The best not too loaded up/budget touring bike the Fuji Touring is BACK BABY! $1350 . Tip from the top. Get in quick if you want one. There has been a huge amount of demand, and there aren’t many available. Lovely bike.

We just became Vaude dealers and I am particularly impressed by their Roadmaster bags $100 for front $130 for rear. NIce attatchment system, raincover, pockets. Good value. They also do some very similar to the ortliebs (which should be back in stock in a couple of weeks).

more soon

That’s Tiff bearing down on me on the bikepath into Port Douglass

and here is JOhn , our new staff member

That’s Paul Campbell’s trike, which can be seen at Marrickville Organics market on Sundays, chock ablock full of tasty food.

My first chance to take stock this week. Except i have a busy saturday ahead of me!

This week I had the good fortune of building andrew's rohloff equipped birdy this week. Mudguards, racks and the sweetest battery operated commuting light i have ever seen; the light and motion vega. It is a seriously cool bike, it oozes practicalility in a very shmick form. Look out for photos.

Welding at tafe is going pretty well. On monday we did some oxy cutting and gouging, on thursday we were doing outside corners on 1.6 stainless steel, then some fillet brazing. I have to get practicing so as not to let all this learning go to waste. Finding the correct equipment for torches and tips for bicycle specific brazing is proving quite difficult.

Tomorrow i will be off to sydney pitt st vegetarian restaurant for a dose of vegan yum-cha, sunday ritual.mmmmm. greasy.
later
david

We did not stay to party, the bubby had to get to bed. We did see a great tandem with a babyseat which was ridden very skillfully by a couple who looked like they were enjoying themselves. I hope to make critical mass a regular family/friend activity.

Race for Jase July 31 Penrose

was a huge success.$5000 raised for the cancer council, 95 riders on a sweet trail. Nice speech by Stevo to remember Jase by.

Photos are here

Davy's framebuiding adventure.

I have just begun my journey to framebuilding fame and am learning Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW or TIG) at tafe. I had wanted to learn ox-acetylene but it is no longer offered. I wanted to get some experience with welding and brazing before i shelled out more silly amounts to do the UBI lugged framebuilding course.

It is pretty cool to be learning how bicycle frames are put together, reading descriptions on the internet can not provide the practical experience of the assembling equipment, striking the arc and heating the metal.

 So, this week we actually did some welding. Pretty scary first up to be handling a 6000 degree arc dabbing your filler rod uncoordinatedly into the edge of the molten pool trying to avoid the tungsten tip lest you contaminate it. People who are good at this must have very steady hands. We also did some oxy-acetylene welding on Monday night which was fun. Basic stuff but it is all complicated to me so takes a while to get the hang of heating the base metal enough, applying flux to your filler rod, tapping filler rod onto metal and then heating up the metal so the filler flows all the way through between the two plates.

I am intending to focus on City bikes, Holland style bikes, and touring bikes whatever else i have the ability to create will be a bonus. I think custom framebuilding has largely been priced out of contention in the consumer's consideration of a new bike. I am refusing to believe that quality cannot be offered at a reasonable price. Maybe i will eat my words when i realise the cost of setting up a workshop, insurance and the return on hours worked doesn't stand up. However, i feel like i have to find out. Offering quality products to enable cycling as transport to a broad range of people appeals as a job description to me.

We have just received some new shimano dynamo hubs, (lighter and more efficient) well priced at $150 (hub only) and the schmidt's are going strong for the ultimate dynamo solution.

The new B and M LED supravision light from lumotec was recently installed and tested and absolutely blew the oval plus i had been using out of the water. This light is incredibly bright, when angled correctly it gave me a broad light with a great beam directly in front. They are pricey and at the moment require a bit of modification to use with dual pivot brakes but i was very impressed. They reach maximum brightness somewhere around 5km/h which is great when climbing. It is on my commuting bike so you can check it out at the shop.

Cool new items in stock: Nitto bars (moustache, track and touring)

Calendar of cool events is UPDATED

Cool folding bike display care of paddy

Fuji touring with deore cranks and euro trekking bars

We've got some mad surly's in stock: steamroller, long haul trucker and 29er frame and fork the karate monkey.

We are also fully equipped for fork and rear shock servicing.

We can also service shocks.

Marzocchi and Manitou will be soon to follow.

How cool is this event ?

You can  now buy folding bikes and accesories online !!!

click here to go to our new site

 foldingbikes.com.au

 Got a new shipment of Dahon folding bikes recently

including my new favourite, the Speed 8

8 Speed, nice light frame, big cushy fat tyres, adjustable stem with comfort grips, and only $800.

This is going to be a very popular bike I think.

Also arrived are the new Boardwalk 7, Impulse 7, and Vitesse 7.

and of course, we are the exclusive distributors for 

Racks for front suspension,

 rear suspensionand roadbikes with no mounts

Our good friend Laszlo has got some great PR in the Sydney Morning Herald today (Tuesday) in the Eco section. Laszlo picks up all our used tyres and makes belts out of them and then sells them back to us.

Dave and I have discovered these great new Ergon grips. Yep, they look Kooky, and yep they are pricey but boy do they feel sweet! There are mens and womens models with or without barends, and they bolt on.

On a brighter note, here are some nice bikes we have built recently

has a new updated cool website

The next wave in Lighting has begun !

Just in, is The Light and Motion Vega for $300, with an LED light which can run for up to 8 hours , up to 12 watts equivalent light, with a 2 hour  charge time. The battery is in the light unit and it also has a flashing mode !

Here is a little report from Dave's trip to Colorado's Barnett's Bicycle Institute to become a Certified Advanced Bicycle Technician

Here are a couple of photos of Ben Wilson who kicked ass at the Singlespeed Worlds earlier this year in VIC, beating many faster riders due to his excellence in beer drinking

messenger bags, little handbag type bags, pouches, strap pads, tshirts. This stuff is so damn cool. AND WATERPROOF tarp lined like all work bags should be

Courier section updated with some cool links and info on Sydney's successful bid for the Cycle Messenger World Champs in 2006. Before this years worlds there is a messenger stage race from Boston to NY with 3 alleycats, 3 road stages and a timetrial.

 Excellent Cycling proficiency and commuter courses are run by the Sydney Community College

Exciting news! There is a new distributor for BOB trailers, which means that there will be excellent availability, and the prices have dropped dramatically.

They were $850, but the YAK, at a special introductory price is $500 and the Ibex suspension model is $650

I'm gonna get one myself !

and this fantastic  gift

It's that time of year when everybody is coming in stocking up, nor for Xmas, but for panniers and racks and touring supplies, making me jealous with their plans.

We have heaps of Ortlieb handlebar bags and panniers

Dave has also been getting into Dynamo lights, and we now stock B and M lights, Schmidt and Shimano Dynamo systems.

And we have heaps of flashers and rechargables.

Imagine having this on your handlebars.

Dennis is back from riding around Australia over a year on beautiful Fuji Touring bike now $1600. British racing green, racked up. Lucky Bastard.

Singlespeeds are ticking along, and there is a fantastic new hub from White Bros called the ENO which allows you to put a single cog or freewheel hub into a normal bike with vertical tips. No chaintensioners ! Awesome. And pretty too.

Check this out for an adventure ( read some of the reports)