Where will Feltepix be on the 18th of April 2010???

Nightlightning raises the bar for all cyclists once again!

I have just received news today that Nightlightning have created a new L.E.D that is going to produce 30% more power than the existing L.E.D’s that we are running at present.

This could see the lights putting out around 1100 lumen's, (VERY BRIGHT). They have also located a new battery charger that will bring the overall purchase cost down without loosing any quality in product.

Stay tuned for more details…

Compulsion price locked in!

We've been out haggling in the back room for you, trying to get the best price possible for your next ride. Happily, we are able to say that for the princely sum of just $1000, you could be riding your very own Felt Compulsion 3, available in 2 sizes of either small or extra large.

You know how to find us, and searching back trough this blog will give you plenty of opportunities to have a look at these beasts!!

Compulsion 3's for Sale!

As another year has quickly passed us by, its time to move on our trusty bikes and hit the road for some new machinery. The good people at Felt have offered us bikes again for the year, to fill with adventure and pretty pictures, and so we are forced to part with our current Compulsions.

These bikes sit in a position of all day, all mountain bikes, and with the addition of new trails all around the state, they would make any rider a happy camper. Whilst they won't climb like a 22lb hardtail, the Equilink does a masterful job of converting every watt coming from your legs, into efficient forward motion. An inherrant lack of bob and chain torque related suspension action, keeps you happy on the climbs and then the smile on the backside of the hill threatens to split you face in two!

These bikes simply love the singletrack, and the wide opens stuff as well. With the front thru-axle on the Pikes (which is being featured in many XC forks more and more) the steering is stiff and positive to a tee. The travel on the back is controlled by the Fox shock and leaves you able to enjoy every moment on the bike.

The SLX groupset, whilst it lacks the lustre of the higher placed groupsets like XT and XTR, serves its master admirably, and we were never looking for better performance from the equipment. The brakes are a standout, massive controlled power at your fingertips!

All up, this awesomely fun and reliable package will suit any rider from someone starting out in the sport, to a racer looking for a weekend play bike. The pricing is an absolute bargain for a bike barely one year old, ridden only on our Epix rides (no training rides to wear things out) and lovingly maintained by the genius that is GVRaceTech.

So help us help you - email feltepix@gmail.com for more information and we'll see you out there!

	Spec's are below.

Frame Construction	TIG-welded
Frame Tubing Material	7005 double butted aluminum, w/hydroformed TT
Fork Brand & Model	RockShox Pike 409 Dual Air, 140mm travel
Fork Material	Single
Rear Shock	Fox Float R XV, 150mm travel

Components
Component Group	Shimano SLX
Brakeset	Shimano SLX disc w/180mm rotor front/Shimano SLX disc w/160mm rotor rear brakes, Shimano SLX Hydraulic levers
Shift Levers	Shimano SLX RapidFire
Front Derailleur	Shimano SLX
Rear Derailleur	Shimano SLX Shadow
Crankset	Shimano SLX, 22/32/44 teeth
Pedals	Not applicable
Bottom Bracket	Shimano SLX Hollowtech II
BB Shell Width	Unspecified
Rear Cogs	9-speed, 11 - 32 teeth
Chain	Shimano HG73
Seatpost	FELT Alloy Micro Adjust, 30.9mm diameter
Saddle	Felt XAM
Handlebar	Felt XAM OS 6061 ALU riser
Handlebar Extensions	Not included
Handlebar Stem	Felt AM 3D forged alloy
Headset	1 1/8" integrated

Wheels
Hubs	Front: Shimano SLX 20mm thru-axle centerlock disc, Rear: Shimano SLX centerlock disc
Rims	WTB SpeedDisc All Mountain, 32-hole
Tires	26 x 2.30" Felt Devox XAM
Spoke Brand	Stainless, 14ga. (2.0mm)
Spoke Nipples	Brass

Andrew 'no way' Dickey?

Big Mak showed me the light with this one - Andy Dicky getting all trialsy on its ass! There's some awesome riding here from a local bloke who's been doing huge things for a long time. Most of us just climb trees to fun, he rides his bike up them, around them and then jumps out of them... Did I mention, ON HIS BIKE! Trials guys have come a long way since Hans 'no way' Rey!

something old, somthing new, somthing borrowed...

Off with the old...


And hello to the new!! :)




Whilst we were at it, I thought we could soup up the umm, freeride forks? :) Hotrodding things - its what we do! (why is this thing underlining??)



And whilst there is all that hype about XX, you gotta see some of this stuff...! A cassette milled from a solid block of billet, something like 9 hours on the CNC, PER CASSETTE!!! And its a 'disposable' item... Wow...

