I love bikes I really do

Matthew Willis finally got the bike he so greatly deserves last night and I'm really super happy for the guy.

I'm pretty damn sure Matt would have wanted to take the bike into the bedroom with him, shine his bedside light on it and gaze at it lovingly before bed.

Read this post of his to feel his excitement prior to last nights delivery. So funny! And just five minutes ago I got this MSN message from a mate Sonny:

Sonny says:
saw matthew
Sonny says:
photographing his bike
Sonny says:
this morning
Sonny says:
in the alley outside my work
Sonny says:
haha

Giant 2009 bikes now online

Giant (a Taiwanese company, arguably the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world) officially release their 2009 bike range online (Australian web site + Australian pricing).

As much as I'd love to join the growing bandwagon of haters I simply can't. Their bikes are armed with great design and technology not to mention untouchable bang for your buck. No other bicycle company can release bikes with the same componentry at the same price. It's near impossible to walk into a store and get ripped off if you're buying a Giant bicycle, in the end of the day that means better quality bikes out there for everyone (watch out Kmart!).

Fizik Aliante XM

The mail man just delivered this (I love the mail man lol). Shame it wasn't earlier this morning otherwise I could have tested it (will have to wait till tomorrow I suppose!). Weight is a hefty 279g but it should be damn comfy (then again I am really starting to like the WTB Rocket V), not sure why they designed the rear like that. I can only hope it doesn't catch on my riding shorts out on the trails.

La Perouse

I've lifted a lot of inspiration from one of the guy who rides in Seasons (the DVD). He said something along the lines of: "If I only get to ride an hour a day, it's a good day". So today I went for a ride out to La Perouse just to test out my new crankset and DAYM! I get what everyone's on about with the crisp shifting. The front literally shifts as fast as the back. For the first few km's on the road all I did was play with it. Awesome shit. Having the big chainring back is amazing on road. I'm SO much faster and to all those people saying that they feel absolutely no difference at all between crank sizes, you've got to be kidding!!! I am spinning a shitload faster, and in bigger gears. The sound of the Nevegals on the road is absolutely deafening at speed.

Bank robberies, cheeky monkeys and Indian food

Christina's fave workfriend buddy Christine (they're pretty scary when they're together lol) and Mark (her boyfriend) invited us over for dinner last night to their cozy little home in Newtown.

Earlier that day there was a bank robbery at the bank directly below their apartment, semi-automatics sprayed bullets and SWAT turned up in this little army tank looking thing. When I saw it on the news I could have sworn I was watching American TV. That night the cops had still partitioned off their corner, but what I was more excited about was the store that was literally next to Chrinstine and Mark's apartment entrance. Cheeky Monkey! I've heard a lot about the awesome custom stuff these guys do for die hard cycling freaks.

Great conversations + awesome Indian food = good times!

Horsing around

Christina loves horses. We couldn't resist!

I'm always in a mad rush to get to the toy section whenever there is one be it a department store or the supermarket!

Bose

I've been living without good sound for years now. I used to be a bit of an audiofile like my Dad was (hey which typical Asian man isn't huh?!) but somewhere along the line, move after move, hobby after hobby I just lost it with music so I decided to go all out and buy the best iPod dock money can buy.


And honestly it doesn't dissapoint! The sound is absolutely amazing, knocks my socks off and fills my big lounge room beautifully. Good times!

New goodies

Today I got a CRC order in the mail. The Reign's definitely headed towards agreesive XC now. It's still very much an "all mountain" bike but it's also light now at 12.98kg's.


XTR Crankset + Middleburn gold chainring bolts (lol).


On the bike.


Whilst I was working on the bike this guy kept me company.


Super cool tool holder for the bike stand.


New Oneal elbow pads, a shitload more comfy than the 661's I had before which pinched into my arm (ie: super uncomfortable).

I'm vanishing!

I'm feeling damn good now that I'm back into cycling but I just had a chat with my neighbour out the front and she was shocked that I looked so thin. She said any thinner and I'll vanish! She even said "look at your jeans! They're falling off!". Funny thing is I've only just started wearing a belt with these jeans (I never really had to before).

I was 62/3kg's before, now I'm 58kg's.

I love being a weight weenie with my bikes, but this is just damn ridiculous! Bring on the warmer weather I say. Warmer weather = BEER!

