The Bike That Phill Built: Shifters

There are a couple of types of shifters - there are some that are incorporated into the brake levers and cost the GDP of small island nations, there are some that sit on the frame and cost as much as a large macca's meal, there are some that sit on straight handlebars, and there are bar end shifters that attach to the end of drop down handlebars.

A shifter set - what I couldn't figure out, though, is why is the box so big for such small pieces

Good shifters are important as they regulate the gear change, and a smooth efficient transition from one cog to another is paramount when your struggling up a steeply inclined rocky path. As I find it necessary to eat a couple of times a day I couldn't afford the fancy brake/shifter combination so I opted for the next best thing: bar end shifters.

Ahh. I see now - there's more stuff underneath. Looks awfully technical.

Model Number	SL-BS77
Series	DURA-ACE
Shift Lever Type	Bar end
Cassette Capability	9-Speed
Front Shifting	Double/Triple
Material	Aluminum/clear coated
Shift Cable Casing	SIS SP41
Average Wight	178g

The shifters are nice, but I think the rug needs a good vacuum!

The set that I bought were the Shimano DuraAce SL-BS77 model. As my front and rear deraillers were Shimano the shifters had to be as well (SRAM have a different gearing ratio), and for those that now a little bit about bikes you will know that DuraAce is the top of the range racing series. The important aspects I had to take into account was that the shifters could cover the range of my front and rear cog sets. As my rear cog set (cassette) is a nine speed I had to ensure the shifters was compatible. I also had to ensure that the shifters were compatible with a three ring front cog set (front shifting).

So close, if I wasn't drunk I'd be excited!

Shimano DuraAce SL-BS77 = $153.00 (including 10% discount)

Total
Frame Set $1099+
Wheel Set $ 495
Handlebars $135
Headset $ 77.50
Cassette $ 89.90
Crankset $198.02
Rear Derailleur $108
Brakes $86.38
Front Derailleur $54
Seat Post $54
Brake Levers $45
Handlebar Tape $22.60
Tubes $12.60
Tyres $71.95
Chain $31.50
Pedals $58.45
Shifters $153.00

$2791.90

Nearly there, all I need is the saddle, the stem and to attach the front forks plus a few little odds and ends like brake cables...

Au domoni Iko - I love you (Beachcomber)

Chronicling the events of Beachcomber is task beyond my alcohol addled memories. The bar was

The staff were awesome, here they let me pour my own beer!

open from early morning until late night and combining this with the three happy hours throughout the day it is understandale my natural compulsion to enjoy a glass of the amber drop was adequately fuelled .

Tash and Amanda: Nick (you'll meet him soon) and I spent all day night with these super girls. We danced, we drank, we swam, and I woke up in my bed. Due to unexplained memory loss much of this night is recorded through the photographic medium only

I met many a great new person, as well as spending time with the old. Katie, Helen, and Rachel were prese for the first night, and Tom joined me for the second and third night (I stayed an extra day to ensure my liver fully understood hard yakka).

Tom and I buy a jug of beer and a shot jaeger each - I think the Black Eyed Peas summed it up the best, Tonight's going to be a good night (played at 8:00pm on the dot; Beachcomber playlist)

I met a few Australians, Marina and her cousin on the first night and some Tasmanians on the the third. I made close friends with some Kiwis - Nick and I bonded over two nights,

Nick and I became firm friends. Soon I'll be seeing him in Melbourne

and Paul a fellow chemist (analytical).

Paul displaying Kiwi pride. I will be visiting him in the enxt 12 months!

I also meet a cute german chemist named Michel.

Chemists uniting from across the world.

The english were there too (as always) and of course - as it was the weekend - there were many japanese.

We buried Oji (uncle in japanese: nicknamed by his friends cuz he is sooooo old). Then I gave him a stick so I could touch his wood

The islands dive instructor was also japanese and not a night went by in which we didn't play his awesome drinking game sae no (remaned to fuck yeah go! by the aussies).

