BMX fun

Kinda fun, unitl you hear something metallic moving inside your frame. I'll have to take the cranks off tonight and see what the problem is. lol.

Mini me!

My rusty Bully BMX is back from Mr. Clean :) More pics here.

Pictures taken at just the right time

Pictures taken at just the right time. Lovely!

I feel like this sometimes

Goodies in the mail

Got heaps of goodies in the mail today. Most of it is for the Reign. I wanted to try and lower the bars as well as get more grip up front. The shorter seatpost will also allow me to get the seat lower now (old post was too long). All the old stuff has gone onto Suga's Talon as it's all the same specifications only lighter. I alsmo managed to get some goodies for the Ti frame, the world's lightest seatclamp at 8g (I'm such a weenie sucker) and also some grips which come in at 19g (lol!).

MWG goes Wordpress

Awwwwww MWG Blogger will miss you.

Ghetto Sunday BBQ

Hmmm. Wonder if the BBQ still works? Tick tick tick fwoosh! BBQ at my place everyone! More pics here.

Suga's new Giant Talon

New goodies! Thanks to Grant and the crew at Maroubra Cycles for cutting us a great deal.


Lovely little bike.


Sexy Fox helmet.

Suga finally got her belated B'day pressie today! Whoo hoo! It's a sexy little 14inch XC ripper from Giant. Fantastic bike which we got for $1k on the money (RRP is $1299). She drove home and I got to ride it home, fantastic little bike. Crisp gear changes, nice hydraulic brakes and the lockout on the handlebar's a nice touch.

Specs:
frame ALUXX FluidFormed™ alloy w/low stand-over
fork Rockshox Tora 302 Solo Air 100m w/remote Lockout
rear derailleur Shimano Deore LX high normal 9 speed
front derailleur Shimano Deore
shifters Shimano Deore rapid fire 27 speed
crankset Shimano Deore 9 speed 22x32x44T
bottom bracket Shimano Deore integrated outboard
shift/chain guide
chain Shimano HG73 9 speed
cassette SRAM PG950 9 speed 11-34T
brakes Shimano M485 hydraulic w/6" centre-lock rotors
brake levers Shimano M485 hydraulic
hubs Shimano RM65 9sp, QR, cassette disc
rims Sun Rhyno Lite 26" x 32H w/eyelets
spokes 14G stainless
tyres Hutchinson Barracuda 26 x 2.1"
pedals Shimano M505 SPD clipless
h.bar/stem Raceface Ride XC low rise / Raceface Ride XC
seat post Raceface Ride XC 30.9
saddle SDG Bel Air w/cr-mo rail
grips Giant lock-on

More pics here.

In bits

I've already had a ball during my extended lunch break (lol). Couldn't help myself.

I used my mechanic gloves when taking it all apart, no blood! Nice one, will do so from now on.

Here are some weights just for kicks:

Brakes front and rear + cables: 681g
Chain: 286g
Cranks + BB: 1775g
Fork: 1040g
Frame: 2820g
Grips: 93g
Handlebar: 951g
Headset: 139g
Pedals: 492g
Seat Binder: 61g
Seat: 451g
Seatpost: 317g
Stem: 511g
Tyres: 480g/tyre
Tubes: 120g/tube
Wheel front: 1100g
Wheel rear + cog: 1003g

KCNC seatpost

Alrighty! She's finished! I got the KCNC seat post in the mail today, the first one was lost in the mail, he (OS eBay seller) was nice enough to send me another one (even though he did take a few months!).

It's as light as they say it is at 153g. Damn light. It's also a bitch to set up right, but set and forget I suppose.

Final weight of the keep it real with steel single speed is 9.46kg.

Bully

Pulled this up from under the house this morning (I was looking for the hot water system, something's wrong, been having cold showers lately!). New project? Me thinks so! She's heavy at 13.06kg's, that's as heavy as my Reign! More pics here.

Shepperds Pie

Suga and I made this last night. It's the first time we've made a proper meal together (and fuck it was good!). Yum yum!!!

Biking life

My little ballerina.


