Uni Tramps In Melrose

On the 24th of may two wet sodden unicyclists rolled into over the edge. Big grins went round in the warm environment of the shop. People met, exchanged stories of epic rides and how where ever you are, If your the right people, you will meet the right people!

And we had the chance to scare ourselves! Real talk! On these mono wheel contraptions.

So thanks for dropping by.

Check out the blog here and offer your support.

http://unitramps.com/

Trail Addictions

Just a happy snap! Hugh railing his creation.

Ibis Mojo HD in Castlemaine

Hippie's Descent, Ibis Mojo HD from digitalhippie on Vimeo.

Pete picked up our first Mojo HD after it was in the shop for only 2 weeks, it' safe to say he has fallen in love! I have now finally got my HD built and on the trails. I am still awaiting the new Reverb Dropper seat post to put the icing on the cake but so far early testing has been amazing descending is so stable that you can go as fast as you dare, railing corners like a WRX Impreza! Hopefully I will be able to upload some footage of my own soon!!

Outback Odyssey

Well we have just recovered from the onslaught of the Outback Odyssey! With over 100 riders hitting town on Sunday things were always going to get interesting. We managed service there bikes, feed them coffee and supply them with merchandise in the 48hrs they had in town, hopefully they loved the Melrose experience!

I had a pretty good time showing off the trails and offering a few tips to a few folk that didn't have saw muscles, bruised behinds or scarred calves.

Thanks folks look forward to seeing you again in 2 years!

Fat Tyre Transport from Sydney

Hey is anyone from Sydney coming to the Melrose Fat Tyre Festival? Will Levy from Bike Shuttle www.bikeshuttle.com.au is going to be heading this way and has a few spots left for a bike or 2 to be couriered from Sydney and or Canberra (I think that is his intended route?) to little old Melrose and maybe anywhere in between.

Check with Will for full travel details, bikes only at this stage. 0430 121 776

Fat Tyre Festival takes shape,

Blue print but by no means the final copy!

Workshops and skills courses – takes max of 15 riders –

First in best dressed

Saturday

9-11:30 Escape goat beginner class + ride

9-11:30 AMB Beginner class + ride – Chris

9-11:30 AMB Intermediate class + ride – Mike

9-10:30 Troy Rarick – bike fit workshop at OTE

10:30 – 11:30 Jakes Maintenance workshop at OTE

11:30 – 12:30 Krishan 81 spices workshop Formula Brakes at OTE

12:30 – 1:30 Troy Rarick – bike fit workshop at OTE

1:30-3:30 AMB Advanced class + ride

1:30 – 3:30 Escape goat beginner class + ride

5 – 6:30 AMB and Shimano Maintenance workshop at OTE

Sunday

9-11:30 Escape goat beginner class + ride

9-11:30 AMB Advanced class + ride

9-10:00 Jakes Maintenance workshop at OTE

10-11:00 workshop at OTE TBA?

11:30 - 1:00 Krishan 81 spices workshop Formula Brakes at OTE

1 – 2:00 Shimano Workshop at OTE

2 – 3:30 Trade talk

Saturday - Guided Rides ->

8:30 – Epic Ride Group 1 - Advanced ( take lunch) Approx 6 hours

LEADER - Rich / Michael W?

9:00 – Epic Ride Group 2 - Advanced (take a lunch) Approx 6 hour

TBA pending on leaders

9:00 – Dirty T Time trails in Melrose with Stu Clement –Challenge yourself!

9:00 + 11:30 Beginners – Weaving camel Loop 1-1.5hrs

LEADER - Heather / Zoe // Cathy / Andrew

9:00 + 11:30 Blue Loop for beginners / girls ride with reasonable level of skills and experience

Blue loop – Kiss the Sky, Benchin, Textbook, Benchin, Don’s summit, Bit sheepish, Textbook Farmers Free Wheelin - 1- 2hrs

LEADER - Cathy / Andrew // Heather / Zoe

9:30 + 11:30 – Red loop for Intermediate / Advanced

Red loop – Weaving Camels, Big Rhua, Blazing Saddle, Throwing Copper, Farmers Free wheelin, Benchin, Helrose, Dodging bullets 1.5 – 2.5 hours covering North and South Trails

LEADER - Sam / Darius // Jonas / Michael Sp

9:30 – Bartagunyah for Intermediate / Advanced ( take lunch ) Approx 5 hours

LEADER - Al / ?

Whiskey Trail / Super D?

10:30 – Family ride around Melrose -> Show grounds / Pizza at Helgas!

LEADER - Bill / Wendy

7:00 Niteflux Nite ride

LEADER -Sam / Darius

Sunday - Guided Rides ->

8:30 – Epic ride Group 1 - Advanced ( take lunch ) Approx 6 hours

LEADER - Al / Jonas?

