Category: Uncategorized

Breaking Radio Silence…

15 January 2022

So, what’s been happening?

Although I’ve done quite a bit of riding since my last post in mid-November 2021, Christmas and New Year have passed by. It is way beyond time to write a new instalment.

Today I finally got around to publishing a review on the Commuter Cycles‘ web pages, thanking them for their excellent service and the superb quality of the custom bike build.

During the intervening time, our family has been busy. Six weeks ago today, my wife, Rita, had an operation to insert an artificial knee. Life has been dominated by supporting Rita through pain management and rehabilitation. We had a quiet, Covid-safe Christmas at home with just Rita and me and my daughter, Jo. We avoided visiting the wider extended family to ensure Rita’s lowered immunity system was not compromised by any chance of Covid-19.

This summer’s Il Nina weather has bothered our highly anxious Border Collie, Manneke. Numerous thunderstorms with lightning and hail have sent Manneke berserk, causing him to run around the house like a loon, barking very loudly and jumping at the windows. We have struggled to placate Manneke, wrapping him in a tight storm shirt sprayed with Adaptil, a calming aromatic oil, cuddling him, playing distracting mood music, and using treats to divert his attention. In trying to cope with Manneke’s storm-driven behaviour, I’ve reflected on my own struggles with anxiety. Perhaps I can learn from the ways we have attempted to keep Manneke calm? Perhaps I should be trying distraction techniques, along with mood music, and snack treats?

Manneke the Pup

This summer’s storms have also wreaked havoc around our neighbourhood. Lots of hail damage has occurred, smashing the tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, zucchini, and pumpkin plants in Rita’s garden. One extremely bad storm was like a mini-tornado pulling down lots of trees all around our suburb. Afterwards, it has been a lot of work, cleaning up the yard, and attempting to coax our vegetables back into life.

Just one of over 100 mature trees felled around our neighbourhood

Meantime, I’ve been testing out new bike bags, and camping equipment, getting used to cycling with the altered weight distribution.

Gradually, I have managed more time for bike riding, amongst my carer duties. But I haven’t found time to transfer the cycling stories from my Strava logs to these pages. I promise to publish more Strava maps, photos and ride descriptions over the coming weeks.

Check out my new bags from Bike Bag Dude

10 November 2021

This morning the parcel arrived. I was very excited to fit Kedan Griffin’s, The Bike Bag Dude’s bags to my bike straight away. They were a perfect fit.

The top-tube bag fits my charger battery perfectly, and the connector from the USB goes nicely through the concealed hole at the front.

I am very pleased with the quality of Kedan’s craftsmanship. Also, extremely thankful that he manufactured them for me so quickly. I found dealing with Kedan extremely easy and satisfying.

The frame bag has an internal divider. My water bladders will fit inside the top half. My tools will sit in the lower compartment. The top tube bag will house my phone and the charger battery for re-charging my lights, phone, GPS, and other electronics. There is a concealed hole at the front of the top tube bag for the connector to go from the USB and the charger battery. The bags are double lined and waterproof.

You’ll note that I’m proudly wearing Kedan’s Bike Bag Dude T-shirt. (Even the T-shirt is an excellent quality Gildon T-shirt.) Plus, another lovely touch, including some little sachets of Vegemite 🤗 I’ll be taking them on my next bikepacking trip. Nice.

I’m going to remove the bags temporarily. I need to install DataDot anti-bike-theft bike ID kit and register it. Plus, I intend to wrap the frame with clear aeroplane tape to protect it from the bag straps rubbing.

Later, when I’m all packed up to go on a proper expedition, I’ll post some more photos.

Thanks indeed Kedan Griffin for his excellent service. Thanks must also go the Adam at Commuter Cycles for recommending you. Such an excellent recommendation.

Check out: https://www.bikebagdude.com
https://www.commutercycles.com.au

This kind if riding is what my Tumbleweed was built to do

10 November 2021

I followed Bicentennial National Trail to Hall then rode up One Tree Hill.

The Bicentennial horse trails were obliterated by long grass and new suburban development in places. It skirts along the western edge of our ACT Border with NSW. There were a few creeks to cross.

In one section the tall grass was swamped in flood water for about 150 metres. My fat tyres enabled me to float through.

Flooded Creek
I had a few mates along the way
This creek was dry last time I crossed

In some places, the original National Trail route has been disrupted by urban development of new suburbs. So I had to search around the streets to find where the Trail kicked off again.

