Bull_Dozer profile

How do they compare to the Shimano ME7?

Yeah I came across the Indy recently and they looked like the perfect knee pads for North Shore pedally rides - light but still with real knee protection. The charge seemed more like beefed up leg warmers to me (not saying that in a bad way, just serve a different purpose…much more on the XC side of things).

For someone who isnt a weight weenie - are these an obvious choice over the more expensive XT & XTR versions, or are there other things to consider as well (someone mentioned durability above)?

Posted by: shoreboy

Posted by: Bull_Dozer

For those of you that own high quality gore-tex jackets - do you find that they are actually close to 100% waterproof? I have one of the highest end Arcteryx jackets (with the highest waterproof rating, etc.) and I took it for a hike recently in pretty heavy rain and it didn't take long for me to get absolutely soaked. Although perhaps some of the moisture I was feeling was due to sweat from overheating. Seemed kind of weird to me though that a jacket that retails for like $800 on the basis that it is super waterproof still can't keep you dry in the rain. Or perhaps I just need to treat it or something?

How old is the jacket? When was the last time you washed it to renew the waterproofing? Once a jacket gets dirty, its waterproofness falls off dramatically.

Quite new and not heavily used but perhaps it was just me sweating too much

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: Bull_Dozer

For those of you that own high quality gore-tex jackets - do you find that they are actually close to 100% waterproof? I have one of the highest end Arcteryx jackets (with the highest waterproof rating, etc.) and I took it for a hike recently in pretty heavy rain and it didn't take long for me to get absolutely soaked. Although perhaps some of the moisture I was feeling was due to sweat from overheating. Seemed kind of weird to me though that a jacket that retails for like $800 on the basis that it is super waterproof still can't keep you dry in the rain. Or perhaps I just need to treat it or something?

What were you wearing under the jacket? My experience is that the performance of a waterproof jacket "feeling" waterproof is dependent on what you're wearing underneath. Cotton t-shirt in humid conditions with you working hard enough to sweat means you're going to feel damp. Same situation with a merino wool shirt and you'll  feel dry.

"Cotton t-shirt in humid conditions with you working hard enough to sweat means you're going to feel damp." - this may have been the problem

For those of you that own high quality gore-tex jackets - do you find that they are actually close to 100% waterproof? I have one of the highest end Arcteryx jackets (with the highest waterproof rating, etc.) and I took it for a hike recently in pretty heavy rain and it didn't take long for me to get absolutely soaked. Although perhaps some of the moisture I was feeling was due to sweat from overheating. Seemed kind of weird to me though that a jacket that retails for like $800 on the basis that it is super waterproof still can't keep you dry in the rain. Or perhaps I just need to treat it or something?

Has the Deep Cove area reopened to the general public?

Posted by: syncro

Context matters, it's not as simple as pulling a partial quote from my post.

If I'm busting a lung to clean a  difficult section of a climb and someone on an ebike is riding my tail and being aggro about getting by then they can get stuffed and wait for an appropriate place to pass and do it in a reasonable manner. I have no issue slowing up at the right spot so a faster climber can get by as long as they're good about it. Likewise, if I get stuck behind a slower rider I'll hang back a bit and wait for an appropriate opportunity to pass. It's got sweet fuck all to do with first world problems or being spoiled and everything to do with not being a shitty person.

For sure. Being an aggressive jerk is a totally different story. I've just been getting the impression that a lot of MTB'ers are getting pissed off from the pure existence of e-bikers (as they fundamentally disagree with the concept of an e-bike) rather than it being an aggression issue.

Posted by: RAHrider

Out of curiosity, how long have you been riding Squamish? If you've only been riding there in the past 5 or so years, you don't actually know what you are missing. I don't expect any sympathy. There is a reason I work 1/2 time on the island - I don't want to share everything with 2 million other people all the time - call me "spoiled."

I have the same feeling about skiing Whistler. If you had the experience 20 years ago, the experience these days is not the same. I'm not saying that Squamish and Whistler are not worth it, just not what they used to be.

The point I am trying to make isn't specific to Squamish... more just biking (outside of the WBP) in the entire Sea to Sky area. Yes, biking is popular here in general, but we also have a ridiculous amount of trails and riding areas. I've rarely ever felt crowded in any non bike park ride and I actually like the days when more people are out. I honestly wish that more people would be into mountain biking because I think it's a great sport, and I think there's still so much excess capacity in our trail systems. Mountain biking is still a pretty "extreme" sport and the cost of a bike is very high, so I don't think we'll ever have too many riders. Plus, the more people out riding, the more it can be justified to allocate more time and effort to maintaining the trail systems and building new trails, etc. 

With skiing Whistler, I totally agree that it's way too busy, especially given how much they are charging for a lift ticket.

Posted by: syncro

having your climbing groove busted

First world problems. I'm not an e-biker, and don't plan on being one anytime soon, I just think that we as mountain bikers (and outdoor enthusiasts in general) are quite spoiled (especially in this part of the world) and to get riled up about such minor occurrences is unjustified. "I went on a 2 hour mountain bike ride on some of the best trails in the world, but I had to pull over a few times to let some e-bikers pass me a few times during my ride...". 

Rider traffic has never once been an issue for me outside of riding the most popular trails in the WBP on the busiest days.

Posted by: mudrunner

I rode Squamish over the weekend....I didn't see the mopeds and shuttlers in the numbers you described. And I covered a lot of ground.

I feel like this supposed issue is very "first world problems" - So you see 50 riders throughout the course of your 2 hour ride, or you have to pull over 5x for 10 seconds each time to let an e-biker pass you on a climb. If that sort of thing is enough to make someone feel like they had a bad ride then they need to put things into perspective and realized how privileged they are in the first place that something like this bothers them...

Posted by: Mike.T

I ride in Squamish more than anywhere else. Im always surprised by how few people I see on the trails, despite how busy the parking areas might be.  

+1

I always read stuff like this thread on the internet about Squamish getting way too crowded and popular, etc. and then when I end up riding there I expect to see hoards of people but I only ever see a handful of people on the trails. I actually prefer to see more people out on the trails, improves the "vibe" IMO.

Posted by: grambo

Unless it's blue trails only, then Cypress is gonna be packed.

Is Cypress ever packed? Based on my experiences, it's the least ridden of the 3 mountains by a very significant margin. Which is surprising to me because the trails are really good. I guess it being a shuttle only mountain probably is the main cause.