Retour au vin!

It's been a tough November.

It wasn't the heat. It wasn't moving house. It wasn't sleeping on thermarests for 2 weeks. It's been the lack of alcohol flowing through our veins. We've been smashing our way through bottle after bottle of Soda water instead. Clearly not an adequate replacement for a bottle of Devil's Corner Pinot Noir, with which I am currently whetting my palette.

"Not the end of November" I hear you say?! Ha! I actually don't, probably because you're reading this in the month of December. Probably because I can't hear you over the expanse of sand between us. Speak up dammit. Anyways we go by the laws of eves here... an eve is as good as the day.

To change the topic, here is a chair. Complete with magazine rack and convenient carry handle.

Class.

Milo Denti

It's been quite a task finding a worthy replacement for the Teschner. Several failed attempts at buying roadies online (ebay, rotorburn, corc, ccc, bikeexchange etc etc) and I finally decided to bite the bullet and head down the build-my-own path.

Now I've always had a bit of a taste for a fine bicycle. It doesn't help that some of my friends have acquired quite the rides of late (pat's pooey-the-baum comes to mind). It also doesn't help that I get rather attached to things rather easily. This 'thing' I attached myself to happened to be a used frame from Hungary. What the hey. I trust PayPal. Let's build!

The Denti arrived in a 'box' made up of about 4 banana boxes taped together with packing tape, and thankfully, un-dented. A beautiful thing, this frame. Chromed fork and rhs chain stay. Lugged steel construction. Cast-inset ladybugs on the fork crown. Stamped 'D' on the head/down tube lug. Campag drop outs and fork ends. Yummo.

The build was easy. Wheels (Ksyriums) I had already. Seat (Selle Italia) and gruppo (Record) the same as what I had on the Teschner, although the groupset is now complete Record, with the addition of ultra-torque cranks. The front end is all nice and shiny with a NOS 3TTT Record84 quill stem, 3TTT Super Competizione bar and a Dura-Ace headset. All things of beauty mind you.

With nearly everything having arrived (just the wheels to make it here from Canberra - thanks M&D!) , it's nearly all built and ready for the road. I think that after a thorough thrashing over the xmas period down in the Vic highcountry, and some long summery km's here in Alice (in preparation for WildSide), it'll be getting stripped and sanded, ready for fresh new clothes in the new year. If anyone's got any recommendations for painters - please let me know!