What tyres for Canada? Mrdomino says I can have his Maxxis High Rollers, will they do?

How should I protect my bike best against baggage handler aggression? Never flown with a bike before.

What shall I take I can't easily pick up in Canada (have a mech hanger to take with me). Have mostly XT/XTR stuff on my Rocky Mountain ETSX so not anticipating that any spares would be difficult to get hold of but Mrdomino has Formula brakes.

Only two weeks on Sunday to go – any suggestions of great rides you've done in B.C and Alberta?

Banff to Canmore is a nice ride. Loads of bike shops in Canmore too (Alta) Never ridden BC tho, except round Stanley park which was arse… Canadian baggage handlers aren't the best – practically threw my skis at me !

Cheers r_r – we have three nights booked in Canmore so will look to do that ride.

BC and Alberta cover quite an expanse of land. Maybe you could specify what parts of it you are visiting

Canmore to Banff via goat creek is beautiful but not demanding. more tech is go up same climb then turn left at the dam wall. hike a bike for a while then plummet earthward

easy tom snow trail
hard race of spades – both kananaskis from station flatts

Fernie is amazing too

tyres – I ride mostly trail raker mud tyres cos it whats on my bike – I'm still alive

I've just been playing with similar questions for a week in the Alps. As for spares, take anything that is unique to your bike. I took a mech hanger, spd cleats and a bikes worth of pads. I assumed everything else would be availible locally.

As for tyres, often the best bet if you're thinking of getting new ones is see what people are using when you get out there. They'll be the best people to tell you what works. I was surprised in the Alps that it all seemed to be maxxis, I was expecting a lot more Michlin and Continental which suggests people seek out what works rather than just getting what's easy.

As for packing the bike, get a big box from the local bike shop and a spare. Reinforce the sides. I covered my entire box in parcel tape to make it shower proof and reinforced the bottom with duck tape just to help where they drag the boxes. Don't forget to remove the wheel skewer as this is the bit most likely to poke through the box. I took stem off, rotors off, rear mecjh off, pedals off, brake calipers off and front wheel off (brace the front wheel) and made it both ways unscathed (although the box took a battering).

HTH.

Some top notch riding around Fernie. We rode with some of the guys from Fernie Fat Tyre (now Sacred Rides) : http://www.sacredrides.com/

Note : If you spend a day with lad called Eddie (looked about 12 when we were there), don't try to keep up with him on the climbs, even if he's on a 8" Santa Cruz and you've got an XC bike!

BC and Alberta are too big and diverse to comment on tyres specifically, but you won't be going too far wrong if you go for 2.3" High Rollers. Pack a set of DH tubes if you are going to be riding the techier trails. That'll get you up and down most things.

I'd certainly buy Formula pads before you come out. Not many people run them over here. Maybe get Shimano ones too as they are best part of 40 bucks for the proper Shimano pads here anyway so maybe the likes of CRC will be cheaper.

Thanks for the tips.

Specific locations: Canmore, Fernie, (possibly Nelson), Golden/Kicking Horse, somewhere between there and Whistler, possibly Kamloops. Then on to Whistler (where I AM hiring a downhill bike and riding the park :-0 – will also be doing other trails too) and then the Sunshine Coast.

totally NBR but drive the icefields parkway between banff and jasper, essential if you're in the area although it will take two days out of your holiday. As for tires, high rollers should be fine for almost everything, ST ones would be better, sounds like an awesome trip, have fun.

Defo make a trip to Nelson and buy the sacred ride trail map. Take a ride up Svoboda road and do a loop of Log jam, then on up and do Paper Bag.One of the best days riding of my life.

Thanks rs – we did that last time so we are trying different places this time, am lucky that this will be my third trip. Not been to Calgary before but only have one night there too.

Harper Mountain near Kamloops has some really sweet, fast trails. Same for Kelowna but they might have all gone up in smoke by now….
As for Whistler, yeah rAd it up in teh Park, but for XC, personally I'd go to Squamish instead.

Actually, looking at your dates, we might possibly be at Kicking Horse on the same day :lol:. My wife and I are going on a non-biking road trip which just happens to go past Silver Star and Kicking Horse so it'd be rude not to throw the bike in the van (I wonder who planned the route….).

Thanks for the feedback, am making notes ready for the trip.

Walleater – yes, there seems to be a fair few fires raging now 🙁 Can you tell me more about Squamish, do you need to know someone local, or go guided or will a friendly bike shop be able to point out some trails. XC is more my thing anyways but I enjoyed riding the park so much last time.

