The MTB Thread

Picked up 2 2018 Trek Sessions and have been loving them. What's the best place in Calgary to get serviced?

I just got into DH this summer and have ridden 4 mountains so far. This is my list from most favorite to least;

Big White
Silverstar
Fernie
Kicking Horse

Big White's trails had the most flow. There was one run called Dark Roast that was just awesome. Berms were built well over 12' tall in some places and the speed you could get through there was mind blowing.

Silverstars trails were the most fun. Tons of jumps, berms and features.

Fernie was good. The trails weren't very well maintained and I found the mountain a bit difficult to navigate without a local showing me a few things.

Kicking Horse was just gnarly, a the blacks were much harder than the other mountains I rode and found the terrain to be a lot more technical and challenging.

Wife and I are already planning a DH trip in our Vanagon. Figure we will hit up Sun Peaks - Whistler - Coast Gravity Park and then down to California to check out the mountains there.

Fuck am I pumped about the sport.

Glad you're enjoying it! Congrats on the new bikes.

Is kicking horse still full of brake bumps? That's the only thing I didn't like about that mountain, they never maintained the trails and my hands couldn't take the ridiculous amount of shaking/impact from the millions upon millions of washboard brake bumps. Great in every other way though. Haven't been in several years though.

I think most of the major bike shops in the city are pretty good, especially if you just need a tune up. Some places offer free tune ups for life depending where you bought your bikes.

I use Pedalhead in the SW (Avenida) but I am also friends with the owners so I might be biased. They do genuinely good work though and are great people. Downtown you also have The Bike Shop and in the NW you have Bow Cycle.

Panorama is similar. I went on the long weekend and came back with bruised palms and claw like fingers. haha braking bumps going into table tops.

the Greens feels like a blue. The blues feel like blacks at whistler and the double blacks are insane.

I did really enjoy it as I felt like I learned a lot about front tire placement in line selection. Whistler didn't really require thinking about it.

Also rode way steeper terrain than I would normally walk down. I might even buy a seasons pass to Pano to up my skills.

Thanks! I'll check out Pedalhead since it's close to me.

Yeah, Kicking Horse is still full of brake bumps. We had planned for 2 days of riding but ended up just chilling out on the second day because my wife couldn't grip her bars after day 1. Planning on heading back this Sunday or next Sunday because it looks like it's the only mountain open after September 2nd?

Pano on the list now too.

I used to get the claw-hand from braking too much too, just because you're so often on the brakes and squeezing pretty hard. After a few hours of that + brake bumps it starts to take a toll. This was a while ago now but at the time I thought upgrading to larger twin piston Code brakes would help, and $600 later it did not haha. Just part of the sport I guess - need to take some breaks to let yourself recover.

Panorama was my favorite place, especially "Hells Bells" if they still have that route. Basically a big flowy course with a bunch of table tops. Also being easily day trippable from Calgary, it was our go-to spot.

the brake bumps on the take offs were on hells bells.

I have Saints. Pano is just harder core than I'm used to.

What are some of the best trails around Calgary?

Race of Spades looks like fun @ Moose Mountain.

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Originally Posted by BavarianBeast

What are some of the best trails around Calgary?

Race of Spades looks like fun @ Moose Mountain.

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You will be hiking a lot with a Session on Race of Spades. It's more of an Enduro trail (in my opinion) than Downhill.

I'd hit up anything on the west side of the Moose access road. Jean Guy, Shaft, T-dub. Another good trail with no walking would be 727.

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What's the best place in Calgary to get serviced?

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I can recommend The Inside Line Mountain Bike Service for that - all they do is mountain bikes, the guys there are crazy knowledgeable and super friendly - I don't have free services anywhere anymore so they now get 100% of my business.

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Originally Posted by GreyFox

I can recommend The Inside Line Mountain Bike Service for that - all they do is mountain bikes, the guys there are crazy knowledgeable and super friendly - I don't have free services anywhere anymore so they now get 100% of my business.

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Cam is a great guy with tons of experience in the bike industry as well!

This has likely been asked before, but does anyone know why Sunshine, LL, Nakiska or Norquay have not embraced lift access Mountain Biking? I've heard that it is a major part of Whistler's income and it wouldn't be where it is now without the summer season.

LL summer gondola was not busy the 2 times I have been up it. Is it the national park restricting it?

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Originally Posted by benyl

This has likely been asked before, but does anyone know why Sunshine, LL, Nakiska or Norquay have not embraced lift access Mountain Biking? I've heard that it is a major part of Whistler's income and it wouldn't be where it is now without the summer season.

LL summer gondola was not busy the 2 times I have been up it. Is it the national park restricting it?

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I would assume its something to do with being in a National Park and they want to limit impact to the natural environment.

Most of sunshine, LL and Norquay are summer use areas for elk and bears, so are off limits for biking under their lease. Assume it doesn’t meet Nakiskas lease requirement with AEP in Kananaskis

Getting the new bikes a once-over at inside line. They'll swap it over to a tubeless (has tubeless ready tires and rims) for $100.. worth it? Worth it at this point of year?

Just buy the sealant and valves (might have them already) and do it yourself in the spring, assuming the rims are taped (probably are). Your sealant will dry off during the winter, so no point now. Definitely tubeless over tubes though.

Its been a fun year of riding, and I've found myself to definitely favor flowy XC trail, but that may mostly be due to my bike... even with 1x, solid brakes, dropper, wide handlebars and 2.35 x 29 tires, that you just can't do things you can with a midfat or let alone full suspension

I picked up a Dirt Jumper, and its been fun working on my air sense and playing at the pump tracks. I have definitely have found riding pump tracks to be beneficial to maintaining good rhythm, learning to really push through berms and timing for jumps.

