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You've heard of the Trunk Monkey, right? Well we went out
and got one too! Jojo is the guy who makes all our snowboard
decisions, the dude has some serious skills. Drop him an
email at Jojo@Gords.com
and ask him whatever, he LOVES Emails almost as much as
he loves his tire swing. |
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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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Remember carving boards? : Photo Daniel Shwaz
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SPRING-BREAK CHECK LIST
 Many of you are exiting Winnipeg this weekend, heading to your favorite destination for a little spring-skiing action. Here's Colin's take on what you might want to keep in mind:
The time has come upon us once again, Spring Break 2008. For all the kids out there, this means it’s time to put away your videos, magazines and those shredded toe rope mitts. For parents, its time to escape work for one week, grab the gear and those kids in question and RUN TO THE HILLS! But before you do that, your lovely partners in crime at Gord’s would like to give you a few friendly reminders to ensure that you’re going to get the most out of your ski holiday.
Skis, Boards and Everything in between:
 Remember before leaving to check absolutely every piece of gear. Make sure your skis/board are ready to rock. Check for rusty edges, any scratches in the base or the big daddy problem of them all, the dreaded core shot. (Remember last year when you just HAD to do Hell’s Kitchen on the last run of the day and you ran over that rock bed.) If you need any repairs, we would love to see you in the shop ASAP. The guys back there are ready for a busy week. That being said, we can only supply them with so much Red Bull before they go on such a glucose high that they wax your poles, adjust your skis and sharpen your bindings. So let’s do them great service and make sure we get all our stuff that needs work done early in the week. That sentiment is double for boot work. JF is ready for you, but believe me wait too long and you have an angry Frenchmen. Anyone who knows about Napoleon can see how this would be a bit of a problem. We would also like to invite you all to take advantage of our wonderful rental program. Come on in to the DONALD street location and we would love to set you up with some gear for your adventure.
 Lookin’ Good
Now that you know your equipment is taken care of, its time to make sure you’ll be comfortable on the hill. Bust out all the jackets, pants, goggles, gloves and helmets. Make sure that you have pairs of anything that requires two of something (gloves, mitts, socks, skis and discs one and two of The Wall). Check your pants… and your jacket too! How many times did we rip something and completely forget about it. This can lead to a couple of problems if not addressed:
a) You’ll have to ride with extra ventilation, which can be cold, wet and a little bit embarrassing.
Or
b) You are going to have to buy clothes on the hill, which can be expensive and leave you looking like an extra for a Swiss soap opera.
Remember: kids grow, especially today; I blame good nutrition and exercise. That being said the pants that fit them last year could create the appearance of flood pants today. And don’t get me wrong: it is important to display Manitoba pride on the hills out west, just not in flood prevention awareness.
 Getting there.
Some of you are flying, some of you are driving and even some of you are taking the train. All of you need to check the condition of your ski bags. As we all know, airport personnel or “throwers” can sometimes have the occasional accident. A good solid ski bag free of tears and broken straps will allow for your precious cargo to get there in one piece. For those of you brave souls who are driving the highway that brings cruise control a whole new meaning, I know exactly what you are thinking. “  Do I go with Supertramp or Steely Dan as my musical choice leaving Headingley?” I know this is an extremely important decision. However, don’t forget to mount your roof rack a couple of days before. This will give you a chance to see if you are missing any parts that may have been misplaced in the garage. This is not a dilemma you want to be having at 6 am in your pre-Tim Hortons state of mind.
So come on down to one of the shops, we would love to see you. And don’t forget, a bad day on the mountain is better then a good day anywhere else.
-Colin Fraser
SNOWBOARD CULTURE LIVES HERE
 I
guess you could buy your deck somewhere else...
