Full circle.

I’ve been rolling the pavements & byways of Melbourne, commuting by bike to & from work since 1992. Starting with a slick shod 18-speed MTB, then to 3x other 27speed MTBs, a converted single speed MTB, then to a single speed roadie & now the Jamis Exile – a slick-shod single speed MTB. But now that single speed uniqueness has just started to wear a little thin.With the recent boom in new riders into the bike commute into work & it’s getting a bit hectic keeping my head above it all on the single speed. Also I have been recently been heading out into the weird & wonderful in a quest to spice up the daily commute with new, longer & more 'entertaining' routes, into something more like a scene out of the Italian Job or Bourne movies, but getting caught out on uncovered pinch climbs or slow techie bits is dulled by the only ratio I have on the Jamis Exile. So now I’m entertaining thoughts of going back to that ole chestnut: the multispeed slick-shod (hardtail) MTB.Hmm, yes they come in carbon nowadays too……

My Specialized Epic’s rear shock (the one with the ‘Brain’) has been weeping oil for a few weeks now, even though it’s action has been OK, damping nicely, but I begrungingly have been avoiding having to go through a 'warrantee cliam' experience. I bit the bullet this week & took the shock in for the ‘fix’. I actually removed the shock off the frame & took it in on it’s own quoting the bikes frame number to the dealer. I did this as I didn't want to leave the whole bike with them, as last time I was charged to have a warrantee part refitted to the bike, so I wanted to dodge that overhead. 2 days later I got the call that a replacement had arrived. Problem is I can’t get out there until the weekend, so I may being in the use of the Jamis for the dirt crit on Thursday. 42/16 may be a bit high for offroad singletrack racing, but it’ll be a gag to roll about on the commuter & I reckon I can smash that gear with good effect. Might even wear that tea-towel pattern jersey I recently picked up to bring home the backyard slacker werks look.

White bikes. Not so much just white framed bicycles, but the trend of colour matched ‘bars, grips/bartape, wheels, tyres & seat – the whole lot in white is kinda spooky. Just says ‘ghost bike’ to me & that can never be a good thing. Bad foreboding maybe? Like getting your path crossed by a black cat or black crows hanging about. seems like bad karma to me.