The 4.5 Star MTB - Trek X-Caliber 7

It's the weekend...pop into the shop and pester the team about a Trek X-Caliber 7.

Just $899rrp

BikeRadar gives X-Caliber 7 four & half stars

"High quality build and proven handling at a modest price"

"The X-Caliber frame is no doubt the highlight of the package, made with Trek’s Alpha Gold aluminium. With heavily shaped and butted tubes, sparkling paint, an internally guided front derailleur cable and a fully housed rear derailleur cable, this frame would be befitting of bike twice its price."

Nothing beats the efficiency, simplicity, and straight-up fun of an X-Cal 29er hardtail. Great for XC racing, marathons, 24-hour racing, or simply shredding singletrack.

The Fire Bike

Ok, we are in The Nations Capital for Trek World to see all the latest....so is this a new Trek model for 2014?? Nah, but maybe Trek could talk to the guys at Canberra's Rat Patrol ( see: http://www.rat-patrol.org/RPOz/ ) where they tirelessly, and somewhat eclectically, carve out, what they affectionately call FART, or Functional Art. This is one of their creations - The Fire Bike; pretty handy (pun intended) on a cold day cruising the trails around Burley Griffin. 

The Madone 7 Project One Review

BikeRadar's tester James Huang (aka AngryAsian) has reviewed the Trek Madone 7 Project One. Have a read and see what you think, better still sweet-talk Matt and take his for a spin and form your own opinion and then go and build your own.

Trek Madone 7 , the Winningest Bike on the Planet.

The 2014 Trek Madone

Recently, Trek released the new improved 2014 Madone onto the market. It seems subtle changes make a huge difference. Bicycling.com have already got their hands on one of these bikes, which sort of, tells you, there's something special about these bikes; and have reviewed it here...

"A minor upgrade helps Trek’s new Madone 7 transcend to the realm of great race bikes"

The Sunday Sessions

Well the Sunday roadie ride started out exactly the same as the Saturday morning ride - a flattie within 1k of leaving the start.  Snapper thought he was at the Nitro Circus try outs and was jumping all over the road to avoid the hole.... or maybe he was just  being mindful of his nice new steed and didn't want any first week bingles?? 

Croz was in charge of the flat tyre change - no instructions needed today Caro!  Might I say though that I think the instructions are a mighty good idea for newbie riders (and those that don't ride with their own mechanics) however, you may want to leave out the "squeal like a girl" part when you use the gas cylinder - that was a little embarrassing Croz!!

Unfortunately for us, there was no coffee shop to pull up at in Goondoon Street at 5:30am so we had to change the flat and ride on.  I can honestly tell you that I was looking around pretty darn hard for that coffee shop too.

The Nostalgia

Who is it? Where and When?

The Cougar Two

I'll keep this short and sweet - Mr Anderson, the M1 bunch is big enough for only one Cougar Chaser. So please, PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!!!!!!  Seriously!

Don't forget the Sunday rides tomorrow - MTB Dirty Rats leaving Choice Petroleum on Sunvalley at 5:00am, Sunday Roadie Rollers leaving the shop at 5:30am and the L Plate MTB ride leaving Choice Petroleum at 8:00am.

I do believe that there may also be an afternoon MTB ride heading out around 3:00pm tomorrow for those that struggle to get out of bed super early on a Sunday.  More details to come - keep an eye on Facebook.

The Trailmakers

With Tom's track freshly whipper snipped and groomed, Hef and I snuck out for a quick lap around the track this morning.... Just near the ride-thru car wreck we came across this.  We must remember that without the Trailmakers and Maintainers we would have no awesome tracks to ride, no bridges to scuttle across, no hairpins to master and no logs to fall off - all hail the Trailmakers & Maintainers I say!

Don't forget the L Plate MTB ride on Sunday morning at 8am leaving from Choice Petroleum near Sun Valley.  If you've been afraid of the first Wahoo boy after the rollers on the way to Wendy's, be afraid no more - there's a cool new side track that will keep you upright and rubber side down!

The Noosa Cycle 2013

Seen the pics? Here's the results...  And read the wrap here....