But WHY? We like to say we're the thinking girl's / thinking
man's board shop. Our Snowboard buyers don't just buy
boards based on how the deck looks (even though we'll agree it IS important) But we do it differently... First, we do our homework,
then, we get the best stuff (it's always easy to do when
you got the good stuff), then we train and test and train
and test and most importantly WE CARE!!! I know, sounds
freakish and all weird and all... but we do. Unless your
havin' a good time on your gear, we're not happy... and
damned if we really like being happy! So trust us to make
your board buy a kick ass one... On top of it all here's
our guarantee: we promise you'll like your board or we'll
swap it. Our kick-ass bootfitters
will top it all off with the best fitting (and proper-sized)
boots anywhere, we guarantee that too! Just come in and
feel the love.
WHAT YOU GET
 A few things you should know about buying your deck from Gord's:
[1] Killer service: Free UNLIMITED waxes for one year. That's a value of $15.95 a pop, dude! (and we're talking good, high performance wax... not the bottom feeder crap). No limits. You can even apply the free wax credit towards the best tune-up in town: Our Ceramic Disc Full Meal Deal and drop the price of said tune-up down to $29.00 from our regular $44.95. Sweeet.
[2] Love-it ride guarantee (if you buy a board and you don't love the ride, bring it back pronto and we'll make you happy... Just don't trash it and THEN tell us you don't love it... that's not cool) Take a day or two, then let us know. Life's too short.
[3] We give a sh*t. We're not in business to rip you off or to charge you more than the other guy. We're in business to make you happy so you'll keep on buying all your gear from us. Talk to us, let us know if the guy down the way is selling the same stuff for less, well match it. We want to be YOUR board shop and we're certainly not gonna lose your business over $15.
[4] Yes, we also sell skis. We believe in sharing the mountain, riding and shredding together... Enough with the BS, let's just get along and RIP!
[5] We ride the stuff we sell. Go ahead, ask us what board we ride... Ask us WHY we ride that board... We'll tell it to you straight up. Honest.
[6] We have demos. We have Manitoba's largest demo fleet. If you're not sure what board to ride and we can't help you narrow it down to one, we'll let you try a few. Who else does that?
[7] Bootfitting. That's where we proudly stand up and say "no one can fit you better" We'll do a proper volume assesment of your foot, we'll show you footbeds, we'll explain socks THEN we'll show you boots. AND we'll sell you the right size. And then, if you take our recommendation (and a footbed), we'll guarantee the bootfit for 3 THREE years! The best bootfit in the business, period. Read more about the way we fit boots HERE.
[8] Brands. We don't just sell anything. 32, Burton, K2, Arbor, Salomon, Drake, Northwave, Flow... and more. Just the good stuff.
[9] We refuse to be undersold. Everything we sell is covered by our no-nonsense LOWEST PRICE POLICY.
BS PATROL
 There's a competitor somewhere in town that says on it's website "[we are] the only independent snowboard shop that has its own snowboard specific grinding machine" allow us to cough up the word "bullsh*t" to that one! Gord's has not one but TWO snowboard tuners. Bring your board in to either of our 2 locations and be prepared to be AMAZED. Check out more about our best-anywhere snowboard service HERE.
While on the subject of tunes, did you know we have the only 2 Wintersieger Ceramic Disc Edge Tuners in Central Canada? These things are the VERY best edge tuners ANYWHERE. No-one comes close. What they do is simple, they take your ground-out edges and make them new again (it's not that simple, actualy... but you get the idea.) These machines will make your riding experience better Guaranteed!
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All
who have ridden have loved
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One
day you too can fly
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Sometime in ‘94 some guys got stuck on the idea
that a different kind of snowboard had to be built.
Having been woodworkers, they knew that certain
organic materials would improve the way a snowboard
performed and add aspects of style that had never
been available. After a year of R&D they started
Arbor as the alternative to what the industry has
been offering.
 They
initially built the name on the benefits of our
structural wood topsheets. Over the years they've
introduced other natural technologies such as targeted
wood and carbon fiber inlays, cork damping stringers,
Dymond-wood® edge supports, and bamboo reinforced
cores. They also developed a full line of longboard
skates made with some of these same materials.
 Today
Arbor is one of the last brands left that is still
owned and operated by its founders and made exclusively
in North America. They've stayed focused on boards,
kept durability and performance central to their
approach, and allowed their team to fuel the design
process. As a result, some of the most progressive,
well-built boards on the market bear the Arbor name.
