new balls for hugo

after the "skaters are little shits" incident:

scene: richmond skate park
issue: the grind ramp stolen
result: leaving just the dyna bolts exposed - man so dangerous
problem: back wheel/gatorskin deciding to slam it on the side wall, instant puncture, causing the side bead to break, creating flat spots in the tire... ffs

hugo hit the road a little earlier than expected. the spindle isn't right. i did take him for a ride after the build over the weekend - he did 17km to the golf course and back - but the premature beginnings of his station run have made the spindle issue a priority.

today i purchased 26 x 1/4 ball bearings so i will repack the BB over the weekend and hopefully it will fix the issues of tightening and loosening spindle play. the bag of bearing looks like some kind of new fangled drug with metallic ball bearings covered in a white grease.

tarini unveiling

damn its been about a week since i posted last. can't believe how quickly time goes. basically i took tarini into work last wednesday to show the fellow bikers. i took a few images very quickly during lunch whilst waiting for the food, and since then i have been spamming pretty much everything i can with the bike. i did a few photoshop massages to the images one night, i also had a few images of the bike whist riding it to the station from my N73. the original images are shit but with the photoshop doctor brought in they are looking nicer now.
it is quiet amazing how good the bike looks with a little bit of work with the doctor. i love the moss on the ground under the image so the second time i brought the NEF's into photoshop i played more with bringing them out. they highlight the green really well
so here is the combo of shots





the weather is still shit. raining all the time so i am getting very frustrated with hugo. i have to get the bastard on the road so i can get to the station. i have now been about 4 bike stores looking for bloody hub spacers. i have only got 4 x 5mm ones so far and a set of shit BMX wheels for the trouble.
it is funny to judge a bike store on its hub spacers availability but is also such a good test of who gives a shit, who knows there shit, and who has attitude to book. clarence street cycles were great. the guy spent about 10 minutes looking for some and couldn't find any but was seriously apologetic. city bike depot i rang, they said they had some, i walked for 35 minutes, and no f^#%ken luck, they just sent me to clarence street, and the guy had a real attitude. the bike store at castle hill industrial area were nice but only offered me to shitty BMX rims that need to be trashed with spacers on them.
i think now my best bet is to go to the serious LBS at springwood. i know the guy has a draw full of them, he has shown me, so that is the plan now.
i am still concerned about the redishing of the wheel. i have a couple of options i can either take it and have it done, or possibly sell some more shit and buy some dedicated track wheel set. the more i think about it the more i think that may be the best option. would be simple and straight to the point.
who knows!

Grose point ride

i am an idiot. i rode for just under 50km yesterday in the 40º heat. i left at 10am and returned home at 1.00pm. 3 hours of heat hell. the ride was average but the view at the destination point was quiet spectaular, although the river below was a real tease. i so just wanted to jump in it. the ride was from trailflix's grose point trail. once i reached the lookout i took out my phone to take a few images, then realised i had reception, which blew me away, what was even cooler was i had a missed call. it was from blackmans, tarini was ready to be picked up.
mapping position is maked on the flickr image below.


and thanks to track cunt for the inspiration - i now have the route mapped out at mapmyrun.

it took my total km's for the week to a nice 130.

to quill and beyond

tarini and i departed at around 10.15 this morning. he needs the stem taken out @ a place that has more than around 25 tools. i have also spoken to them about the chainline. i know it is out and we are going to work on what is the best way to sort that issue out. does anyone know someone with a buffing wheel? i really need to hit the 80 up badly for that real shein .... doh i forgot, no one reads this blog.

the docket is quiet funny.
no it isn't a "blue - fixed Road Bike" it is a "blue - Broken fixed gear Road Bike"
NOTE: security black bar created in photoshop. every docket requires some kind of digital manipulation to improve is validity if viewed on the internet.

blog newz. i am going to try and create a full custom blog using moveable type. if it all goes to play you will see it. if not... you won't lol.

shit bugga poo bum and wee

the stem is frozen!
so all the new bits can't go on. now i have to seriously make a decision about the frame. if i intend on powercoating it then i am going to have to get all the stem item fixed at the same time. arhhhh. decisions decisions decisions....

100km dirtworks - tarini update

nick from work just spoke to me and i am really keen to do the dirt works 100km ride this year. camp the night ride all day... then die/sleep all day sunday. sounds like my type of weekend!

karen and the boys just called to say they have picked up all the tarini upgrades. pretty exciting weekend ahead. i also went the full fixie last night and removed the front brake, and returned to 46/16 = 77.62 GR.

i am going to do the grose point ride this weekend rather than blue gum swamp. looking to set out early sunday morning to be back early to beat the heat.