2010 could be a big year for Felt

Read all about it here. And then go here to increase the amount of saliva in your mouth.

Running for office in Struggletown...

So we've all got dreams right. And goals. Some of them take a while to get around to, some of them take a crapload of work, and some just plain seem on the outer reaches of reality. And then there is the psychos that intend competing in the Hawaiian Ironman - this guy has such goals..!

So with Nath back in town for a few weeks, I've had him round a few times and its always ended well. For example, (back story, he lives in london at the mo, works in the Financial sector) he doesn't get much opportunity to get his hands dirty, so when he asked if he could dig a hole in the back yard, I said 'sure'! Of course, being cold, and boys, we ended up having a fire in it :)


So next visit, over a few beers, I suggested he join us for a roll next morning, leaving a bit early. Whilst it was midnight already, and we needed to meet at 6.15am, he said 'sure' and that was that... (Psycho...) Sure enough, next morning, second ride in a very long time, there he appeared!

With Jason making the mission over to the beachside of the world from the mountain land in which he lives, our little trio headed to the supposedly easy flat beach...



Glorious mornin!!


Nath aboard his Mongoose IBOC with baby tri bars took us back to a bad place in history... He spent the day drooling over the 762 Cervelo's that cruise Beach Road.




And so we rolled down to the beach until we popped out a BlackRock, without even thinking about Hell Ride, until someone said, 'are we going to make it?' Sure enough, we rolled past the clocktower 15min early so we just kept going. Hooking onto a cruisy bunch, we rolled down past Mordy, and then Jase got impatient... Typical mountain biker 'reckon we can bridge to that other bunch'...? 'Awh hell yeah' and off we went. Heart rates going stupid, chewing the stem and the memories coming back.

HellRide caught us at Frankston with this guy, and we hit Olivers before turning back and doing it all again... And it seemed twice as hard. Nath nearly made it all the way back to Mordy, but it was a road too far, and the train ran out of steam almost within sight, but not before I saw 198 on his hrm, so it wasn't that he wasn't trying!!

Block headbreeze felt like a cyclone all the way home, but we got there, whilst I chomped down on the Ascend bars, knowing that as a current home renovator, my day wasn't going to end there.

It was a cracker of a day out there, and a good bit of smashing cleanses the soul...

See you out there...

And the Hawaiian Ironman, not on your nellie..... Nuts....!!

Stretching our legs.

2009 v's 2010

A friend of mine, Mr GC found that he wanted to spend more time on top of his six week old 2010 Felt F1 road bike. Would you believe this is his first road bike. We set out to top his longest ride of around 75km in 2:45min. GC also has his own 2009 Felt Virtue 1 at home but found that his consistent road/mtb rides on the mtb around Wandong left him wanting to head out further from home and let his hair down after a big day on the tools.

We set off in the direction of Whittlesea and Kinglake. The climb up from Humevale has had a dramatic change since the fires.

Me trying to do the right thing.

Me being nice!!!

The only problem with riding such a fine bike is you have no excuses not to perform at your best.

When we returned to our cars we had racked up 89.56km. I was happy to call it a day but GC wouldn’t stop until he reached his new record of 90km in 3:15min.

Today, I had a new line on my arm to remind me to do something before I go riding?????

Trail maintenance.

Thought I'd go down and play Steve Irwin, see what the fuss was about...


I guess someone beat me to it, but I still did my bit for track maintenance.. Bit of a sweep made all the difference!



And I found a new coffee stop :) Problem is that its at the start of a ride... So one carries their cup until the liquid is consumed, then carries their cup like some sort of badge, or just to test the multi use of their bottle cage...



Fitted like a finger up a, ahh, nevermind...

The great divide...

Turns out those ingenious little fellahs up in central victoria have been at it again - new trail! :)

Chatting over the weekend with someone from 'upstate', apparently there has been a bit of a winfall in central victoria for local mountain bikers, and also for the blow in tourist type. On the back of a submission to the Federal Government from a few united groups, a hefty half a million dollars have been allocated to upgrading and developing the Great Dividing Trail. Some might scoff at my interest in whats occasionally referred to as a glorified country bike path, but I've got a feeling the trail management crew might just be looking out for us little mountain bike kids... ;)

So stay tuned, and keep your eyes out for a push in the region. 500K might only buy a drop dunny and a carpark up there, but I'm tipping there will be a few blokes on rakehoes making something memorable.