Gate to re-enter Jarramlee Nature Reserve.
West Belconnen Pond going north from Jarramlee Nature Reserve.

After the pond, I picked up the trail again. This view looks south from near Douglas Waterhouse Drive, Dunlop.

Once I was on the Canberra Centenary Trail the track was better formed and the trail markers were easy to follow.

I enjoyed a break, with an apple for a snack at Hall Showgrounds. This is where the Australian Sheep Dog Trials are held each year in January.

Climbing One Tree Hill

Now it was time to test to see how well The Tumbleweed climbs with its Rohloff gears. I’ve ridden up this steep climb with my son Steven before, but always with my e-MTB.

The climb was tough. I mostly used 6th, 5th, and 4th gears with a very high cadence.

Over the last 2-3 years the Canberra Parks & Gardens folks have installed these cattle-grid crossings at every fence on the way over One Tree Hill. Much better than when we had to lift our bikes over the top of the numerous fences in the past. They are tricky to ride over, though.

This one is wider. Some are narrow for the handlebars.

Getting higher. View across the Gungahlin Valley to the southeast towards central Canberra.

Still climbing…
I needed a rest, plus something to eat.

After nearly 3 hours in the saddle, I needed to get home in time to pick up my nephew Liam from school. So I turned around for a quick dash back down the mountain. The Tumbleweed handled the fast decent very ably. The big tyres absorb the bumps and hits, and the cornering with the Jones Bars gives excellent control. I followed the Canberra Centenary Trail. It is well marked.

Although, on my way home, I did make a mistake near Ginninderra Creek and had to loop back.

On the way home. Looking to where Ginninderra Creek flows under the bridge into Lake Ginninderra. That’s Belconnen Town Centre in the distance.

I was tired by the time I made it home. The bike needed a good wash, and I needed plenty of liquids.

Mileage Ramping Up – for Movember

02 November 2021

Well folks it’s the month of November again. That means the challenge is on to ride lots of kilometres for a cause. The cause is Movember.

This year I’m growing a moustache, and cycling 600kms, and walking my dog Manneke for 50km. Please take a look at my Mo space:
https://au.movember.com/mospace/13642554

Movember fundraisers are a global community of fired-up Mo Bros and Mo Sisters – aka rock stars making a difference in mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.

Donations could help save a father, a brother, a son, a friend, a partner, a man’s life.

Group ride around Lake Burley Griffin

29 October 2021

Last Friday I rode with my two friends from DIGITAL days, Dave Knowles and Blair Phillips. We did a circuit of Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra’s ornamental lake. It is the centrepiece of our beautiful bush capital. Finally, after months of isolation, the ACT Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were eased enough to allow us to ride together more than 5 kilometres away from our homes.

Dave rode his Greenspeedrecumbent trike. Blair rode his Cannondale cyclocross bike, and I rode my Specialized Turbo Levo e-bike. We enjoyed a lovely sunny spring day. There was a bit of a north-westerly wind in our faces to deal with. So we decided to do a clockwise loop of the Lake, starting near the bird sanctuary at Dairy Flat at the East end of the lake. That way we’d enjoy a tailwind on the way back to our starting point.

Dave Knowles is 78. Dave has an impressive history of bike racing in England and Canada. He recently suffered from a badly broken ankle from a bike fall on the cycle path near Merimbula. He had to have pins inserted by the orthopaedic surgeon, and his recovery took many months, including physiotherapy closely supervised by his daughter Jane. So these days Dave’s newest toy and preferred mode of travel is his shiny yellow Greenspeed recumbent.

Dave in the car park near
As Nature Intended

Our greatest joy on this day out was on a steep pinch near Black Mountain Peninsular when Dave was working very hard uphill. He suddenly exclaimed, “This is my BEST ride ever!” Dave credited Blair out-front setting the pace with his good time. He set a personal record for the Greenspeed of 17 km/hour.

Afterwards, we enjoyed coffee and a nice healthy lunch in a safe outdoors setting at As Nature Intended.

Afternoon Around Belconnen Bike Paths

I thought I would take the e-bike to get some kilometres done for Movember. Except, stupidly I didn’t switch on its motor. For a while I was thinking, these hills seem tougher today. Then I realised.

West
East

The remaining ride sections seemed easier 😜

Another excellent day at the Arboretum

03 November 2021

I met up with Blair at the National Rock Garden. He on his new Merida e-MTB; me aboard the trusty Mighty Steed.

Going into the Arboretum via a different entry point proved to be a novelty. It put a different emphasis on the choice of hills to climb.

