They are making their way onto the shore now:
http://nsmb.com/4740-wine-me-dine-me-29-me/
Loonie drop, piledriver, those really are gnar.

Ooh, that Van dessel is lovely, very reminiscent of a Retrotec.
That could edge out the Bryant in my forthcoming commuter build…

A couple of other options, not sure of the prices in the UK though:

Civia Bryant

Milk Bikes RDA[/url]

I can confirm that these are quite good. They sell them in Home Depot (like B&Q) over here in Canada, I’ve had a pair for a year or so. Seem much more durable than most of the bike gloves that last about 5 minutes. There isn’t much padding on the palm, and mine have some stitching across the heel of the hand that rubs a bit riding on the hoods of my commuter bike, but is ok on the mountain bike.

thanks all.
The pad clearance thing hadn’t occurred to me, but makes sense.
I have a lead on some used MTB ones so I’ll see if I can get those.

Paul

bump.
Anybody??

In a similar vein I’m an engineer (manufacturing and product design, in canada). A few years back I took a pay cut for my “dream job” in the ski industry. After not getting a pay rise for three years I’m back doing a “normal” job, got an almost 25% raise, and have a much more enjoyable job.

The small perks (cheap gear, very occasional ski day) just aren’t worth it. A fun experiment but overall I’d rather keep my work and my hobbies separate.

Paul

@20thebear – got an email from them last week which said they are still expecting them in august

I reckon Comfortably Numb is possible the worst trail in the Whistler valley – 90% technical climbing with no flow followed by a short downhill!
Head up to Pemberton and climb Nimby, 100 switchbacks up the side of the valley, all rideable! Come down Overnight Sensation makes a great loop.

Out in Canmore make sure you ride in Kananaskis – Jumpingpound Ridge/Cox hill is fantastic, its in the guide book.

It’s a common seal issue with the air ones, something to do with the seal on the negative air chamber. I can’t remember if it is leaking into or out-of the negative chamber. Try pumping air into the negative and see if the travel comes back.

I think the others pretty well summed up your dilemma, but what about the practicalities – do you really want to live in Ft.Mac?
In my experience quality of life is location, location, location. The amount of money you earn is secondary.

A happy underpaid Vancouverite.

I emigrated to Vancouver 8 years ago, and have been here ever since.
I did the skilled worker program through the london office while still in the UK. I used an immigration lawyer in canada to help the process along, at that time it took 14 months (now quite a bit longer I hear) and cost several thousand pounds.
No-one would look at me for jobs until I had my PR, and was actually here. Even then it took a few months as many companies seem hung up on Canadian experience (or even BC experience!). If you have specialist skills it can be easier, it all depends on what you do.
Vancouver is a fantastic place in terms of quality of life (biking, skiing etc), but I believe has now made it into the top 5 most expensive places to live in terms of housing. Average house price in Vancouver is now about $750,000. Right now the market is super hot and there are bidding wars with places selling well over asking price.
Prices drop quite quickly as you move out of the city, but then you lose all the city amenities.
Outside the Lower Mainland there are only a handful of towns I would consider living in, and getting work is the issue as there is virtually zero industry unless you are in forestry or mining.
School system seems on a par with the UK. I have friends who teach here, it seems OK but I’m not sure it is much better. There is a very high percentage of ESL students in many schools (less outside the city).I know there is a shortage of preschool/daycare though, and that is expensive.

So it really depends on your job – I’m a mechanical engineer and though the market is smaller here I have done fine finding work, and love living here. At some point I am going to want something bigger than my 700 square foot apartment though, and may leave the city due to that.

