A meet up sounds like a good plan.

I’ve noticed that the trails seem to be getting more marketing exposure, even in the short time I’ve been here. Seems to be like Wales all over again – the smaller communities realising that there’s a revenue stream that can be a year round thing if they get it right. I’m gonna check out the Pemberton trails in a few weeks when we stay down there over easter.

Anyone doing the 4hr at Jorgensen park on Sunday?

Rich

I scrubbed everything of mine oudoorsy to the nth degree and I think they looked at one bike, saw it was spotless and left the rest alone….if only you knew which bike they were picking on in advance!

I’ve not done a lot off road as yet but mean to get the book mentioned above. Am actually doing a 4hr enduro this weekend near Mundaring and that’s probably my 3rd time on the dirt in 6 months. Been doing the road bike thing for a while and commuting and miss the rough.

Rocky Mountain Slayer or Altitude – my XL vertex is essentially a 21″ frame.

Another Kona, the Kula from the mid 90s looked pretty cool IIRC

Prologo scratch here, tried the later flite but just didn’t get on with it.

My kidneys hurt just watching that! Impressive.. 8)

I had an older 2.0D for six and a half years so cant comment on MPG on the newer engines. What I do know is that it’s tight for space in the rear if your 6’3″ in the front and if you have to move the seats forward in the front then it’s tight there too! My brother owns it now, his missus is several inches shorter than me and it looks like a limo in the back!

Carrying stuff – couldn;t get my huge bikes in easily without fron t wheel and seat off but with the safety neet up it held an impressive amount of stuff wedged into the boot and bizarrely actually rode better when stuffed to the gils with bikes hanging off the back. Most reliable car I’ve ever owned so was a pretty cheap ownership experience over nearly 150K.

I use a lowepro toploader 65aw which has kept the thing in very good nick over the last 7 years, but the camera is pretty much open to it all when it’s out of the bag anyway. Just don’t change lenses when it’s windy!

I’m over in Perth and have been here for getting on 6 months now. We’re loving it, our son’s loving school and I think that the whole atmosphere is a bit lighter than in teh UK at present – I guess the effects of the economic situation make themselves felt slowly over time and you don’t realise how much you’ve been worrying about job security/getting a bigger hosue etc. We’re only renting over here and it would require quite a big mortgage to buy a house at present in the area we rent in. Living costs are certainly higher when looking at exchange rate cost comparisons but I tend to look at how long I have to work to buy something as a better comparison.

As perthmtb said, you can do a lot of things over here for little or no money. I think it depends on what profession you’re in but if it’s a skill in demand you’ll be earning mor ethan in the UK with an opportunity to save a lot of money as well.

Who knows how long we’ll be out here, there are things I miss about the UK, but I’m glad we’ve done this as it’s something that would have been a big regret if we’d have passed it over, it just so happened that the economics of it all made the decision easier.

Cheers, any recommendations for anyone whose done teh mail order thing?

She lives in the same suburb as me over here in Oz, big news over here today!

Still using a trailgator here with our 4.5 year old son. It’s fine over longer distances, I don’t do a lot of off road on it due to the sheer length of the setup and the fact that I might lose him off the back of his bike every now and then! It only seems to move a little when repeatedly doing berms, which tends to make the bike bracket on the kids HT twist around.

For the money I’d go trailgator every time, given that a good tag along costs at least 5 times more.

Rich

NORTH Shore, without a doubt! :D

BB is a press fit 92, not sure about the headset. Check on the MTBR Rocky Mountain forum, there’s some FAQ threads that RM themselves answer on and they have some helpful component diagrams to help.

Rich

Only just seen this. I’ve been over here for 3 months now with my wife and 4 year old son, living in Perth. I’m getting paid substantially more than in the UK, nearly 3 times as much, this takes into account the higher cost of living and you will come out better off if you find a job that pays well (also be cheeky when in interview/offer situations – they will pay for anything to get the right people, certainly in WA)

Wwe’re here to find out what it’s like, no long term plans thaat say we’re staying or returning to the UK, our visa is 4 years and then our son will be the right age to come back if we decide to do so.

As far as living here is concerned, I’ve never felt so welcome, be it in teh workplace or out and about. It’s a really easy place to live in, yes you still have to work, do the chores etc but there seems to be a lot of stuff to do in the spare time, and the right weather for it as well. This may wear off after a few years and we’ve seen a lot of stuff, but for the time being it’s treally enjoyable.

If you need any specifics on cost of living etc send me an email.

Hope this helps

Rich

Working within the infrastructure/civils industry I don’t really regard 2.6 billion as a huge number for the amount of work involved. Whether or not it represents value for money in the bigger scheme of things depends on how much it would cost the economy to put up with the vagueries of a power system that may/may not generate enough to keep all the lights on.