We began by climbing up and over Wide Brown Land. Then we moved onto the lower loop on the western side.

Blair admiring the view

Our run down the lower slopes towards the Molonglo was curtailed by some new road construction, meaning we had to cut out some sections, as well as ducking under flagging tape barriers. It was a little confusing. We finished off with a quick run around the top loop.

Then we road out to Curtin Shops for an outdoor coffee. A pleasant day was had.

Thanks Blair

Lake Ginninderra and Ginninderra Creek Circuit

06 November 2021

Getting the miles up for Movember.

Around Lake G then down Ginninderra Creek

I visited Steve on the way home. His recovery from knee surgery seems to be coming along nicely. We watched a bit of Crankworx in Rotorua. Caroline Buchanan was awesome.

Today marks 9 years since I retired

31 October 2021

On this day in 2012, I officially spent the last day of my working life. For over 42 years the daily focus of my energies had been on work and career. I had epitomized the kind of man who gives over his identity to his job title. Too often I had placed higher importance on that four-letter word, “w-o-r-k” than other priorities, like love, family, marriage, friendships, or good health.

The reason I retired at 60 was a scare I received with a health diagnosis. Prostate cancer had been detected early from a blood test that showed I had PSA levels of 3.0 ng/mL. I was lucky to find this out early. Actually, this level is well within the ‘normal’ Baseline Age-adjusted PSA Levels of 0 to 4.5 ng/mL for a man of 60. However, it was my first ever PSA test result above zero. Follow-up scans and a visit to a specialist confirmed cancer. Luckily it was restricted to the prostate gland itself.

So on November 9th. I went into the hospital for a quick robotic surgery to have the prostate removed. Since that time my PSA test results have been zero.

Many of you know, personally, men who have contracted prostate cancer. You probably know someone who has died. That is not surprising. Did you realize that 50%+ of men get this affliction? Just like breast cancer and ovarian cancer, it impacts many people. So I am not special.

Who do you know?

Two prostate cancer sufferers whose struggle I followed were my cousin Wendy’s husband, Steve, and my dentist Fred Hayes. Both had long drawn out battles involving chemotherapy and radiation treatments, periods of remission, struggles with pain, and finally death.

I’m sure you all know somebody.

Many men have already been suffering from mental health issues way before prostate cancer comes along. They may have already been struggling. For their partners and their families, domestic violence and anger issues might already be happening. So when you add prostate cancer to the mix, depression, and anxiety may be exacerbated. Not a happy mix for the wives and children involved.

Behind the closed doors of many houses in our streets, lots of men and women are suffering from these scenarios. It is an awfully big issue.

Over the last few years, each November I grow a moustache or a beard, plus I undertake some kind of physical challenge to help raise money for the fight to improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer or with mental health problems. It is called Movember.

https://au.movember.com/mospace/13642554

My time since retiring has not always been happy. My battles with depression have taken a great toll on my wife Rita, our daughter Jo, and our day-to-day family life. Exploding out of the depths of depression with unacceptable outbursts of anger, or being impossible to communicate with during bouts of high anxiety, means I hurt those I love in such a terrible way. Over time, Rita and Jo have lost trust in me. This is domestic violence. Nobody should have to endure such despicable behaviour.

I have tried a number of different drugs regimes and therapies, psychological counseling, men’s group counseling sessions, meditation, and mindfulness. All of these things work to some extent. But their effect diminishes. One particularly harrowing period was about 2-to-3 years ago when, working with my doctor, I went through the ordeal of changing my medications. The old drug I had been taking, Citalopram, seemed to lose its efficacy. But to switch to something new meant weaning of the old drug first. Followed by a period when we tried several different medications that didn’t seem to work. It was terrible. I seemed to be in pain and misery constantly.

It was absolutely horrible for Rita and Jo to live with. I remember going to visit Mrin, my wonderful doctor, breaking down and crying, begging her to get me off the drugs that were not working, pleading for an alternative. We switched to the drugs I am currently taking.

Valdoxin, containing Agomelatine changes your daily sleep and appetite patterns. It was quite a departure from the previous approach which attempts to regulate the serotonin in your brain. I take this together with Quetiapine which is intended to treat anxiety. It is supposed to improve concentration and help you think more clearly and positively, feel less nervous, and improve mood. For the first 6 months after switching over to these new drugs, my behaviour regressed a lot. In between periods of heightened anxiety, or angry flare-ups, I seemed to sleep for an inordinate number of hours. But gradually things improved.

