about time

BiGTOP back In the house!

Where's me bike?

A week later and still no bike. Well, no Bigtop in a box, crusty helmet and shoes. My bike didn't make it onto the plane last sunday when we left Dili, most bikes didn't. No worries, couple of days they reckon... Fail. Makes ya wonder when pretty much everyone else has been called to pickup their stuff. Tomorrow??

Keen to get the 29er back now. Check it over and have a good ride..

Not to worry, plenty more bikes in the shed

Today was trail building day and i took the ASR7 out for a demo ride.

It ate up the trail. Flat pedals and all. It rocked the ups and downs. I may have even binned it on a fast corner, washing out the front tyre and headbutting a small tree on my way down. Laughing all the way...

A Yeti convention. ARC, ASR7 and 2 ASR's hiding in the trees.

Climbing.

More Climbing

At the top. Rest time.

Timor Snapshot

Bellie and I on Day 4. We were told off for taking this shot. Apparently some other riders didn't appreciate us chatting and taking photos on the big climb.

Sorry, I'd finally found my legs.... bit late but good to finish up on a high.

Cool Vid

Mick Ross has put together a short video using helmet cam shots taken from our ride at Melrose. The AMB boys took me on a ripping ride around the bike park showing off the best it has to offer. Keep an eye out at around 6 mins.... crazy lookin dude, nice bike tho....

Melrose, the Film. from Mick Ross on Vimeo.

darwin airport. 2am.

On the way to timor.

 30 Bucks of Sydney airports finest, Dim sum, singapore noodle and a beer. Next stop, darwin. 

BigTop First Rides

Got the bike sorted on monday and being at Lysterfield it seemed the easiest thing to kit up and ride those trails. Well, the ones that are open and not mega mud fests. Snoz and i punted around the trails doing some trail work occasionally and i came to the conclusion that the bike is excellent. I don't have much 29er riding experience but i can say this, everything i've heard and read was confirmed on the trails.



The first 29er i rode was ok but not being setup 100% for me so it didn't blow me away with its awesomeness. This time i could feel the big wheels doing their thing. Once rolling the bike motored along and it was a sweet ride.

the Comm Games rockgarden was dispatched with ease, big wheels didn't get hooked up so much in the rubble and i could hold my speed a bit more which made the climb out less of a drama.

The bike loves a log rollover, pop the front wheel and your over, seemed like i needed to prepare less as the wheels wouldn't get hooked up in the gaps.

Can't get around the fast its a bigger bike tho. Tipping into some fast corners and sharp corners requires a bit more effort and because you sit a little higher i may have just scraped through a few low branch incidents. The 26er definitely works better in these areas.

Smiths Gully 7am. frosty. Great morning for a ride and great trails. With 2 rides a Lysty done to get the first ride tweaks done i headed out for some real trails. Happy to say I had a ball. Old trail was owned, and some new trail was given a run with excellent results.

On the move.... XO ten speed group works well, basically XX but more affordable. For me the 42/28 chainring and 12-36 cassette work fine. For Tour de Timor i'm swapping on the XX cassette from my ASR5 cause it has an 11tooth. Apparently i may need it, given some riders are running 48t big rings...

other changes will be a 10degree stem flipped to point down so i can get a lower riding position. Currently i have a 5 degree run flat with a riser bar(yeah, i know, point stem down then put a riser on...I like the riser hand position and width) so the 10degree will set me up a bit lower for Timor.

In the truck. My new favorite?? it definitely is up there.....

Ready to ride!

Photo dump

10am. Arrival...

Tapered headtube. super stiff.

removable ISCG mount. why not?

Chip system dropout. normal QR, or 142x12 or swap the whole tip for a single speed setup with inbuilt adjusters. Do everything frame...

Bit of Old skool

Remove the plate to fit the direct mount front derailleur.

wheels yet to be built.

into the beers, 25th anniversary hoodie and the Devil Cat

New Tricks

new bike and new threads....

bike is on its way. Circus Styleo. Apparently larger wheels are the future so I've signed up. Just in time for Tour De Timor... Hope Mr TNT delivers ontime...

Big thanks to Paul for hooking me up with a 25th Hoodie and Socks. UnReal!! sadly i forgot to take em home for photos.... Tomorrow will be photo day. Bike(fingers crossed) and threadz...

Excited? Shit Yeah...