Video

Turn the music down. I can't understand a word you say.

Hi Tim and Amanda, Have you seen the Total Recon Event at Murray Bridge on 1 June? It looks like something up your alley.

The wand is steel which is srong compared to aluminum BUT At full extension it taxes the strength of your wrist and forearm the longer it's out there , especially if a large screen Android phone in an Otterbox Defender case. If you have a 20* series Samsung in an Otterbox you know the case more than doubles the weight. The "tripod" base's three legs add to the weight. An upside? of that handle weight might be it somewhat counters the camera at full reach. "SOMEWHAT." Try to compare before buying and decide how needed the tripod function is to tote around all the time or will a simple stick suffice?

Good luck on Qualifying for World Champs, trying to do the same :)

So the floods in Brisbane usually happen every decade right and the last time it ever flooded was back in 2011

All these thinks but none for the Aero bars?

Right on! Really enjoyed watching you make progress in just one outing as your nerves eased up and you were brave enough to experiment and have fun! If you stuck with it I am sure you are heaps better now! A couple of tips from a grizzled old timer 1) When you become unstable or rattled the first thing to go is foot pressure on the footplate - no pressure / no stability - so keep that foot pressure on through the entire stroke!! 2) most people fall out of the ski at the very end of a brace as the paddle sinks and momentum fades... So finish every brace with a catch on the opposite side of the brace - it should become automatic reflex and will dramatically improve your balance - "Brace to a catch!"

...Just a thought before you inadvertently cause an injury ... especially when we get older. From what I can tell, you feel comfortable using aero-bars mostly because it allows you to relax your upper body (shoulders and arms) but that feel doesn't reflect the effect aerobars have on shifting muscle dominance from the legs (anterior) to the lower back (posterior). IMHO, you need to ride for an extended period to truly know if the clip-on bars work. It's not uncommon that lower back problems develop when simply adding aero-bars without adjusting the seat - (likely) forward with a longer head stem. Aero-bars without an adjustment to your seat closes your hips (even if only slightly) compared to a more open road setup hip angle. Shifting the seat will change the seat tube angle and along with it the effective power generated when using aero-bars. So, you might gain some aerodynamic efficiency and feel a more relaxed upper body BUT you could loose power over time because of a more closed hip angle that shifts muscle strain to the unprepared and weaker lower back muscle (hamstrings as well?) ... possibly causing injury. FWIW

I spy a jar of Vegemite on the shelf behind you!! How do you ever acquire a taste for that.....sh....I mean stuff??!! Anyhow....at 73, my custom built 1979 Trek w/Columbus tubing is still as fast as my 2010 carbon road bike and 2009 MTB!! I really can't afford to do any upgrade or purchase anything newer!! So, I'll just be happy with what I've got!! Very happy I haven't fallen victim to and e-bike!!!! Slainte!!

dude doesn't look as old as downshifts

For me personally its not so much about reluctance but cost. I know electronic shifting and disc brakes are better. However, electronic shifting is really expensive and I have 3 road bikes with rimbrakes, meaning I have 3 sets of wheels for rimbrakes as well, this would mean I need to invest into a new frame and new wheels to change to disc brakes and if I upgrade parts, I cant shift the old parts down to my winter bike or city bike.

yeah nah as long as there are bikes with rim brakes ill ride rim im not gonna switch to a system that has problems with bleeding, rubbing, warping and over heating, not to mention the weight and price penalty you pay for a supposedly "superior" system

“The industry will actually FORCE IT UPON US…that’s just how the industry works”….Really? How’s that going for them? I think a lot of people just enjoying riding a bike and aren’t trying to LARP the TDF. Many of us like being able to maintain our own bikes and prefer something more reasonable to work with in terms of cost, durability, and everyday functionality.

Why change, there is no need braking power is the same the feeling not. The investment is always steep jou always need to chage the frame in the last weejears

Interesting, though I would say that better does not mean everything else is rubbish. I use rim brakes, they're carbon fibre and were made for me (125g for the pair - beat that, oh no you can't can you..). They stop brilliantly, they stop in the wet brilliantly. I also use tubulars (Conti Competition, 19mm pumped to a healthy 120psi), which I shall use to my dying days, because they everything I could ask for. We are repeatedly told [by people armed with a dangerously small amount of scientific rigor] that fat tyres barely pumped up is faster. My set up is ideally comfortable and by comfortable I don't mean Granny doling out sweets and kissing it better, I mean a sharp eyed companion pacing me by pointing out the condition of the road. This give me the confidence to go as fast as I wish. Remember unless you're a professional racer faster is not an answer to anything.

I've fixies, back pedal brakes, rim brakes, hydraulic rim brakes, canti, V's, mini-V's mechanical disc brakes, cable-actuated hydraulic disc brakes, full hydraulic disc brakes etc etc. I've had all tyres and Road Tubeless over 14 years and besides tubulars, all inner tube types, including the TPU with chips on them. Does technology really, absolutely matter? Each of my bikes can still be a joy to ride, and gets you from A-B. It's just the todays manufacturers trying to force 'progress' to the public for the sake of their profits and ROI for their R&D, not for anything else.

This women is getting younger it must be all the exercise.

If it is not simple, ordinary person will not ride it. My disc brake bike, each time i take wheel off it take me half hour to realign the brakes

It is not the new stuff we are not happy about, we welcome progress. It is the crazy prize tag we against. Not all new stuff is better, the quick-release is not broken but now it gets shelved for no reason.

DISC FOR DIRT RIM FOR ROAD ALSO MY CABLE STI s still work for me l m going to spend 2k on electronics any time soon !! l also run tubes and all you high tech pushers can get stuffed l have better things to spend my money on than trendy garbage trying to keep up with the Jones :) Same for vehicles !!

