We’ve just landed a bunch of great quality gear from Arkel based in Quebec, Canada. I’ve had my eye on their products ever since working in Montreal bike shops about 20 years ago. Back then their range mainly consisted of some incredibly well made pannier bags, the kind you only need to buy once and […]
Half the time, but a full dose of fun. Read on for a quick report from dipping my toes into the epic Tassie Traverse. This route crosses the lands of the Palawa people. It passes through ecosystems which prospered under their careful custodianship for millennia – many of which now exist in a state of […]
We recently landed the Bassi Hog’s Back frameset from the folks at CL Cycle in Montreal, Canada. It’s a well rounded do it all kind of bike that lets the rider build it to suit their needs. We’ve got a size run of each colour in stock and have plans to offer a well appointed […]
We’re mixing up your work week again with another mid week overnighter. Rolling from the shop after close, it’s a 30km ride along the Yarra to our campsite for the night. You can enjoy a swim in the river or just chill around the campfire before settling in for the night and trying not to […]
New year, new bikes! We’re beyond stoked to welcome Hudski’s ‘Dualist’ as the newest bike at Off Course. While we’ve got a long-term review cooking, read on for a little appertizer before the main dish… We’ve had our eye on Hudski for some time now. With the brand born from a 4-month bike tour undertaken […]
Another year has come and gone, friends! The bats are back on the Birrarung, the silky oaks are flowering, and people are planning their summer bike adventures 🙂 As always, this means (for those of us who celebrate Christmas and gift-giving) the head-scratching task of selecting presents for our friends, family, coworkers, or maybe just […]
We’ve just landed a bunch of the new Surly Straggler, so we asked Adam “Surly” Macbeth from the distributor SCV to give us the low down…. “After more that a decade remaining pretty much unchanged except for a bunch of awesome colours (hands up if you remember Glitter Dreams!) Straggler gets an update. Read on […]
Smash that RSVP button, folks, this is gonna be a special one. A trip 20+ years in the making, Will has been dreaming of bringing guests to this spectacular landscape by bike ever since his young days as an outdoor guide. The inaugural Cycling Wild Ikara tour saw five lucky participants (Jim, Meg, Nathan, Yosh […]
Gambol/ˈɡambl/ verb; to run or jump about playfully. Starting in Stawell, the Gariwerd Gambol plays on 25 years of experience riding backroads throughout Gariwerd (the Grampians) and the surrounding plains. Spring is an awesome time to visit the region, the wildflowers are abundant and the creeks are still babbling before the hotter summer temps kick in. […]
Buongiorno, and attenzione! We’re bringing you another exciting slide night, with our longtime crew member and espresso enthusiast, Finn. Recently returned from a 2 month, 1300km trip through Italy, with an overnighter in Slovenia, He’s ready to answer all your questions. What should I bring? When should I go? Do all roads really lead to […]
The unseasonally warm weather really turned it on in mid May for the Blackwood overnighter. Sunny skies, quiet roads bulk snacks and good vibes were a theme of the weekend. A group of about 30 rolled out from Sunbury station and settled into a steady pace on route to our morning tea break. A short […]
Huw, Andy and Adam held a Slide Night where they shared their experience and photos from the Vic Divide, a 550km off-road bikepacking route traversing the Great Dividing Range across the state of Victoria, from Melbourne to Albury/Wodonga. Run as an annual race – riders typically complete the course in 2 to 4 days, but we […]
We’ve curated a range of Off Course “House Builds” to suit particular framesets from niche, independent brands we stock. These are designed to simplify and lower the barrier of entry to riding one of these beautiful framesets, without needing to go down the often complex and overwhelming custom build route. Built with components we trust, […]
Before joining Off Course almost 11 years ago, I spent a great deal of time guiding people on adventures all over Australia. It’s a passion that still burns bright, and with a bit of time up my sleeve this year I felt it’s time to direct some focus back into that passion. I would like […]
It’s an uncharacteristically stormy day here in Melbourne, and what do we do when the conditions aren’t optimal for riding bikes? We plan rides! Tomorrow, friends, the sun will shine and we will have routes at the ready! We’ve already hit you with the blog post on what to bring on your first overnighter, now […]
Join us for a slide night as David McCourt recounts the story of taking “the long way home” by bike and shares his amazing experience with us.Here’s a little insight into his adventure and what he has in store for us. Words & Images: David McCourt In June 2022 I left my front door in […]
Words & Photos by Tom and Sophie. A little over three years ago, Sophie and I decided that we would take an extended breakfrom work and finally put our long-dreamt travel plans to action. We got lucky with a spot in hotequarantine in New Zealand, Sophie’s home and the only country we could get to […]
Here at Off Course Bike Shop, we’ve always had a special soft spot for Salsa Cycles. They’ve been one of the mainstays of our range since before I can remember, and members of our team have ridden them in all kinds of amazing places. If there’s one thing that jumps out to me about Salsa, […]
