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Picking a road bike, and general questions.



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 9th 04, 05:45 AM
Stuart Lamble
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Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.

Well, I'm making the big move: leaving the nest to strike out on my own.
*shudder* This raises a few questions vis-a-vis transport. I'm moving to
Mitcham (currently in Glen Waverley), and currently working at Monash
Uni, Clayton.

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, compared with
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. :-)

A large bicycle store in Nunawading suggests the Giant OCR 2 as being a
reasonable compromise between price and performance. I was kinda hoping
to get away with a bike for a smidge under $1,000 (depending on budget,
which is, admittedly, still up in the air a bit, as I have higher
priorities... like repairing a few things around the place.) Would
anybody have suggestions on bikes that aren't super expensive, but are
reasonably comfortable to ride? (Accessories -- like clipless pedals,
lights, etc., I can justify as extra costs over and above the bike
itself; in any case, if I do end up having the budget for something a
bit better, so be it.)

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.)

Third question: is there a reasonable route for cyclists to take from
that area to get to the CBD? I don't need one right now, but it might be
useful to know down the road if/when I move jobs. Public transport is,
well, public transport.

Thanks for any and all suggestions,

Stuart. (Indentured servitude is less than three weeks away... right
slap bang in the middle of the GVBR, what's more.

--
My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and
the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet".
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  #2  
Old November 9th 04, 05:54 AM
DaveB
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Posts: n/a
Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.

Stuart Lamble wrote:
A large bicycle store in Nunawading suggests the Giant OCR 2 as being a
reasonable compromise between price and performance. I was kinda hoping
to get away with a bike for a smidge under $1,000 (depending on budget,
which is, admittedly, still up in the air a bit, as I have higher
priorities... like repairing a few things around the place.) Would
anybody have suggestions on bikes that aren't super expensive, but are
reasonably comfortable to ride? (Accessories -- like clipless pedals,
lights, etc., I can justify as extra costs over and above the bike
itself; in any case, if I do end up having the budget for something a
bit better, so be it.)


Well having bought the OCR2 a few months ago I've gotta say I love it.
But if budget is a problem I was also looking very closely at the
Learsport equivalent (www.learsport.com) which was the 7700 at $1099 or
down to the 7000 at $799.

DaveB

  #3  
Old November 9th 04, 06:10 AM
Dej
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Posts: n/a
Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.


"Stuart Lamble" wrote in message
...
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?


Third question: is there a reasonable route for cyclists to take from
that area to get to the CBD? I don't need one right now, but it might be
useful to know down the road if/when I move jobs. Public transport is,
well, public transport.

I'd seriously avoid blackburn rd, its pretty ugly between high st rd and ftg
roads.
The lanes are narrow and theres usually heavy traffic (cars, busses, trucks,
you name it)
I ride from surrey hills to notting hill just north of monash. Whenever i've
wanted to take the long way, i've gone down ftg to springvale then left and
straight up springvale to maroondah in preference to riding blackburn rd. I
find springvale rd to be just as busy, but the lanes are a bit wider.
The only problem part for me is riding east along ftg road between blackburn
and springvale, you get all the ppl coming off the freeway onto ftg road
still belting along

from mitcham to city, i'd go to cantebury and straight down cantebury, maybe
cut thru camberwell and get onto riversdale / swan st
there's the path that follows the eastern freeway but its pretty twisty

on the bike prices issue, you should be able to get some reasonable
discounts on 2004 model roadies at the moment.
maybe look at the scott, giant etc. those $1000 roadies seem to have pretty
much all the same components.
ive been told shimano sora is no good tho? but until recently i was using
old rsx7 speed gear and it worked ok for commuting



  #4  
Old November 9th 04, 06:16 AM
Stuart Lamble
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Posts: n/a
Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.

On 2004-11-09, Dej wrote:

"Stuart Lamble" wrote in message
...
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?


I'd seriously avoid blackburn rd, its pretty ugly between high st rd and ftg
roads.
The lanes are narrow and theres usually heavy traffic (cars, busses, trucks,
you name it)


I know _exactly_ what you mean. My current route to work when I take the
bike is the backstreets through to Blackburn Road where it meets the
freeway, then south along B'burn Rd to the road that cuts through the
north side of Monash Uni (I live south of Waverley Road at the moment).
Whilst I'm reasonably comfortable with Blackburn Road south of Waverley
Road, because of the third lane, I'm decidedly _un_comfortable with it
north of that point (until around Highbury Road) -- hence the question.

I ride from surrey hills to notting hill just north of monash. Whenever i've
wanted to take the long way, i've gone down ftg to springvale then left and
straight up springvale to maroondah in preference to riding blackburn rd. I
find springvale rd to be just as busy, but the lanes are a bit wider.


And the fact that there are more of them means that there's less
compunction on my part about my riding habits (although if the lane's
sufficiently wide, I'll cope without hogging the whole lane -- I'll
adjust according to circumstance

The only problem part for me is riding east along ftg road between blackburn
and springvale, you get all the ppl coming off the freeway onto ftg road
still belting along


Yup. Eyes sharp, as always -- vital for anybody on two wheels,
especially those without motors.

Thanks. Food for thought, in any case; I'll probably be buying around
December (might be better to wait until January, and avoid the Christmas
rush.)

