Rapha Chris King Espresso Tamper

As far uber-desirebale super unnecessary accessories go, there are few that match the unexplainable pulling power of the Rapha Chris King Espresso Tamper.

Superbly finished, this professional grade espresso tamper is a 446 gram hunk of finely machined stainless steel and aluminium, the top is finished in the iconic style of a Chris King headset.

Getting Back on the Bike

3 Months have passed since my last post. The busyness of work and building a new house aside, my intention was to get back to writing regularly updates on the blog... it seems my body had other ideas.

Sitting in the emergency ward.... not in great shape

In mid-february I came down pretty sick with a bacteria that decided to have a fair-old go at taking over my entire body. Initially it was suspected that it wasn't such a big deal, that quickly changed and after a lots of doctor's visits, a truckload of medication and a trip to the emergency I was slowly on my way back to health.

A Break in Transmission

So you may have noticed things have been a bit quiet around here lately.

It's been a big summer and I've been riding a whole lot more really trying to improve as a cyclist. In addition my day job (as opposed to the pro-cycling fantasy I live in my head) has been unbelievably busy, together with Mrs Liberte and I deciding to take on the challenge of building a house.

On top of all that, I've recently taken ill in a pretty serious fashion;  all of which has sadly resulted in  negleted blog in recent times.

Hoping to be back on the horse and posting again shortly.

~VL

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.