Humevale Rd resurfacing turns off local cyclists

Recent resurfacing work of a popular cycle route, Humevale Rd, in Whittlesea has caused outrage in the cycling community. April 2012 saw the road resurfaced with approx 1.5cm of loose gravel, as part of the 2009 Bushfire damage project.  The road is now dangerous for descending, whilst those ascending the road are getting their wheels stuck in the loose gravel.  Many seasoned and new cyclists to the area are avoiding the road, and using the alternative Whittlesea-Yea Rd. 

According to a local Project Engineer, normal resurfacing work on low-use roads involves the emulsion technique, which involves spraying on the emulsion over the existing road surface, laying over and grading a fine aggregate, leaving it for a few days for traffic to embed it together, followed by a rubber tracked roller compacting it in. Then they use a road sweeper to get rid of the excess. However in this instance on Humevale Rd, the emulsion method was not used, but rather a fine layer of gravel applied.

The road is not suitable for heavier vehicles, signposts state that over 22 tonne heavy load vehicles are to use the Whittlesea-Yea Rd instead. Humevale Rd does not have many residents on the resurfaced section, so it would be years before the loose gravel was embedded down. Whittlesea Council have been contacted, but still no word from the Council regarding their reasoning behind the resurface method used.

Humevale Rd is a popular climbing and descending route for cyclists, as it involves a quiet road with very low traffic usage, making it the safest route rather than the alternative of the Whittlesea-Yea Rd with its high volume of traffic. Coburg Cycling Club use this road as part of their Race Series.   Whittlesea Council Tourism Dept. is also launching a cycling campaign in June, which highlights the best roads to ride on in Whittlesea including Humevale Rd.  The spokesperson for Tourism is also seeking answers as to why the road was resurfaced the way it was.

Welcome to our new partner, Elite Race Rentals

We are pleased to announce that Bike n Bean is an affiliated partner with Elite Race Rentals. You can pick up your rental from our shop and  we can fit for you too. Welcome to Elite Race Rentals Australia Located in Victoria serving all of Australia
This is your chance to race like the professionals for a fraction of the cost. With Elite Race Rentals some of the best cycle equipment can be yours for your most important race, be it a time trial, road race, Ironman, multi stage tour or multisport event. Easy to order and delivered to your door. See our Zipp rental page for hire prices. We have some of the world's lightest and most aerodynamic high performance carbon race wheel technology, supplied by ZIPP. Tour Magazine in 2011 rated the Zipp firecrest 808 as:  “Sensational: the fastest spoked aero wheel of all times. Aerodynamically a revelation and always ahead at every speed. Despite the big surface still easy to handle in strong winds.”
Our stock lines are updated every year so you will have access to the latest and best technology. Hire from $180/wk.
Also available are PowerTap training and racing wheels to hire from $21/wk. Take your training to the next level with PowerTap and bring the best science to optimise your training on a day to day basis.
In our ongoing effort to bring you the best quality gear at the best possible price we have added the Eva Bike Pod to our hire offering. The lightest hard case on the market, the Pod will protect your precious without causing you to fork out extra dollars at the check-in counter. See our bike case page for more details on the Bike Pod.
We are now hiring the Tacx Fortius VR trainer. You can download the GPS data for your target race and practice all winter long. Rent with a friend and you can link the tacx trainers and race each other through the Mountains of France. Each rental comes with a Pyrenees stage DVD.
Booking your aero wheels for hire for your next event couldn’t be simpler.Just fill in our online order form and we will contact you to confirm availability. Wheels can be rented for International events.

Blinder, Beetle, Boomer or Frog? Know your Knog lights!

Knog have a range of lights, which are groovy and practical pieces of kit for lighting your path during the dark hours.


Bike n Bean stock a range of the Knog lights, and we thought we'd tell you about them.


Knog Blinder  RRP $50
As listed by the National Geographic 'Gear of the Year' 2012, the blinder comes in five different flash modes with various shapes for those wanting to stand out. There's standard, cross, arrow, circle and stripe. USB rechargeable. 80 lumens front light, 44 lumens rear light.

Knog Boomer RRP $50
This is the first USB rechargeable light that we had in the store. Great light, 55 lumens. 

Knog Frog RRP $25
Bright little bugger, with disco strobe if you desire. 22 lumens.

Knog Beetle RRP $25
The fully sealed super bright 2 LED Beetle front light clips around standard or oversize bars and it’ll even grab most aeros OK. It’s not something you can see by at speed, but at least cars will know you’re coming.

Pedal Power- now its playtime?

Number one question at the moment is- what pedals can you recommend.

Well.... there is Shimano and Look, but if want the best, look no further no Speedplay.

Bike n Bean Paul has used them for over 2 years now and swears by them. "The pedals are adjustable which is great for my dodgy knees, and are very easy to clip in and clip out. Whether you have problematic knees or leg/foot areas, Speedplays are great when set up right by your bike technician".

So are you ready to get on to the most high performing, technically advanced pedals available to date?

Remember that Bike n Bean have Speedplay Experts in store to get you set up right the first time!

