


I'm in!

Got to leave you now lads. I'm off to ride my bike to Sorrento for the weekend...now where's my sun screen???

Saccy, you be back from Orange by then?

Cricket Saturday.

I'll write you a note

I love cricket though. I'm averaging 41 so far this year so I'm not doing to bad.

I quit cricket when I was 20 to go race me bike, and didn't play for about 12years (only raced for three).

I went back a few years ago at age 32, only to realise I'd totally lost it.
Lost hand/eye coordination, lost hand speed, which meant I wasn't able to quickly move my bat
to "jagging" deliveries...etc, etc, etc...too heart braking, so, the following year I went back to
doing 3 hr rides on Satdee arvos

Yeah, maybe to long of a layoff. I had a 5 year layoff from 23 to 28. I thought I'd be **** when I came back but I scored 70 in the first game back and 100 in the second. I'd found batting was harder, but my shot selection and attitude were a lot better. Just a solid defence and gave up things that used to get me out (like trying to cut behind square). Scored at least 2 hundreds a year since (I'm 32 now) so I'll keep playing while still getting runs. When they dry up I'll stop though as batting's the main thing that's fun.

Then again, if I find myself thinging on Saturday morning more about riding than cricket, that day might come earlier.

Have you spoken with my bro.....i think he was going to go looking this afternoon at bikes again.

Hello fellow Aussies.

Here's a report on my virgin road bike buying experience.

After looking at a number of bikes, and reading through pages and pages of threads at this forum, I was weighing up between two bikes, the Trek 1000 and a Learsport 7700. I was drawn into looking at Learsport because of how dirt cheap their bikes are. Of course the old saying goes that if something looks to good to be true, then it probably is. Thankfully I discovered that out for myself before buying.

LBS's will sell the Trek 1000 for $999. I was able to get the Learsport for $950. The difference? Looking solely at components, Trek has carbon fibre fork, sora shifters, and tiagra rear-derailleur. Handlebars, seatpost, saddle, stem and tyres all Bontrager.
The Learsport is sold at wholesale prices, and the 7700 comes with a carbon fibre fork, fully tiagra components, and a bunch of no-name brands for everything else.
On paper the Learsport looks great - especially at that price. However I can't stress enough how important it is to take a bike on a decent test run. Make sure you get it out on the road, get some speed up, test the acceleration and cornering - and the overall ride/feel.

This is where the MASSIVE difference in the bikes was. I test rode the Learsport and endured a very bumpy ride. Sure the Tiagra shifters were nice - but every bump in the road reverberated up my spine.

Next I rode the Trek. Now if the Learsport was what a $1000 bike feels like, I could have been mistaken for thinking I was riding a mid-range bike - comparatively speaking. The difference was incredible, the bike was so smooth, even on a bumpy road it was smooth, yet somehow stiff enough to give great acceleration.

Anyone looking at buying a new bike - make sure you choose the ride/feel of the bike over components. You can easily upgrade components, pick up something cheap over eBay, but upgrading the frame is a massive operation.

Frankly I don't care that I bought a bike with Sora shifters. Most of the time I ride with my hands up top anyhow. The thing is, I know I got a really great bike for my money.

I don't want to bag out Learsport - they just can't compete with the better bike companies. If you want the cheap and nasty then they are a great option. If you want to enjoy your riding then go with Trek. I did also test ride other bikes. Giant OCR, Avanti, Norco. I did enjoy these bikes, but not as much as the Trek. I know the Trek bikes can be a little bit dearer, but it's really worth the money.

BTW - I don't work for Trek!! I'm just giving them a huge wrap because I'm really pleased with the bike I bought.

One last thing - make sure you test ride every bike you are considering buying, and go with what you like best, upgrade your components later. Keep a tab on eBay for the stuff you want and sooner or later it will come up.

Cheers!!!

WOW

Because the Sun's out?

rock on kilbourne.!..hope you enjoy it

Hitchy

I'm trying to think up some excuse to get outta here early too....the weathers s'posed to take a turn for the worse later , (strategically placed gap for the weather report that is about to be posted .....)...& tomorrows not looking too flash as well.......

Hitchy

This weather makes me want to skip work and go for a ride - unfortunately that kind of stuff can get you fired...

So instead i'll just continue to surf the web, eat peanut m&m's, and get paid $20p/hour to do it

He was talking about the Diamond backs again the other night.....I'm not sure what he is going to get.

I went out at lunch.....its so nice outside....but the wind is picking up!!
The next three days will be horrible.
Hopefully tomorrow morning will be ok to get a ride in

If you're after a 'diamond back'....before you buy it, let me know the model & the price.....I might be able to 'help' you with a better deal...ya never know

hitchy

Thanks!!

I think it will be out of the Diamond back or a Gitane.....with 105.

You BETTER ride!! I take it you didn't go yesterday, and as you said, tomorrow's lookin' crap, as is Sunday, so........



Latest forecast, issued at 10:50am
https://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDV10450.txt

... even it it means you have clean your bike again

Now this is freeeaky. Just arrived from Cycling NSW. It looks like they saw the ATABFR and hurriedly put an event together!!!!

"Gold, Gold, Gold

On Saturday November 27th one of Australia's major track promotions will be held at the Dunc Gray Velodrome, Bass Hill Sydney.

Following the most successful year ever for Australian Cycling on both road and track, most of our leading track cyclists will be competing at the

23rd Clarence Street Cyclery Trek Cup

The day will commence at 1:00pm with a large junior program with cyclists from all over New South Wales.

At 4:00pm the heats of the Clarence St Cyclery Cup will be held followed by heats of the NSW Derny paced championship. After a short break the main carnival will commence at 6:30pm.

The action packed program will include the finals of the Clarence Street Cup, the NSW Derny Championships, the NSW Keirin Championship plus a full race support series.

The sporting public and avid cycling followers will be given the opportunity to witness our Athens Olympic Games, World and National Cycling heros.

Those contracted to appear include;
Ryan Bayley - Dual Olympic Gold Medalist
Graeme Brown - Dual Olympic Medalist
Shane Kelly - Athens Olympian and three times world champion
Sean Eadie - Athens Olympian and former world champion
Ben Kersten - Former World Junior Champion
Anna Meares - Olympic Gold Medalist and World Record holder
Kerrie Meares - Many times national champion
Stephen Wooldridge - Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion
Ashley Hutchinson - World Champion
Katherine Bates - Athens Olympian and Commonwealth Games champion Rochelle Gilmore - Many times national champion
Michael Ford - Dual Junior World Champion
Matthew Goss - Dual Junior World Champion
Kial Stewart - Paralympics Gold Medalist"

Well done, "Killer". I know a few guys who LOVE their aluminium Treks

...phew....got my 2 hours in tonite....got chased all the way home by the rain...was blacker than a dogs guts...the eerie part was that although I was pushing into the wind on the way home....the black clouds were chasing me up the road......darn those upper level winds...still, got in with 5 mins to spare. Doesn't look like any riding tomorrow by the forecast...don't wanna do too much anyway, hoping to get a race in sundee with the vets at Trentham....can't recall ever racing there when it hasn't rained!

Hitchy

I'm from Australia, Melbourne, 16yrs. Thats about it.