PS: I started a thread over at Farkin about this.

Hard day at the office

I had a meeting in Lane Cove with a new client this morning, so I thought I'd pack the Reign + gear into the Jazz so I could do a lap of the Dam on the way home :) Smart thinking huh?!


I use this milk crate to carry all my gear, works a treat.


The Thule rack's just been nonstopawesome.

PS: World Cup this weekend. I'm sooo psyched! Looks like they've made the course super funky too.

New plates!

JDMST - My new plates :)

Freedom Festival 08

Freedom Festival at the Hordern Pavillion last weekend went off. I didn't think I was going to have a great time, and for the first hour or so I wasn't, but then it all just kicked in and I fucking loved it. Best thing was that it wasn't packed out and there was plenty of dancefloor space and having Christina's great group of girls all in the one place all on the same vibe just made the night.

Vid here, site here.

Fortune Cookie

Oh I forgot to mention that I had dinner with Suga and her family last night in Thornleigh. We went to a Malaysian Restaurant which Christina and the family used to go to many years ago. Apparently the place hadn't changed at all. All the waiters were wearing wild Balinese style outfits, there were hardly any other Asians eating there and my bowl left a film of sticky sludge on my hands after I touched it (gotta love dirty ghetto places huh?!). I knew I was in for some great food, and sure enough, the food was awesome.

At the end of the meal Jess (Christina's little sister) brought up fortune cookies, and how they used to get them there when they were kids. It was decided that we'd ask for some. I then joked that they probably wouldn't give us fortune cookies because we weren't white. Funny then that when we asked for some, the waitress had a look of confusion on her face, and said (in Chinese) "we usually only give fortune cookies to white people!". CLASSIC!

Christina's fortune cookie read:

He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes.

Can somebody please translate?!

Return to Menai

So I'm meant to be resting as I'm going to a dance party at the Hordern at midnight tonight, but when Felix tempted me to go for a ride at Lucas Heights/Menai I couldn't resist!


My MET Helmet.


No chance to warm up, straight into it!


Found Object.


More fun coming down.


Thing.


Love this shit.


Fungus.


Sumptuous single trail.


Reign Supreme.


Scary having motorcross bikes + 4WD's sharing the trail (they're NOT meant to be there).


Me.


Felix.


Satisfied.

Custom is King

I'm a massive fan of the TV show American Chopper. Mainly because I like seeing them conceptualise a bike and document the process of building it (not to mention building works of art in a week!).

I'm also a fan of the show Biker Build-off. Some of the custom shit they do is soooo inspiring. Blows my brain and makes me feel weak for buying off the shelf bolt on parts for my cars and bicycles.

Here are a couple of links to guys who put their heart into bikes they build:

http://www.rookecustoms.com
http://www.chicacustomcycles.com

Their work is to die for.

BMX at the Olympics

Jared Graves!

The Aussies bailed out hard but damn that had to be the most exciting shit on the Olympics by far. The commentators did a great job in amping it up too. Awesome shit! Results here.

PS: Great pictures of Jared's bike here.

Workshop visits

Had a day away from the PC yesterday to help Zi (founder of JDMyard) get some SportMax rims over to MX-5 Mania.


I have this dangling in the cabin of the Jazz now, it makes me laugh.


In an attempt to delete commercial radio from my life I performed my signature Motorolla Mobile Phone Antenna mod. LOL.


I love it how there's always some Aussie muscle next door to IS Motor Racing. I always imagine how great it would be to have the whole complex be home to all types of tuners/mechanics and all types of cars.


JAZZ FTW!!! Funny how Indy front IS Motor Racing, Zi from JDMyard, Charles from Auto Salon Magazine, and myself all drive a Jazz (it's because the Jazz is the best car in the world of-course).




The Auto Salon Magazine drift car. Fatness + bling = win.


Din's R32 is taking up the same spot that my RB26 took up for over a year. I love a clean chassis (especially the R32 which I know well). I could stare at it for hours. It's real love (I'm joking, but not really).


The parachute release beam up the top gives it all away.


Then you see the rear of it and it confirms that this thing is going to be built up for the strip.


R34 GT-R. Mark my words I'll own one, one day.

