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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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Darcey,
wondering when the riding can officialy begin
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HIKE AND BIKE
This last 'ride' (trust me when I say I employ the term
"ride" loosely here) was more of a let's push,
drag, lift and carry our bikes through thick brush and
see if we can emulate how cool it must have been to drag
a 40 pound machine gun through the densest, most impassable
jungle known to South Asia sometime in 1971... At least
our muck was cool and refreshing... At least we had GPS's
and at least no-one was shooting at us... At least Batenchuk
wasn't on-board for this one... she surely would have
removed her front wheel and tried to stab me with her
fork.
Happily I was just the scout on this one... GPS boys
Gavin and Brian were the real ones in charge... "left
you idiot!" "he's completely off course, tell
the moron to turn right..." "yes through that
lake!" were some of the comments I heard from Galileo
and his short consort. (Although now that I re-read that...Brian
is much too polite to have uttered those words... perhaps
it was Gavin). There were arguments, polite suggestions
that had the faint sond of grinding teeth in the background...
But at least there was ADVENTURE!
The story began as it always does with a dream... hehehe...
No but seriously: For that few years we've been looking
for this huge patch of slick-rock eats of Ingolf ... a
'patch that could redefine MTB'ing in this neck of the
world... and this was our first scouting expedition (thankfully,
everyone was aware of what they were getting themselves
into on this one)
So we started out 4x4'ing it to a spot where we thought
we could access said slick-rock (we've christened this
elusive area "Slick Rock East") ... and followed
a promising old ATV trail until a dead-end that forced
us into the woods to circumvent said lake... after about
3 hours of bush-whacking GPS'ing, and swamp crossing and
roughly 500 meters of actual riding we came across train
tracks we expected to show up a whole lot sooner...
We followed these tracks to what we hoped would be a
potential entry point and sadly came to the realization
that this was not to be... so we turned back... Rode to
where the jungle had spat us out... Took a deep breath
and headed back in... (for there was no other reasonable
way back) we followed our nose, got a bit turned around
and finally made it back to our old ATV trail and enjoyed
the short ride back to the trucks...
Exhausted we inched back to the main road and drove the
branches and leaves off the vehicles... Good workout,
bad ride. thanks to all of you who lived through this
with me... Like Brian said "this one we did for the
club" one day we'll find "Slick Rock East"...
that day is just around the corner.
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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