I'm devastated I have forgotted the Dive instructor's name, particularly because I was the only person who could pronounce it.

daytime was filled with sitting by the beach, juggling, cards games and tricks, and volleyball. The night was partying - dancing, swimming in the ocean, singing, drinking - the list goes on.

Nightime antics...

The true feeling of Beachcomber can be summed up in on phrase: To any general statement or question asked [such as what is there to do here? Is this place good? I feel sick/tired/hungover.) It's Beachcomber (optional refrain: relax).

Beachcomber!

Wananavu - Fantastic (Manta Ray Island)

I had nothing but good things amount Manta Ray. Owned by an Aussie (yes I got drunk with him) it catered directly towards the Westerners needs. Simple accomodation kept it cheap, yet the food for breakfast lunch and dinner was surperb.

This is where I stayed. In amongst all those trees are the bungalows, dorms and beachside bar.

None of this just eat what you're given, there was a menu and waiters/waiteresses. Beer was cheap and the cocktails were good.
I arrived with a lovely Scandinavian girl (I've forgotten both her name and nationality) and with two brazilians and a portuguese lady - all of which are studying in Australia. All were top notch people who drank a little bit with during the day. The beach area was littered with hammocks and shady tables, which I used to fill in the afternoon lazing about.

Few hardy travelelrs have the constitution to hold up here for too long.

During this time I struck up a conversation with the german dive instructor, who convinced me into giving scuba diving another shot (I failed miserably two years ago whilst in the Whitsundays). After dinner that night (and another Bula dance led by the incredibly joyous and super camp activities instructor) I sat down to enjoy the evening by sinking beers and practising my japanese.

Yuki, myself, Aoki, and Kana. They actually helped bring my confidence in spoken japanese back! We drank sooooo much.

Yup, who read correctly. Fiji happens to be a place many japanese students come to study english. Why? you may ask (I did). Well, let's have a look at what it offers. It does have a university (hence the study), nearly all inhabitants speak english, the sun is always shining, kick arse beaches, its a super cheap place to live, and the islands are within hopping distance.

This is an example of a kickarse beach. Pay particular attention too the blue water, white sand, sunny skies, green leafy trees, multiple banana seats and hammocks, oh and the bikini clad women.

So on any given weekend a bunch of japanese students will be staying at the nearby islands. This is where I met Yuki (his full name is Yukihiro. His nickname is funny because its a girls name), Aoki, and Kana. That night my japanese improved immensely as I chatted away - much to their amusement. We drank beer, practised origami, and Aoki won the limbo competitions (take that brazilians!).

Origami, that's the portuguese lady between Yuki and Aoki. When I asked her for ehr name she told me I wouldn't be able to pronounce it. I tried but failed (and now I've forgotten).

The next morning I was up early and ready for my dive. I was paired up with the fijian dive instrcutor (he was warned I was scared shitless) and holding my hand we dive deep into the ocean (maybe 10 metres). Our groups was super lucky, we saw a reef shark, a turtle and an octopus. Most groups don't see either of those three. It was an awesome 30 mins and I was relatively comfortable the whole way.

This is a grasshopper, and while not spotted whilst scuba diving it was spotted whilst drinking, both of which I consider water sports.

After my dive a sucked down a few more beers and colourful drinks whilst reading my book, chatted to the token british boys (barely old enough to drink) that were present on every island before boarding the catamaran to my next destination, the self proclaimed party island BEACHCOMBER.

My sentiments exactly!

The Bike That Phill Built: Pedals

For the pedals I relied on advice from the experts at Maladjusted. I wanted clip-in pedals, not the usual flat pedals I'm used to.

These are the dreaded clip-in pedals, garaunteed to a make anybody look foolish. They're also a nice anti drink-riding device

There were two good reasons for this - actually I lie, there was one good reason, clip-ins allow you to pedal on the full cycle of the crank, not just the on the downward push. The second reason is because I think they make me look more like a die hard cyclist. The reasons against getting clip-ins were I'm sure I'm going to crash because I was unable to get my foot clear of the clip, and the shoes look geeky.