Good luck with your training. I am going to Darwin in a few weeks for the first race of the qualification series for Wollongong. Lake Bennet looks nice.

Stupid racing rules. Imagine the bikes we’d have now if there weren’t the limitations placed on them. Amazing drive trains, perfect brakes, super comfy frame geometries.

I ride with straps........handy not to have to use cycling shoes....😁

For me it's the cost that makes me slow to adopt new tech. I have a carbon road bike that's almost 5 years old now. I would love to have some of the newer tech but upgrading is so expensive and some things you can't upgrade to without buying a whole new bike altogether. My bike still rides fine, so all that money spent would really only give marginal gains.

Great vid, gotta say i run a pretty old school setup. Steel single speed, rim brakes, flat pedals with straps. I do use 32c tires, with latex tubes though. Rides like a dream.

Because it’s mostly old grump males who cycle. Simple as that really!

rather have steel. i seriously doubt anyone will be riding one of today's carbon bikes in 2050. by contrast, steel frames from 70s and 80s can still be viable. this forced change is about making money for the industry

A lot of these upgrades you mention were just a case of buying the new kit and fitting it to your bike. However the upgrade path from rim to disc brakes is a new bike. Something you are going to be reluctant to do if you have a good, top quality frame, wheels and groupset.

Based on comments I've read herein, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Road tubeless is a bridge too far

Before even watching the video I'd say we hate the change because you can spend thousands on a bike that has the "latest tech", for a year or two down the line it be considered old and can't find spares as easily.

I am now for 3 years into cycling. Bascially bought last year a frame, because I couldnt get a new Rim brake bike. maintenance is way easier, I rarely ride in the wet, just flats where I ride and one big factor I have to right from time to time through heavy traffic. You will panic break in Traffic, its just way safer with rim breaks. I would agree, if you ride on terrian, where you break frequently disc are properly better.

change cost a lot. why bother changing if you can go out and ride a bike, maybe marginally slower than you'd do it for extra bucket of money? most of us won't win TdF anyway

Long live rim brakes and mechanical shifting! I specifically bought a 2021 model LOOK because I knew it was the last model with the features I wanted. I will never buy another bike.

The problem is you really don't need much to go fast on road. A light deep wheel, a proper stiff frame is all that matters to me. All these features are already well developed ages ago at reasonable prices to boot. Now, they're telling you need 2mm more tires, hidden wiring etc. at 4 times the price for some unnecessary cosmetics overhaul. I find that absurd. Now MTB tech on the other hand....

Went from steel to alloy four years ago and from v-brake to hydraulic disc four days ago 😅 In the budgetland so many bikes are equipped with "obsolete" tech, but hey, you'll never know that the Panda is a cheap car until you ride a BMW or a Mercedes

No it's not a resistance to change. You are being unfair, if you spent 6000 euros on a rim brake bike then 1 year later someone tells you that the bike is not good and not fit for purpose I think you would be upset. If there's unlimited funds one can have always the greatest and latest.

Just discovered this channel. I'm 75 years old, raced in Texas 45 years ago, and have been riding mostly every day since then. I like your down-to-earth scripting. I agree with you, but I want to throw in my personal irritation. One of my five bikes is a city bike built up a few years ago on a 1972 Ron Kit time trial frame with early 70s clincher wheels built by myself, Universal Super 68 short drop side-pull brakes, Regina freewheel, Campy derailleurs, Brooks saddle, etc. It has a modern crankset with I think 40-28, which lets me run a Regina 14-24 at age 75. When I first built up this frame as a racing bike in the early '70s, I bought the first edition of Sutherland's and I still have it. Everything you needed to know to build a bike from the ball bearings up. It is a little more than half an inch thick. The bicycle was then, a simple, precision machine, Now it is a very complicated and not-so-precision machine.

Coming from canti as I use cx bikes the disc brakes are very welcomed and love it is easy to find wider road tires now.

problem with new tech is not everyone can afford it . I still use rim brakes and mechanical shifting .all dura ace . and carbon wheels .and probably stick with it .

I have always bought into new technologies. I just wanted to try the stuff for my self. So yes I have disc brakes and Di2. But I still have a love for the vintage because it worked so well and needs to be remembered. So I recently contracted a custom steel frame builder to make me a frame and fork that is rim brake, mechanical gearing, and uses non-aero aluminum rims with 25mm tires. No carbon on this bike. It won't be used for racing, only club rides to show off it's beauty and remind me of my first bike that I loved riding for 22 years.

Yeah true, I started in 82 on a Hanimex bar end shifters. In 87 I went to keywin pedals on the track, can’t use them on the track they said, then look pedals in 88, then time pedals in 89, same negative comments, then the full styrofoam helmets - they look silly was the comments. Bought a giant tcr in 99 - they will never take off to radical was the comments. Went up to 24” tyres - are you sure they won’t slow you down were the comments. It’s the classic 3 stages of truth if anyone wants to look that up if you don’t know it.

Where's the mullet gone? 😮

Looks like fun.

I like the idea of getting a decent used steel frame and building it up with cheap parts. I imagine you could build a sick bike under $1000. You may not be meeting super specs but it will get the job done.

What do you think of decathlon's Triban range?

I agree with what you said I do feel like carbon bikes have dropped some

I just saw a Chinese carbon road bike with 105 di2 and nice DT Swiss wheels for $1999USD, and, a Chinese electronic conversion group for 800 euros. If the established bike and component makers don't get their shit together they're going to go the way of the Dodo.

Don’t think it’s the bike shops’ problem, but I also don’t think manufacturers are to blame. Components are expensive, workers are expensive, everything is expensive. Manufacturers are struggling more than the bike shops. Prices won’t go down. It’s the same thing with everything else: cars, motorcycles, etc.