I lived in Provo (an hour south of SLC) for six years. The valley is flat, but the mountains are very steep indeed. To get to my house, I had to climb an incline so steep that in the winter some cars could not make it up and had to be dragged up by volunteers running winches.
Utah demands a big gear range.
I will be very interested in knowing how the bike fares in the Utah snow. In Provo we'd sometimes get three feet or more. I fear an aggressive ("muddy") tire mountain bike may be in your future.
Last edited by feijai; 10-01-09 at 02:48 AM.