Cycling in Melbourne Australia

Xtracycle advice

Hi, I'm moving to Australia (Victoria) in October some time and want to try and get away from using a car.
I've been looking at the Xtracycle freeradical setup and it looks like this may be a good option for me (i'm around 6'5" which seems to limit me a little). Does anyone know how much these cost in Melbourne? I'm currently passing through California and am wondering if it may be cheaper to buy one here and ship it over.....

I'd be setting up a bike from scratch with no experience when i hit Australia, any bike geeks out there who would be interested in helping, or could give me some advice?

Cheers

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Permalink Reply by vx255 on September 4, 2008 at 10:13am: Seems the going rate over in the States is $489 for the free radical kit, Not sure what they worth here, but I would be inclined to purchase and ship over if I was in your position, have you looked at the Surly big dummy frameset and xtracycle accessories, that would give you a great start to a complete X bike.

I'm looking at an Xtracycle kit myself, but more than likely I'll be sourcing the parts from overseas.

We have a resident expert on this site.
http://www.melbournecyclist.com/profile/AnneJovi

Sorry can't do fancy links from my work PC.

Welcome aboard and I'm sure you'll enjoy Melbourne.
Eddie; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stavros on September 4, 2008 at 10:22am: If you're in the US at the moment Nelly, buy a kit there and bring it with you. You'll have trouble getting a kit here at the moment, and they can be a bit more expensive.

Building one up isn't all that hard as long as your donor bike is in resonable working order. Pretty much, all you need to add the kit is in the box.

St Kilda Cycles (ask for Vince) helped me out a lot with the build up.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stavros on September 4, 2008 at 11:51am: Actually, Eddie raises a good point Nelly - not that it's hard, but if you aren't very handy with tools, and seeing as you're already in the US, seriously consider a "Big Dummy" and bring it with you.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ritsardo on September 4, 2008 at 12:10pm: Cool.
I wondered how to do that.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nelly2rd on September 4, 2008 at 12:18pm: Thanks for the info. While i would love a big dummy, i think that they are a bit too expensive for me (US$1230 for the frame alone!), and apparently a nightmare to ship.

The way i figure it, if i get a freeradical and bolt it onto an OK frame, then i can upgrade it over time. And if i totally fall in love with it, then a big dummy in the future could be possible.

That said, i will look into it a little bit more. Are bike parts in Australia vastly more expensive than the US?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stavros on September 4, 2008 at 12:22pm: Generally speaking they are a bit more expensive.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by vx255 on September 4, 2008 at 1:19pm: Parts pricing is more expensive, I know myself and many others order their consumables like tyres, chains, cassettes etc from UK online places like ribble and pro bike kit.

Bike pricing isn't too bad.; ▶ Reply to This