Todd's Baum Corretto Lightweight Obermayer Gold

Wolfpack Regional Vice President Todd has just finished another collaboration with Baum Cycles, the result of which is this spectacular Baum Corretto produced for Eurobike 2012.

Bike Box Alan Review

For some time I've considered my options and the pros and cons of both soft and hard cases. Soft ones provide less external protection and potentially make the rear derailleur and hanger vulnerable. On the flip side, they are cheaper, lighter and some even have excellent compartments for wheels.

 “A hard case that not only is user friendly, but also turns heads at the airport and makes you feel like a travelling pro.”

After crawling the web for a while, I came across Bike Box Alan (www.bikeboxalan.co.uk) from the UK. The boxes look stylish, put an emphasis on toughness and are sold over the Internet at a reasonable price. There are many colours to choose from and the website has examples of pro themes such as HTC Highroad, Sky Procycling and Radio Shack-Nissan-Trek. The sky is the limit when it comes to customising the Bike Box Alan!

Rapha Gentlemen's Race Film

Earlier this year Team Velo Liberte was fortunate enough to participate in the inaugural Australian Rapha Gentlemen's Race. You can read all about our team's experience here.

Now the folk at Rapha have released a cool little film of the event and it's good to see a couple of little Team VL cameos littered here and there.

Keen observers would've noted Team Velo Liberte finished dead last. Unfortunately several mechanical issues and a reasonably serious injury put paid to any plans we had for the race.

It was such a great day and I only hope we can one day have another crack to redeem ourselves.

~VL

Bar Fly Garmin Mount

Last week I caught up with a good friend of mine who was in town, while here he presented me with a little gift... a Tate Labs Bar Fly Garmin mount.

Reasonably new to Australia via Baum Cycles, the Bar Fly is designed for the Garmin Edge 200/500/800 and creates a cleaner aesthetic by allowing you to move the unit from the stem to front of the handlebars.

Hanging out in Portland

A couple of weeks ago I made the 5 dash out of Melbourne and up the highway to spend the weekend hanging out and riding in and around the coastal town of Portland with my good mate Todd.

Miniature Cyclists

Out and about roaming the back streets of Paris last year I stumbled across the most fantastic little model shop that specialised in metal figurines. The shop was almost hidden down a laneway and had it not been for the eagle eyes of Mrs Liberte I would have missed it all together.

Enve 45 Carbon Clincher Wheelset

Since taking delivery of the SL4 late last year I'd been running my old Easton EC90 SL 38mm carbon clincher wheelset. While a very good wheelset, the Eastons were getting a little tired so I thought it was about time for a new set of wheels.

I wanted to take a step up from 38mm to 45mm and my first choice was a set of Zipp 303 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers. After taking a look at the Zipps I wasn't convinced and had heard some mixed reviews about the ongoing maintenance required on the Zipp hubs.

Alpine Classic Training Begins Today

The long road to the 2013 Alpine Classic began today with some hill work on the roads of Taka's '4 Houses of Pain' secret training ground. ~VL

Tom Boonen Wins 2012 Paris-Roubaix

Seems like it was only this time last week (literally) I was writing a post about Tom Boonen winning a major one day classic in the Tour of Flanders.

A mere 7 days later and Boonen has further stamped his name into cycling history by winning the 2012 Paris Roubaix to complete the Flanders-Roubaix double.

In what seemed like a suicide move, Boonen attacked off the front with 58 kilometres remaining. Despite a chasing group including the much fancied Juan Antonio Fletcha and Alessandro Ballan, Boonen stayed away to take a record equaling fourth Paris-Roubaix victory, an honour he shares with the great Roger De  Vlaeminck.

What an exciting race it was to watch. I'm so happy to see Tom back aboard a Specialized and at the top of his game.

~VL

Photo Credit: Sirotti

Paris Velib Bike Share by Translogic

Cool little video from Tanslogic on Velib, the Paris bike share program. Also contains a little bit on auto lib, the paris EV car sharing program.

~VL

Tom Boonen Wins the 2012 Tour of Flanders

You would have to have been hiding under a huge pile of Belgian waffles to miss the news that cycling rockstar and 2012 winning machine Tom Boonen has taken victory at this year's Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen).

Back to his winning best this year, the great man has shown what a class act he is when it comes to the one day spring classics. This win takes his Tour of Flanders tally to three (2005, 2006, 2012), which goes together nicely with three victories at Gent-Wevelgem (2004, 2011, 2012) and three at Paris-Roubaix (2005, 2008, 2009).

Totally Rad Friday - Venge Abuse

Oh dear... not sure what to make of this poor Green Jersey Venge found on Weight Weenies earlier this week.

I feel so sorry for this Venge, it never even stood a chance!