So after meeting up with Zi, we headed off to MX-5 Mania to deliver some wheels. They're out near Hornsby, pretty much in the middle of no-where so I got to catch up with Zi, which is always cool.


We were greeted by this, a very rare MX-5 Coupe.


The potential! I'd so blow a load of cash on this thing.


The Future.


Mania's wrecking room lol. Awesome shit.

I also had a little package waiting for me when I got home (well, 2 little packages as Suga was home sick :). My DMR V12 pedals were about to be pimped up with titanium spindles + gold pins.


Pimp my pedals.


Before.


After.

Bike Nights

Seems like Bike Nights are becoming a regular thing (lol). We stripped down Felix's $500 Diamond Back last night and splattered all of the spare parts I had lying around from Suga's Talon onto it. In the end all the parts shaved 1kg off his bike (now sitting at 12.9kg's) and more importantly he now has hydraulic brakes.






My 1am shin dig.

No internet for 5 days

Well my TV went down for 2 days due to a heavy storm which zapped my Foxtel box and at the same time my internet went down too (it's been 5 days sans internet).

I went crazy the first day, went for a ride to Loftus on my own on Tuesday (not sure if I like being out there alone, it's quiet and there's no one there to push you... just not my thing I suppose?) and once Foxtel was back up I watched a SHITLOAD of the Olympic Games, on the couch munching junk food, reading MTB mags and dismantling + cleaning my bikes.

I was trying my best to work with clients on the phone, not so good so I had to borrow my Mum's internet for a day to do some work.

Could I live without the net? Let's not even go there. I definitely couldn't work without it and in all honesty I just felt my mind come to a halt. TV definitely turns people into vegetables. The internet might do the same for your body, but it definitely does a lot for the mind (well, mine anyways!).

PPS: 888

Apart from the visually spectacular (due to sheer mass + co-ordination) drumming intro. Was I the only one that thought the Olympic Ceremony was totally crap?! BORING!

Lucas Heights

Jing, Clifton and Timmy invited me out to Lucas Heights today, damn I'm still high from the experience. What an awesome techy trail. I loved every single little bit of it (except for the motorbike riders).

The Reign's just so well set up.

It's an absolute goat for climbing techy shit. It has buckets of grip and going down tech stuff is just so plush and confidence inspiring. The front is so easy to lift so it makes hucking small drops easy.

The new forks are great, no worse than the old forks, and no better really but I'm happy. I had pro-pedal off all day (1st time) and I found that there was way too much sag at my recommended weight, so much so that there was pretty much no pedal clearance at all and I wash mashing the pedals on everything. Didn't really stop me though. Speaking of the pedals, the V12's + 551 shoes are so damn grippy I felt like I was clipping in and out, and clipping out multiple times as I'd often put my foot wrong on the pedal but there was so much damn grip I couldn't adjust my foot placement on the pedal unless I lifted my foot right off lol. Perfection. I love the set-up (did I mention I love my set-up?!).

The Met helmet was awesome, so cool. Nice to see a couple of other riders out there with them on too. The TLD XC gloves, whilst suuper comfy for the first hour, are a bit thin. Might look into thicker gloves. The Joplin seatpost is a miracle which I called on a billion times today on the fly. It gives you power when you need it for the climbs and gives you bucket loads of confidence for the tech downhill stuff.

Great place, love the bike. Super happy.

888! 8/08/08

The Chinese love the number "888" (which sounds like rich rich rich in Chinese, or something like that, good fortune, wealth).

Since it was the 8/8/08 (hey 888 lucky day not to mention the Beijing Olympics tonight!!!) I thought I'd treat the Jazz (I just couldn't help myself).


I dropped in to JDMyard and saw this: A mountain of wheels!


My local Goodyear always look after me (Maroubra). Word of warning: these wheels need thinner wheelnuts ($60 locking and they look nice).





Wheels are Sportmax 501 15x7 4x100/114.3 +38 Gunmetal not a single bit of rubbing and the front wheel clears the caliper.

Funny, but true :)

Nice rack

Got this rack off eBay. My lounge room is so a bike workshop!

