Sirius Bicycles Down Under

“Dirk Winter (Formula/Fly Racing) is on the mend after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his knee. It is expected that Dirk will be back on his bike much sooner than originally thought. Dirks Formula team mate Cale Argent has also been sidelined with a similar injury. Mark Stagg from South Australia has been putting his new Formula Solution Pro XL through its paces & had the following to report, The bike is just great – excellent out of the gate, I don’t lift as high but my snap is a lot quicker & I seem to be able to lean a lot harder & sharper into the corners than what I used to be able to on the Avent. When jumping, the bike seems to throw me up & over into a better position for a smoother & faster landing.”"Meanwhile Taylor Argent is back on her bike training for the Queensland State Titles in September & is one of three riders named to a newly formed all-girls team. Further details will be made available soon but I can report that the team will all be riding “Team Issue” Supercross bikes. Supercross are currently readying their 2007 line, which includes a production version of their alloy race frame, a complete race bike & a jumper, & a Scandium Carbon road frame yes road frame! Speaking of Supercross Andrew Gillett had another good result at the weekend placing 2nd in Pro Open at the Cane Toad Classic in Bundaberg (QLD). Sam Baber missed out on the main in spite of a 3rd place finish in his semi due to an error by the finish line officials. After winning Aussie & South Queensland titles, Chelsea King (Revtec) has her sights set on a state title & is currently training hard to add a 1Q plate to her collection. Rumour has it she may also be jetting across to New Zealand for the North Island Titles in October & again next Easter for the NZ Nationals. Madison Janssen (Staats) will also have her sights set on a state title & will also be putting her new Staats Cruiser through its paces. Marc Willers (Staats/Fox) has again injured himself during training in his build up to the worlds. However if last year is anything to go by then that is par for the course for Marc as he injured himself prior to departing for Paris where he placed 6th in Elite Men! Melissa Mankowski (Staats) has been in great form of late & is my choice to take out a world title in Brazil. “Miss M” is in better shape than she was last year in Paris where she placed 3rd in Junior Women. The line-up for the Australian-based Staats team is all but complete. Josh Webb (formerly Phillips) is the most recent addition to the team. The full team roster will be announced after the worlds. Ciari are currently working on a new stem design & have just released their Mini Cassette Hubs & Pro Crankset, which are modelled on the legendary Profile race crank but will be not nearly as expensive. Staats are also expecting their frame stock to arrive any day now, including frames in the new Ocean Blue colour. Well that’s about it for now, suffice to say good luck to all Kiwi & Aussie riders competing in Brazil.”