I’d imagine the most cost effective way of ensuring enough energy is provided is to drive down power consumption in the homes/offices/factories and employ more smart technology at the final user end.

Thanks all, some more options to investigate. I’m wary of panniers due to my large feet and a desire to perhap ride a few differing bikes in, dependant on weather/what route I want to ride.

Any other options out there, what else are people using?

Been here 3 days and the bikes will be another several weeks, so can’t comment on the riding.

So far so good, all looks very clean, people are very friendly and extrenely patient (they must be used to explaining everything to expats!)It does look expensive when compared to the UK, expecially when converting at the current exchange rate but when you think in terms of percentage income then it’s about the, but as the salaries are higher you have the potential to save a lot more up than you can in the UK at the moment.

I’ve used some X lite stuff lately, some squirt wax and nothig eever comes close to the FL wet stuff for a slick chain IME, not even the FL dry stuff, I think it’s just a case of wet stuff and wipe the excess off (and I find that I can make a can of FL wet lube last for best part of a year)

My Volvo V50 had a pin holding the headlight units in, slide out, headlamp comes out and easy bulb change – why don’t more cars have that (granted when they are on all the time you do have to change then more regularly) All I eever did to mine was basic services, and when it did develop a fault it was down to an injector wire breaking rather than some software fault.

Panaracer Razer MX’s, grippy in the dry and suprisingly tenacious in the damp with a little mud (they lose it a little when bald)

This place is where I studied, even architects studied in here, god knows what kind of inspiration they pulled out of the hat in there….

That’s a real shame, one of the top teams and can’t attract a sponsor – just goes to show how tough it must be to attract investment into sports…

I’ve used 2 pack epoxy stuff on my RM plate, probably similar to araldite, and then I’ve just put a couple of zip ties on it so it doesn’t get lost if it comes loose again.

It’s pretty hard to get new forks with v brake bosses nowadays (apart from some XC race forks) so if yu want to keep the bike you’ve got then it’ll have to be new forks and brkaes (I’m assuming you have disc compatible hubs? – if not then it’s definitley cheaper to buy another bike, either secondhand or look at Pauls cycles or similar for an older model on offer) I very rarely use the lockout on my forks, only if I’m on the road for a while.

Merida bikes seem to have a good range, my lad’s on a dakar 16″ at the moment and has all of what your looking for, albeit smaller wheels – there is a 20″ version of it out there…

I bet he’ll get a medal at the olympics after that, if he’s that upset at a warm up event then he’s bound to up the commitment level in teh next few months…

Not for an STW user, too many gears and can you imagine the hypothetical arguments for and against each gear shift – the system would crash within seconds… :lol:

I couldn’t live with a defender day to day, not enough elbow room and cruising comfort (that’s what Discovery’s are for) but I’d love to build a V8 90 soft top up. All landies are cars with character (even the new models feel different to the competition)so once you’ve got the bug, it’s unlikely to leave you alone…..

Damned shame, the wheels will come off the commercial side of F1 when viewing figures drop to the exent that on car and trackside advertising money drops off a cliff. The teams won’t get money and Bernie will also see a drop in his trackside income.

A lot of the new circuits are subsidised by the respective governments of those countries in order to promote themselves – if audience figures drop and no one sees it, why will those govt’s continue to stump up such huge fees to host the events. That’s why I thought that ree to air was a priority, obviously not now….

Is it shown free down under, anyone know?

I got a new £1500 frame 2 years ago to replace a crash damaged one and I think the premium increased by a quid (that’s right £1) a month…..not bad I thought

Clean I reckon – it’s his mental strength that usually carries him thrrough a tour and, as pointed out above, he’s had a lot of bad luck in most of his previous TdF’s, sso it’s not like he’s just come out of nowhere to win it.

Take up falconry, a hobby for you an dthe kids and a pigeon deterrent! ;)

Phrase it in such a manner that indicates you’d like to see your future career in another area of the company and not the “I hate working in this area” way. If he’s any good, and remind him he could benefit the company/himself that he’s identified that you could be of greater potential in the area you want to be working in, then he’ll assist you in it.

Where can you get the news on what’s happening? can’t find anything…

I’d have liked to have seen Voeckler help Cadel out a bit whilst trying to keep hold of his jersey….

He looked kinda scary before the bandage, now I’m just thinking he’d be ripe for a part in No Country for Old Men!

I’d like to see Evans win it this year,seems to have some real fight in him sso I’m awaiting something big off him. Has he altered his climbing style to the much favoured high cadence since last year? I thought he always looked laboured on the hills for the last few years.

Finished my 12 yr old job 5 weeks ago – felt great, just awaiting visa cconfirmation so I can start my new one in Oz soon :)