When it comes to chain cleaning and lubrication I'm yet to find a better system than removing the chain,washing it thoroughly in petrol or some other solvent,hanging it to dry while I wash the rest of my bike. Reinstalling the chain,then applying a good quality chain oil. I've tried a few other methods,including the Park Tool Chain Scrubber which I found worked quite well it just seems a little messy and cumbersome. Another product, the name escapes me, some of my friends use cleans and lubricates your chain as you spin the drive train over whilst applying. Whilst convenient, when I used it I always feel like my chain sounds noisy and dry.
 What was the icing on the cake for me was the Connex Link by Wippermann, which makes removing and reinstalling your chain simple and fast. I have them on all my bikes and one link is on it's third chain so they last quite well too. They are pretty cheap at around $10 so wont break the bank. I remove the chain,then using an old bidon I keep specially for chain cleaning, 1/4 fill the bidon with petrol and shake like crazy for 1 minute or so. (Having your favourite high tempo song playing helps to really fire up the shake.ACCA DACCA, You Shook Me All Night Long, could do the job but feel free to experiment). 

I love how you can change the look of your bike just by switching components around. Except the wheels,which I admit are a pretty big change,the rest is bottle cages,bar tape,seat and stem. Whilst it's not something I want to be doing too often, due to the cost involved, I'll keep all the white parts so I can switch back if I get sick of the stealth look.And the Lightweights are really only for illustration purposes, unless I turn up on the Gellie for a race which I may well do.

On my recent expedition to Port Douglas with my travel bike in it's S&S case it was interesting
to see my friends with their various forms of bike cases. My mate Barry aka Silver Streak has recently
purchased an Evoc travel case/bag for his Cervelo R3 and I took a couple of photos for him and I thought
I'd share them on the blog. 
I'm starting to see the benefit of having my bike packed into the S&S case and thought I would share my observations.
Pros.
Getting around the airport easily and checking luggage including bike during regular check in. No need to visit
the oversize baggage section.
My bike in its small case fits into any car for travelling, the evoc and other require a larger vehicle as they are quite bulky.
The S&S case is very tough and has cross members inside to prevent the case being crushed making damage to the bike unlikely.
Cons.
There is more work in the assembly disassembly, packing process depending on frame size.
Saying this I was only about 15 mins slower than Barry with his bike in the Evoc case when we
packed/unpacked our bikes. 
Needing a special bike with the S&S couplers is probably the biggest hurdle. You can pack any bike
in the other cases.

I have a custom steel framed bike built by Ewen Gellie that has S&S couplings fitted into the frame so it can be pulled apart to fit in a special travel case. After my last bike fit my position is now much lower in the front so rather than put a -17 degree stem on my bike I asked Ewen to cut nearly 20 mm of the head tube of the frame. I was also hoping this might mean the bike fits into the travel case without removing the fork which I currently have to do. Unfortunately it still didn't fit after the modification,I reckon I need another 10mm off which we don't have. It was worth a try and I still have room to slam the stem if I want.   

Over the last 3 years I have embraced the sport of Road Cycling. It started with spending around $100 to get my old Malvern Star which I bought new in the 80's in a condition where I could test the waters so to speak. After a couple of months I decided, yep this is a good way to get some fitness and I don't have to travel anywhere to a pool (I use to swim a little) just walk out the back door and your away. 
When I started cycling there are 3 things I said I would never do. 1. Buy a flash expensive carbon fibre bike.
2. Wear colourful lycra. 3. Shave my legs. I have now broken 2 of these rules and I only have to shave my legs to complete the trifecta. And I wouldn't be surprised if the razor comes out at some stage and then I will be a serious
cyclist I suppose or completely mad one of the two.
I decided sometime last year that I wanted to get another bike to join my, flash expensive carbon fibre bike that I said I would never own, and my mountain bike that I fell of in the front yard and dislocated the a/c joint in my right shoulder which required reconstructive surgery to repair. What I really wanted to add was a bike I could ride almost anywhere on all sorts of roads from gravel to smooth bitumen and all others in between. Also another requirement was it had to be able to be taken overseas on some adventures whilst not costing me a fortune in excess baggage.
So after some discussion with my friend and local bike shop owner ,Wes, from West End Bike Hub in Wangaratta I decided to give Ewen Gellie from Gellie Custom a call. Ewen builds light weight steel bike frames from his workshop which is on the outskirts of Melbourne.This is a little blurb from his website.
"   Handmade steel bike frames and complete bikes crafted one at a time, blending expertise in framebuilding, manufacturing and hard-core riding."

Buying a custom made bike frame is a pretty unique experience compared with buying a mass produced bike from a large  bike manufacturing company. For a start it is built from a design especially configured to suit the owner that in my case was done with the help of Steve Hogg from Pedal Pushers/Cyclefit centre with whom I had a bike fit last July and one of the things Steve does is draw up a design of a perfect frame that is just for you. We used this design as the base for my machine and a few phone calls and emails to Steve and Ewen and myself we had a design we were all happy with. 
I visited Ewen whilst on a trip to Melbourne to meet him and get a feel for the process. It's pretty cool when you see the tubes that will actually be used to manufacture your frame and then when the building begins Ewen sends photos of the frame in different stages of production. I wanted to be hands on with this new bike so I sourced all the parts and running gear myself and was very keen to assemble the bike once the frame was complete. Whilst I had never done this completely I had a fair idea of how to tackle most things from doing some part time work for Wes at his bike shop.One thing a little special about this new bike frame apart from the fact it is being hand built is that it has S&S couplings that allow the frame to be pulled apart so that it may be packed up into a decent size case for travelling. 
Below is gallery of photos of the frame in various stages of production and some of the complete bike. The photos of the frame being built are from Ewen and the finished bike photos I took in the shearing shed on my farm.
The bike is an absolute pleasure to ride and the steel frame feels wonderful on the road soaking up the bumps whilst being responsive and handles perfectly.I got a really great sense of satisfaction from this project and feel the bike is very special and will never be last years model or mistaken for somebody else's as there is not another bike on the planet that looks like mine. ( Some of the frame photos have loaded with the wrong orientation. Will see if I can sort it out later.)