Funny MSN

Every now and then I copy/paste parts of funny MSN conversations I have with mates on Messenger. Here's a few recent ones:

Christina says:
what was on oprah
justin@australianinfront.com.au says:
Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts new film
justin@australianinfront.com.au says:
They were both on the couch sucking Oprahs cock

Jing says:
59kg for me depending if i crapped
justin@australianinfront.com.au says:
1kg crap?
justin@australianinfront.com.au says:
You must be full of shit
Jing says:
HAHAHHA

www.matthewmead.net says:
just went for a bike ride
justin@australianinfront.com.au says:
And theeeeeeeeennnnn?
www.matthewmead.net says:
lol
www.matthewmead.net says:
haha

Telstra playing nice

The other day I had the urge to listen to some Queens of the Stone Age, so much so that I downloaded Limewire just to hunt down a few tracks.

3 days later and my internet's come to a crawl and I was only getting 64kb speeds. I thought to myself: OK, it's just Telstra having an issue, so I spent a day off the PC (always a good thing to do) but the day after the problem was still at large. I had to do work but the internet was so damn slow. It was just killing me!

I logged onto Telstra and checked out my account usage and it turns out that Limewire was set to share on install and that a billion people had downloaded stuff off my PC and that in turn had blown my 12gig internet limit for the month and I was to be capped at 64kg until next month!!!

On MSN: Mark, a mate of mine said that he had the same problem and he called Telstra up, said he was a web developer with a massive job on this month that blew the limit and he also threatened to leave Telstra. They gave him an extra 2gig to tide him through to the end of the month. He gave me the number and suggested I try the same thing.

Being an honest person I couldn't lie (completely) so I called, let them know that I had mates over watching a DVD (Seasons! Great soundtrack BTW), I loved one of the songs on it and a mate downloaded uTorrent to get the song for me and in doing so had sharing on which allowed the internet to download the song off my harddrive thus blowing my limit. I also let them know that in all the 10 years I've been with them I've never blown my limit AND that I was a web developer that needs the internet and that there was no way I was going to be able to hack this slow speed for the rest of the month. I also mentioned that I would move if moving was easy but I couldn't be fucked moving servers and would rather stay.

So the guy goes, what are you asking for then?! I just said I was after a bit of leeway, that I made a mistake, but I can't live with these slow speeds for the rest of the month. Even if they gave me half a gig till the end of the month. I'd really appreciate it. He put me on hold whilst he went to ask his superior and when he came back on he told me that they thought I put a pretty honest case through and that they are going to give me an extra 3gig to see me through untill the end of the month. I'm also now upgraded to some crazy ADSL2 speed plan at the same price.

I'm happy :)

Reign love

So happy to have the beasty back. I replaced the grotty Raceface BB with a brand spanking new Shimano XTR BB + also put on a meaty 185mm rotor + rotor adapptor on the front.

Reign supreme

Oh Yeah. My Reign is back.

Funny thing is, on the way to Maroubra Junction Cycles (my LBS) it was sooo sunny, (hell there was even a guy lying down soaking up the rays on the lawn outside) but as soon as I got the Reign home it started raining hard! It's a sign! Fuck this bike gets me excited.

Maroubra Junction Cycles is under new ownership now and Grant (the new owner) is getting some very cool bikes in. He let me bust this thing around the block today:


I thought it was going to be slow, but damn it's fast! The gearing is light (that could be it). I couldn't wipe the grin off my face riding it. I felt like everyone was staring at me (but I'm sure they weren't but it just felt like I was doing something naughty and rebellious). Going off a gutter the tyres make this funny "FOMP" noise. Giggles all round.


Fixie project on display.

Grant and the boys have been following my progress since the single speed project. Not sure what they think of me exactly, but he offered to put my Ti bike up on display in the store. That's fucking cool. I might just do it for kicks. :)




Reign final weigh in (slightly heavier with the new Fox forks).


PS: This is the aftermath from last night's midnight railing session in my backyard (lol).

Weight Weenie since 1990

I couldn't resist. Since I was having troubles with the Pace forks I've decided to put them on the single speed, and put the single speed's rigid carbon forks on the Ti (helps that they both share King headsets). Weight is down to 8.3kg! Weight Weenie for life yo! :)

Pump Track

Inspiration 1


Inspiration 2

After seeing this thread the boys and I are getting pretty excited about building a mini pump track/obstacle course in my backyard. Last night Felix, Clifton and Jing came around, we watched F1RST, then Seasons (amazing footage, it's art), then we went outside and started trying to rail some corners, the grass flew and we've almost got a course already! Scary huh?!