Pedal + crank arm = forward motion (my crank is bigger than your crank)

The other decision involved in choosing my pedals was a cost to weight ratio. How much was I willing to spend to save on those precious extra kgs. As I am known far and wide as Bill Gates Jnr I opted for the cheapiness of weight. I finally chose the Shimano PD - M520 (they had to be Shimano to match/fit my crank arms).

And they say the subtle art of product palcement is lost! Hollywood here I come

Model Number	PD-M520-S
Series	SHIMANO
Pedal System	SPD
SPD Cleat Surfaces	both surfaces
Spindle Thread	BC 9/16" x 20 T.P.I.
Spindle Material	chrome-moly
Cartridge Spindle	yes
Cleat Retention Indicator	yes
Cleat Retention Adjuster	yes
Mud Shedding Design	yes
Pedal Body Material	aluminum / barrel finish
Reflector	SM-PD22
Average Weight	380g (pair)

What it will sort of look like when attached to the bike.

Known for being moutain bike pedals, it means that the design allows it to shed mud easier (marked in the specs as mud shedding design!), and as I am building a touring bike, which will have to traverse off road conditions this is a good thing. It also has cleat surfaces on both sides of the pedal, which means that I can clip in to either side.

It is a thing of unconstructed beauty.

Shimano PD M520-S = $58.45

Total
Frame Set $1099+
Wheel Set $ 495
Handlebars $135
Headset $ 77.50
Cassette $ 89.90
Crankset $198.02
Rear Derailleur $108
Brakes $86.38
Front Derailleur $54
Seat Post $54
Brake Levers $45
Handlebar Tape $22.60
Tubes $12.60
Tyres $71.95
Chain $31.50
Pedals $58.45

$2638.90

Dre Dre - Smile (Coral View)

When talking to people differentiating between Korovou and Coral View was tough due to the similarity in their names.

I loved the word of the day idea, I surprised many a fijian with my command of their spoken tongue

Accounts from seasoned fiji island hoppers (I was becoming one myself by this stage) also warned of the similarity of the food quality served at the two resorts (low). Korovou did leave a lot to be desired, and my first meal at Coral View actually frightened me. When I first arrived I was a bit down because I met some fanatstic people at Waya Lei Lei and Korovou.

The resort from above, geez those clouds look ominous

The calibre of individuals at Coral View seemed to be somewhat lacking. However it was here that I met Debbie, a South African who had lived in England for twenty odd years and was now in the process of moving to Australia. This was her first stop on the Fijian islands and so she joined me in a few activities until she settled in. Our afternoon was spent snorkelling at the beach the movie Blue Lagoon was filmed at. It was a lovely beach with too many tourists. This was followed by volleyball and the dinner.

The beach and ocean from the Movie "Blue Lagoon" in the background of the photo. Thre was a really expensive resort on that island. I bet they had hot water.

Dinner was an unexpectedly awesome meal, and despite the common myths the rest of the meals were lovely. Dinner moved quickly into drinking, drinking games, card games, and card tricks - all led by the plethora of englishmen. The drinking games failed miserably as there were too many of us, but the card games were fun. We played a game similar to one called Angels and Yakuza I've played at Fenner. Its all about getting others voted out by accusing them of been a yakuza/killer (secretly pre selected before the game). I pretended I had never played before and pleaded ignorance to the strategies involved - I won all the games. That night I also became friends with Mata, the barmen (and I also think the resort supervisor).

The beginnings of a coconut tree from a coconut

The next day I set off on Joe's Water Taxi, with two other Aussie's (Shayne and Paige) - newly weds on their honeymoon. We had a delightful time visiting the underwater caves, you actually had to swim through a cave that was completely submerged without breathing appartus.

It was spooky swimming in the cave. From the second you enter you realise their is not enough room to turn around, if you run out of breath its just a bit of bad luck I guess. Not much in they way of safety precautions

Inside the cave. The light is coming from the sole torch the guide has. You spent a lot of time an absolute darkness.

