r/ausbike

Hey guys! I’m looking to buy my first bike to start cycling around the Gold Coast. I’m a beginner starting from scratch with my fitness, wanting to use cycling as my main sport to get in shape and explore.
Vibe: I don't care about riding at 100 km/h on paved roads. I want something versatile that lets me explore (bike paths, gravel trails, coastal routes), build muscle/fitness, and still get a bit of an adrenaline rush when going downhill or cruising fast.
Pedals: Flat pedals with normal sneakers (no clipping in).
Ergonomics: Need a comfortable upright/relaxed position that won't pull on my shoulders/neck (I have slightly rounded shoulders).
Budget: < $1,000 AUD.

Which kind of bike should look in to?

Does anyone else have a real issue with the tour down under being sponsored by Santos.

Or is it a waste of cable ties?

Any other solutions?

Hi everyone, I am looking for a ebike for may partner who is 5 foot tall. I have decided on an electric cargo bike (wombat rally) for myself that can take two toddlers, and she is just looking for something that she can ride to join us on family outings around Perth. We have been to about 5 stores in Perth, but the only ones that fit her height are folding bikes and they are often a long distance from the seat to the handlebars meaning that she has to lean forward a lot to reach. A lot of bikes are advertised they fit down to 5feet tall, but when tested, they are too big for my partner. The folding bikes might be the only option, but I am not too sure about the longevity of a folding bikes, and I can’t imagine we would fold it often or at all. She does like the 20inch tyres of the folding bikes though. The only other one that fit perfectly was this pink fat tyre super illegal bike with no pedals - which is not really what we want for public use. We have also considered getting a folding bike, and changing the handlebar to a cruiser style bar. The last resort would be buying a bike for teenagers, then converting it to an ebike. But that takes a lot of time I don’t really have with two toddlers. I know e-bikes for 5feet tall women is a very small market in Australia, but does anyone have any tips or recommendations for our situation? Thank you in advance!

I race with a handful of clubs in my area, and I was finding it surprisingly difficult to keep track of when races were on and which club was running them.

Some clubs post events on social media, but there’s no guarantee I’ll actually see those posts, so I was mostly relying on socials and word of mouth.

EntryBoss itself is a great service, but I’ve never found it particularly good for discovering upcoming races. You generally have to click through the listings for each club individually, which is a bit tedious and especially awkward on mobile.

So a ~year ago I built RacingCalendar.app to solve the problem for myself.

It pulls upcoming events from EntryBoss into a colour-coded calendar and list view. I can filter it down to the clubs I’m interested in and get a much clearer picture of what’s coming up.

It works on desktop and mobile, and clicking an event takes you straight to the EntryBoss listing for the full details and registration.

I’ve shared it with a few friends and my local club and have had some good feedback. One thing I was particularly happy about is that the club has started using it when planning its own calendar, so they can more easily spot clashes with nearby clubs.

It’s free, there are no ads, and there’s no money involved. It doesn’t replace EntryBoss or take any revenue away from them. It just pulls the event listings once a day and links people back to EntryBoss to enter.

I’m sharing it here because I figure other club racers probably have the same event-discovery problem I had. A few more users might also mean some useful feedback and ideas for improving it.

And if it helps even one extra person find and enter a race they otherwise would have missed, that’s a win. I’m sure most clubs would happily take a few more riders on the start line. :-)

https://preview.redd.it/4t6thwmuuxsh1.png?width=3566&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a3b9f137a25f017eb78ad59919eabf39dff1108