My jumping is something I've done since a kid, and its improved as I've spent more time in the saddle... however my wheelie and manual skills are definitely left to be desired, and as I was getting comfortable with roosting, the last time I ended skidding on my elbows lol...

On my buddy's Scott Genius, I am a roosting machine... but I think that's to do with the long wheelbase and being able to really load up the front wheel in a turn... on my short wheelbase 29 hardtail, it just seems to want to pivot and turn.

So, I think this leads me onto looking for a new bike for 2020... but my checklist is pretty simple. I'm a bit strange but I like climbing, and as you spend 2/3's of the time gaining elevation most of the time, I need a bike that can climb. Though I'm not one to just bomb down rock gardens and roots, or clear big tables... I want something that is stable even if I hit bad lines, and a bike that I'm not always feathering the rear brake.
I need something that can give me more confidence with climbing or descending off camber with roots...

I think that a trail bike would give me good practicality and forgiveness, so I can go ride a XC trail, or even shuttle it down moose, but I think I'd rather lean more towards a good FS XC bike than a trail geometry bike.

I'm thinking that a good 120/100 "down country" 29er with good Fox 34 forks, 68.5 deg head angle and 29x2.4/2.5 tires would be pretty much ideal for my style of riding... perfect for flowey XC trails, and good enough to go down technical descents as long as I'm careful with the lines.

Also... I want to improve my manual and wheelie skills... watched all the youtube, and with my DJ as the wheelbase is so short, I find I flip back way waaaay too fast. Anyone here recommend if there are good bike schools or coaches I could ask to give me lessons?

Also, just rode a buddy's new Chromag build... full Chromag fubars, stem, seat, grips (all the bling), X01 drivetrain & crank, Fox factory 36 150 and 27.5 x 2.8... WOW... it doesn't feel like any midfat I've demo'd or road at all... from my bud's Pantera elite (with upgraded bars, stem and brakes), Marlin Pine, to the Honzo... and yes I was obsessed with mid-fats for a while, this Chromag felt just different. This bike felt, even with its insane slack angle, very agile, fast and lively. Maybe its just a combo of these parts, but I think the frame is really something else.

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Originally Posted by r3ccOs

Its been a fun year of riding, and I've found myself to definitely favor flowy XC trail, but that may mostly be due to my bike... even with 1x, solid brakes, dropper, wide handlebars and 2.35 x 29 tires, that you just can't do things you can with a midfat or let alone full suspension

I picked up a Dirt Jumper, and its been fun working on my air sense and playing at the pump tracks. I have definitely have found riding pump tracks to be beneficial to maintaining good rhythm, learning to really push through berms and timing for jumps.

My jumping is something I've done since a kid, and its improved as I've spent more time in the saddle... however my wheelie and manual skills are definitely left to be desired, and as I was getting comfortable with roosting, the last time I ended skidding on my elbows lol...

On my buddy's Scott Genius, I am a roosting machine... but I think that's to do with the long wheelbase and being able to really load up the front wheel in a turn... on my short wheelbase 29 hardtail, it just seems to want to pivot and turn.

So, I think this leads me onto looking for a new bike for 2020... but my checklist is pretty simple. I'm a bit strange but I like climbing, and as you spend 2/3's of the time gaining elevation most of the time, I need a bike that can climb. Though I'm not one to just bomb down rock gardens and roots, or clear big tables... I want something that is stable even if I hit bad lines, and a bike that I'm not always feathering the rear brake.
I need something that can give me more confidence with climbing or descending off camber with roots...

I think that a trail bike would give me good practicality and forgiveness, so I can go ride a XC trail, or even shuttle it down moose, but I think I'd rather lean more towards a good FS XC bike than a trail geometry bike.

I'm thinking that a good 120/100 "down country" 29er with good Fox 34 forks, 68.5 deg head angle and 29x2.4/2.5 tires would be pretty much ideal for my style of riding... perfect for flowey XC trails, and good enough to go down technical descents as long as I'm careful with the lines.

Also... I want to improve my manual and wheelie skills... watched all the youtube, and with my DJ as the wheelbase is so short, I find I flip back way waaaay too fast. Anyone here recommend if there are good bike schools or coaches I could ask to give me lessons?

Also, just rode a buddy's new Chromag build... full Chromag fubars, stem, seat, grips (all the bling), X01 drivetrain & crank, Fox factory 36 150 and 27.5 x 2.8... WOW... it doesn't feel like any midfat I've demo'd or road at all... from my bud's Pantera elite (with upgraded bars, stem and brakes), Marlin Pine, to the Honzo... and yes I was obsessed with mid-fats for a while, this Chromag felt just different. This bike felt, even with its insane slack angle, very agile, fast and lively. Maybe its just a combo of these parts, but I think the frame is really something else.

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Get the new Tallboy.

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Originally Posted by bigboom

Get the new Tallboy.

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Agreed.

It's like they built the other side of the spectrum from the Nomad.

Nomad = Can climb, goes downhill like a DH bike.
Tallboy = Climbs like a mofo, can go downhill.

Heading out tomorrow for a huge trip!

Going to ride Sun Peaks --> Whistler --> Coast Gravity Park --> Mount Seven.

Can't fuckin wait.

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Originally Posted by benyl

Agreed.

It's like they built the other side of the spectrum from the Nomad.

Nomad = Can climb, goes downhill like a DH bike.
Tallboy = Climbs like a mofo, can go downhill.

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I am thinking TB, Epic and Fuel