Ddean profile

That enduro bearings tool is my favorite tool ever.

I will likely choose all my future bottom brackets just so that I can keep using that tool.

If people must use Strava, please review this page to make sure that you are Private and heatmaps are turned off.

See here: https://wild-grit.com/blogs/news/how-to-turn-off-the-strava-heatmap-to-protect-secret-trails

I think that lack of awareness is part of the issue here, but the thing that gets me is that in many cases people are FULLY aware but so entitled and so they do much of the above anyways. They don’t care. 

All you people reopening the braids I keep closing - you’re going to be out of moves soon. And it’s your own damn fault.

Yes steeper than 76/77

I wish that my HARDTAIL was steeper than it is and its about 76 degrees. It obviously has no sag.

Why would you not want a steeper STA? Its totally benign when you are off the saddle, doesnt really impact the rear of the bike either and doesnt change the reach (when you are off the saddle).

I see that Spur has similar STA as this Element.

Would have expected a much steeper STA than that. Wonder how this new Element compares to a Spur?

Nice bike and build!!!

My biggest surprise of the write up is that Rachid is also from Ottawa!!!! There are a shocking number of us out here.

The Gats in the 90s. What a neat place to ride bikes in the forest. Looking at TF of the area right now...there's nothing there outside of Camp Fortune bike park (which started after I left). Hopefully Gat trails are just underground. We used to have to ride away from the bike cops in there!!!

NSMB should only highlight off road vehicles in this segment that can go deep into the back country, and get back home, on hydrogen or solar power!!!!

Dont bother reading the segment from now on if you cant afford a $200k truck!!!!

Look like a wild bike. Wish they did not jack the price $700 two weeks ago.

Look at the pricing of that alloy XT. A good $1500 less than a very similarly spec'd Chilcotin. Love that the alloy Spire has same spec as the Carbon.

And that purple, OMG.

Its a unique situation when Im riding without my doggo, but if I do bring her on a group ride, Im in the back with her behind me. It solves all the problems, which I understand. Never been an issue.

That said, I usually wont bring her on a larger group ride unless I know the area very well; not because she will get in the way or bother anyone, but because I dont want to have conflicts if the group decides to pedal up roads, etc....

All good points and our concerns too.

We worked hard to set expectations re continuing as black diamond trails instead of Cypress Espressos as we knew that this was going to come up repeatedly. The builders have been crystal clear and if you look at all of the press on the topic from NSMBA, it is clear too - these will remain black diamond trails. We are not naive and know that people say what they say to get things done, but we have done all we can to protect the difficult of the trails, recognizing that influences will come on later.

We wanted to make sure that parties were aligned on that topic so we used an existing sanctioned and authorized trail as an example of exactly what we mean when we say the trails will not be dumbed down. I wont say the name of the trail that we walked and discussed as the difficulty level and standard we need to maintain, but its starts with B and ends with oundary.

I wont speak for all involved but Im cautiously optimistic on where this is headed. I trust in the team. I trust in NSMBA to stay the course. Im stoked for the climb trail. Hopefully this doesnt turn into a mistake but it is, at the very least, a terrific test of what could be a great new path forward. At the bare minimum some trails on Cypress are protected from the future much better than they were. Kudos to BPP for playing such a strong role in moving this forward too.

Climb trail is because:

1) There is an existing obligation for BPP to put a hiking trail in the Rogers Creek area. This has shifted that to the Mystery zone and changed the classification to a multiuse trail (two way foot, uphill only bike) to bring benefit to riders. (EDIT: one of the proposals was to transition a bike trail from the area around the third switchback to a hiking only trail - it made no sense but we would have lost another trail there).

2) The concept of having downhill only trails ending at the switchback and forcing bikers to pedal up the road (which is viewed poorly due to vehicle risk) or forcing people to shuttle (which is also viewed poorly due to parking, mostly at the top), was not desirable. One needs to assume that bike traffic will increase a lot (who knows if it will), and if you increase the number of vehicles parking or dump riders onto the road to pedal up, you're asking for trouble.

Yes, Mystery will be impacted as it is indeed the Old Forks Trail. DWV was considering making that no bikes anyways due to its history as a relevant hiking route and its condition in some segments. I agree that its a give but its not a big one.

Posted by: Kenny

Posted by: mammal

Posted by: ben.rogers

Improve safety... I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means.

I'm pretty skeptical, and very interested in how the builders are involved.

Same. TIme will tell! At least it's something? Anything's better than bulldoze/close down.

THIS

Its a good test case. If we end up with pressure to turn the zone into Espressos, then the builders are out and NSMBA will have to make a decision to stand firm or not - right now we need to trust that people will follow through with what they said. I believe that they will.

We will be fine as long as everyone stands united.

This zone was a good choice to start with because you can start with a small number of trails that see a lot of traffic, and the risk of a pedestrian bike 1v1 were higher. Plus, its above the 1200 ft line which means that its not impacting development in any way.

This was the right move to do right now. I agree that there are risks, but you cant discount the possibility that we would wake up one day and those trails would be closed for whatever reason. This avoids that.

Its a good test case as well - who knows where this can lead and at least its not full steam ahead with all the trails before we see how it plays out.

I can speak to a number of your questions.

Does "improved safety" mean dumbing down those trails? Response: this is a risk but there are a number of safeguards in place. DWV very much wanted NSMBA involved in this and NSMBA was firm in that it would not get involved without support of the local builders. Locals are excited about the prospects for this project but were ONLY willing to support it if the character of the trails remained the same (not dumbed down) and we also included the strict criteria that the current builders must be offered paid work for these trails (no stripping of trails to give to different builders). Without those two, there would be no local support and NSMBA would therefore not be involved and DWV would be out of luck with it all. As would BPP, who is attracted to this project because it shifts potential (although likely nil) liability to DWV for these trails. There might be adjustments, but these trails were agreed to stay as rowdy DH trails and not turn into Espresso on Cypress. That said, I imagine that there will be some saying that they should become more usable for a greater number of people, that is however not what was agreed to.