One piece of learning from this episode was realizing if I could anticipate my anxiety earlier, I might be able to intercede before the seemingly inevitable angry outburst erupts. If I could learn to recognize when the cortisol was rising to my amygdala, and take some kind of time-out, I might be able to modify my patterns of behaviour.

I put lots of effort into mindfulness. I think this helped.

From March 2020 onwards Australians were confronted with the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdowns occurred in some states. We all began wearing masks, washing our hands much more assiduously, wearing gloves, staying at home, away from the public. To tell the truth, I was already becoming a hermit, closing down contacts, keeping away from friends and family, declining invitations to participate in most kinds of get-togethers. Exorcising my guilt for being a bad person. So for me, it was easy to retreat into the Covid-hermit-cave. I found solace. I like my own company. Again, this was very unfair to Rita. Yet another way I manage to hurt the person I love the most.

Now, as lock-downs are lifting, as people are emerging from their Covid-hermit-caves, I’m ill-inclined to join them. The comparative safety of the hermit life seems preferable. No need to cope with anxiety.

Last Saturday I read an article on the ABC News website about a man who hiked for 5 months across the Himalayas. This gentleman spoke about walking and its primal connection to the mind, and how walking for long distances every day, one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, helped improve his mental health. I find this encouraging.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-26/jono-lineen-sporty-walking-changed-my-life-this-is-how/100552658

All this is a part of why I have hatched this plan over the last 18 months to go bikepacking. It is why I have been getting my new bike built and gathering together camping equipment. I’m seeking better mental health. I’m trying as hard as I can to be a better person.

As I look back on those 42 years I spent trying to be good at my work, trying to craft a career to be proud of, I realize that I gave my identity over to that four-letter word, “w-o-r-k”. I was always unable to find the bandwidth to be a good worker, a good husband, a good father, a good student, and a good friend all at the same time. I only had the capability to be really good at one of those things at any one time.

In these 9 years since retiring, those concentric circles of bandwidth-of-attention have been collapsing in. The diameter of my attention span has been getting smaller and smaller. Before it implodes, I plan to get out and ride my bike, see something more of this world and try ever so hard to regain mental health. I owe it to Rita and Jo.

A Truly Inspiring Encounter

28 October 2021

I noticed an interesting e-bike as I entered the Belconnen Markets to do our weekly food shopping. An older gentleman was busily putting his groceries into its panniers. As is my garrulous nature, I started up a conversation saying, “Is that an e-bike you’ve got there?”

We got to talking. I learned that he was 89. Although, he didn’t look it. Whilst he was grey-headed, and his facial skin showed some signs of being in the weather, he was very lean and firm of muscle. He proudly told me he had been cycling for over 80 years since his boyhood days when he used to ride near the Rugby fields at Twickenham. This man had a real sparkle in his clear eyes. He seemed to bound with health.

We spoke about his interest in orienteering, and then more recently, bicycle orienteering. But he said he was doing it less these days because of troubles with pain in his heels. I asked if he suffered from Achilles tendonitis. He said, “No. The trouble is in the heel bones. I injured them paragliding.”

“Whoa, paragliding!” I said, “Now that is something I’ve wanted to try for a long time. But I guess I’m getting a bit too old. I’m nearly 70 now.”

“Oh, no. You should still try it. I first started in my 70s.” he replied.

“So did you damage your heels coming in to land a bit hard?” I asked.

He said, “Yes it was as I was taking off. I misjudged the wind. Should’ve waited for a wind gust to pass before I took off. I tried to launch when I shouldn’t, then just as I began gaining height the wind came at an angle over my right shoulder. It collapsed the kite.”

“My thoughts were to choose a bush to land in to soften the fall. But as it turned out there were a lot of new young branches sticking out of a big old stump that was hiding in the middle. My heels hit that stump hard.”

“What happened?”

“I spent nearly 3 months in hospital. My heel bones were shattered into pieces that had to be pinned together. Then physiotherapy to learn how to walk properly again. So now I’m not good at walking long distances.”

When I said that was bad luck, he said, “Ah well, you’ve got to keep on trying new things whilst your still young enough to give ’em a go.”

I told him it was a privilege to meet him.

Testing out the single track climbing capability

28 October 2021

I headed downhill to near the Lower Molonglo Water Treatment Works, close to where I went with Liam yesterday.

Near the bottom of Stockdill Drive, I put the bike over a gate and followed an overgrown walking path towards the gorges in the Molonglo River.