9:00 – Epic Ride Group 2 - Advanced (take a lunch) Approx 6 hour

LEADER - TBA pending on leaders ( Sam and Darius? )

9:30 + 11:30 Blue Loop for beginners / girls ride with reasonable level of skills and experience

Blue loop – Kiss the Sky, Benchin, Textbook, Benchin, Don’s summit, Bit sheepish, Textbook Farmers Free Wheelin - 1- 2hrs

LEADER - Pip / Jo // Cathy / Zoe

9:30 + 11:30 – Red loop for Intermediate / Advanced

Red loop – Weaving Camels, Big Rhua, Blazing Saddle, Throwing Copper, Farmers Free wheelin, Benchin, Helrose, Dodging bullets 1.5 – 2.5 hours covering North and South Trails

LEADER – Audra / Pete // Dave Folkner and friend?

9:30 – Bartagunyah for Intermediate / Advanced ( take lunch ) Approx 5 hours

Whiskey trail / Super D?

LEADER – RICH / MICHAEL

9:30 – Wirrabra for Intermediate / Advanced

LEADER - Stu / David Clarke

10:30 – Family ride around Melrose -> Show grounds / Pizza at Helgas!

LEADER - Bill / Wendy

7:00 Niteflux Nite ride LEADER - Sam / Darius

Monday – Guided Rides ->

9:00 - Bartagunyah – Ride out to Bartagunyah to watch the super D guys or partake!

LEADER - Sam / Darius

Entertainment

Friday

6:00 onwards Dinner and Karaoke at Mt Remarkable Hotel

Saturday

2:30 Face Painting for ALL ages!

3:00 Clunker Crit - dress up your bike! Freak bike and Nish Nish bikes parading down main street

4:00 Escape goat Cycle Olympiad outside North Star – great prizes!

6:00 “This is your life” – featuring all riders favourite trails – played at Institute

7:30 Live band at Institute “Goats of the Flinders”

Sunday

Appr 2:00 – 3:30 Trade Talk will commence once Epic ride has returned

IMBA / 81 Spices / Bendelby Ranges / Niteflux / Escape gpat / Craftworks / Nish Nish / Shimano / Ergon / Squirt

3:30 Ride down to Show grounds for the Freak Bike figure 8 competition / live music

6:00 onwards Dinner at North Star / Mexican Fiesta

Monday

From 10am SUPER D @ Bartagunyah – try out the new Super D trail

Sausage sizzle / Bartagunyah wine tasting /

To ADD – Stu Clements – Dirty T Time trials in Melrose – DATE TBA

Back to IMBA School

A good bit of progress was made this weekend with about 10 dedicated diggers fronting up to Melrose for a good old roll in the dirt. A big thanks to those that gave up some time and got their hands dirty for without these volunteers we would still be struggling with small improvements when we get time!(not often enough) I also want to thank Nick and Tony for the effort they put in. We were able to realign a trail that was getting very little use and will soon have our very first green loop on the Melrose trails and our first machine built trail. This will be great for the beginner riders to finally have a little more trail to ready themselves on before heading out on more testing trails as there confidence builds.

On top of this we managed to armour a few creek crossings and plot in some improvements on blazing saddles ready for a dig on the last Sunday of this month 29/5 followed by our club Pizza night at the North Star.

Anytime you feel the urge to DIG please drop in and see us we have plenty of tools for all kinds urges! Just bought some new shinny ones today, not sure about access to the mini excavator but maybe something can be arranged!!??

Rock Shox Reverb post about a post.

Height adjustable/ dropper seat posts have been getting plenty of hype lately with epithets such as "game changer" being used. Exaggeration ? Possibly, so I'll show some restraint and just describe it as freaking amazing. Why are they so good ? Read on...
As you may have read in a previous post Rich "Uber Bling" Bruce had taken delivery of his much awaited Ibis Mojo HD in all it's satiny clear coated carbon glory. If this wasn't enough he just had to have a Rockshox Reverb dropper post to go with it. Unfortunately for Rich he ordered the wrong size for the Mojo HD. Happily for me it was the right size for the glorious and much deserving Yeti.
Sooooo.... what's it like? Well unlike most droppers the Reverb has a hydraulic remote. At the press of a button the seat raises or lowers to any point within it's 125mm travel. It also has an adjuster that allows you to dial the speed at which this happens. It's a well finished product and simple to install. Movement (slop) seems to be an issue with many droppers but not with this one, there is no discernable movement when riding.
Once on the trail the operation is smooth and easy, quickly becoming instinctive. The more you ride the more you use it. Dropping the saddle gives the rider a lot more room to move side to side, forward and back and up and down. Downhill switchbacks, jumps and drops suddenly become easier. For me the real advantage comes on fast, steep, loose and technical terrain where being able to keep your weight lower and still central makes a huge difference.
Worth the money ? Very high fun units per dollar make this piece of gear top value.