Geelong (Vic) - Shops, Trails, Training Rides etc

[Al_D]

I'm going to be moving down to Geelong in late October/November, does anyone have some info on the following....


A recommended shop, ie well stocked with a good mechanic;
Some good fun XC trails; and
Suggestions for interesting and challenging road training rides.


Cheers all.

[Rider]

You have to go for a ride at the You Yangs, not far from Geelong at all. There's plenty of XC trails to keep you busy, most of them are even signed so you should have no trouble finding them.

[Cúl-Báire]

Deffinatly hit up the YouYangs, the Stockyards area is an MTB area, which houses laods of great rides.

There is loads of rides in the Otways, Ballan, Anakie... And loads of people to ride with too, Geelong has quiet an active club which runs a winter XC series and hosts some of the state series summer races...

Stores I know...

Hendry Cycles in Ocean Grove, I have never been there, but alot of the club goes there... Quiet a good store apparently.

DeGrande - in town, good for small stuff, but not much else it's sort of a multisport store but they ahve a big bike area.

New Tri / MTB store - Cant tell you the name, heard an advert on the radio stating that it opened, it's pretty much in the center of town. Crackendale and Scott stockists. LEt you know what it's like.

Marshall Cycles - Quiet small, kind of out of the way in North Geelong. This is my LBS and I am very loyal to the guys. Kind of a small family run business. They can get in most stuff, but the range in store is abit lower end... The have great service and good prices though. *plug*


A few others, but I dont deal with them much, so I cant tell you more... Training rides, Anglsea is about 50km away, lorne 75km, Portland is 260km away... Me personally I do this little loop towards Bacchus Marsh then accorss to Anakie, back down into Geelong... Works out to about 80km from my house. A few smaller climbs going accross to Anakie. Not sure where other guys ride though, as I am new to the roadie thing...

Plus... I race enduro solo, I have no friends :p

[shep8]

anglsea trail head bike shop is good.. thats where i got my bike. not a bad place and the workers will tell you where some good trails and stuff are to.

[Al_D]

Shep8 - Bit of a gravedig....
Still in the interests of anyone heading down this way, I'll update with what I've found since moving down this way.

Bike Shops

Hendry Cycles, Ocean Grove - Pretty good deals on bikes and gear. Very approachable even if pretty busy, stock trek, gary fisher etc, orbea (I think), serotta
Torquay Cycle Factory, Torquay - Small size shop, lots of stock and frendily crew. Nice Bianchi, Battaglin etc roadies - Santa Cruz MTBs and even a couple of Full Dynamix carbon jobbies. These guys have sponsered alot of riders and seem to be doing pretty well.
De Grandis, Geelong - Big range, lots of clearout deals on roadie clothing, big range of giant (road & mtb), pinarello, other boutique road frames
Trailhead Bike Shop, Anglesea - Nice guys, stocking Cannondale, Kona. MTB only which is a gutsy move. As mentioned below, a good place to ask for trail advice etc
Baum........the bees knees, I just wish I had the dollars.....
Tri2Cycle in Geelong has recently closed down.
Trevorrows (?) on Latrobe Terrace stocks Colnagos - don't know about MTB
Brettas on Latrobe Tce - New stock Ridley (I think), haven't been in there. But they look big and flash if that's what floats your boat.
Body Torque, Ocean Grove - Shop just opened. No idea if any good.
Marshall Cycles, Champione(?) Cycles, Belmont Cycles - All in Geelong, primarly lower end gear.
Anaconda, Latrobe Tce/Breakwater Road
Goldcross, Waurn Ponds - Need I say more....


Trails.
You Yangs - Checkout http://www.gmbc.com.au
Angleasea - The singletrack is of questionable legality...Hopefully with time and pressure from the local riders, this will improve. Still some good riding to be had. Primarily Anglesea Heath and in the bush between Jan Juc and Anglesea.
Forrest - If you haven't been there, get there. Fantastic. Heaps of steep hills for training in the Otways aswell as the MTB trails. - Just don't litter and be nice to the locals, there's been a few anti-MTB letters in the papers of late.

Road Rides.
Lots of road action. Bunches leave Geelong most days, Torquay, Anglesea & Ocean Grove also have bunch rides (at least on weekends) Good loops from Torquay-Paraparap-Moriac-Anglesea,
Geelong-Ocean Grove-13th Beach-Torquay-Geelong
Checkout http://www.bikely.com or the Melways.
Good roads are Horseshoe Bend Road (Geelong-Torquay), Hendys Main Road, Great Ocean Road (early before the traffic starts), Bluestone School Road etc

Hope this helps anyone moving down to the Surfcoast/Geelong.

[krusty66]

Hey I work at BERETTAS BIKE HUB in geelong and we do wed night rides at you yangs in spring/summer also the mechanic is great and services forks in house.

[shep8]

hey krusty, how much would it cost me just to get a regular service on a hardtail.. just like the brakes and gears and stuff