Cheeky Transport

Will French: Franc-o-phile / Velo-style

Will French is an artist and customer of ours, who’s got an exhibition in the window at Grant Pirrie in Redfern, opening this Thursday.

I don’t know what’s involved, but Will has been asking us how to extract as much torque as possible from his bike to power *something*, so I’m curious to see what he’s created..

Now Stocking: Keen Sandals

We’ve just got stock of a new shoe - Keen Commuter Sandals. They’re burlier than the Shimano sandals and work great off the bike. $200.

Dirtworks Sale Extended + Super Hot Surly and *Salsa* Specials - UPDATED

Here at Cheeky we’re not prone to hyperbolic sales speak, but..

..right now we’ve got some superhot stocktake deals, with prices too hot to print on the following Surly and Salsa stock, but only until 5pm Thursday

FRAME + FORK

Steamroller 49cm 53cm 59cm
Long Haul Trucker 52cm
Cross Check 50cm
1×1 20 inch
Karate Monkey 22 inch

COMPLETE BIKES

Big Dummy BIKE:16 inch 18 inch 20 inch 22 inch
Rat Ride BIKE: 16 inch; 18 inch; 20 inch
Ala Carte: 18 inch
La Cruz: 53cm; 55cm 57cm
Casseroll Triple: 51cm
Pistola: 45cm; 47cm; 49cm; 51cm; 53cm

But wait! There’s more!

The Dirtworks sale we mentioned last week has been extended until the end of June.

You’ve got a couple of weeks to get 15% off Surly and Salsa bikes and frames, as well as all the other kewl bits that Dirtworks import

Some conditions apply - (don’t they always). To qualify for the discount the total wholesale order that we place needs to be over a certain amount. If you’re keen, we can let you know what’s happening when you place your order.

Now Stocking Lazer Helmets

We’re now stocking Lazer MTB helmets in a range of colours and styles, for between $70 and $220, (with a special Blade 2 XC for expat Canadians).

You could get your helmet dot-painted in Central Australia like Richard did, which might void your warranty, but looks amazing.

cycling courses

paddy and jo in helmet free engalaaaaaaaaaaand

Our friends paddy and jo with assorted assistants are providing some cycling skills courses. You can check their website or link below.

The City of Sydney has recently started a program for cyclists who want to gain confidence to ride in the City.

The City strongly supports cycling as a preferred sustainable method of transport and we feel that by providing these courses we will encourage more people to buy and use a bicycle and feel confident about riding in the City of Sydney.

Cycling in the City course

The Cycling in the City course is a free course available to any individual over 18 years old who is not a beginner.

The course teaches low risk and responsible riding and is designed for people who can already ride but want confidence to ride on city streets.

For more information go to:

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/AboutSydney/ParkingAndTransport/Cycling/CyclingCourses.asp

Salt - Sydney Film Festival

Murray Fredericks is a customer and friend of the shop. For the past few years he’s been riding his Surly Pugsley out to Lake Eyre in South Australia for his ‘Salt’ series, and simultaneously filming a documentary about the project which is screening at the Sydney Film Festival on Wednesday.

Injuries

Big Photos

so i haven’t been blogging much lately but don’t worry you are going to suffer me a bunch from now on. In the last 3 months my bike has not been my friend, i never thought an object of such beauty and a deliverer of such vast, joyful functionality could be such a treacherous fiend.

first a racing accident. a good one, severed tenders in my right hand, my pinky can barely scratch me ear it is such a waste of space. i could try and put that one away to being on the limit and being unfortunate on a tight corner in a race. the truth was i thought just because i had tubular tyres i could run obscene pressures. high pressure on rough road doesn’t work so well. i should’ve known but every last bit of forward momentum i could savor i was chasing.

then 10 weeks later, barely back on the back in earnest about 200 metres from home after a light ride, having a drink, hit a bump, next thing down on the ground groaning and moaning unable to breathe very well and realising that i couldn’t put weight on my right arm because i had a broken collarbone. even after my hand injury i loved riding my bike with an undeserved passion. maybe i should have been more humbled, i did try but i just couldn’t shake the urge to get back training again.

a week after i broke my collarbone i was due to go on a family holiday to france for three weeks to stay with paula’s parents in provence. awesome timing, mont ventoux beckoned but i was unable to oblige. i did drink a lot of great wine and had some lovely fresh produce. a good location to lick my wounds.

so a few pieces of advice: it is probably a good idea to wear gloves when you ride your bicycle (any protection helps), do not exceed 120psi in any type tyre when racing at heffron park or any other poorly surfaced cycling track and be very careful when riding no hands. if you break your collarbone get a few expert opinions on whether to operate or not. i reckon i should have been operated on but wasn’t and now have a significantly overlapped collarbone which will require messing with at some future date.

i am getting to get a kieren racing outfit just to commute with: cushioning and mad hand protection

Inner West Greenway Submissions

We’re big supporters of the Inner West Greenway project - it’s a plan to connect Cooks River and Iron Cove with a bike path/park/transport corridor along the old Dulwich Hill freight rail line.

The plans are currently on exhibition with Leichhardt, Marrickville and Ashfield council, and they’re inviting public comments. We’d really encourage everyone to write a letter or an email to say how much you would like it to be a cycleway. There is a movement to make it an exclusive lightrail route, which will mean NO BIKES at all on this sweet, flat scenic ride from the cooks river into the city Via Rozelle.

So, yeah, vote bikes!

The Ride Journal

We’re stocking a lovely cycling publication from the UK - The Ride. We’ve got a few copies left of Issue #2 for $20.

The first issue is available as a downloadable PDF from their website, but the words and pictures really come to life in their printed form.

Royal Flush - This Saturday Nite.

The Pista Resistance kids are throwing a poker run on Saturday night, but details are scarce at the moment. What we can tell you is that it’s open to all comers, fixed wheel or not, and should be a blast. Does three of a kind beat two pair?