My maps indicate this trail comes all the way from Coppins Crossing. This is part of reconoitering for a future ride. I wanted to see if this track is passable, as well as how well the Tumbleweed can handle it.

My new bike passed the test with flying colours. Some of the gullies and spurs were very steep with cricket-ball-sized rocks 🪨 The fat tyres rolled over them nicely. On the downslopes I was very glad of my new dropper post. It goes up and down as smoothly as butter.

On the way home I revisited yesterday’s ride.

Lastly, I visited my son Steven, to see how he was feeling after yesterday’s micro-surgery to his knee. An old football injury is finally catching up with Steven. Time to get the daggy tears on his meniscus trimmed up. Pleasingly, Steven seemed fine and in good spirits.

Adventures with Liam

26 October 2021

Today I took Liam out for a little spin out-and/back to Shepherd’s Look down.

Liam is my grand-nephew, who recently came from Hobart to live in Canberra. He is about 8.

Ride to Shepherd’s Lookout

It was a lovely sunny day. We had to stop along the way because an old dead Sydney Wattle tree had fallen across a narrow section of singletrack. Liam was determined to shift it. I was surprised when Liam showed such strength lifting the base of the trunk. So together we picked up the heavy end and we turned the tree around and off the path. Well done 👍🏽


So then we completed our lovely ride.

First Dirt on the Fat Tyres

23 October 2021

Drifting along to the Arboretum on my new Tumbleweed.

This new bike has been a very long time in gestation. I first placed my order for the build with the wonderful folks at Commuter Cycles in Brunswick, VIC. in early May. Covid made it a long time sourcing components.

Loop around the Arboretum

I decided to ride along familiar trails to the hills in Canberra’s lovely Arboretum, climbing up the single track to see how this new Tumbleweed bike compares to my trusty e-Mountain-Bike. Climbing was slower of course without the power of the e-motor. However, I had plenty of gears. Most of the hills were taken in 4th, 5th, and 6th gear using the Rohloff. I rarely selected lower than 3rd. else my legs were spinning at too high a cadence. It felt comfortable, and the more I rode the more confident I became.

I’ll need more practice dialing in the gears with the twist-shift for the Rohloff. As many Rohloff owners will tell you, the shifting between 7th. and 8th. was a bit tight. Something I expected will take a little time to wear in. So nothing to be perturbed about. The shifting is not indexed. So some skill will need to be acquired.

My new bike is a joy to ride. It steered through fast downhill corners like it was glued to the single tracks. Love the stability and control of the Jones handlebars. Pretty soon I was jumping off little humps in the track and pumping through berms. With its shorter seat stays and lighter overall weight, it is far easier to mono and bunny hop than my e-bike. The fat tyres (3.8″) seem to soak up almost as much of the bumps as full-suspension does on my e-MTB.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6152750203

My new BikePacking Fat Tyre bike arrived

21 October 2021

After months of hoping and dreaming, and planning and anticipating, my new bike was finally shipped up from Commuter Cycles in Brunswick, Victoria. Time for the unboxing.

First-day unpacking. The front-wheel came with tyre deflated and in a separate box.

Main Box

My plans to head out bikepacking have been frustrated by many delays. It has been a long saga for me. I first started talking with Adam at Commuter Cycles in Melbourne last April and placed my original order for the bike build on 13 May. Since then numerous parts have proved to be too hard to get during Covid-19 delays, or I’ve had to wait weeks or months for components to arrive. I couldn’t travel to Melbourne for a bike fit. So we had to rely on various measurements of my body and my older mountain bike.

We waited for weeks and weeks for some SunRingle Mulefüt SL 80 wheel rims. Then, when these became unavailable, Adam and Will tried the wheel build with some older Mulefüt Rims they had in stock. It proved to be too difficult to get a strong enough build with the Rohloff rear hub and the Son dynamo hub. So, after a lot of dithering, and conversations back-and-forth, I ordered LightBicycle carbon rims to be manufactured in China. These rims only took three weeks for manufacturing. But then it took another 10 weeks before they got through Australian Customs and through the Australia Post Sydney and Melbourne mail exchanges. Once the bike build commenced in earnest, Adam and Will and Leigh had it done in a few short days.

However. it has been an interesting story, and it’s good timing now because our Covid-19 lockdown rules will enable me to cross back-and-forth into the NSW national parks adjacent to our ACT border as from 01 November.
Plus, dealing with suppliers/manufacturers over the Internet has been amazing. People have been wonderful.