Paul

Oddjob hit it on the head, there is no better way down a mountain. Takes a long time to learn, but once you have it you will have the biggest sh*t eating grin in 2″ fresh. To get the best from it you need to leave the resort and get out touring, though with big boots even carving on the groomers is great. With modern gear you can also parallel perfectly well, just don’t bother dropping your knee, handy for when you get tired or in tight trees.
After being a snowboarder in Europe, when I moved to Canada in ’03 I took up tele, and have never looked back. I now ski 50+ days a year and spent 3 years designing tele (and AT) gear for G3.
Tele is much bigger in north america than mainland Europe, though it is still big in Scandinavia. Coming over here to ski is another possibility, though even in whistler there are only a couple of shops with tele rentals, but you can get lessons on the hill.
Telemarktips is a pretty helpful forum, I have met and skied with a lot of people on there, and bought gear from the teleturnaround.

Free the heel, free the mind!

Paul

Definitely go for the double ply’s or you’ll spend all your time mending pinch flats.
Having said that, the really gnarly stuff is mostly up in Garbanzo, which right now is under several feet of snow…

Bring goggles and rain gear, raining again in Vancouver this morning so I expect things are pretty mucky up at Whistler.

Paul

They do frame only, $625MSRP

Don’t know if you can get them in the UK, but I’ve been lusting after a Civia Bryant:
http://civiacycles.com/bikes/bryant/
Can run belt drive too!

Yeah, it doesn’t work at all. Just went through it with an X9 10 speed mech and X0 9 speed gripshift. You basically get almost 9 gears of travel at the mech in 8 clicks at the shifter.
Switched out the mech for a 9 speed X9 and it works perfectly.
They tweaked the cable pull for 10 speed, but didn’t tell anybody. The culprit is “Exact Actuation”, it seems that any mech that features that, whatever it is, only works on 10 speed.

PAul

Posting here is interesting with the time change…just getting up and a whole flood of posts overnight. Some of you got out of bed the wrong side though didn’t you? There was even a mountain bike pic in the thread, quit bellyaching!

These frames, like most carbon, are coming out of the far east, but for now we are painting here in Vancouver which allows us to do the custom paint. Standard finish is clearcoat over carbon. We recently did one in orange Kandy which looks pretty nice.

Frame and fork will some somewhere just over $2k canadian. They come in around 950-1050g depending on size. One of the guys built one up under 14lbs with Zipp 303’s, so they are pretty light.

Anyway, off to ride the mountain bike in the sun, the road bike will have to wait!

I did it when i was about 16, on my ’92 Marin Eldridge Grade, knobbies and all. Middle of August, middle of the day by the time I got to the top. Remember spinning up the exposed upper part in the granny ring.
When I got off at the top, I could hardly stand for a minute or two! I was too tired to ride down, luckily my parents were there with the “team car”!
Definately the hardest climb I’ve done. I’ll have to go back at some point to get the ride down.
The best thing is the enthusiasm of the French as you ride up, everyone leaning of car windows cheering you on!

Paul

Ah, I wonder if “exact actuation” is the culprit?
Found this:
http://www.southerndownhill.com/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=244933.0

@damo2576:
just installed some hope factory wheels: flows on pro 2’s, 20mm front, 12×135 rear. Front 864g with hope rimstrip, rear 977 no rimstrip.

On this side of the pond, check out the adventure cyclists association, they do really great maps that make planning your trip really easy:
http://www.adventurecycling.org/
We did the Oregon coast a couple of summers ago, which was great. Portland to San Fransisco could be done in 2 weeks, we took a leisurely pace and stopped in the giant redwoods further north.
Last summer we rode the Cabot Trail around Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, a Canadian classic.

Paul

I’m in Vancouver, BC. Been here since ’03 and no intentions of going back. Will probably move somewhere else in Canada in a couple of years though as the cost of houses in Vancouver is ridiculous, and I don’t want to live in a 700 sq ft flat for ever!
Today I rode my shiny new bike in the sun up some great singletrack within the city limits (well, Burnaby, a suburb), with views of the snow-covered mountains. Might ski after work tomorrow. Tough life.

Paul

Another vote here for Naked Lunch. Just finished it, what a waste of my time. Less a book, more a collection of random words thrown on a page.

I really liked White Teeth, but my girlfriend just struggled through it and thought it was dull.

How about some visual intellectual humour?
Hours to be wasted on xkcd – here's one to start:
http://xkcd.com/747/

Paul