"Stuart Lamble" wrote in message
...

Current bicycle is an eight year old Giant Prodigy. Still a very nice
bike, mind you; the only hassle is that I'm finding the hybrid style to
be a little uncomfortable in ways I can't fully quantify,

Try a longer stem, barends to give varied hand position. The Giant should be
a fairly good commute bike IIRC, unless it's one of the most recent
'comfort' style bikes ie. short cramped reach and very upright position.

the full road/racer style handlebars (in close to the headstem, curving
forward in a half circle at the end -- you know the sort of thing, even
if I don't know the correct term. :-)

Pista is the term I believe.

A large bicycle store in Nunawading suggests the Giant OCR 2 as being a
reasonable compromise between price and performance.

Try the smaller bike shop in Mitcham - Cycle Science. They have more of a
commuting/touring stance and more personal service than the bigger boys.

Second question relates to routes. Anybody have any suggestions on good
roads/bike routes to take, heading south from Mitcham (call it about
halfway between Mitcham and Heatherdale stations, on Brunswick St) to
Monash Uni Clayton? What's (eg) Springvale Road like during peak-ish
hour (~7-8am, ~5-6pm) for cyclists? Blackburn Road would be ok in the
areas it's divided, but I'd be rather reluctant on the non-divided
parts, especially since it's only two lanes in both directions, which
doesn't leave me as much room as I'd like (I like to take up as much of
the left hand lane as I can get away with, but I'm reluctant to do this
in spots where it leaves car drivers with only one lane to pass me.)

Start out on Mitcham Rd, right into Canterbury then left into Terrara Rd,
right into Hanover Rd past Vermont Sth Shopping Centre. Cross Burwood Hwy
into Hartland, LR into Highmont, RL on Camelot, RL into Westlands brings you
to High St Rd. Go up to Springvale, turn left then take Waverley to
Blackburn Rd and take the divided section of Blackburn south to Monash.

This sounds convoluted but if you check map 62 in the Melways you'll find
all the LR, RL turns are reasonably direct, and heading south its very good
with a gradual downhill. It is also a bus route through these suburbs. You
get to avoid much of Springvale Rd's traffic and miss the narrow section on
Blackburn as well.

Cheers
Peter