Inside the main bike-box
Will and Leigh did a nice job of wrapping the bike for protection during shipping

A Son dynamo front wheel hub will generate electricity for my phone, GPS, computer, lights, etc. It will keep my Mophie Powerstation battery charged as I pedal along.

There is a Sinewave Reactor USB outlet at the top of the headset.

The carbon fat tyre rims are 80mm in between the flanges. The manufacturers, Light Bicycle from China were wonderful people to deal with. Their customer service folks are truly delightful people.

Light Bicycle Carbon Wheel Rims

So, it was time to re-assembe this mighty steed.

This is the part I really enjoy. Getting on the tools and getting a little grease on my hands. I love tinkering with bikes. It took me about 90 minutes to get it all together.

A 30-tooth chain ring is connected via a fixed-length chain to the 14 speed Rohloff hub gears. So there are no derailleurs to worry about getting smashed or bent if I have a fall. The internal gear mechanisms stay out of the dirt and mud. So there is far less maintenance. The 14 gears are evenly spaced with a much wider gear ratio than my e-bike. The lowest gear is much, much lower. A true “granny-gear”. So my ageing old legs should be able to get my up the steepest of hills. The Jones Bar handlebar has a 45-degree back sweep and is 710 mm wide. The Ergon hand grips are intended to support my palms and prevent carpal-tunnel syndrome. The Rohloff gears change with a twist-grip. Old school and not indexed. This will take a little getting used to.

Beautiful frame badge

The Tumbleweed Prospector frame is hand built by Tumbleweed, a one-person framebuilding company originally from Oakland, California, now headquartered in Boise, Idaho. The designer Daniel Molloy uses Taiwanese-made steel to construct his frames. He wanted a symmetrical frame to accommodate fat tyres, and the stiffness to support a Rohloff Speedhub. Dan created a set of rear stays able to accommodate 27.5″ x 4″ rear tyes, but without extra-wide bottom bracket shell. That way there’s no increase in the distance between the pedals and the resulting Q-factor, unlike most Fat-bikes. It means, when you are pedalling, the distance between your feet is the same as for narrower-tyre bikes. Resulting in less strain on your knees and hips when pedalling for long distances and spending long hours in the saddle. So it is kind to your body. There are famous stories on bikepacking.com with fabulous photography of the guys riding Tumbleweed Prospector prototypes across the Mongolian Steppe.

Tumbleweed Logo
Model name ‘Prospector’ on the side of Top Tube
Front Brake calipers

The fiddliest assembly task proved to be re-connecting the front disc brake to the front forks. Note the Shimano post-mount, together with the brake mount bracket at the foot of the fork leg in the background. It was a bit of struggle aligning the brake mechanism so that the brake pads were centred either side of the disc. It took some fine adjustment to ensure the disc spun freely between the pads.

My first choice of brakes would be the wonderful SRAM Code RSC brakes that work so well on my e-bike. But it is a little more difficult sourcing post-mount kits to fit the SRAM units. So these are Shimano Deore XT M8120 brakesets, together with Shimano SM-MA-F180-Ps adaptors.

The wiring plug for the dynamo fits two terminals on the Son hub axle

The next step was to connect the wiring for the Son dynamo hub. Will set up the wiring to run up inside the right fork leg and then up through the centre of the steerer tube to the USB connector on the top of the headset. Nice and tidy and away from being snagged on bushes or scrub.

Rear disc

The 180 mm rear disc rotor is a special one built to work with the stresses on the Rohloff Speedhub.

A Rohloff Speedhub is a very beautiful piece of engineering
Crank Brothers Flat Pedals
KS Lev Dropper Post
Brooks C17 Carved Seat

I’m so very, very pleased with the great job Adam, Will, and Leigh from Commuter Cycles did putting this bicycle together.

I’m proud to carry this logo
Job done! Ready to ride…

Acknowledgements:

  • https://www.commutercycles.com.au
  • https://tumbleweed.cc/products/prospector
  • https://www.rohloff.de/en/
  • https://nabendynamo.de/en/products/hub-dynamos/
  • https://www.sinewavecycles.com/products/sinewave-cycles-reactor
  • https://www.lightbicycle.com/75mm-wide-carbon-650B-fat-bike-rim-27-5-inch-hookless-double-wall-tubeless-compatible.html
  • https://kssuspension.com/product/lev-integra/
  • https://www.brooksengland.com/en_row/saddles.html?___from_store=en_row