grcgrc profile

A fabulous listen & one that I personally can relate to. I am 163 cm tall with long legs (let's just say that most MTB cycling pants feel more like knickers on me). I have always wanted more room in the front of any bike so the long front centre suites me. 

Related to the issue of road cycles and their geometry. I remember reading an article after the first season of the 7-Eleven team competing in the Tour de France. When Ben Serotta was building their frames for the excursion he recommended more relaxed angles for their bikes. Most of the riders went with the suggestions. A major hold-out was Davis Phinney. As a team leader & one of the major talents he wanted to stay with what he knew. So his frames remained tight & (relatively) steep.

By the end of the Tour, Phinney had the mechanics filing down his seat-post clamps so that he could move his seat further back for a slacker STA. I think that when we talk about the professional peloton riding the grand tours that the bikes need to be comfortable as well as efficient. Six to eight hours at an average speed of 40kmh for one month require a different steed than one built for two or three hours per day.

Horses for courses.

Certainly the most interesting vehicle in this series IMO. This is a Tool. Certainly more interesting to me than any standard car/truck/suv.

Other trinkets for your favourite mechanic are little tools they may not have or have not gotten around to purchasing yet. Brought in a couple of extra EVT nipple loading tools for my favourite mechanics. They were stoked to receive them.

I have also brought in T's with cool logos from stores I check out while travelling.

p.s. For grips Wolftooth Fat Paws & Fat Paw Maxis are my current go-tos. Fit my fat hands nicely.

New bars are a wonderful upgrade to a bike. My last bike came with 35 mm handlebars & they left my shoulders & arms sore after easy rides. A set of SQLabs 31.8mm in a 12º bend were much more comfortable. I no longer felt like my body had been connected to a jack-hammer for three hours. This christmas I splurged & gave my ride a set of Stooge bars. So nice. The increased sweep combined with a few more mm of rise make these the nicest bars I have used.

My only issue with any of the helmet mounted lights is their weight. I have been using the  Bontrager Ion Pro all summer with regular night rides in Squamish & just discovered that the ratchet on my TLD V2 will not tighten past my regular setting. It is just about time to go back to my winter lid, but I hate to have to get another helmet after only one year.

Helmet mounted with integral batteries are the bomb though. I will not be using a separate battery ever again on a helmet mounted light.

That was so cute. Thank you.

What is the inseam length on those pants? Everyone seems to have settled on something along the lines of 80 - 81 cm. For those of us with legs longer than that (I have an inseam of 90 -91 cm), we ride along as if the next flood is imminent when we attire ourselves in the available goods. Now this may be true here in the PNW, but I would like my pants to fit a little closer to my actual inseam length.

And as for five-ten footwear. The most uncomfortable shoes I have ever purchased. I even acquired some insoles for the pair I bought. Only helped a little. And what is their issue with having something to hold your heel down? The pair I have put the foam so far down it is as if they believe heels start one or two centimetres above the sole of my foot.

Exactly. I did the calculation this a.m. & thought this must be wrong. I just think of the broken knuckles I would have at 840 mm HB width & cringe. I'll stick with 790 mm and be happy.

Duly noted. Nothing too serious here, so I may give them try.

out of the UK, so shipping to YVR.

Any ideas for something I can grab locally from a LBS?

Hubs. Rims are disposable. A good set of hubs will out last a multitude of bikes.

Standard changes are different animal all together. Give me a set that one can upgrade as well & it is wonderful.

The only e-bikes I saw were the Fire & Rescue after their second call on Sunday afternoon.

However the number of bikes coming down Tracks of Hell exceeded everything I have seen in past years of riding Squamish. Talked to another rider and he said the same thing. Not sure what is happening there.

Yup, and if you are riding solo, you can ride from home. I live in the W. End and it takes about 75 minutes from Davie Street area to Braemar area. When I lived in N. Burnaby it took about the same amount of time. Riding to Fromme parking lot is insane if you are trying to climb Mountain Highway. As has been mentioned though, there are other routes up there if needed. And when I am not feeling like riding the entire thing, I will often catch a bus up. Braemar has service almost to the trailhead. And the bus up Mountain Highway takes care of some of the pain if you want to go to Fromme.

No photos, but the first was a first generation Norco Sasquatch.

My second was a first generation GT. It was fully chrome plated. This was before they bought into the "double diamond" that the boys from Onza were pushing. BB would swing like a pendulum.

Posted by: skooks

Posted by: shoreboy

I dont think that having this happen over 3 different shops makes things any better.  That just goes to show how hard it is to get someone you trust to work on your bike.  I decided long ago to invest the time and money into myself.  I do all my own work (apart from full suspension rebuilds), and have outfitted my home shop with everything I need.  Im pretty particular about how I like things done, and I enjoy wrenching as much as I do riding sometimes.

It sounds like you know what you are looking for, and you probably know your way around a bike.  Is there a reason why you dont work on it yourself?  Some people dont have the time or inclination, which is fine, but it doesnt take alot to do the basics and more advanced things are often fun/easy to learn.

I am the same way. I do everything except damper service myself. I figure I am far more motivated to take the time to do the job properly than any shop mechanic. Having said that, I think LV Bikes is pretty good.

While I can do most of the grunt work myself, when I have an opportunity. That said I usually let the boys at LV take care of most of the work because I don't have the time. I live in the West End. I don't have the tools at hand or the room to set everything up.

<div>Brooks Cambium. Based on the old B-17. Most comfortable for my butt for all day riding of any sort that I have used recently.
</div>

<div>I had a Cinelli saddle back in the day. It was the best I had found, but then the rails collapsed under my 100kg one day riding down the road. I have not seen them in the local shops, but the GF is going to Italy in the autumn and I might have her pick one up while she is there. I loved that saddle</div>