Bike porn: Giant ARSE 2002 halfway down Swigg, Makara Peak, Karori, Wellington, New Zealand. 

Sarah, Eric (and a bit of Greg) on the climb up the Dun Mountain Walkway, Jan 2004. Probably New Zealand's best uphill - a gentle 1-in-blah gradient, well drained and under tree cover, so you can climb comfortably even when it's blazing hot. Very, very pretty. After three hours hou're at ~900m and can go anywhere you like. Everyone on this trip rode alloy hardtails with Marzocchi Bombers and wee backpacks, except me:) 

The Giant ARSE at Rocks Hut, Richmond Forest Park, with ancient Karrimor saddlebag, on steel frame, clamped to a B17. It worked great, I was totally comfortable the whole ride. And I got extra traction at the back wheel and could stand up and climb without losing the bike. Not so great when it came time to carry it, however:)  

The Bridgestone T700, best bike I've ever owned! Strong as, great geometry, groovy m-bars. Picked it up for NZ$300 from a second hand shop in Auckland and never looked back. Apaprently it was previously owned by a Canadian cycle tourist who I'd love to get in touch with some day to learn a bit about this bike's history. The great thing about this bike is that it's well-nigh unimprovable. The saddle is mine (bought it when I was 13) but the rest is as it came. The handlebars can't be original, since Bridgestone only began producing them around 1994 and this bike is probably a 1985 model.  

The arse of the ARSE. The saddlebag is an old Karrimor. It's nylon, so it leaks, but it's nice and light and hey, why not. My Anglo-Touring logic in weight distribution is evident - gives you lots of traction at the back wheel, though naturally carrying the bike becomes a bit harder. Gives you muscles, ei:) 

Giant ARSE from the side. Since this photo was taken I now have a short stem and 2.35" Kenda Kinetics on the wheels. I've ridden this bike hard for 18 months and the wheels are still true which comes as a pleasant surprise.  

The Giant ARSE (formerly NRS2) - also known as The Aberration. I'm not into non-steel bikes per se, but the suspension on this machine works so well I made an exception. It's 2002 stock except for the Psylos, which replaced the unremarkable Skarebs. Also has an Avid mechanical disk brake up front (the stock Hayes' are not brilliant) and of course a Brooks B17, for luck.  

My Dad's Ron Cooper. The frame dates from perhaps the 60s or 70s. It's fitted with a TA chainset and a Regina five speed cluster. Classic stuff! The hubs in particular are gorgeous, and make for very light and strong wheels when laced to 27" Fiamme rims with Wheelsmith double butted stainless steel spokes. The bars and stem are GB.  

This is my late father's Ron Cooper, the way he had it setup between around 1978 and 1995. The handlebars are really narrow and the old Weinmann brake levers never worked very well. It had Mafacs when he acquired it but these were later upgraded to Deore XT cantis in an effort to get some braking happening. It never worked properly until I changed levers... 

This someone else's bike. Dunno who made it or where it lives, but it's quite nice, yes?