2006/07 will be the second full season we carry
Arbor boards and MAN ARE WE STOKED!!!
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First of all, you'll need a good pair of boots
that fit you perfectly, with a good footbed and
nice socks. THEN we need to hook you up with a board.
There are basically two types of boards, depending
on what kind of snowboarding you will be doing.
Freeriding is the more downhill oriented side of
the sport, but freestyle is usually what you see
on TV; riding the pipe, doing jumps, and givin'er.
Most snowboards are designed for freeriding or freestyle,
which is good because this shape is perfect for
most beginners. It utilizes a twin tip (both ends
are the same) design, as opposed to the freecarving
or slalom boards, which are more directional in
shape and kinda tough to find nowadays anyways.
Most people start out with a basic model, some go
for the higher end and adapt. We usually set you
up somewhere in the middle: Something you can grow
into.
 To
attach your feet to the board, you'll need bindings.
Most entry level bindings share the same basic design:
a base plate with ratcheting straps. The higher-end
the binding often the stiffer it is. We do big business
with FLOW bindings that slip on and off with one
lever: Very easy, very cool, less sitting down in
the snow, more riding. Great if you're starting
out but also great if you just want to ride more,
ratchet less.
Stop by the shop and talk to one of us about what
you want to do on snow, where you wanna go, what
turns your crank. We'll help you get there with
a little bit of bling and within your budget.
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GET THE RIGHT BOARD
 We all know the guy who insists on riding a snowboard that’s at least two inches taller than he is. “Dude,” you say, “why is your board so long?” He asks why yours is so short. There’s a moment of silence. Why is your board so short? If you’ve been snowboarding for a long time, you most likely have tried different lengths, eventually deciding on your current choice. However, if you’re fairly new to snowboarding, chances are you just took the first board in the shop that was in your price range and matched your boots. This can lead to some seriously incorrect sizing, which is why we’re here to give you the lowdown on how to correctly size a snowboard.
One of the first things to think about is width. This often gets overshadowed by the issue of length, but is equally—if not more—important. The first question to ask a prospective snowboard buyer is what size feet they have. If you buy a board that is too narrow, you can have toe or heel drag, which makes turning difficult. However, if you have a board that is too wide, you’ll have trouble controlling your turns. Set your boot on top of your board as if it were in a binding. If your heel and toe are both within a half-inch of the edge, then the width is correct.
Next is length. Snowboard length is measured in centimeters and can usually be found somewhere on the topsheet. To see if a snowboard is a good size for you, stand the board up lengthwise and see if the board falls somewhere between your chin and nose. If it does, it means that it’s a pretty safe size to try out. Eventually, you’ll decide if you want a longer or shorter board based on your riding style and the terrain you ride. For instance, if you ride mostly powder, you’re going to want a longer board, whereas someone who rides a lot of park will most likely opt for a shorter one.
All right. Now come and get yourself a snowboard. |
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IT'S FREAKING
BOOTFITTING!
Come on! you gonna stand there and get hosed like that? Wherever you're buying your boots, they GOTTA give a sh_t. Somebody's gotta do it right and we're that place. We could write it down, explain to you how a boot should fit (no, they shouldn't fit like your skate shoes) and explain to you step by step how to get properly fitted for snowboard boots but then we'd just be training the other shops on how to bootfit properly... and while we're nice guys and all, we're not THAT nice!
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BRANDS THAT GIVE A SH_T
Yes, we sell Burton. Ok, now for the rest of you: We also sell Nitro [Sweet boards, great cred, bulletproof constructions] Arbor [Killer decks, great story, nice feel, sweet rides] K2 [Great bang for the buck, goor rep, lotsa technology, six fingers of fury] Salomon [quality, innovation, history, good solid rides] Thirty Two [Heavenly fit, superlight, core boot company that rocks] Flow [Seriously easy to work bindings that everyone's trying to immitate, solid decks] Drake [Yummy bindings...
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