BENEFITS

DUAL-SIDED ENTRY

YOUR CHOICE OF MICRO-ADJUSTABLE FLOAT OR A FIXED POSITION

ALL THREE FOOT-AXIS ADJUSTMENTS CAN BE SET INDEPENDENTLY OF ONE ANOTHER!

THE LOWEST STACK HEIGHT 

UNBEATABLE CORNERING CLEARANCE 

PHENOMENAL LIGHT WEIGHT

·         Chrome-Moly pedal each - 108g

·         Stainless pedal each - 103g

·         Titanium pedal each - 82g

·         Zero cleats per pair - 70g/118g*

FITS MORE SHOES

: The Zero cleat fits any shoe with a 3-hole or 4-hole mount.  Specialized, Sidi, Shimano, Northwave, Mavic, they all fit!

Starting from $199 now is a great time to upgrade!

Stay Safe on Winter Rides- article by Andy Cook, Cycling Plus

Riding in winter can be exhilarating, but make sure you stay safe by following British Cycling qualified coach Andy Cook’s cold weather counsel.

You can’t have enough lights, particularly when riding in urban areas, but they need to be in the right places. So often you see riders with a rear light that isn’t pointing in the right direction or is obscured by their jacket.

Be seen

Make sure your lights are fitted securely and are positioned where drivers will definitely see them. Where you ride on the road is also vital. Take up the primary position and command your space in the road.

This has the benefit of allowing you some space if that driver behind hasn’t seen you and tries to squeeze by. And don’t assume you’ve been seen by cars signalling to pull out – especially on cold mornings where commuters might still be peering through a misted or iced up windscreen, or squinting into the sun.

Avoid hazards

Riding a bike in the wet can be great fun, but make sure you do it safely. As with driving a car, it’ll take you longer to stop when braking in the wet because of a build up of water on the rims between the brake blocks and the braking surface. Make sure you take this into account.

Also, road markings tend to be slippery when wet, as do drain and manhole covers, so remember to take extra care when riding across them, especially when turning. Avoiding them is the best idea, but if there’s no alternative, anticipate your line and speed as a sharp turn over a wet piece of ironwork or painted line at speed could easily result in a fall.

Check your bike

It’s always a good idea to give your bike regular checks for wear and tear, but it’s particularly important at this time of year. Check over your tyres for small flints and pieces of glass that might not have caused a puncture yet but if left will ultimately work through and into the inner tube. Your sidewalls should also be checked regularly because riding an under-inflated tyre will cause the bead to wear excessively and could cause a blowout at an inopportune moment.

Check your brake blocks regularly too, as they can become encrusted with shards of alloy from the braking surface, not to mention grit and gravel, which wears both the blocks and the rim itself. Brake cables need to be checked for fraying too. Give your transmission a regular once-over as well, and remember that running your drive system with too much lube will compromise efficiency as much as running it too dry.

Look ahead

Everyone’s vision tends to be reduced in winter, especially in the busiest, darkest commuter times of first thing in the morning and in the late afternoon. As a cyclist you need to become very good at anticipating other road users’ behaviour. Always try to catch the driver’s eye, as this is your most effective form of communication.

Also watch out for leaf-strewn areas on lanes – wet leaves can create seriously slippery surfaces. If we’ve had a dry spell and then there’s light rain on top of fallen leaves, some of our more rural lanes can be as hazardous as riding on ice. If you’re riding in a group in these sorts of conditions, leave a little more room between you and the guy in front, and try to anticipate any problems that might occur up ahead.

2nd place for our Bike n Bean Ladies MTB Team at Mt Beauty

After a week of heavy rain and cold weather in Melbourne, Rachael and I waited until the last minute to commit to the Mt Beauty round of the Victorian Enduro Series on 29th April 2012. On Friday afternoon reports came through that the track was in fantastic condition (dry!) and the forecast was good, so we hastily packed and drove up Saturday morning.

A Saturday afternoon ride in glorious sunshine was just the remedy to the ‘oh-no-it’s-nearly-winter-again’ blues of the week before. Rach and I did two laps to get to know the track on Saturday before retiring for a carbo-filled feast and a good nights’ sleep.

On Sunday morning we were greeted with wall-to-wall blue sky and more sunshine. The course started with a decent bit of climbing, including a few technical sections, then a short fast descent, followed by another bit of climbing before we were rewarded with a long descent back down to transition. This included one rock garden that kept you on your toes, but the rest of the descent was smooth and flowing and I think everyone was smiling at the end of a lap. It wasn’t long before the legs were feeling the 200+m of climbing per lap, but the sun and fun atmosphere made it all worthwhile.

After six hours we had 10 laps in the bag, and came in 2^nd place against the VIS-Apollo team who smashed out 12 laps in great style. Thanks to Team Mount Beauty for putting on such a fabulous race!

Back in Melbourne, the winter blues are trying to sneak back in, but we’re looking forward to the next race - Six Hours in the Saddle in Beechworth, which is a highlight of the race calendar - where we’ll hopefully get to show off the new shop kit!

The girls are so far in first pace for Pairs Women in the 2012 Victorian State Endurance Series, keep it up girls!