Ddean profile

Everything needs to be considered in context. When you shred the Shore like Graham does, parts break.

Great review. Great bike. The wheels would probably be fine outside of BC :)

Following up on this I wanted to check out the battery situation of these new un-corded lights - I cant find it anywhere. This is surprising to me as battery power is one of the most critical aspects of the equation. Perhaps Outbound justifies this by having the abi;lity to charge during the ride via USB? This way perhaps they can make lightweight lights (using smaller batteries) and if run time isnt great, buy the spare and cord it and have tons of power? 

The batteries on my Ultimate DH are 6400mAH on each the helmet and the bars. The battery pack alone weighs far more than the Hangover light and battery (and mount!). Math suggests that Hangover gives up a ton versus the helmet mount from the Ultimate DH (which is a Road Edition with a gopro mount mated to the bar mount trail edition).

Perhaps the new un-corded set up with a spare battery (or two) would be the ultimate in flexibility - bring the spare(s) when you might need them - dont if you wont and enjoy no cords?

All this talk of lights makes me want to get out and use them soon!

I ride with last years Ultimate DH kit. ADORE IT.

I personally dont mind cables, especially on the helmet where its easy to throw the battery in your back pocket or pack, but I understand the preference to not to if you dont mind fewer amp hours on the helmet light. To me, its simple math: if you want battery power you have to carry that weight somewhere and its better to have good power connected via cable than less power carried on your helmet (big battery vs smaller battery).

The quality of my Ultimate DH kit is incredible. The light is powerful and relentless. Ive had zero issues. 10/10 for me

Agree that the gopro mounted light on the helmet is a must these days! Morgan, gopro mounts stick on - no straps to worry about!

Personally, I feel that the security of a cabled helmet battery is helpful as you can carry a spare and worry less about rationing power. That said, the cord is a pain sometimes.  I would also worry that you have to decrease battery size so much for it to be tolerable to carry the battery on the helmet. The cable allows you to put the battery in your pack.

I ride with the Outbound Ultimate DH kit myself. 

BTW - if you wait for blackfriday, a bunch of the manufacturers are likely to have deals on lights.

Its a different day when the rogue actions actually set out to re-gnar a trail. As you all know, Bookwus is fairly unique on Fromme - barely armored - janky rocks and roots - that plank is terrifying - but my impression is that what is most unique is that Bookwus is a gnarly dirt/loam trail that is on the map and authorized!

The rogue actions described all seem to be pointed at reducing the traffic on the trail. Sign removal. Modifying the bits that de-janked it somewhat or improved the experience for most. Making Bookwus a more enjoyable trail seems to be exactly the opposite of whomever is doing this wants. Keep it less visible and make it unpleasant for those who choose to ride it - thats the goal it seems.

Or perhaps the goal is to keep it from evolving into something that looks like 7th? If Bookwus becomes more fun for more people, it will eventually become armored just like the rest. And then we have lost Bookwus.

Zero excuse for removing the trail work of authorized trail workers on an authorized trail - that is BS. But this is probably a symptom as you dont have to look too far on the Shore to realize that people are struggling with how many of the authorized trails have evolved. Armored trails are still gnarly (and fun) but they're a different experience than Bookwus in my opinion. Never an excuse for the entitled actions of this/these person/people however; its not their trail!

I would throw my vote into the hat to protect the janky not armored experience of Bookwus, and that might infact mean keeping it very low traffic. It also means not riding it when wet, which Im guessing whomever is doing this feels that they're entitled to do also. There are two ways to avoid armor - keep traffic low and keep traffic off it entirely in the wet.

Perhaps Bookwus should be officially closed in the rainy season? That is probably the best way to keep the armor off it, if that is infact the concern. Id support that to protect the experience that is Bookwus.

Loved 

Trail dogs make the world a better place regardless of where they came from but this is especially great because the lives of these dogs is also so much better than they otherwise would be have been.

Well done to all those who make the efforts to change a dogs life.

Exactly.