Add caption

Quote Of The Day

So the Dirty Rats in M1 Land are all scurrying around at the moment organising teams for the 8hr MTB race that's coming up next month in Rocky......

It appears that in all of this "scurrying" the truth is getting in the way of a good story - here's an extract from an email I intercepted between Zulu, Hef and Dark Horse.....

DON'T WORRY IF YOU'RE NOT FIT..... NEITHER ARE WE

OH PLEASSSSSSSEEEEEEE - That's the biggest load of M1 Dung I've heard all year!  Hef just finished 17th out of 85 at the Hiddenvale 4hr and Zulu - well, we all know Zulu's form - just read the previous post!!!!

Mind you, Hef may want to stop rolling around on the ground during training sessions.....

The Tour of Bright

Apologies for the delay in getting the results and photos up on the blog for the Tour of Bright.  Most people in M1 land would know by now that both SpyCat and LG finished the 2012 road season with awesome rides at the Tour.

It was a clean sweep in C grade women for SpyCat, with victory in the two road races and time trial.  SpyCat will return to M1 land in the new year with an awesome looking trophy and a jersey or two too match!

In masters 3/4, LG had a tough field of 69 string bean hill climbers to race against.  LG proved to be Mr Consistency finishing 16th overall after the three tough stages.  LG walks away from the Tour with some of the best looking calves I've seen!

Both riders have secured starting positions in the 2013 Tour - an event that is selling out within minutes of registrations opening.

The Performance Enhancing Bikes

	Performance Enhancing design that is legal, but only just... Ride anything else and you'll be slower.
Fast! standing still....
	7 Series (fr $3999), or 9 Series (fr $6499), or ProjectOne. Time Trial, or Triathlon.
Speed Twins - All Fast, All Speed
	Draft Box and Speed Box - More aero with, than without.
Concepts designed for speed
	Kammtail Virtual Foil. It’s the most aerodynamic tube shape ever designed for a bicycle.
Low Profile
	Get Faster, get Trek Speed Concept.
Fastest.

Speed Concept is the fastest collection of triathlon bikes on the planet. Trek's revolutionary design pairs a groundbreaking aero shape with the cleanest integration of brakes, cables, and electronics ever seen on a bicycle. Speed Concept gives you every advantage of all that has been learned in the wind tunnel.

"The most adjustable front end on a TT/Tri bike ever...see the video..."

The Post Pumpkin Smash Rides

Today's riding appeared to have been a little more sedate than yesterdays Smashfest, with many of the Dirty Rats turning up with tired legs this morning.  By the look of your bikes when you got to the brew shop, I think your name may need to be changed to Tutu Rats.... there wasn't much dirt on them bikes.

Without the Pied Piper or Little Tick to lead the Rats, they ended up doing a "Mystery Tour", which somehow managed to avoid all major climbs - how convenient!  On their mystery tour, they came across this.... who knows where it is, but of course the Rats had to ride through it in true Rat fashion.

Even with the early morning showers, there was still a good turn out for the roadie ride.  Drop Bear even managed to climb out of bed and  join us for the loop and the New Girl (Jodine) has now managed to ride two days in a row - here's hoping you manage to keep the roll on!!

Enjoy the remainder of your Sunday in M1 land... see you on the Tuesday morning ride.

The Shots

A random selection of images from recent M1 Rides. Are there any with YOU in it?

The Gallery

Some cool stuff has been uploaded to the Gallery. Don't forget to check out this page occasionally.

The Olympic Stack

If you didn't stay up on Sunday night to watch the Men's Olympic Mountain Bike Race, here's what you missed out on.......

The Trek Tour Sale Begins

Let the sale begin!!!!!  In conjunction with the roll out of this years TDF tonight, the Trek Tour Sale kicks off  today as well.


Come in and see the boys at M1 (in their spiffy new shirts) to get yourself a Trek Tour Sale Special!!  If you're lucky, Hef may actually cut you a deal better than the sale price.... we all know how easy it can be to twist Hef's arm!

The Sunday Rollers



Brew Stop - post ride at Craig's