skooks profile

On the other end of the age spectrum, bike shops offer one of the very few opportunities for a young person to develop technical skills*. For the right kid, this can be a learning opportunity for skills that will last a lifetime. If they are lucky, there will be an old guy/gal in the shop who doesn't mind passing on their hard-earned knowledge. I spent years working in a bike shop as a teenager, and some of the best times with my kid were spent in the garage after dinner working on our bikes. He now works full-time as a shop mechanic and is much better than me. I would definitely enjoy working a few days a week in a shop once I retire (which won't be that far off).

*The BC gov has just made amendments to the Employment Standards Act introduced Monday would raise the legal minimum working age from 12 to 16 for most jobs.

Awesome words Cory. I never had the pleasure of meeting Ingrid, but I feel like I would have really liked her.

My Freerider Pros were also my best-performing flat shoes of all time. Light, grippy,  and comfy. Sadly they lasted less than a year before the soles ripped and started to tear off. MEC came through with the warranty, and I bought another pair of 510's. I just haven't found any other shoe that works as well for me.

Ah, right.  I re-read your article, and I couldn't agree more. It's just a bike, don't be scared to work on it. If you don't have the skills/knowledge, find some one who can help, take a course, or consult the interwebs. You will definitely learn something, and you might even fix your bike!

I am the type of person who can build or repair just about anything, just lucky that way I guess. Bikes are pretty simple machines, and I don't recall not being able to fix anything on them. I could build one from scratch if I wanted to. Of course I understand that not everyone can/wants to fix their own stuff, but I would think that a mechanical engineer would be able to figure out how to deal with anything bike related.

Sorry, I don't get it. It's a bicycle, not rocket science. The only really complicated components are shock/fork dampers, and even those  aren't too difficult to work on if you have the right tools. If you can't/don't want to repair your broken parts, I will happily take them off your hands!

When I was running RF carbon cranks, I was always wondering when they were going to fail. Now that I am running Shimano cranks I never think about them at all.

I'm glad the RF cranks are working well for you. I have tried them, and honestly couldn't perceive any functional difference between them and my alloy Shimano cranks. I actually never think about them at all, since I know they will never fail. The RF cranks? It was always I'm the back of my mind that they could fall at any time. Not for me thanks.

Carbon cranks? No thanks! I have seen far too many of them fail, mostly RF brand. I will take  Shimano alloy cranks and pay the small weight penalty any day of the week thank you very much. Has anyone managed to blow up a set of XT or xtr Hollow tech cranks? I sure haven't.

I always buy my bikes used and it has worked out well for me. It helps that I do all of my own mech work and am good at shopping for deals. I love Andrews comment that the best performance upgrade you can get is to service the parts already on your bike. If you have a bike that is basically sound and works well for you, why buy a new one?

Posted by: Stuminator

Some older riders say an e-bike keeps them in the game.

And other older riders say that pedalling a real bike up the hill keeps them fit, healthy, and stoked. 

Btw, stay off of my lawn!

Also, how will the flex feel if the bars are cut significantly narrower (800mm to 760mm for example).

Yup, skip the upgrades and just buy the slayer. You will be happier in the end.

I switched from a 35mm alloy bar to the same make/model carbon bar (Easton Haven). The alloy bar was stiff to the point of being unridable for me. My hands/wrists would not make it through a ride without getting numb and painful. The carbon bar seems to damp out the vibration without feeling noodly. No more wrist/hand discomfort at all. The carbon bar was clearly better than the Alloy version.

Posted by: Brocklanders

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: craw

Harley Davidson and Maxim giving the finger to trail access advocates everywhere.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON UNLEASHES 2 NEW ELECTRIC MOUNTAIN BIKE CONCEPTS, "pedal less mountain bikes".

Or as I like to call it, the worst of both worlds.

I wasn't going to say anything but do you not see how Maxim has completely butchered and misconstrued the HD product? Especially the headline? There's no way that's a bicycle of any kind - no pedals, no ability to pedal, throttle control - that's an electric dirt bike. Same for the scooter model, it's an electric scooter.

The irony here is that when the shoe is on the other foot people are bringing up inaccurate reporting in the media and talking about inflammatory headlines.

Your version of motorbike and mine are different I guess. The guy riding up the Hyannis climb from Fishermans yesterday on Divinci ebike was absolutely ripping uphill. Just because it has a crankset instead of pegs doesn't mean it's not a motorbike.

Agree with you that these things are more like motor bikes than bicycles.  The 6 dudes on e-bikes who passed us on No Quarter where definitely roosting up rocks. Whoever says that e-bikes don't do any more trail damage than  bicycles doesn't know what they are talking about.

Chasing Strava segments is not an excuse to act like a dick. Nobody cares about your PRs, so slow down a bit, say hello to folks, and enjoy the day.

Has anyone ever had a problem going back up to retrieve their vehicle after the road is closed? They have always let me up with no hassle in previous years.

Is anyone running the MAXXIS AGGRESSOR as a winter tire?

I have seen far too many race face carbon cranks fail to ever consider putting one on my bike. I have run Shimano cranks for many years and never think about them. Never had a problem until 2 weeks ago when I had a slow-speed tumble off a slippery bridge on lower Griffin. I didn't land very hard, but my newish XTR cranks bent so badly that I couldn't pedal. I consider this an anomaly, and replaced them with XT's which seem beefier. I ended up straightening the XTR's as an experiment (I don't plan to use them). It took all of my strength on the end of a 4-foot bar to bend them back. Still a fan of Shimano cranks.

3C Maxx Grip front /  Maxx Terra rear works great for me.