It would be rude not too 😉 Does your wife ride too?

Are you still working as a guide?

I found Tantalus bike shop in Squamish very helpful (this was a couple of years ago). Did the Test of Metal course but there's tons of good trails around there.
http://www.tantalusbikeshop.com/default.asp

Yes, Tantalus is a good place to go for advice and I think they sell maps there. Depending on your technical ability following the Test course is either good or bad, as it misses all the harder stuff around Squamish.

No, I think my guiding days are over! As for my wife, she used to race BMXs.

For convenience, Whistler is fantastic. Of course there's the bike park but lots of superb technical XC trails in the valley (though the Lost Lake trails are a good warm up). Comfortably Numb is a continuous 25km technical singletrack trail that is pretty incredible…

Vancouver North Shore is great for DH style riding – you can buy maps at the local shops. Seymour is the "easier" mountain so a good starting point (with trails like Ned's Atomic Dustbin and CBC) – and Deep Cove is a lovely spot too.

Squamish supposed to be great too, but I've not ridden there. I did some random exploration in Nelson and had great fun there…

Enjoy!

Super tacky Minions are what folk I know use up front, 2.5. 2.35 minion rear in a 60 compound. Squamish is great to ride – heaps of black and double black trails accessible from town if you're prepared to pedal or can hook up with another truck and shuttle. Khybers is supposed to be ace, near Whistler. Pemberton's good too. Ride Don't Slide is another epic DH. At Whistler the best descents are from Garbanzo down, if like steep and tech stuff. North Shore's good too – but be put off by hype etc (Frome is the quietest of the three hills coz you can't shuttle it, but weekends it will all be v busy). Hope the BC forest fires don't wreck your trip – be prepared to change your plans if things get worse and a backcountry ban comes in – watch the web. Nelson's supposed to be amazing riding.

Meant to say don't be put off by hype surrounding North Shore, soz! It's fun riding there, and it's not all wood, stunts and skinnies.

Then walleter, she will understand you packing the bike 🙂

Hmm, have made a note of more suggestions, I forgot to mention my technical ability. I was so scared riding the bike park, but loved it all the same. I'm happy on red trails here. I bailed on River Runs Through it in Whistler last time, it was a bit too tech. Lost Lake was nice but am ready to move further out.

Walleater, was it you that hated guiding on Comfortably Numb?

Yep, I hope the BC fires have died down a bit by then, we got to some amazing places last time using logging roads but not so sure this time.

I'm certainly no expert nor am I a local as some clearly are. I had 3 1/2 weeks in the same area traversing the opposite direction to you.

I didn't really find any major issue with my normal UK tyres (Cinders, Contis and a Nobby Nic/Racing Ralph combo). I was there in Aug and prefered the NN/RR Combo as the trails were brilliantly dusty. I rode both Comfortably Numb and Thrill me, Kill me; both would have benefitted with the tacky tyre suggestions above as the Canadians seem to ride up and over rocks as opposed to around them.

There is also a very good guide book for the Banff, Canmore area. I'm afraid I cannot remember its name. Google may help. It may be worth buying this before you go as I did for NZ recently.

Tyre wise,I was out there last year & used Maxxis 2.35's front & rear,a Minion Super Tacky front/High Roller Maxpro rear.Worked well for me.
Using the same combo this time,off out there (Whistler) a week this Friday 😀
Ref bike packing,I use plumbers foam pipe lagging around the chain/seat stays,& use body armour leg guards around the down tube & top tube,& arm guards around the ends of the bars to protect the brake levers & shifters.
Don't forget to pack the gap between the dropouts front & rear,I find a couple of pieces of ally tube cut so's they are a 'dead fit' & held in place with the skewers do the job.
HTH.

We're back early as the Mrs dislocated her shoulder and broke her arm on one of the GLC drops at Whistler. Over the past few years we've ridden throughout the lower third of BC. I don't think we've had a bad ride. We've had hot, and we've had bad mozzies and long climbs, but no bad rides. Nelson and Rossland have excellent riding, as does Golden and Revelstoke. For lift assisted stuff, Fernie and Silver Star, as well as Sun Peaks are all good, but not as good as Whistler. I thought Kicking Horse was a bit lacking, although apparently that has changed.

At Nelson ride Paper Bag and Goldmember. Do The Flume and Whiskey at Rossland, as well as the 7 Summits. Moonraker and Mt7 are musts at Golden. Kamloops can be very hot. Have fun.