Those who built and are maintaining those trails (they do not maintain themselves) put them behind a big climb for exactly that reason - access was a squirrel catcher limiting traffic and thereby limiting the effort required to maintain the trail to something manageable. I would hope that those on ebikes would respect the builders and other keepers of the trails wishes if no ebiking signs show up on them. Some might say that the builders cant legally keep ebikes off any trails, and they'd be right, but they didnt build the trail and probably havent helped maintain it. If they did, they would almost certainly respect the builders wishes.

Theres a place for ebikes for sure,  but its not in sensitive areas where those who are caring for the trails chose the location specifically to limit traffic. Its also not where Rocky has done a few of their promotions.

In follow up, Im not talking about authorized trails such as 7th that might be viewed by some as having a difficult climb infront of it. 7th is exactly where ebikes should be in my view.

Nice unbiased review from someone who clearly is discussing from a traditional MTBr perspective.

BUT, and its a big but, I dont know why when folks are discussing ebikes that the first thing they do is go directly to the zones that are most at risk from ebikes. I wont highlight but you did a bit of that in this.

Rocky however is the WORST for this. I love that brand and have had a few of their bikes (have one now!) but am very conflicted because almost every promotional video for ebikes Ive seen from them is from a zone that is protected by a nasty and unpleasant climb that keeps traffic out (by design). They are giving the builders in those zones (and those who maintain those zones) a giant middle finger, saying "we are going to sell bikes to people who otherwise would not put the effort to access your trails and we are going to give them a way around your protections and we will profit and we dont give a rats ass about why you built these trails where you did". Rocky, please stop.  Should ebikes bridge that gap, these zones will be doomed.  If the ebikes could stay in unthreatening places, that would be ideal for all.

My Naked has a short rear end like this one does and perhaps that’s one of the things that makes it a bit more demanding to ride - as in you MUST be hard and dynamic on the bars or the front will wash out.

But once you do that - MY GOD. 

Hard on the bars. Always. Maybe it’s one of those things you need to try or maybe it’s not for everyone.

Go buy good gaming computer and Oculus RiftS VR goggles. Download DCS World. Download your choice of aircraft. Kiss the next 1000 hours of your life goodbye

YOUTUBE it.

Expensive, like every other great place to live in the world. My thought is also that Vancouver is only even considered expensive because local salaries are not as high as other "expensive" places to live in the world. Im not sure the rest of the world thinks Vancouver is as expensive to live in as locals do.

It might fluctuate around the mean, but Vancouver will likely stay expensive. I think that salaries will adjust. A 100 year mortgage is not uncommon in Europe. People from all over the world want to live in Vancouver so if there is an adjustment that changes Vancouvers realestate versus elsewhere, theyll flood in and stabilize the market.

For example, do you think that Toronto will overtake Vancouver in real estate prices? Do you think that Vancouver will go down while Toronto goes higher? Aside from local shocks such as what we saw when empty homes and foreign buyer taxes were introduced, I cant invision a scenario (aside from natural disasters) where people would pay more for a Toronto house than the same Vancouver house so I would say that Vancouver will trade at a premium to Toronto for the foreseeable future. So then you have to ask will Canadian real-estate take a dive relative to the rest of the world. I think that Canadian realestate is probably growing in attractiveness, not decreasing.

Vancouver real estate is not a bubble. It might go down in the future, possibly even by a lot, but relative to the rest of the world I think it will be stable or potentially even becoming stronger.

Pretty clear from the NSMBA AGM tonight that they’re not a part of the discussion as it relates to DNVs modifications to these trails. 

Dales to Forever After is amazing. Love it on a hardtail even more.

District of West Van is looking for guidance from user groups on how to move forward with development on Cypress (the area of the first switchback is termed "Cypress Village").

This survey applies to all of us and not just DWV residents, or even those whose primary riding area is Cypress. We are all invited to fill out the survey. This is great as the more mountain bikers fill this out and note that they mountain bike on Cypress, the more power our voice has.

As you know, the landowner is keen to move forward with large scale development plans in Cypress Village and the District is asking how user groups would like that to look. I know that bike traffic on Cypress was WAY up this year, so this is coming at a good time for us - we want to make sure that DWV knows that there are way more bikes on Cypress than they think, that our user group matters and importantly, we hope to leave everyone with a perception that the development plans on Cypress will benefit from inclusion of mountain bikers and mountain bike trails.

