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Have a question about anything you've read on this page?
Just Email JF at JF@Gords.com and he'll get back to you
pronto.
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Gord's Ski & Bike
2 Locations to serve you better!
[L1]
2 Donald St
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA | 204.284.2952
[L2]
1765 Kenaston Blvd
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA | 204.269.2952
info@Gords.com
1.877.GORDS.61
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Scott, Kari, Jenn1, Catherine and Nat... On the 1st Annual Clusterf__k ride of 07
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GONG SHOW
I'll refrain from boring you with the non-MTB portion of my 2007 Canada Day long weekend (drinking, bass-boats, eating, fishing, ice-shacks, eating, drinking) to spend a bit more time telling you about the First Annual Gong Show Clusterf__k Hike-And-Bike ride of the season. But before I begin, allow me to take a moment to heap praise on the best bunch of riders one could ever hope to have on such a ride.
Catherine, Kari, Gavin, Scotty, Karla, Nat and Jenn all were ever positive, always eager and never failing (except for the ever-caustic Jenn who couldn't resist being... Jenn)... even as we climbed the infernal McGillvary falls (who's idea was that anyways?) in stifling 30 degree humidity on this dead-end futile grinding, ego deflating, defeat-soaked journey to nowhere and back...
(at least the view was nice).
 And then there was the curse of the black wagon. Even when I repeatedly tried to destroy, drown, crack open and bury our Mazda 6 GT wagon... even after the 6th tow rope snapped as I tried to pull it out of a swamp with the truck... Kari, Cat, Karla and Jenn were always laughing (ok... maybe not always), eager to help ever positive. Smiles everywhere, on to the next clusterf__k... and on this particular day it seemed like there was a gong show waiting for us at every turn... self inflicted or not, what a day.
 On the upside of our adventure, there was a "Part one" to our adventure (we broke the ride into two separate rides)... We did discover what Scott referred-to (and I'm paraphrasing here) as his Whiteshell Wet-Dream. We've been planning on scoping out this spot for quite some time... This was to be the day we finally sampled it. Some of the most technical riding we've ever happened upon (armour would not have been a bad thing to have stashed in our Camelbacks). We can't divulge where this particular god-send of a kick-ass trail was found as per a long standing request from the "man" but we can point you in the direction of our photo album for some self-explanatory pics.
Needless to say we had a rough one yesterday. Special kudos go out to Kari who decided to make this ride her first ride of the season (a decision she never openly begrudged). Way to go girl! And here's another shout out to Jenn1 who is getting better and better with each ride. YOU ROCK!
Yes, there's a good chance most of us are quite sore this morning. But I'm also pretty sure we're all happy we did it (or survived it, depending on how you look at it).
 Nathaniel summarized it well when he spun it thus: "well, at least I got a pretty good upper body work out today". All this exploring did one thing. it sure did an effective job in punctuating how good we have it on our regular Epic rides. Ingolf, Falcon, Brandon Hills, Sandilands and to a lesser extent Minaki and Spruce Woods... Simply insanely good riding... Easy to get to and tremendous to ride. We certainly have it good.
And now, thanks to our little adventure we have a new spot to test our mettle, to break more stuff on our bikes, to drive home-from with a large smile from, a few new bruises and happy memories... We'll call it Scott's Wet Dream and happily add it to the before-mentioned list of most favorite trails and leave it at that. One more great place to ride.
Life is not just good... It's a tremendous adventure. Thanks for riding with me.
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THE LONG TRAVEL HOLY GRAIL
What we look for most in a full-suspension bike is intuitiveness. When a bike simply does its job, no fuss no muss. Rare is the ride you just jump on and go. Rob and I share that appreciation for that particular underrated characteristic. Many 4" travel bikes deliver that "comfortable hardtail" feel, I'm no expert but I kinda believe that the drama free suspension experience of 4" bikes has something to do with the fact that, well... quite simply, there's less suspension travel... so it's more "buttoned down". Examples of solid, intuitive 4" designs are many including the Jamis Dakar and the timeless Rocky Mountain Element family of bikes.
 Getting bikes with more than 4 inches of travel to behave in that efficient, solid, yet lively way is not that easy it seems. Very few "5 inch and up" bikes that we've tested over the years managed to deliver the feel of a 4 inch bike with one or two more inches of travel. Once you get up there it seems that many bikes get wobbly knees or either get heavy in order to counter that long-travel challenge... The less-than-perfect examples simply become "squishy"
When we find that rare combination of balance, poise, comfort and efficiency it's usually very subtle. These bikes rarely jump up and shout "HEY LOOK AT ME! I DO MY JOB INTUITIVELY!" When we find a bike that blows us away we usually quietly look at each other and go "pssst! I like this bike" and ride for a bit longer until we add "hey, I think you should try this bike out, I'd like your thoughts"... all the while smiling and simply enjoying the ride.
 To say that 2007 and 2008 have been very good full-suspension test seasons would be an understatement. With 3 sweet new bikes recently inducted into Gord's Long-Travel MTB Hall-of Fame. The Jamis BAM, the Scott Genius and the very bling Commencal Meta 5.5... Joining such superlative squishy icons such as the stalwart Jamis XLT, the Ellsworth Epiphany, the Rocky Mountain SXC and the much loved Jamis XAM.
Life is pretty sweet at Gord's. How fortunate are we to have some of the very best long travel bikes that don't act like big fat spongy marshmallows. Long travel bikes that make you wonder why anyone would ride less.
 Listen, if you ride any trail, flat as it may be or steep as you can find... If you're over 19 years old and you want to keep on riding into your sixties and beyond... if you're still riding that hardtail WAKE UP! Give your head a shake. Do yourself, your body and your ass a favor, get with the times. INJECT SOME FUN in your moribund life, get a full suspension bike and join the ranks of those who do more than just ride, join the ranks of those who are having the time of their lives on their bikes, join the ranks of the living. LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO RIDE A HARDTAIL. (We should make a T-shirt!) Check out our full-suspension page HERE |
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BEST
BUILT
BIKES, PERIOD.
When bikes arrive at our door from suppliers, they're unfortunately
not assembled. We proudly employ highly qualified technicians
to carefully assemble our bikes and pay them hourly. In
fact, we're convinced our bike builds are the best in the
city. Our experienced tech shop staff guarantee it. Our
27 point quality verified assembly process ensures that
your bike will ride well and require less maintenance in
the long run. It's pretty simple: Less down time equals
more fun time.
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PHOTO ALBUM
It all started with Matt Goyer (mattgoyer.com) a good friend
and computer aficionado and JF taking pictures here and
there... Enter uber-camera-guy Gavin... Matt started hosting
out pictures on a server... Thousands and thousands of pictures
were taken, an extensive record of all our great adventures.
Unfortunately now password protected to shield the innocent.
Wanna surf the album? simply join the Gord's MTB Club, get
a free Username and Password and BAM! you're in.
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JOIN US!
We've said it before: It's all about the ride. The ride to Seven Eleven, the ride to your buddies house, the ride we call Ingolf, the ride at Panorama, Fernie, The Seine River, the ride through the monkey trails at Assiniboine Park, the ride with your 30 favorite buddies or the ride with your daughter.
Yes the bike is important. But more important than the bike is the smile on your face. So get off your butt, dust off your bike, throw on your helmet and come riding with us next season! For more information on how we can help get you out, click on the following link:
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Attention all bike lovers! Gord's is very proud to announce that we'll be offering