A recent a.b post lead me to this bike fit page:
Huffy files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
(you will have to register to read it, but the subject gives an idea)
“Huffy, which makes about a third of the bicycles sold in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 on Wednesday, citing losses largely from a Canadian sports equipment company.”
“Huffy lost $7.5 million in 2003 after losing $1.4 million in 2002. It has yet to file quarterly financial reports for 2004 and has not said why.”
Seems like they did a Cannondale with their bike division making money but the other crap they got into failed.
Benny Bros – Trials talent and phat photos..
hippy moves up in the world.. of pedals
After a late (and LARGE) pancake breakfast at the Chocolate Box in Camberwell with Tee, I visited my “dealer” Mick to get a fix. Today’s fix would consist of an even blend of Ultegra SPD-SL pedals (PD-R600) and SPD-SL shoes (the carbon-sole SH-R151’s to be exact).
After 3 or 4 years of using the SPD mountain bike pedal system for commuting, road racing, mtb racing and even track racing I felt I should move to a proper road system for the road and track bikes.
At this stage I’ve roughly positioned the cleats and taken the Pug for a quick spin around the block. Everything feels strange!
The shoe is 3 strap rather than 2 and a lot stiffer than my old Nike SPDs so my feet will have to get used to the change.
The engagement mechanism operates differently requiring a softer click-in in a slightly different position.
One-sided entry will make my starts interesting for a while and I’m sure to slip onto my backside any time I have to walk in these things! They are much less walk-friendly than the SPDs (well.. duh!).
The actual pedaling action feels more solid when powering down but the amount of float took me by surprise – the shoes seem to ‘skate’ around a little more than my SPDs.
Using the good advice of not trying anything new before a race, I will take them off and fit the SPDs before tomorrow’s crit.
– Addendum –
This might answer a few of your questions:
www.cyclingnews.com review the Dura Ace SPD-SLs
Also bought:
– an Alien multi-tool
– one of the new red sidewall Pro Race tyres
– selection of High-5 and GU bars and gels to test out
Steaming Cyclists Sue 'Bike Thief' Cops
Did I miss a full moon?
Did I miss a full moon?
What a strange night!
It started with me racing a minibike on the Hawthorn velodrome! Yep, the very same “toy” I mentioned on aus.bicycle was becoming popular the other day.
Suffice to say… I kicked its arse! ๐
Some wanker in a Supra or the dodgy Aussie imitation Celica with XIAN WORLD or something written all over it decides zipping in front of me with no indicator is a good idea, then basically pushes a car out of the way to get back in the other lane (cars beeping now), then zips out again.. this continued up the road until I lost him. If you see a purple Supra/Celica covered in XIAN WORLD, kick his fscking mirrors off.
Then a guy in a convertible Porsche does the same “what indicators?” trick. He did a fantastic impression of the opening scene of Office Space, where the protagonist’s lane is stopped so he changes over and then that lane stops and the one he was in starts moving..
As soon as Nigel Mansell here had moved into the left lane, it stopped and the right lane moved forward! I rode past and congratulated him on his awesome move (what the hell, I’m a prick!). Convertibles are great, not only for driver-penile-enhancement but for chatting to drivers – driver’s take note!
Then there was the smiling thumbs up from.. wait for it.. a holden ute driver?!?
Initially I thought he was being sarcastic and that I’d done something wrong by him, but I ran the last kay through my head and couldn’t think of anything that would prompt such a reaction, except for the tram passing. Belting down the hill, the tram was stopping at one of those stupid kerbside blocks, so I took the bike lane, tail-whipped the roadie off the exit lip and bam, in front of everyone! ๐ I figure he was congratulating me on my speed.. ๐
I saw a funny incident this morning at the gym. This dude riding a cheap mtb. Obviously a newb (or drunk hehe), he’s riding around the carpark and takes an easy, slow corner.. but he doesn’t turn! Doesn’t lean, nothing..
So, by now he’s overcooked it and ‘slowly’ runs into a tree. He hit it at a shallow enough angle to scrape along and continue.. He was smiling and so were the 5 people that watched him. I don’t think the SAAB/Beemer(?) owner who’s car was parked right next to the tree would have been..
Someone's trying to save the brainwashed masses..
Wired News: Inventor Rejoices as TVs Go Dark
If only they could up the power and use it for the whole nation..
$33 MTBA License for CA Members
This is useful info for the roadies who want to try a few dirt crits or enduros. It also works the other way around with MTBA members getting a discounted CA membership.
"The Tank" polo bike – Stage 1
The seller: aus.bicycle’s “PiledHigher”
The bike: Cougar All Terrain MTB
Planned Use: Bike Polo machine
The cost: $50
The weight: 87.85kg(3)
Removed screw-on freewheel with correct Shimano tool in vice(1)(2).
Removed stupid chain guard.
Cleaned and repacked rear wheel.
Removed pedal toe-clips.
Removed stickers and mud.
Tightened chainrings and bottom bracket. Adjusted gears.
New Weight: 87.84kg(3)
(1) Would previously have used large spanner and chainwhip but lost large spanner and headset tool when I left it on the back of Tee’s ute.
(2) Vice recently acquired from my Dad. The legend heard that I didn’t have one so he constructed a take-down workbench and included a vice! Thanks Dad!
(3) Okay, so I may have exaggerated a little bit, but not bloody much!!
See it before mods and with my cat, here: