Some great ideas here – hadn’t thought of Grenoble, and Cape Town might make a lot of sense. I won’t say what the business is because while I’m still investigating its feasibility I don’t want any competition! Let’s just say that while I need a lot of space, it is a lifestyle business.

Cape Town (S Africa in general) is one the few places in the world that I said I’d never go back to.

Beautiful place, but when I was there in 99 the underlying tension was horrible. And bearing in mind that the whites seem to live in gated communities with guards etc, I’d question how safe it would be for a lone MTBer on several £1000s of bike.

we all know the nearest is to you is Bristol, amazingly friendly to bike riders. So I’ve read…

Portland Oregon is very bike friendly and, from what I have seen of it on the few visits I’ve had there, looks really chilled with great beer (micro-breweries) and food. Also Friburg Germany is bike friendly with great big hills on your doorstep.

Munich

Anywhere allong the Med coast?

Anywhere allong the Californian coast?

Most of China?

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge areas of Russia?

not touristy,and not exaclty temperate but the riding in the Stans looks to have potential for awesomenesss!

no, not munich… i live here. it’s not THAT great for riding.

i was in Freiburg over the weekend and am trying to convince the GF to look for work there. it’s puppies testicles as far as biking goes.

Yeah Barçelona. If I din’t live in London, I’d love to live there. Nice and warm, nice people, great architecture and art and stuff, lively, young, open-minded, exciting. And some cracking trails right near the city, Pyrenees only a train or car ride away, strong MTB and roadie scene. Oh, and a fantastic footie team what stuffed Man U recently…. 🙂

Dublin?

Perth (WA) is not compact. ~25km from the CBD to the trails. A bit less if you live on the Eastern side of town. Industrial units would be on that side of town as well. V hot in the summer.

Canberra has great local trails but does get cold (for Oz) in the winter. Not a great place to live though.

Brisbane could be your answer.