Surly’s Long Haul Trucker (LHT) is our reference point for touring bikes and they make excellent commuters as well.  As a general rule the requirements of commuters and tourists are similar -  the bike should be comfortable, should be able to carry a reasonable load, should be robust and reliable, should fit moderately wide tyres and mudguards and should be fast and efficient enough to cover large distances at a decent clip.  The LHT does all of these things and is versatile enough to be set up to match the needs of a lot of cyclists.  We build, and sell, more of them than any other bike.  We’ve mentioned them a number of times in this blog, but we thought it was time to write more comprehensively about our thoughts on them, and where they sit in our line-up.

(more…)

We’ve just finished an exciting build. We used a 650B randonneur/porteur frame made by Velo Orange, called the Polyvalent. Ours might be the first in Australia. We’ve built it up as a showcase for some of the VO gear we stock (and as a great bike in its own right). It has a big VO Porteur front rack, VO cantilever brakes, headset, saddle, rims, etc. It has a dynamo hub, is shod with Grand Bois Hetres and stays upright while stationary thanks to a Pletscher bipod kickstand. It will soon have a VO chain guard.  We installed a B+M Lumotec IQ Cyo just under the floor of the rack, and a B+M tail light on the rear mud guard.

(more…)

Just rolled into the Prentice street workshop are two more Dutch city bikes sure to turn heads. Van Moof, another quality bike company from Holland, have solved the bicycle light theft problem, by building the lights into the frame. And what’s more, the lights are solar powered! This doesn’t mean that they only work during the day, but the inbuilt battery charges up ready for night riding.

We’ve got a couple of frame sizes in store, so get a Moof on and take one for a spin!

Features:

• 26″ & 28″ size frames
• Rear Coaster Brake
• Powdercoated aluminium frame
• Brooks B68 saddle
• 3 speed Shimano  Nexus internal hub gears
• Solar powered front and rear LED light integrated into the frame.

More information – over at the Van Moof website. or read more on our Van Moof page

(more…)

If a bicycle is your main form of transport, you should consider a dynamo to power your lighting system.

Dynamos use the turning of your wheels to generate electricity, which can be then used to power your lights (or mobile phone, if you wish to get ambitious). Using the same system employed in windfarms, the dynamos now available have very little rolling resistance compared to those of yesteryear.

We stock both the excellent value Shimano hubs (the new 3N80 is brilliant), and the top shelf Schmidts (the SON 20R is THE dynamo hub). All will give you many years service, and mean less acid batteries end up in landfill.

The virtues of these dynamos are too numerous to mention, so drop in for a chat on how you can go battery free.

for more  information on these Dynamos

Shimano Nexus

Schmidt Dynohub

• Schmidt’s Webpage (mostly in German – not a lot of info)
• Peter White -The world’s #1 Schmidt advocate

One more thing – Because these dynamos are part of the hub, this nifty device will require you to replace your whole front wheel. A complete wheelbuild will cost around $300 with the Shimano hub dynamo.