Lake Crackenback

Well my sweety surprised me this morning by booking us into Lake Crackenback ski resort in October for a weekend away (!). Christina's been there before, as a kid, and she loved it. She also sent me this link (nyaaaw what a girl aye?!). Looks like we'll get to do some biking! Not to mention fishing, good food, wine, trail walks, horse riding (?!) and a great resort apartment too! It's love I tell you! I can't wait!

Weekend wrapup

Great weekend (as always!).

My cousin Nicholas turned 19 on Friday night, he's such a goody two shoes that kid. He's clean cut, polite... unbelivable really (my wicked teens didn't influence him at all!). Then again... he's getting into clubbing A LOT . All he talks about is clubbing, trance and the Melbourne shuffle. We had dinner at Pink Salt, a restaurant at Double Bay (runners up a few years back in the 'My Restaurant Rules' show. I even recognised the guy off TV). My steak was great, blue almost but that's a shitload better than being overcooked. We tried our best to get Nicholas slashed, didn't help that his dad halted the drinking after a cocktail and a round of shots (lame!).


Sweet 19. Nicholas and my Mum.


Suga loves the shots.


Blue inside.


Suga's Salmon.

Suga, Richie and I did 25km's around Centennial Park on the Saturday. I was just testing the Titanium bike out both on road and on the jogging trail. She's amazing on the road and the big hill going up to Oxford Street has become all too easy. On the tree roots she'd damn bumpy, it's almost as if the forks are on lock-out (but they're not).


Finally got dirt.



On Sunday Clifton Jing and I went to Loftus (Jing took some video here). Jing noticed my pace forks weren't moving at all, we let some pressure out and the forks literally dropped 20mm. No shock pump meant that we just adjusted the rebound to fast and well... I rode for 3 hours with the fork bottomed out... so it wasn't a great test. I did adjust the saddle angle though to a position I was happy with. I love the SPD's as far as power and functionality goes, they clip in so damn fast/well. I love that the most about them, but my confidence was slaughtered by having them on (doesn't help when you forget to clip out and fall going over the train tracks fresh out of the carpark lol... too funny).

The bike on gradual inclines is fast (in comparisson to my Reign) but going up really steep hills in granny gear it's not got as much grip in the rear but it tracks a lot better than the Reign does. It's really fast in single trail but on fireroad downhills it's bumpy as all hell and I have to choose the smoother line all the time (I love how the Reign can go off the line, any time, no worries).

Gear wise, the XTR set just performed well. The shifters/shifting was fast/smooth/spot on. The clicks on the shifter aren't as strong as SRAM (which I do like) but it works really well. Brakes seemed weak initially but they lock up OK, all in all they feel like they're lacking punch but they do work alright.

All in all I'm not so excited about it. It's a great bike but just not as playful, fun, confidence inspiring and comfortable as the Reign.

I'll have to sort out the fork issue at least. If it means selling it for a new fork, so be it. Lesson learnt as they're 2nd hand and the only 2nd hand item on the bike.


18 car freaks registering for battle.


Suga and I - Daft Punk?


Mark Pakula's MX5 (Photographer for Autosalon Magazine) is sooo fast the paint is coming off.

The Sunday night Suga and I went to Steve's B'day mini grand prix at Eastern Creek. My legs were deaded from the ride and after 5 races my arms were deaded too. When you go karting with a group of great drivers you get hardcore competition and aggression, the best thing was that Suga caned a lot of the guys whilst their girlfriends watched on from the stands (that's my girl!!!). Out of the 18 drivers I placed 5th on the grid at the final grand prix. Steve was behind me and I warned him not to play dirty but he shunted me off the track 3 laps in and I lost a lot of positions, it's OK, he's the B'day boy afterall. I forgive him. I had another off when Dave from Buddy club spun out in front of me but still managed to hold 10th. So sore, hungry and tired I only just stayed awake to stuff some hot pot down my esophagus, drive home in a daze (yes driving the Jazz is sureal after karting), dunk a glass of red and fall asleep to F1 on the TV.

Teee heeeee

Nice istock photo: