Max's Miscellaneous Musings

#1: I am still on the never-ending hunt for a new bike. I went into NRG cycles at Jindalee yesterday and had a chat with them. They asked me if I'd considered a women's-specific bike, and I have to say it hadn't even occurred to me. Anyway, they asked why I wanted a flatbar, and I said it was because I liked the riding position, comfort etc. They suggested that if comfort was my issue with a drop bar, then it was likely because I'd never ridden a properly-fitted drop bar bike before. It was a pretty logical argument. They did an informal fitting on a Sarah Ulmer Brand bike, a subzero 3. And I have to say, it felt worlds apart from what I thought it would.

NRG's position is basically that if the fit is right, it doesn't matter if it's a drop or flat bar, it will feel good. It seems that riding a men's bike and trying to retro-fix the fit (eg with stems, seat height etc) is not doing me any favours. They have a biomechanical engineer on staff to do fittings, and from talking to him yesterday, I've no doubt he knows what he's talking about. Unfortunately, because I want a bike with a certain standard of componentry, there are no women's-specific flat bar bikes that will meet my requirements.

They also said that if push came to shove and if after a few weeks, I really did not like the drop bar experience, they could do a conversion to flatbar. I ran all of this past the font of knowledge of all things cycling -- my mum -- and she basically said it was six of one and half a dozen of the other. Her take on "womens" bikes is - the only difference is that they're small, and usually pink. So now I just don't know what to think. Actually, I do. I think my bike is just fine and doesn't need to be replaced, so that's the end of it. GRRRR.

#2: The job I wanted to go for has been removed from their web site. I was sure the closing date was still a week away, but evidently it is not. So I miss out because I'm a loser who doesn't pay attention to important things like job closing dates. GRRR.

#3: After last week's encounter with the Evil Secretary (in which she informed me that the shirts and jeans I've been wearing to work for the last six years are no longer appropriate and I have to replace my wardrobe) and given that I might attend some job interviews in the near future, I thought it might be nice to see if my suit still fits. I can't find the suit pants at all. And the jacket is about a billion sizes too big for me now. I look like a kid getting dressed in grandpa's old jacket. So now I'm up for a new suit and shirts and probably shoes, to wear to interviews (work get can fucked on this one - I've got six years of precedent), which means more $$$. GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

I really don't want this blog to turn into a Blog O Whinges, but it seems it's getting that way. *sigh*