Seen in Sydney pt3
I'm 90% sure she has returned home yesterday! thank good i feel much better about it all now.

I have now downsize my commuter pack to the torpedo 7 hydration pack i picked up a while back for $25. tis much better for commuting between the house and the silver ghost pickup point. the blackwolf 30 was just too big.

Police Bike patrol

out the front of work today.

BMX cover

my nan gave me this book back about 4 months ago. it is me on the cover doing a cross up at the north ryde bmx track i would have been about 11yrs old in this shot. i am riding a mongoose - my first BMX bike. i eventually upgraded to a QLD made Super Light Allow bike or SLA constructed by Graeme Stevenson. I actually made it to the states on that bike. i wasn't as good a sprinter as a long distance rider. i remember distinctly always coming in around 3rd-4th in the local meets at north ryde. when the qualifiers for the states were held at north ryde, they would extend the track by 2 lengths at the finish. this is were i would always overtake everyone with ease and it was enough to make it to newcastle for the states.

my main memory of the states was i felt really lonely . i didn't know anyone what so ever and i remember just riding around the outside of the track by myself, pretty envious of the "crews" of people. the kind of set-ups that would have say 5 riders together either a family or extended family. i also remember i had had an arguement with my step father for some reason. i came 4th in the heats - which wasn't enough to put me in the finals.

looking back now it really makes me realise i wasn't riding in my best discipline. i should have been either on road or track. such is life

105 has arrived

scott from NOS has delivered way ahead of when i thought i would receive the headset. as expected it is in NOS condition. good thing is it here before the stem, bars etc.

i have sent an email off to cycle underground to see what the cost would be to re-coat tarini. i also asked about taking off some of the "excess" road bits [bottom bracket cable guides - top tube cable guides - shifter mount - bottom bar derailleur guide], what it would cost to remove the road drop outs and replace with horizontal track tips. i also don't know what the go is with rust removal and cost.
i am quiet un-decided about colour as well. i am in two minds - white or blue....
lets see cost and what colours are avaliable.

tarini now has 46/15 gearing. bring on the hills!

Saturdays are bike days

seen in sydney update. on friday on my way back to the silver ghost the intrepid traveller had been stood up by someone. it brought a smile to my face after what was a short working week but the first for the year.

LBS - i have now completely moved across to blackmans penrith as my LBS. lifecycles for some reason just never really felt that friendly even though it was where i purchased scottie from. todays bring homes were:
1 x 15T 1/8 track cog
1 x VIP bottle cage clips - these are for hugo to run the 25 watt total halogens
1 x 16T 3/32 track cog - again for hugo.
3 x single chain ring bolts - FREE

i did/was planning on taking the boys down to SOP today but again the weather has the better of me once again. because of the weather hugo is now my main focus. i need to get him up and running so he can take over the bad weather day commuting to and from the station. he is 80% complete but is in need of 2 more single chain ring bolts and a new chain. i am thinking i will put the brakes only on hugo and running the tarini without. he now has the wheel set from tarini in place and i was trying to get hold of a lockring remover that would fit the cassette but as it turns out i can't get hold of one so i am going to have to take the wheel to Blackmans to have them remove it.

going to blackmans is sad. i just wish we were a little more financially stable. i would love to upgrade scottie to a new MTB and pass him on to karen. not going to happen anytime soon

sydney is good

man, you would have to be a very keen cadence candidate to be pushing this, or for that matter any thing, around in weather like this. with salt water etc these bikes don't have the best chances of living for long. it really makes me realise it is a pretty damn nice a country australia for weather and riding conditions. it has really made me now focus on hugo. i need the second fixie/single speed for the bad weather days to make my way to the silver ghost

horse power

seen in sydney pt2

oh no... its not looking good for the intrepid traveller ...
today she had fallen from grace and looked like she needed some serious help. i do find it really hard walking past this bike and doing nothing about it

ray dobbins

i just found this guys site. it is pretty amazing to think he shoots all these bikes that he owns on a shitty old olympus camera or a crappy kodak. just goes to show it isn't always about the money to get results that look a million dollars. he also explains a fair bit about polishing up parts - and damn - nice collection of bikes

seen in sydney

saw this poor little fixie this morning on the way to work. looks like she had a very big new years eve... possibly. its a "traveller" frame... but doesn't look like she will be anytime soon.