Indholdsfortegnelse for January-February 2025 i Bicycling Australia

The start of a new year; there’s always something special about it. New season. New faces. New ambitions. But this new year, well, you can make a fair argument it’s just that little bit more special than usual. For 2025 holds some rather important ‘new’ things for Australian cycling. The first happens right up front, starting from January 8, when the National Road Championships head west, more than 3,000 kilometres from their former home in Ballarat, to a dynamic new circuit centred around inner-city Kings Park in Perth. Elite-level road racing in the heart of an Australian capital city? That’s new alright and super exciting. Even better, with no precedents we have little idea how the racing will unfold on an entirely untested course. After two decades doing laps of…

We all have bad days, some more than others. None of us escape the ups and downs of life, and some endure more than their fair share of hardships and challenges. So, when Bicycling Australia’s flagship event, now in its 8th year, our Bowral Classic, was left high and dry last month because the Altus traffic management company did not show up, perspective came into play for our team. We felt gutted for our entire Classics riding community and our loyal commercial partners. We also felt we let down our volunteers, the incredible Southern Highlands community, and our hard-working staff. Like most of the riders, I had the same question – how could this happen at 5 am on game day with seemingly everything in control? It was simply a…

The highly anticipated Bowral Classic, part of The Classics series presented by this title, was set to take place on Sunday, 20 October 2024. Unfortunately, it was cancelled the morning of the event because the traffic management contractor got the date wrong and did not show up. While the cancellation disappointed the nearly 3,000 cyclists who had travelled from across the country, many still rode part or all of the course and enjoyed the Event Village afterwards. This included a special guest appearance by Paris Olympics track cycling gold medallist Conor Leahy. For the riders who took to the Village, the sentiment was summed up by Julie-Anne Hazlett from the VéloRoo’s Cycling Tours, who said: “I still had a fantastic day! Beautiful countryside, lots of smiles, catchups with friends, sunshine…

Firstly a confession. Until recently, I haven’t been a regular cyclist since high school, when a pushy was my only form of transport. From that time on I tended to favour petrol-engined bikes. Years later, in Sydney, I bought a mountain bike to improve my fitness and take advantage of nearby bush tracks far away from the hustle and bustle. Unfortunately, it was a flash in the pan, and I didn’t ride enough to get the full benefit. Fast-forward to now, though, and the situation has changed – I’m a regular cyclist, albeit a mostly once-a-week social rider, but I’m loving it. I’m not sure why it took me so long! Back story: After returning to my home city of Canberra a few years ago, I reconnected with some long…

Black Inc is the high performance component brand of Factor Bikes – and their race-ready 48|58 carbon road wheelset certainly lives up to the billing. Originally developed to complement the aerodynamics of the Factor Ostro VAM frameset, the 48|58 has been the go-to wheelset for Israel Premier Tech for much of the UCI WorldTour in 2024, including helping Steven Williams seize the ochre jersey at the Santos Tour Down Under last January. Whilst they don’t come cheap, they have plenty to offer riders with pockets deep enough to afford them. First impressions These wheels look mad fast. Arriving direct from Factor’s manufacturing facility in Taichung, Taiwan, the asymmetrical rim sizes – 48mm front, 58mm rear – immediately caught my attention. Given the rims are far from shallow, they’re also impressively…

It’s been seven years since Chapter2 launched its first carbon frameset. Now the New Zealand brand has officially entered the wheel business with the arrival of the REHI45 – an impressively versatile set of aero optimised tubeless ready carbon rims. “The wheelset is the second most important component on a bike,” explains Chapter2 Founder, Mike Pryde, an avid rider and racer who was personally involved in much of the testing and development of the REHI, named after the Māori word for ‘racing’. “In order to enhance how our framesets perform, wheels were an obvious addition to our range. It’s been an on-and-off project for about three years. Covid and the post-Covid conditions made it somewhat challenging to launch a new product, so we waited a little longer. I’ve actually been…

Orbea Avant The Orbea Avant is a new alloy-framed endurance bike with refined geometry and a “service box” for carrying spares. It also features 35mm tyre clearance and mudguard mounting. The Spanish brand describes the new Avant as having a balanced geometry, advanced alloy frame and carbon fork to create a comfortable and compliant bike. Orbea says they have created a bike that makes climbing easier with a steep seat angle and a longer top tube. For improved descending, Orbea has relaxed the fork angle and increased the wheelbase to give more stability at higher speeds, while a size-specific fork trail gives optimum handling no matter the size. While they are not revealing the new model’s weight, Orbea says that by controlling the shapes and wall thicknesses of the aluminium,…

Described as aero perfection, Kask says its new helmet is designed to guarantee minimal drag while delivering optimal comfort. It’s firmly targeted at road and track cyclists and triathletes who seek aerodynamic advantages over their competitors and fellow riders. Kask says that the development of this aero helmet utilised complex computational fluid dynamics simulations, which measured aerodynamic performance, ventilation, and thermoregulation. Now, that’s a huge mouthful of words, but in short, the company has developed an impressive aero helmet. Kask claims that the development process has resulted in a 35 per cent lower drag and a 19 per cent increase in ventilation compared to the Utopia Y, the existing Kask aero model. And while it’s not possible to verify these claims, the helmet really looks the goods on aerodynamics. The…