Being realistic, there is going to be considerable development and the development will have a significant impact on all the MTB trails in that immediate area. Full stop.

BUT this is our opportunity to, as a community, make it known that the Mountain Biking Trails matter to a large number of people and that mountain bikers (and the trails) need to be considered in the plan. And it would be even better if our user group was considered as one that could provide significant benefits to the outcome of the project long-term.

Think about, in a post Covid world (if there is such a thing), bikers having a pub to go to in the Village. Maybe some authorized trails to get you there. Bike wash stations (Alan B has been petitioning for one to be installed in the area soon and its already looking good!), coffee shops...whatever. Picture something like a scaled back Whistler Village at the bottom of Cypress. CYPRESS CAN HAVE ITS OWN DUMPSTERS!!!! The development is going to happen so lets have a voice in how it turns out! Lets not miss this chance to provide constructive input.

The main page is here: https://www.westvancouverite.ca/upperlands

It contains the history of the discussion as well as the background material for your review should you wish prior to completing the survey.

The Survey is at the bottom of the page. It is not long and will only take minutes to complete. You can preview the survey HERE

NOTE: Question 8 in the survey asks how you use the land - Mountain Biking is listed - having MTB included in that list is a testament to the hard work by Alan B and others for well over a decade. Having our user group listed shows that we are on the right track. Thank you Alan.

Please ask anyone who cares about Cypress to fill out the form! The more that do, the better for us.

My Naked gets around that (I have a 200mm dropper on it) by having the bolts reversed and pointing outwards. The bolts are outward facing and the cage is secured by bling bling nuts.

What a run.

God Speed Alex

I despise the GOP puppets who have allowed their country to fall from great standing to poor standing in just a few short years, but they will have their day of wreckoning and those who eventually turn that tire fire down south around will not forget those who sold out; when that day is, who knows.

I trust Vegas odds more than the polls as money figures out Electorial Colleges better than algorhythms. Last time I checked on the loser conceding, the tape said that no one will concede by the 13th (the latest date option, which either means no one concedes or it takes at least that long).

It is going to be a wild couple weeks, regardless of what happens on election night. If Trump is ahead,  you will see him try to call it then and there. If he is losing badly, he will try to declare the election a fraud and move for a do-over. If Trump does win, either on election day or any point after, the left is going to fight for their country in the streets. State ECs in a number of key states could vote against their citizens. Pelosi could dissolve the Senate to prevent ECs from being recorded. We could actually see two people show up to be sworn in on inauguration day! Then what? No one knows.

Whatever happens, it is going to be fascinating and a story for all of our grand kids.

If military vehicles are on the lawn of the White House, which direction do you think they will be pointing?

^Progression still matters to you - which is awesome. It may always or perhaps your priorities will change one day; there's no wrong answer. People's priorities are what they are on any given day and people are allowed to change them whenever they want!

The only thing that matters is that people get to do what they want. Im glad that I get to ride with some absolutely incredible riders, who are also great people, and they dont care whether I skip stuff or not. Its all about the great times on bikes!

^Yup

And once you hit that realization, the "reward" from doing those things disappears too. Ive been hurt bad enough and it hasnt impacted me professionally; I came to the realization that it was just a matter of time, and thats not an acceptable outcome to me. I now have no shame in skipping stuff  because in the bigger picture, my family has bills and Im the only one with a job!

So now I get (and seek) my rewards elsewhere - great rides alone or with great people - specific features mean nothing to me and whether or not I clean something sketchy or that I havent cleaned before is almost irrelevant to me unless its a critical part of a trail that otherwise provides a great experience.

People who get their rush from progression have a different approach, or perhaps havent yet reached the personal situation where things matter more than progression.

The weird thing is that people think that by doing outrageous stuff that it will somehow change their future. It wont! People will high five you that day and call you a hero on the gram, but none of it matters. It might matter to you that day you cleaned something wicked but at some point in the future you too will forget.

If you're in Squamish and not in that circle, Id question if you are really in Squamish and wonder what possible reason you could have for being outside of that circle.

God I love Pipeline. It’s a real MTB trail! Janky in parts. Rough in parts. Roots and rocks in all the inconvenient places. Love it. 

Thanks Silk.