jaydubmah profile

So much respect to Remy - he clearly has the skills and most importantly, the vision, to make these lines happen.

Great article! I too have fond memories of the MEC of yesteryear. The biannual paper catalog  was eagerly awaited and there was a feeling in the physical stores that this was a "different" kind of place to shop. You're not just a customer - you're a member!   

To me, the first sign of things going bad were the electorate mailouts. It used to be a list of people expressing their platform and why they should become a board member. It was all very open and grassroots. 

But then one year,  certain candidates in the mailout were "endorsed" by the board. What a joke! From then on, the MEC board was an insider club. If people weren't aligned with the current board, they would never get in. Well, that string of continuity led to a Canadian feel-good story dying an ugly death.

The thing that really steams me is that all these board members that engineered MEC's demise are able to hide in faceless obscurity. I wonder how they sleep at night knowing their deluded vision crushed a Canadian icon?

I was running a Chromag Fubar 35 aluminum bar on a hardtail, and my elbows were killing me! Switched over to the One Up carbon bar, and I can definitely say that it's more compliant and takes a lot of the edge off. Paired with their One Up grips - I've been super happy. 

Those Oneup lads know a thing or two!

Great article! It's fascinating to see how technique is influenced by evolution in gear - much like how ski instruction has evolved greatly with the advent of shaped skis, etc.  It sounds like one of the things that really helped was having a timing system to get instant feedback.

Freelap looks great, but it's pretty pricey. Curious if anyone knows of some other affordable timing options?

Hi Cooper - thanks for writing! I totally understand there are situations where a trail needs to be modified in the name of safety. I just want that work done by the people that created the trail / or an actual trail organization that sees the big picture.

I'm based out in the Bow Valley (as opposed to the shore), and there's been too many incidents of random riders who feel they are entitled to modify a trail to their liking.

This is a great article. For those of you who feel motivated to modify a trail beyond it's original intent (ie, dumbing it down), please STOP. Even if you feel it's in the name of safety, etc - your perspective is wrong. 

Just because you can't ride something, doesn't mean that others cannot - and there are a lot of riders out there who look forward to figuring out these challenges. 

To frame this arrogance in perspective, it would be like a 5.10 climber showing up at a crag and gluing holds onto all the hard routes that they couldn't do. Not cool.

Hi there. I spent all of last summer and fall riding a new geo bike and didn't find my upper body getting more fatigued relative to my old bike. (From a size large Ibis HD3 to a size medium Pole Machine). If anything, I had the opposite. As an overall package, the bike just fit better. It felt better for the climbs, and preserved energy for the downs.

As a Canadian customer, I didn't actually pay any duty / taxes to bring my frame in. Just picked it up from Canada Post.

I'm based in Canmore, but have had a chance to put some big days in Vernon, Squamish and Whistler. Cheers!

I've had my Machine for the last 6 weeks and have a ton of rides into it. While it's still early days - I love the bike. 

My previous bike was an Ibis HD3 - so, I was expecting a big change adapting to the wheelsize and geometry. Honestly, it didn't take long to get used to it. For comparisons, I find the Machine to be flat out faster and with the steep STA a superior climber. As far as fun factor - it's a riot. While it's a bit less nimble than the HD3, it's still a lively bike and the added stability opens up other kinds of fun through being faster.

I agree that $5600CDN is eye-wateringly expensive for a frame. I took a chance on the kickstarter, and got my frameset for approx $4100, which is in-line with many carbon options I was looking at. 

Personally, I love how it looks, the machining is gorgeous and having 2 bottle mounts is awesome. In a world where the big manufacturers do small, conservative iterative design changes (the jaded part of me thinks it's planned obsolescence and milking the consumer), I think it's kinda cool that we can get stuff from small players that is more out there.