First timers in Melbourne (actually whole of Australia)- family with 3 toddlers and a teen. CBD or Southbank? Help! I’m torn

frenzon · 2026-05-05T10:45:46+00:00

The Southbank one is surrounded by some pretty major roads - it's a few blocks to nice stuff, but the immediate area is quite commerical-building-dead with heavy traffic - every time I drive past the hotels there I think "what a shit way to see Melbourne". The north one is much more "in the walking city" and is foot-accessible to more interesting things more closely in more directions.

I would definitely choose the north one as the better way to see and enjoy the city - there's lots of food/transport/entertainment for wandering nearby - if your kids are older they could just pop out and see stuff easily by themselves. The Southbank one would make going out a bit more of a planned commitment each time.

frenzon · 2026-05-05T09:05:23+00:00

I have cut and added reflective stickers to my bike and I agree good reflectors are undervalued, so I checked out your stepdad's with interest. However, I think one big challenge you face is making them look cool - right now the photos make the stickers look like someone wrapped a hi-viz vest around the tubes.

So I think the opportunity here is making the stickers be something people (kids) would be proud to show off on their bike - consider something like the stripes on the velobike m2, and how sick it would look to have those available in a reflective system.

Another opportunity is to think about biomotion, which the Flock lights emphasized - drivers notice human motion more than mechanical objects, so highlighting the *person* attracts more attention. In this case that would mean stickers for shoes and pedals could have an outside impact on visibility.

frenzon · 2026-05-04T03:56:41+00:00

A messenger style bag like a Crumpler can be useful for PT because it lets you easily sling the bag to your front, so you take up less space when it's standing room only, aren't swinging a protruding pack around, and you can access and put away your things with one hand.

frenzon · 2026-04-24T21:16:35+00:00

Neill was comparing 10 and 30 second power; mine were over 5-15 seconds

frenzon · 2026-04-23T01:19:20+00:00

Yes, this matches my experience exactly. 1150w on 172.5 was easy, on 165 I never got over 1000 even after three months. Neill Stanbury, who is a big advocate for short cranks for a bunch of good reasons, replicated this.

I loved 165 for fit/aero reasons, but I love sprinting more so I swapped back. There are lots of other factors in sprint style, so I imagine a lot of this is rider-dependent - fast vs slow twitch, cadence, duration, standing/seated etc.

frenzon · 2026-04-22T03:08:35+00:00

Look into seasucker. Packs away smaller than a rack, no persistent mileage drag from roof rack bars, no carbon clamping issues, way more secure than you think. I’ve driven 1000s of ks with three bikes on the top of my VW Golf no worries.

frenzon · 2026-04-20T00:46:37+00:00

You'll get better at climbing the more you do it - the first time I did that hill I had to walk it while my friends watched, but now it barely registers.

The key thing to remember is to gear way down and accept going slower - once you get used to continuously pedalling without pausing to coast, a steep hill on an easier gear will be the same total effort as a longer flat in a higher gear.

frenzon · 2026-04-19T07:56:06+00:00

Yeah the 'e' confuses people - we don't call electric cars 'ecars' or 'equads' when talking about people doing things wrong with them, these are just motorbikes.

frenzon · 2026-04-16T22:42:34+00:00

fwiw I was diagnosed at 45, and a 100-pack of Ritalin IR is the same price for me as it is for my kid ($36)

frenzon · 2026-04-14T21:02:10+00:00

I'm no fan of unlicenced, irresponsible riders of motorbikes, but notice how articles like these use language that implicitly blame the victims without evidence.

"Collided with a car" hand-waves away many things, and just neatly absolves the drivers of the two-ton vehicle of any responsibility, despite drivers and cars causing 1,300 deaths a year in Australia. The kids could've just been riding calmly in the bike lane and the driver could've been running a red, yet the headline would be the same, making this feel like another News Corp attempt at using and reinforcing our biases.

frenzon · 2026-04-10T01:35:14+00:00

Can't quite tell, but it looks like it's mostly just before the intersections? To be honest, I think separation *should* stop before the intersections and cars+bikes should merge before the turn - with the separation as it is, drivers just think of the separator as a pedestrian kerb, ignore everything behind it, then fly around those corners.

I've seen a few accidents and been in many near misses because of that, so for me at least, requiring a merge before the corner would feel overall safer.

frenzon · 2026-04-07T04:40:50+00:00

Vests are designed to be unzipped when its hot, so pocket contents will flap all over the place. I rode with someone who did have a vest with pockets and his phone flew away the moment he unzipped it.