A present my sister and her hubby got for my B'day. Yes I still get toys every year! I also got a Transformers T-Shirt from my mum's sister lol. I love it.


Latest shot of the 6ft marine tank. Going strong!


Pajama silliness.

JDMyard EG Civic into the 11's!

I'm so happy for Yonas cause he's finally gotten into the 11's. He's a drag nut, always has been since the day I met him (never felt a flat shift before being in the car with him lol). I've supported him over the years and watched him slowly but surely get faster and faster. His mission has always been to get his daily driven Honda EG Civic into the 11's and he's finally done it (where to next?!). I reckon the graphics I designed on the car must have helped him along and added a few more kw's on the day :p More pics here.

Camelbak Mule

My new Mule hydration pack. The cheap eBay army one broke (leaked), guy gave me a refund though, so all good.

This Camelbak Mule has heaps of room, great for my pump, spare tube, tools + energy bars. Thought I'd buy the best this time around!

Reign adjustments

Yesterday I mucked around with the set-up some more. I felt stretched out a little on Sunday so I've made some adjustments. I realised the low riser bar was mounted pointing forward quite a bit. This made the bar about 40mm further away from me to the front and about 30mm higher too. I've now adjusted it back towards me some more, re-adjusted the brakes/shifter and everything feels a little better but I'll have to test it out on a trail soon to be sure. I've also noticed the stem's got a pretty big angle on it, and I'm tempted to try a shorter stem with less rise.

I also just whacked on some gear I had lying around from my single speed build. Namely some red KCNC ring bolts and alloy water bottle bolts. All lighter and as strong as the stock items, so no harm done. I also had a KCNC jockey wheel (only one though lol) from the single speed's tensioner which I am no longer using so on it goes.

Buttered floor war

LOL

My GT-R Featured in Auto Salon Magazine

I'd put it off for ages, and turned down a few offers to feature in in other magazines but my mates work at ASM Magazine so I'd always known that if I did feature the car anywhere, it would be with them. Best thing is though that Charles Kha (editor) let me write the feature! Something they've never done in Auto Salon Magazine, and Mark Pakula was willing to shoot it in a studio (as opposed to the street). I really wanted a black studio shoot, but settled for white. The feature ended up beaing spread over 12 pages and the only thing I hate is the picture of me in it (totally ruins the shot of the car!).

View all the pages in high res here.

Manly Dam - 2nd time around

Yes I fell in the mud.


Yes my brand new Van Bucky Lasek's are fucked.


Yes I flew over the handlebars.

A lot of alcohol had been built up in my system from a week at Sandon, then B'day drinks and last night's belated Mothers Day dinner and drinks. I had to burn it all off and what better a way than re-visiting the Dam.

Jing came around at about 10am and off we went. There's no doubt about it that we pushed harder this time around than last. I even did one of the early drop offs instead of going around it like most people do. Sometimes too cocky isn't that great though and I had a couple of falls. One in the mud, one over the handlebars near the big 6ft drop (which I doubt I'll ever do).

All in all, a lot of fun, it's a great trail! More pics here.

OMG 33 today

Yup I'm 33 today. Celebration? Nope, happy with life? Very much so. :) All good!

9.56kg's

New Chris King headset is on, waiting for KCNC seatpost now and it's all done.

Here's the damage, scary how it all adds up!!!

