No posts today

[mikesbytes]

Looks like everyones being out riding today.

[weiyun]

No, recovering...

Need to give my bike the run down tomorrow before I'll get back on the road. Haven't had a chance to review the bike since that Waterfall accident yet.

[mikesbytes]

1. Pump the tyres up
2. Head out the door

[mikesbytes]

How was the trip?

[weiyun]

Great trip. Managed to visit three LBSs and got a good feel of the prices there. There are items to be had that's comparable to PBK/Euro prices, and some items are 20-40% less. Asked them if they would do mail order, but the answer was an unfortunate no.

Whilst I was there, the Chairman and Founder of Giant was doing a well publicised 15 days around the island tour on a TCR road bike. This 74 years old guy was looking good on all the publicity photos.

Back at home, my bike still needed a bit more adjustment. The handlebar position still needs to be further fine tuned. The front wheel may also be a tad out of true.

[mikesbytes]

Mabyee there's a business opportunity there, to setup a mail order house based out of there.

I purchased some booties from Deanwoods direct today $10 plus postage.

http://www.deanwoods.com.au/store/prod117.htm

[weiyun]

Mabyee there's a business opportunity there, to setup a mail order house based out of there.

I purchased some booties from Deanwoods direct today $10 plus postage.

http://www.deanwoods.com.au/store/prod117.htm

Nice deal.

I suggested the mail order possibility to one of the owner there and he was reluctant to do it.

[T-Bone]

Sounds like some good prices. Anything i want? Proabably easier for you to tell me some of the brands.

[weiyun]

Some euro companies that use Taiwan OEMs for their products are now allowing products to be sold locally without doing the long loop back to Europe. So these products can be had for a lot less due to a reduction in transport and handling costs. It's not clear though whether these are so called grey goods though. I picked up a Deda bar and stem as a result. Clothing prices seemed to be quite competitive too. One Assos knick model was $160 vs $250 list here in Aust. And the LBS gave 10% discount on top for credit card purchase and 15% if paid by cash. I didn't even bother to bargain. I happened to come across a Ridley Noah frame in one of the shops. The guy quoted it at NT$90,000 ie. A$3300 before any bargaining or discounting. My jaw dropped...

[T-Bone]

$3300!!!! Maybe i should make a trip to Taiwan....... Though i'm not sure i can convince myself it'll be better than spending $1700 on a Canyon Ultimate CF. I guess i'd have to spend on the holiday too, but the deda bar and stem sound good, i guess they might have some good deals on Ritchey products too, because i want some Ritchey WCS carbon cross forks for my touring bike.

Anyway, i'd better stop getting distracted by all the good prices, i need to organise the money first.

[weiyun]

I looked for Ritchey WCS bar and stem too but didn't see them in any of the stores I visited. I get the impression that those WCS components are made on the Mainland rather than in Taiwan. But they all had lots of Thomson components for some reason.

[weiyun]

1. Pump the tyres up
2. Head out the door

Well, it wasn't that simple.

Did a thorough check last night and it was very worthwhile as I've found two points where the rim got dinged. As a result, there's a sharp ridge that protrudes against the tyre's side wall and would definitely wear through over time. I've now unmounted the tyres and will try to file it down before remounting. Will have to keep a close eye on this rim in future.

[mikesbytes]

Well, it wasn't that simple.

Did a thorough check last night and it was very worthwhile as I've found two points where the rim got dinged. As a result, there's a sharp ridge that protrudes against the tyre's side wall and would definitely wear through over time. I've now unmounted the tyres and will try to file it down before remounting. Will have to keep a close eye on this rim in future.

What caused the problem with the rims?

[weiyun]

What caused the problem with the rims?

That same accident that James was involved in two weeks ago. I ran over that brick sized rock sitting in the middle of that breakdown lane at speed and received pinch flats on both front and rear wheels. It was a really solid hit. Fortunately the rim still looked round and there are no stress cracks that I can see at present. But it's a worry.