Allez Allez Cadel Evans!

Cadel Evans we salute you.

You have provided us with the most memorable and exciting Tour de France ever and showed true grit on the slopes of the Galibier and Alpe d'Huez. I feel privileged to have been able to see you and the BMC team, while in the Vendee, roll out of the starting blocks for the team time trial and even more privileged to be able sacrifice fours hours of sleep per night when I returned home to be able to watch you approach Le Tour like you never have before. You dug deep, worked hard and came up with the goods. Aldo Sassi would be proud, I'm sure the BMC team are proud and I know as an Australian and a cyclist I have never been more proud of an Australia sportsperson. Enjoy the Champs-Élysées tomorrow with the boys and you can be sure that we will be here in Australia giving you a standing ovation as you to take the top of the podium and don the maillot jaune.

Allez Allez Cadel Evans!

And it begins again...

So excited right now. Fresh back from the Les Dix Alpes tour of Italy, Switzerland and France (Moi Aussi) and feeling like I have been reborn. The BH carried me well over the alps although there is something about carbon that just doesn't feel right. I was trying to explain this to a friend last night but it is a little hard to put into words. The '84 steel Moser is decked out with Campagnolo Athena but weighs in around 10.1kg, the '97 carbon BH on the other hand is decked out with Campagnolo Record and weights in at a super light 6.7kg. Strangely though the BH just isn't as nice to ride. The gear changing is noisier and not as smooth, descending is sketchy, like skydiving with a bed sheet for a parachute. The BH however climbs and accelerates better given the weight of the bike and the stiffness of the carbon.

This leads to a dillema about choice of frame materials and I just might have just found the answer..... the answer is 42, no just kidding. The answer is TITANIUM! Thanks to eBay and the strong Aussie dollar I have finally found the 58cm Eddy Merckx titanium frame I have been looking for at a bargain basement price and it is currently being shipped to Washington DC and then will be checked and rerouted to Melbourne.

The fork is Time carbon and I'll use carbon wherever else possible to keep the weight down. Not sure on componentry yet but am strongly considering an SRAM Red Black edition groupset based on weight, price and reputation. Wheels will be an issue as I think I have almost deystroyed the Campagnolo Neutrons on the BH putting down extreme power over the Galibier so if you have any advice on your favourite manufacturers and materials for a light weight (sub 1.6kg) but extremely strong wheelset let me know.

Enjoy the pics!