2024 marked the 9th edition of Will’s brainchild, the Dirty ‘Rat, and in our humble opinion, this was the best one yet! This year we experimented with a new format, offering a fully catered experience with Will’s Ford Laser popping up for snack stops along the way. Read on for more! On Day 1, riders […]
It’s super exciting to see the Pelago Stavangers finally in the store.These are a great all-rounder, all-road, drop bar “ATB”, similar in many ways to bikes like the Surly Midnight Special or the Wilde Rambler, but also very much their own unique design.The Stavanger is super good value as a complete bike with GRX 11 […]
**Event Currently at capacity**Please email will@offcourse.bike to join the waitlist should there be any cancellations. Come and join us for our inclusive and supported fun-filled 3 day ride in Gariwerd. This three day route has been created from many years of experience riding backroads into the National Park from Ararat, thus THE DIRTY (Ara)RAT was […]
If you haven’t been in the market for a new bike in a while and you’re starting to do some research, you may have noticed a pretty sweeping change across the industry: where a decade or so ago, bikes often had two or even three chainrings at the front, many bikes are now sporting just […]
Melbourne’s annual “Melburn Roobaix” event, held by FYXO eagerly cobbled its way through town last week on its 2024 installment. This year, Surly Bikes and Off Course Bike Shop were event sponsors and we had a joint checkpoint mid-way along the route at our shop in Brunswick.Riders passed from Leslie St through to the shop […]
For everyone reading who isn’t deep in Australian cycling culture, Gemini World Randonneurs are the quintessential Great Australian Touring Bike; which means, much like the four wheeled Holden (Opel) Commodore and Ford Falcon, their DNA isn’t particularly unique OR Australian but, they’re what we had at the time and they were pretty nice, so we […]
Well, if the truth be told, we’ve been going Off Course since the day we started! When we opened in 2008 as a one person workshop, I had a very narrow idea of the people and bikes we wanted to serve. Commuter Cycles summed it up perfectly, and our logo design based on the bike […]
Off Course is excited to be teaming up with Surly Bikes to celebrate the 2024 Melburn Roobaix. Never ridden a ‘Roobaix? You’re missing out! While the route won’t be released until the morning of the event, Melburn Roobaix has built a reputation over two decades for it’s big ‘rolling party’ vibes taking in the best […]
The 90’s were a wild time, punk rock was beginning to fuse with techno, fashion choices were often loud, and many of the bike colour schemes at the time bore a similar resemblance. Mountain bikes were a pretty new thing, the R&D department for most companies were the team riders, technology was developing in leaps […]
Hey Everyone, we all had a nice little break over the new year with us getting in some family time, R&R and a few bike rides. We were straight back into it early January with the traditional freshly painted workshop floor greeting us on day one. There’s lots of exciting things on the go for […]
Nobody likes a bragger, but when it comes to staff Christmas parties, we like to think we do it best. This year was a gem, as all the staff headed out to Forrest on Saturday afternoon for a weekend of trails, campfires and canned pyrotechnics (you’ll see what I’m talking about, don’t worry!). Will’s past […]
Time to celebrate another rotation around the sun, here at Commuter Cycles! As always, this means (for those of us who celebrate Christmas and gift-giving) the head-scratching task of selecting presents for our friends, family, coworkers, or maybe just unlucky bystanders. To help ease the burden, we’ve put together the Commuter Cycles 2023 top gift choices! […]
It’s a rare treat that we get to welcome a whole new brand into the store. We’ve just landed our first delivery of Wilde bikes out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wilde Bikes is the most recent project from Jeff Frane of All-City Cycles fame. Jeff has an incredible talent for designing bikes which perform great, are […]
Frazer is part way around the world on a bike tour having ridden from his homeland of Scotland back to Melbourne where we helped build his bike a bit over 18 months ago.
Here at Off Course, we have a longstanding love affair with kLite. An Australian owned and made brand, they manufacture top-of-the-range dynamo lighting solutions for adventure cycling.
We’ve been doing custom builds on Velo Orange frames almost as long as we’ve been open – their classic aesthetic with modern touches has always been appealing to us. Sharing both old world charm with all the modern convenience of thru axles and disc brakes makes for a really functional and beautiful bicycle.
We first got to know Cjell Monē from his trickle of blog posts outlining some his bike tours including 3 Tour Divide runs, 2 AZT rides, trips through India, Thailand, Nepal, NZ and our beautiful homeland of Australia to name a few. At a point along the way he began making his own bikes for his adventures in the back of a 1977 Toyota Camper. Some time has passed, his Toyota camper has grown into a larger bread delivery truck and his production has expanded to include 3 stock models being made in Taiwan.
It’s hard to believe the little bicycle workshop on Prentice street has grow into the business it is today, supporting bicycle adventurers all over the world! To celebrate we’ll be having a bloc party!