The Giant women’s brand Liv might be a little late to the party, with many of their competitors having a range of e-road bikes for several years, but they’ve nailed it with the new Avail Advanced E+ Elite range of women’s specific e-road bikes. It doesn’t look like an e-bike. The only giveaways are the control panel on the top tube and the oversized rear hub. Otherwise, it’s a sleek machine with a cool paint job that graduates from gloss black to unfinished carbon. Before we start, I should also tell you that Liv’s ‘brother’ brand, Giant, also has the Giant Defy Advanced E+ Elite range, which has the same specs as the Liv models. So, much of what you read here applies equally. The key differences are the frame…

After my nine-year absence, I did Amy’s Gran Fondo ride this year. I did it because I wanted to try to qualify for the Gran Fondo Worlds, which are being held on the same course next year. Despite the miserable weather, it was a good day, and I successfully qualified. It’s a fun event, and o2 Events, which now owns it, does a great job running it. What surprised and disappointed me was the commentary from the Amy Gillett Foundation at the start line of the event and again in the Escape Collective. They are now pushing to make bike lights mandatory at all times for cyclists. Whilst this is well-intended, it is a fundamentally misguided policy that could do more harm than good. While the goal of enhancing cyclist…

The 2024 UCI WorldTour ended with the 5th edition of the Gree-Tour of Guangxi in China on October 20, though most of you had probably tuned out eight days earlier after some bloke called Tadej Pogačar won edition number 118 of Il Lombardia. It was his fourth successive victory in ‘The Race of the Falling Leaves’ and if you include his general classification wins – in chronological order, the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Giro d’Italia and Tour de France – his season tally totalled 25. Twenty-five wins. From 58 race days. And he’s still just 26 years old. Unlike many of my fellow sporting scribes, I’m not going into comparisons with the GOAT because as Pogačar said himself, “I don’t like comparisons [about me] with other people, especially Eddy Merckx…

As an obsessed road cyclist of some 16 years, I was honoured to be anointed the new editor of Bicycling Australia magazine a few months back. The role perfectly matches my professional experience as a writer and my love of cycling, and I couldn’t be happier. I could never have imagined that, when I was an undergraduate studying communication in Bathurst all those years ago, I would one day be an editor of a prestigious cycling publication. My late dad, Dennis, began his career as a journalist for a long-defunct newspaper in Melbourne called The Argus, and I feel like I’ve done a full circle on his behalf. I know he’d be very proud of me. I’d also like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Nat Bromhead, who employed me…

January 1999. John Howard is Prime Minister. Mark Taylor is Test Cricket Captain. The Sydney Olympics are still more than 18 months away and a litre of unleaded petrol costs around 67 cents. Marco Pantani is reigning Tour de France Champion and a brash Texan by the name of Lance Armstrong has only recently returned to the peloton after recovering from testicular cancer. September 11 is just another date on the calendar. Of most relevance here, however, the South Australian government is watching on a little nervously, having made the bold move to replace the Australian Formula One Grand Prix (lost in acrimonious circumstances to Melbourne in 1996) with an all-new international event—a colloquially-named bicycle race called the ‘Tour Down Under’. Fast forward a quarter of a century and history…

On first impression, Montréal is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city. The façade of the cityscape has a Gothic Regency x Great Gatsby vibe, accented by skyscrapers and modern residential flats on the outskirts. There are your standard clusters of abandoned warehouses which are, in fact, home to much of the city’s urban farms, and the population and its visitors enjoy a dining and wining scene that would satisfy even the pickiest of gourmets. On second impression, the cycling is amazing considering Montréal, the largest city of Quebec province, is just as busy (and hilly) a city as Sydney. “We are really surprised ourselves,” said Steve. A visitor from Toronto, he and his wife Karen had rented a bike and accompanied me on a short ride along Montreal’s historic Lachine Canal. “The…

The most technically advanced frame bags in the world? It’s quite a claim that Tailfin makes of their recently released frame bags – but just how advanced can a frame bag possibly be? There are nine half and wedge bags in the new range, which are designed to cater for all sizes of frames and bottle configurations, and they have a good sizing app to help you choose the right bag, although do also measure manually to be doubly sure. My own main issue with frame bags is always knee rub when bags are full, and Tailfin has addressed this by creating a welded design from their familiar waterproof nylon fabric, which is supported with a carbon space frame (removable rods) to give it a firm base and flexible but…

Imagine carrying bikes on the top of your vehicle without needing permanent roof racks fitted. Well, that’s the idea behind these updated Treefrog racks, which suction securely to any smooth surface. This style of racks is certainly not new to the market, but this was my first time using them, and they offer plenty of unique features that make them an appealing option. Treefrog has a range of modes of racks, such as single bike racks, but tested here is the Pro 2, which is their two-bike carrying model. With four front vacuum cups mounted underneath the polycarbonate deck, the racks have a max quoted load of 40kg, plenty for all but two of the heaviest e-bikes. There is a bit of a mental hurdle to convince yourself that these…

Designed in Australia. Moulded in Europe. Hand-finished in Adelaide. The Teschner SE-33 is a limited edition series of 33 carbon road framesets, each individually numbered and custom specified to commemorate 33 years since the brand was founded by Peter Teschner in the early 1990s. Background Scrolling through the Teschner honour roll makes for impressive reading. Partnering with the AIS for many years and piloted by riders the calibre of Michael Rogers, Steph Morton, Cameron Meyer, Jack Bobridge, Jordan Kirby and more, its frames were ridden to no less than 24 Australian National Titles, 11 USA National Titles and 10 World Championship Titles (road and track) between 1996 and 2010, whilst also featuring at three consecutive Olympic Games. After 20 years at the helm, Peter Teschner actually sold the business in…