Hello from Australia

[aliasforme]

Hey guys, I'm a 15 y.o fitness rider who enjoys riding up grades. I plan to start racing when I'm a bit older/more experienced/stronger but right now I'm just enjoying the bike . I do a bit of group riding on the weekend (around 100km @ 30kmph) and I spend my spare time after school training. I originally purchased a defy alliance, but sadly that developed a crack . Giant replaced my frame with a defy advanced because they couldn't obtain a defy alliance . Here are some pics of my bike, it may not have as much bling on it as some of the parlee's on this forum but it rides like a dream and I love it.

[Boonen]

hey, welcome to the forum, sure is a nice looking bike
Enjoy!

[Fibre-Lyte]

Nice bike! Wish I had one that good when I was 15!!

[stumpytrunks]

Ditto! Where in Aus are you mate?

[aliasforme]

I'm in South Australia

[aliasforme]

Finally got a new groupset. I was tossing up between SRAM rival or waiting for a 2nd hand SRAM force group, but then out of the blue I got this:



I had my heart set on sram and was just deciding if I should wait for 2nd hand force when a friend offered to let me try his Campag stuff. I loved the ergonomics of the lever and when I found a Athena groupset going cheap I couldn't resist . The cranks are a little long for me so the ultegra cranks are staying... for the time being. Here's an updated pic:





I've never had any experience with the campy style cable routing. How does it look?

[Mike K.]

It looks like you did a fine job routing the cables! I see you have the front brake on the right. If I remember correctly Cadel Evans does the same. Is this an Australian thing?

[aliasforme]

I have my front brake on the right because I am right handed. The front brake is the dangerous one IME so I want to use my proficient hand in controlling it. I also do the majority of my braking on my front brake so it makes sense to me to have it on the dominant hand.

[dalai]

I see you have the front brake on the right. Is this an Australian thing?

Possibly... All my bikes are set up this way.

[Ypsylon]

If you were into racing it'd make sense to have your front brake on the left because that'd allow you to brake hard and shift to the gear you'll need after that next corner. Of course that's old school and as soon as the machines take over you'll be able to confiure the shift buttons to your liking.

[aliasforme]

I've never heard that one before, makes sense although I've never had any issues shifting while braking. I quite liked the Shimano design where you could shift down and brake in the same action with ease.

[j0m]

My wife has the front brake on the right. Probably because I was drunk when I routed the cables. And since she didn't know where it was supposed to be it wasn't a problem.

BTW, welcome to the board, and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy riding bikes.

[pritchet74]

That Athena 11 group is the best bargain group out there. Nice choice!!!

[aliasforme]

thankyou, I also quite like the ultra-shift internals. When I was first riding it, I would always shift down too many gears on the RD, but now I'm getting used to it and its not too much of an issue. I love how the FD works like those down-tube shifters, best of both worlds IMO. I especially like the ergonomics of this leaver, suits my hands very nicely... well nicer than Shimano anyway.

[Mike K.]

My wife has the front brake on the right. Probably because I was drunk when I routed the cables.

Hilarious!