--
My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and
the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet".
  #5  
Old November 9th 04, 10:20 AM
Andrew Reddaway
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.

Stuart Lamble wrote:

Well, I'm making the big move: leaving the nest to strike out on my
own. *shudder* This raises a few questions vis-a-vis transport.


SNIP

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, compared
with 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. :-)


If you're looking for a "transport" bike, road vs hybrid, you could
also consider a touring-style bike - like a road bike / racer with drop
handlebars, but a bit more rugged, more suitable for carrying gear,
mounting mudguards etc. They tend to be expensive and not very common,
but the Mongoose Randonneur is reasonable (check out the current
thread), or maybe a Fuji.
  #6  
Old November 9th 04, 10:53 AM
TimC
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Posts: n/a
Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.

On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 at 09:20 GMT, Andrew Reddaway (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
Stuart Lamble wrote:

Well, I'm making the big move: leaving the nest to strike out on my
own. *shudder* This raises a few questions vis-a-vis transport.


SNIP

If you're looking for a "transport" bike, road vs hybrid, you could
also consider a touring-style bike - like a road bike / racer with drop
handlebars, but a bit more rugged, more suitable for carrying gear,
mounting mudguards etc. They tend to be expensive and not very common,
but the Mongoose Randonneur is reasonable (check out the current
thread), or maybe a Fuji.


Good point. Being a sysadmin, Stuart, are you going to want to take
your laptop to and from work? Are you going to want to put panniers
on? Panniers add much to the weight of your bike, but by the time you
put laptop and stuff in, this no longer matters. Then all of a sudden,
the weight of the bike no longer matters either.

Personally, since I managed to do away with my car a couple of years
ago, I have needed to go shopping on my way home, almost every
day. Now that I have the GVBR bike, and a decent set of panniers with
*a lot* of room, I can buy a tonne of shopping, and all get it home. I
won't need to take extra trips just to go to the shop anymore.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the software. --me
  #7  
Old November 9th 04, 12:11 PM
Peter Signorini
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Posts: n/a
Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.


"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


  #8  
Old November 9th 04, 12:19 PM
dave
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Posts: n/a
Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.

Dej wrote:
"Stuart Lamble" wrote in message
...

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?



Third question: is there a reasonable route for cyclists to take from
that area to get to the CBD? I don't need one right now, but it might be
useful to know down the road if/when I move jobs. Public transport is,
well, public transport.


I'd seriously avoid blackburn rd, its pretty ugly between high st rd and ftg
roads.
The lanes are narrow and theres usually heavy traffic (cars, busses, trucks,
you name it)
I ride from surrey hills to notting hill just north of monash. Whenever i've
wanted to take the long way, i've gone down ftg to springvale then left and
straight up springvale to maroondah in preference to riding blackburn rd. I
find springvale rd to be just as busy, but the lanes are a bit wider.
The only problem part for me is riding east along ftg road between blackburn
and springvale, you get all the ppl coming off the freeway onto ftg road
still belting along

from mitcham to city, i'd go to cantebury and straight down cantebury, maybe
cut thru camberwell and get onto riversdale / swan st
there's the path that follows the eastern freeway but its pretty twisty

on the bike prices issue, you should be able to get some reasonable
discounts on 2004 model roadies at the moment.
maybe look at the scott, giant etc. those $1000 roadies seem to have pretty
much all the same components.
ive been told shimano sora is no good tho? but until recently i was using
old rsx7 speed gear and it worked ok for commuting



If you like the Scott.. very nice frame... mix of compponents.. the base
version in last years model is about a thousand.

Oddly Bike life in Hawthorn have em

Dave
  #9  
Old November 9th 04, 12:38 PM
Peter Signorini
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Posts: n/a
Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.


"Peter Signorini" wrote in message
...
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.


A good alternative return route for you would be to come up to High St Rd
and turn right, head east until just before the Dandenong Ck where you can
get onto the Dandenong Ck Trail. Follow this right through and cross Burwood
Hwy, continue on the trail through Koomba Park, under Boronia Rd then cross
the creek at the footbridge into Abbey Walk. Turn right on Abbey Walk and
this becomes Heatherdale Rd. Ride up the hill in the nice wide bike lane to
Heatherdale Station and Brunswick Rd area.

A nice stress reliever ride home through paddocks and bushland.

Cheers
Peter


  #10  
Old November 9th 04, 09:09 PM
Random Data
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Posts: n/a
Default Picking a road bike, and general questions.

TimC wrote in message ...

Good point. Being a sysadmin, Stuart, are you going to want to take
your laptop to and from work? Are you going to want to put panniers
on?


I don't know Stuart's laptop, nor his commute, but I carry a
reasonably light laptop for ~25km each way in a backpack, no problems.
That's on a roadie-d MTB -it's a longer frame than I'd ride off road,
with a longer stem. Still flat bars rather than drops, but my weight
is far enough forward that the pack is on top of me rather than
hanging off my back.

If I needed to shop on the way home I might consider getting panniers,
but a decent ~35L pack is reasonably comfortable, and can hold lots of
crap.

Dave - who found the 2nd bit of glass before it got through the tyre
this morning.

--
Dave Hughes |
"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." -- The Doctor
 




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