This is what the ABC reported:

Central Victorian tourism operators believe they will benefit from upgrades to a major hiking and cycling track between Bendigo and Ballarat.

The Great Dividing Trail will get $500,000 of Federal Government upgrades.

The funds will build some detours for mountain bikers and improve signage and bridges.

Goldfields Tourism chairman Rod Thompson says the trail will have more appeal to Melbourne tourists when it is upgraded.

"It'll attract a lot more people to use the track being so close to Melbourne," he said.

"You can access it [at] Bendigo, Castlemaine and Ballarat by train, or driving, it's only an hour-and-a-half and the B&Bs, accommodation providers and attractions along the track will benefit greatly from the extra usage."

And hey, happy new year!

Panaracer Rampage UST

Continuing the theme of maintenance, some new treads got thrown at a mountain bike. Panaracer Rampage UST came off the shelf and headed for the mavics, with some Spex thrown in for reliability.

At 750g a tyre for UST, they aren't going to win the weight weenie award, but for a predictable, reliable and generally tough tire to go the distance, weight certainly isn't the deciding factor. The tread pattern seems similar to some popular brands on the market, yet with its 'Made in Japan' stickering, we seem to be on a good thing.




Mounting the tire was a bit of an ordeal however. To get one mounted and seated, took every trick I know, and then some more MacGyvering to get it seated. Compressors, soapy water, ratchet straps, it was just being a pain. The other one went on easy as you like, so perhaps I just got unlucky, but it wasn't without its dramas.

Mounted and seated, Spex inside and we're off for a ride. First impressions were reasonably noisy on the bitumen, as they don't have an intact centre ridge, but once onto dirt, they were great! Tacky hardpack dirt had these things hooking up like Tiger at Hooters, and they were predictable in the muddy sections before and after puddles (best I could find...) Nice and quick, plenty of lateral grip and reasonably predictable for new tyres. Next time I'll run them a little lower than 38psi, and I think they'll be even better.

So, thumbs up for Rampages from me...!

Have a good new year, and thanks for your readership this year. Whilst we've fallen off the regular post wagon of later, we're working to bring it back! So make sure YOU stop by so we have a reason to do so! Now get out there!

Panaracer Closer tires.

As the sun starts to peak its head out, perhaps I might too...

But I thought I should do a quick bit of maintenance. Some new brake pads was quite a treat on the F1C, pulling it up in a flash which is nice! Slipping new pads straight back into the holder without any adjustment is something they write about in manuals, it never really happens. Until now :)

And I needed some new tyres, so a quick phone call to GVRaceTech at Panaracer and I've got my little mits on a pair of Panaracer 'Closer' tyres... Closer?? I don't get it either, but they are made in Japan and that's a thumbs up from me! Maybe its from all the cool stuff back in the day, but Japan always seemed to make good gear...

This is what the website says about them:

"Excellent value priced right. Closer offers a ZSG Natural Compound for long lasting wear and a comfortable ride. Closer is the best balance between a high end racing tire and a training tire offering superb durability, comfort, and confidence."




So I whipped of the old tyres, dusted a bit of talc about the place and reefed the kevlar beads over the Ksyriums. Not too much effort saw me pumping them up and popping them back on the bike. First impression was that they have quite a pronounced 'point' in the top centre of the tread, and you notice it when you ride them. There is less surface area on the ground as you ride, and they feel very fast. I'll be able to tell if they are predicatable as time goes by, but so far they seem good!



So, 2010, I wonder whats on the cards for Felt Epix?

Maybe this could be the future for Lake Mountain???

7 Peaks, The Alpine Ascent Challenge.

Mr T handed me a passport some weeks ago with the intention of inspiring me to find time to get on the bike. At first the passport was pushed aside and paperwork in the office took hold once again.

With a typical mid week office session finishing up around 11:30ish pm I needed some reading material in bed to take my mind off the day that was just about to pass. Not the kind you are thinking!!!

The passport found its way into my hand and I read the text. In the morning a text message was created and sent, let’s get some dates together and take on the challenge of the 7 peaks, The Alpine Ascent Challenge. I am inspired once again to get out of bed on a Sunday at 5:30am.

Our first ascent was to be Lake Mountain Alpine Resort with a twist. The Passport asks us to ride from Marysville to Lake Mountain total 22kms, 902m rise. We decided this is much too short for an adventure, so we rode from home instead. Total 150km, 2800m rise, that’s better…

Check out Mr T blog for his pics as mine were from my crackberry phone.

We plan to ride all seven if our calendar permits. Check the site for all info and get out there!

You never know my 2010 blog update could be from France.