That was fine for Shayne, the Navy Diver, but I was a bit apprehensive about it. I returned to find Tom had arrived, and so we set out exploring the island, meeting the absolutey gorgeous English girls on one of the trails.

Tom, Debbie and I enjoying cocktails, this activity can never grow old.

The evening followed the usual pattern; bountiful drinks (beer, cocktails and bounty rum) interspersed with fijian dancing with the staff, stories of the night before (Debbie had a couple having sex in her bunk even after they knew she was awake), I tried the card tricks I learnt the night before (to no avail - I now owe Debbie a beer whcih she collect when she comes to Canberra), plus card games with Mata (he taught us an awesome game called Golf that I was terrible at). My last day on the island was a morning spent reading inside, the bar area with nearly all the tourists. The good weather had finally turned and it was bucketing down...

So I lied, there were safety precautions at the underwater caves, unfirtunately they were in place to protect the rocks and not the tourists

Uro Levu - Sexy Gorgeous (Korovou)

Korovou EcoHaven was one of my favourite places. Led by Mr Steve (his name was actually Steve but he always introduced himself as Mr Steve - it was strange), it boasted a fine bar and a fresh water pool. The dorms were large, but empty. Most importantly this island had the best-looking, bikini-clad women of all places I visited.

This was an apt phrase for this island

On the first day I swam with the Manta Rays. It was a good experience, but there were a plethora tourists from the neighbouring islands all trying to get a decent view. Guides took you out to the Manta Ray swimming areas, point one of the majestic creatures out and you would than jump into the ocean with your snorkelling gear.

We followed these beauties for quite a long time. They were longer from wingtip to wingtip than I am tall

The main issue is that once other tourists realise you've found a manta ray they would crowd over; legs kicking and water splashing. Given I don't like swimming and I hate crowds it was a bit much for me. At one stage three others and I spotted a manta ray quite a distance from the main group, and we had five minutes to ourselves in which we followed its indolent movements until we were interupted by one hundred billion others too lazy to locate their own ray.

Honeymooner's beach and not a soul in sight (makes you wonder how i took the photo)

Another highlight of Korovou centred around the pool, and a game called 'Tipple' (or something like that) that Katie, Helen and Rachel introduced to me. A match was released at the bottom of the pool in a random location by a submerged diver while all the contestants stood around around the edge, intently watching for the match to surface.

A view overlooking honeymooner's beach. There was a $1 donation to enter, but it was worth it.

Once one of the contestants spied the floating matchstick they had to shout 'tipple', dive into the pool and grap the match in one motion. If you grab the match you are declared the winner and you get to release the match where ever you wish for the next round. If you miss the match someone else gets a go diving for it. Hours of fun!

I played volleyball with the staff on both days I was there, and made many friends with the locals due to my ability to read the spikes and pick up what they thought were impossible balls.


A bula dance for your enjoyment
I also met a trio of Kiwis who were sailing around the area. They had anchored just off shore and came to Korovou Ecohaven for a beer or three. We had a great time talking all things cricket!

Look who turned up! Hi Tom. He didn't go to Waya LaiLai, but to another resort on a nearby island. Apparently Waya Lai Lai was better

Much to my delight Tom arrived the following day. We took a romantic walk to the deserted Honeymooner's beach, searched for crabs, and visited a sort of lookout. That night we drank lot of alcohol and saw an awesome fireshow led by Mr Steve. Mr Steve was quite talented; he could play volleyball, spin firesticks and the next day he broke a coconut in half with karate chop! No other fijian or tourist was willing to try that trick.

The fire dance was pretty good, but only Mr Steve was well trained, the others dropped their twirlers a lot

We also met Becki, an american Phd graduate who was finishing up on a sixth month around the world holiday. As it was her last night we drank ourselves into a stupor moving to the bar down the beach when our own closed. A fire was built and we danced and sang and celebrated the fact we were in Fiji.

Myself, Becki and the staff. Good volleyballers, boat builders and fire makers (although their twirling left a bit to be desired.