You need to start somewhere - lets see if people stay true to what they agreed to - we need to give everyone the benefit of the doubt if we want to make progress.

Personally, Im stoked on the idea of a climb trail there. I hate the road and with a new climber in there I might actually venture to Cypress East now and then. Land ownership is a bit of a checkerboard in the area of where the climb trail is headed, so it might get complicated. The days of only DH bikes on those trails are gone - so those with pedalable big bikes might love this new option!

I don’t have a date for when that multiuse trail will go in but it could be started as early as next year. I don’t know yet. 

And so you know, the easier trails we are talking about are SOB and SexGirl and DC. Removing those also destroys the feeders that go into the proposed MTB area, which contains Trunk Monkey and S&M and difficult terrain between. 

Construction of Cypress Village starts next year. There will be parts of it that don’t start for quite awhile still you are right but the main part does start next year.

The results of these surveys matter and will matter soon. Counsel uses them as a guide to approve  or modify development plans.

Posted by: craw

Wow their plan doesn't leave much behind. I liked the original idea of a commercial center at the first switchback. A place to go after a ride and have a coffee or a beer. Once they eliminate most of the trails I won't be coming to Cypress for any reason.

edit: sorry I can't seem to get the photo thing to work.

Correct - the area around the first Switchback is a lost cause BUT theres absolutely no reason why they need to reach above that 1200ft line with a bike path that nobody needs. Think about this: they want to put a gentler climb up Cypress than BLT and they are destroying the easier trails in the process. Makes no sense as I dont know anyone who has a problem climbing BLT AND by the time this is put in place ebikes will likely flood the mountain and theyre already able to go straight up BLT at 30kph+ (a few times).

I think that this path was considered with good intentions but its very damaging, unnecessary and, unfortunately, misguided.

EDIT: I also dont mind and might even enjoy the area around the first switchback. It could be a lot of fun, and we sure could use an additional vibrant area in West Van. BUT this death by a thousand cuts will leave us with nothing eventually; it needs to stop at the 1200ft line.

DWV has opened a new survey regarding the future of Cypress Village. Please find it and supporting information here: https://www.westvancouverite.ca/upperlands

There have been some things floating around social media pointing out that Single Lane Traffic and Roach Hit are being proposed to turn into pedestrian paths, and that's correct, but there are less obvious implications that I feel people need to be aware of before they take the survey.

Firstly, please be aware that this land is owned by BPP and it has a right to develop it, but ONLY below 1200ft. BPP is prohibited from developing above that elevation; it will be very difficult to present a credible argument for trails below 1200ft. Not sure how we can save Wutang, SLT, RH and the bottom of 5th. My strong suggestion is to pick our battles and focus on whats happening above 1200ft. It might not look like anything, but look again.

My biggest concern is the creation of a Multiuse Path (in light blue) that uses BLT/PowerLine Rd but circumvents the steepest grades on it for shallower routes, many of which are occupied by trails.

It might not look like it at first glance, but this multiuse path:

• takes out SOB completely,

• takes out middle SexGirl completely,

• it crosses PullTab near the bottom, and

• uses the same line occupied by the top of Roach Clip.

• It then goes on to use the same route as some stuff that doesnt appear on TF.

Net result is that we are loosing at least three additional mid-level trails that were not part of the discussion prior on top of all the ones below 1200ft. Aside, because the new multiuse trail seeks out the shallowest grades, its selectively hitting the "easier" lines on Cypress too. Those who want to ride more gentle grade trails are loosing those options.

Please consider the above when you take the survey. Questions 5 and 6 directly relate to your support of the recreational paths being proposed, and the seemingly benign but extremely damaging multiuse path is part of that.

Its hard to follow but Ive superimposed a transparent TF maps onto DWV Plannings map for your enjoyment.

I think that asking yourself if you want 29+ tire capability is a legit question for a hardtail.

So good, but not for everyone!

Quick Update on the Spire.

Its working well for what I want - a confidence inspiring bike that you can pedal up. It feels like it has a trailer in tow when Im peddaling up but Im not that much slower than my hardtail (maybe 10/15%), and now my hardtail feels like a rocket. The Spire climbs faster than my legs feel it does.

Its doing what I hoped - getting me back into some sketchier moves that would cause me to pause (or skip them entirely) on the HT. Im using every mm of the travel, which is a shock to me, and Ive even jacked the rear pressure 10% or more over recommended. It feels a bit harsh on smaller fast hits but I think that I can dial most of that out by reducing tire pressure a bit (running 30 now, probably go to about 25).

The bike is easy to settle into. Nothing bizarre about it as its well balanced front/rear. Im learning to trust it more and just give'er and not think too hard about what lies ahead. Its amazing that a 63* long and low bike can ride as well as it does on a trail; I guess alot of that is because its reasonably light and its seat tube is really steep. I do not find that its a fast bike - it does not feel like it wants to run away from me. It feels fine in the the jank. Pedal strikes are rare now, partially I think because Im climbing higher in the travel than before due to the higher pressures.

Spec is good. Had I not fallen in love with the color I probably would have bought the alloy to save a bunch of coin, but hell yeah that color did it for me.

Those RAAWs are great looking bikes! I really like'em

The weight probably isnt that bad compared to many (possibly even most). There are plenty of 38ish lb trail bikes looping the Shore these days, although theyre more like 170/180 bikes than short travel 29rs. They might not climb fast but they climb well - lots of traction - comfy position, etc...

The only thing better than new bike day is new bike day with a bike that almost no one else has!