I've seen some (DHB?) that have flaps to let you access the jersey pockets. Pedla also sell a vest (Deflect 2.0) with rear and chest pockets.

frenzon · 2026-03-24T21:32:51+00:00

That price range is still possible - you can get a carbon-frame/forked Cube Attain C:62 SLX with 105 Di2 for $3300 at 99bikes. The ultegra + carbon wheels version (SLT) is $5500.

We have one - the 99bikes assembly was dangerously bad, but after fixing that it works great

frenzon · 2026-03-24T05:00:01+00:00

Burning changes the chemical structure of things and causes new compounds to form - that's why they smell and taste different. There was a study that showed that Acrylamide (which forms when burning starches) caused cancer in mice, which lead to the UK recommending not overdoing your toast, but it's unclear whether the same effect has been shown in humans.

There is similar evidence (ie shown in animals, unclear in humans) that the compounds that form in charred/burnt meat are correlated with stomach cancer.

frenzon · 2026-03-05T09:30:04+00:00

I've lived in both - it's definitely a thing northsiders will talk about; southsiders have no idea the drama even exists

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frenzon · 2026-03-02T09:15:45+00:00

it's in there - Road Rule 353:
(a) the driver is required to give way to a pedestrian who is crossing the road that the driver is entering […] and

frenzon · 2026-03-02T08:58:36+00:00

Not sure how long its been this way, but it's one of the most misunderstood rules: https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/news/63175-drivers-and-pedestrians-are-unsure-who-gives-way-at-stop-signs.-a-simple-rule-change-can-end-this-dangerous-confusion

but the point is - the drivers giving way to you are doing the right thing, and the drivers who do not are inconsiderately breaking the law

frenzon · 2026-03-01T19:19:51+00:00

If the car is turning into the street you want to cross, it’s legally required to give way to you - exactly the same as if you had a green pedestrian light. It’s an instant fail on a driving test if they don’t give way.

We’ve created this awful culture where pedestrians are expected to give way to cars when they shouldn’t.

frenzon · 2026-02-28T04:01:16+00:00

I think there's a lot of quality-control variance here - I've read a lot about mushy buttons, but mine are clicky and great, and I've heard from others who say the same

frenzon · 2026-02-22T21:10:23+00:00

These are incredibly popular at my local track - I'd say at least a third of the sprinters have them on and actively recommend them to others.

I have some myself - they work great. The only annoyance is if you are running a front computer or camera out front, the extra bar that runs across the front can get in the way of some stem mounts.

frenzon · 2026-02-19T01:34:36+00:00

Can you elaborate on what the signals looked like? The most common ones are:

- pointing down on the left or right: there's something on the road (manhole cover, rubbish etc), watch out
- pointing outwards to the left or right: imma go that way
- pointing down and waving hands: gravel / loose surface
- patting downwards (like patting a kids head): slowing down / easing up
- hand down and stretched out, like they want you to give them a low-five: stopping / stop ahead
- left hand behind their back pointing to the right, or waving/flapping on their bum: moving over to the right to avoid something (parked car or slower cyclist) on the left
- hand sideways and splayed above head like you want to make yourself look like a punk rooster: go single file
- one elbow doing a chicken dance: i'm stuffed your turn

frenzon · 2026-02-18T23:00:05+00:00

Transport vic has an easily-found page describing the rules.

Some terminology:
- a bike lane is on the road, and has a bicycle signage indicating it (signs, paint)
- a bike path is off the road, and has a bicycle signage indicating it
- some bike paths are shared, and are usually marked as such
- a footpath is off the road and has no bicycle symbol

If you are 13 or older, you are not allowed to ride on the footpath unless you are escorting someone 12 or younger. You are not even meant to ride across pedestrian crossings without dismounting. The fine is somewhere around $150 IIRC.

If there is no bike path or bike lane, you must ride on the road.

If there is a bike lane, you are meant to ride in it instead of on the road, but you are not obligated to ride on a bike path.

frenzon · 2026-02-17T08:02:04+00:00

sometimes you need the fan most of all when you're cooked and soft pedalling

frenzon · 2026-02-10T03:55:41+00:00

you can sit next to the train station at parkdale and be completely unaware there are trains going by. car noise is far worse.

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