1997 Specialized Hardrock GX
------------------------------------------
Brake Lever: Shimano XTR lever (83g) $54.50
Brake: Avid BB7 (454g) $100
--Alligator Disc Rotor 160mm + bolts (218g) $47.95
--A2Z disc brake convertor (100g) $28
Cables: XTR/Alligator(105g) $30
Cassette: Fire Eye single speed spacers (60g) $50
--Chris King 16 Tooth Cog, Stainless Steel (32g) $45.35
Chain: KMC SuperLite X9SL Hollow Pin (211g) $48.22
Crankset: Shimano Hone Crankset/bb (802g) $146
Fork: SASO carbon fork (815g) $173
Frame: Specialized Hardrock GX Chro-mo (2600g)
Grips: Ritchey 2008 WCS Grips (39g) $16
Handlebar: On-one Mary (313g) $60
Headset: Chris King 1-1/8 (124g) $125.85
Headset Spacer: Amoeba carbon spacer (8g) $6
Pedals: VP 196 pedals (280g) $28.30
Quick Releases: Trans X bolt on skewers (66g) $8.50
Seat Binder: Tranz X seatpost bolt (14g) $12.90
Seat: Selle Italia SLR Flite Kit Carbonio (169g) $100
Seatpost: FSA SL-K carbon seatpost (227g) $41
--Seatpost shim (12g) $8.50
Stem: Syntace Stem (98g) $42.80
Tyre: Maxlite 310 (311g x 2) $99
Tubes: Maxxis flyweight x 2 (93g/tube) $18.80
Wheelset: FSA XC-300 SL (1872g) $300
-----------------------------------------
Total Cost: $1590.67
Total Weight: 9.56kg

Whilst I was away

Some parcels made their way into my mail box. Namely a Chris King headset (in black this time, much better) and some very lightweight Alligator Rotors.

Sandon!

I'm in love again, with the Sandon. What an awesome 5 nights away. Photos here

Off to Sandon!

3 more hours and I'm off to Sandon River. I'm excitedness!

AGDA Talk

The AGDA talk the other night was a little loose. All the speakers were pretty rushed for time (we only had 15 minutes to speak). I felt pretty rushed, and uncomfortable, but still managed AOK. You know it doesn't matter how many times I get up and do these talks... I still get nervous every time. I couldn't sleep the night before, and bundled with a bad sleep the night before that, and meeting a few sick people, it looks like I've caught the flu. Bad news as tomorrow I head off for a holiday to Sandon River up north to hang out with Caryn. Getting heaps of couch time in today and will knock it on the head. So looking forward to Sandon, the most beautiful place in the whole of Australia.

I'm getting nice emails in the mail today though, it's the feedback that makes everything worthwhile:

"Your speech was absolutely inspiring tonight!
It was a pleasure to see you on stage again after cut&paste, I was so excited to talk to you and let you know how much an inspiration you are, but then I didn't have a chance to!
oh well, may be next time :)

since I didn't get to say this face to face, I'm writing this e-mail just to THANK YOU (yes, in capitals) for such a cool presentation at Raffles' first five out.
All your old pics/stories resemble so much of me now, and with that, I really hope I can be such a success like you in the future.

Thank you again and again, for your photoshop works and everything else you've done to inspire and support emerging designers/artists.
hopefully I'll be able to catch you for a little chat next time round."

Balance

Stephen Murray

More pics from the midnight ride

AP2

Both cars have been neglected lately (due to me getting the bike bug) so I got my S2000 a face lift today with newer model AP2 headlights and taillights. She's lovin it.

Hunting for new ideas

I'm always on the hunt for new ideas, new directions, especially when it comes to work and money. Recently, at a JDMST meet, an old client of mine turned up (knowing that I would be there). He wanted to say thanks for all the hard work I put in on his job/start-up a few years back, and that he'd just raked in $7 million last financial year. It hit me like a 2 tonne heavy thing that I did all that hard work for peanuts, and that none of that $7 million dollars was mine. If only I'd done design/marketing work in exchange for a small percentage, even if it was only 3% I'd be laughing.

So whilst I'm still doing freelance design work this year, this year has been about futures and looking for something a little more invested. I'll soon reveal what projects I'm involved in. More on the topic soon.

Freezing midnight ride

Went for a freezing cold midnight ride with Felix and Jing last night. I'm supper happy with the 16 tooth cog on the rear of the single speed. It's perfect. I do spin out at 30km/hr but I'm fine with that. Funny, but I've never bunny hopped over a gutter before, on our way down Maroubra road I tried it over an island and it just felt natural so I'm happy with that too. I'm still unable to do long wheelies/manuals though. Something I'll nail soon with more practise I'm sure. The pic above was taken by Felix, he's got an awesome camera set-up (he took pics of my old Mitsubishi EVO TME too). Check Felix's site here and a very high res version of the image above here.