Mark Clavarino walks into a bicycle retailer, looking to purchase a new wheel
'Hello there, I wish to purchase a 27 by one and a quarter rim'
'Sorry young man, with the good looking beard, we only sell complete wheels'
Fantastic thought Mark to himself ecstatic
'Brilliant! I will need a new tyre and tube'
'Ah, actually they do not come with the wheel'

Disclaimer: This event did not take place within Commuter Cycles

The confusion bicycle mechanics face world wide, where the customer might be talking about a completely different part of the bike.

Ricardo for Christmas

This is Shauna's Christmas present, a nice Columbus, Ricardo, with Columbus drops. 27.0 seat tube diameter, who knows what kind of steel that is?

Double plated fork crown. So tight we had to machine our own brakes. Tried a double pivot, but was unable to achieve enough drop safely, so the single pivot Shimano 105 were used. this picture illustrates just how tight it was. We had to file the bottom of the brake so that it would not rub.

Hand built by Patches. The Patches difference, highly polished bling, full service and even lined the Zeus logo with the valve hole perfectly.

Ricardo 53cm square

Columbus mystery tubing

Hand built 36 hole wheels, Zeus hubs with great original dust caps, Velocity deep Vs, Radial front, 3-cross rear

Zeus Bottom Bracket in a short 109

G.P Seat Post

NJS Pedals

Capagnolo Road Cranks that were filed to clear the chain stays.

Build made possible from the help of Commuter Cycles, www.commutercycles.com.au

Shimano Coaster Brake

I recently recovered this Shimano D-type coaster brake out of the bin from work and began to overhaul.

this is the finished product;

Bike Rally

In the Garage This Week

Lots of polishing has been going on over the weekend and yesterday saw the arrival of my new vice; thank-you Dad. I was entrusted with Heidi's new RockShock suspension fork on Tuesday for her Specialised Mountain Bike, after BSC had ordered a new brake boss, misplaced it and spent several months to get another one. By Thursday I had the part and fitted it to the fork. A big thank-you to Primitive Future and Commuter Cycles on this one. Check out Primitive Future at www.primitivefuture.com.au

Working with Sharp Tools

During one of the busy periods at work, I managed to find myself working on two bikes at once; a general service and a rack fitting. Just as I was beginning to cut some bolts down to size, Master Clavarino and Ricardo paid a visit. Convinced Mark was here for the long haul, I devised an ingenious plan to rid me of his company. I figured my left index finger was disposable and proceeded to try and saw it off. Mark's response was, 'I knew that would happen'. The plan worked a treat and I was able to return to my work in silence.

Punctures always come in 3s

I call this principle the 'Patrick Constant', where PC is equal to 2.859638872. This figure represents the number of punctures one can expect to get once the punctures have commenced. On Thursday night I was returning from work drinks and was in one of those great cycling moods where you cannot help but ride fast. As I was pulling up in my pedals to accelerate at a decent pace, my bike slowed faster than myself. The result was a somersault along Sydney Rd, the cause turned out to be a puncture in the front tyre. It was embarrassing given that there was not a single obstacle in the way.