Single speed, check. Flat bars, check. Shallow alloy wheels, checkity check. What else can we do to ruin this?

I have to say, streamers on the bars are a nice touch, would have been better in green.

More 'bad' than 'Rad' with this one I'm affraid... have a great weekend.

~VL

Rapha Gentlemen's Race - Melbourne 2012

Over the weekend the Wolf Goat Pack had the privilege of taking part in the Rapha Gentlemen's Race - Melbourne 2012.

Goat Pack Regional President Todd was invited by his good friends at Rapha Australia to captain-up and submit a team to take part in the race. Against better judgement, Todd assembled a crack (crap?) team made up of the best (only) riders the Goat Pack had to offer.

Sufferfest - Taka's 2012 3 Peaks Challenge

Last week our resident Wolfpack doctor, Stephen 'Taka' Chan completed the 2012 3 Peaks Challenge. He was kind enough to write an account of his experience.

3 Peaks Challenge:

The ultimate cycling sufferfest in Australia

Last weekend I survived one of the most challenging cycling sportifs in Australia, if not in the world. This 235km circuit encompasses the Victorian Alpine National Park, including climbs to a couple of the most picturesque Alpine resorts Victoria has to offer - Falls Creek and Mount Hotham.

The Victorian Alps has been the training ground of the new GreenEdge Pro Tour team and other Australian Pro riders this past summer.

@BadenCooke (GreenEdge) tweeted:

Richie Porte wins Volta ao Algarve

I awoke this morning to news that Richie Porte had taken overall victory at the 2012 Volta ao Algarve.

This is Porte's maiden victory at the top level and the first of the year for his new team Sky Procycling, after two very solid years working under Bjarne Riis at Team Saxo Bank.

Totally Rad Friday - Omega Pharma Quick Step

Omega Pharma Quick Step have got off to a cracking start to the year. Levi Leipheimer took overall victory at the Tour de San Luis and Tom Boonen went home with the silverware from the Tour of Qatar.

Along the way Leipheimer and Chicchi won two stages at the Tour de San Luis. Boonen also won a stage and added to this with two further stage wins on his way to his victory at the Tour of Qatar.

So, given such a dominant start to the season Omega Pharma Quick Step can now add a 'Totally Rad Friday' award to the trophy cabinet. Here's hoping there's a lot more where that came from.

All that awesome aside, I have ago ask... what on earth is going on here?

Have a Rad weekend.

~VL

Photo Credit: Tim De Waele

Sartorial Elegance - Rapha Trousers

Having a total love affair with a pair of Rapha Trousers picked up in the recent sales.

Could be the best $72 ever spent on a pair of pants.

~VL

2012 Audax Alpine Classic - The Ultimate Sufferfest

You may recall from a couple of recent posts that in a moment of poor judgement last year I signed up for the 2012 Audax Alpine Classic.

Most keen cyclists know of this ride, but for the initiated, the Alpine Classic is a 200 kilometre one day ride which takes in the Victorian Alpine climbs of Tawonga Gap, Falls Creek, Tawonga Gap (backside) and Mt Buffalo. In addition to covering just under 200 kilometres, riders tackle around 3,900 metres of climbing over the course of the day. All of this while tackling the searing heat of the Australian Summer.

Nipples of Doom

A few weeks ago I was coming back from a ride when a nipple connected to a spoke on my rear wheel exploded and pulled through almost sending me off the bike.

My first thought was that the massive power I was producing must have been too much for the wheels to handle. On remembering that I only produce about 230 watts, and some further investigation it became clearly apparent the issue was something else.

Baum Corretto - GTR Grey Red

Custom handmade Baum bicycles are very desirable and are starting to become quite popular. This awesome Grey and Red Baum Corretto was recently delivered to a fellow local cyclist here in Melbourne, Australia.

2012 Jayco Bay Cycling Classic

On Monday I braved 40 degree heat to make the long trek down the highway to Geelong to check out stage 2 of the 2012 Jayco Bay Cycling Classic.

Run over 4 stages/days, this event grows in popularity each year and is seen as a major tune up for the Tour Down Under and Australian Road Cycling Championships held in January of each year.

Rapha Festive 500

In an all too familiar occurrence of cycling related peer pressure and against better judgement; in the week leading up to Christmas I got sucked into taking part in the Rapha Festive 500 challenge.

I'm sure that you are well aware of the Rapha Festive 500 challenge, but in case you have been living under a rock; Rapha sets a challenge to pedal off the indulgences of the festive season by riding 500 kilometres between the 23rd and 31st of December.

McShiney and I ranking up the kilometres

For your efforts you receive the adulation of your peers (or maybe the relief of not being ridiculed by them), the satisfaction of knowing you completed something you set out to do and most importunely the badge from Rapha (above) in recognition of your accomplishment.