Notices
Western Canada Alberta | British Columbia | Manitoba | Northwest Territories | Nunavut | Saskatchewan | Yukon Territory

Help a rider out!

Old 02-04-10, 09:37 PM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
cupcrazy4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 228

Bikes: '08 Kona JTS & Riviera (?) Sport converted Fixed Gear

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Help a rider out!

Hey dudes,

So there's a 95% chance I'll be living/working at the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis (1 hour west of Calgary) for 15 months starting this May. I currently live in Toronto, so I'm pretty excited. A few questions:

What's the riding like around Kananaskis? Calgary? Good road riding? Mountain trails? Or just pansy paved trails?

If there are legit mountain trails, can my Jake the Snake handle them ('cross bike)?

Regardless, I need to replace my cassette and probably my front 2 chain rings (compact), not to mention my RD. What gearing combinations would you recommend?

thanks in advance for the help, dudes. If there are any riders out near the Kananaskis area, I'll be looking for riding buddies while I'm out there! Throw me a line!
cupcrazy4 is offline  
Old 02-04-10, 10:09 PM
  #2  
Hooligan
 
Abneycat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Base of the Rocky Mountains, Canada. Wonderous things!
Posts: 1,431

Bikes: 2010 Cannondale Hooligan 3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
The Kananaskis has lots of great mountain biking, it's one of the better areas in Canada a mountain biker could hope to be. You're going to find trails of all kinds of difficulty levels, from beginner track to stuff that will really challenge you and your Jake the Snake. Oh, there are real mountain trails.
Abneycat is offline  
Old 02-04-10, 10:25 PM
  #3  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
cupcrazy4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 228

Bikes: '08 Kona JTS & Riviera (?) Sport converted Fixed Gear

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
awesome, that sounds sweet. Anything that's not doable on a 'cross bike? I'm mostly a road rider actually, so I might be bucked a few times haha. Do you know where I can find more info on specific locations of trails? I'll be stuck at the Delta Kananaskis lodge with my bike as my only means of transport, so hopefully there are some good trails near the lodge.
cupcrazy4 is offline  
Old 02-05-10, 12:42 AM
  #4  
Hooligan
 
Abneycat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Base of the Rocky Mountains, Canada. Wonderous things!
Posts: 1,431

Bikes: 2010 Cannondale Hooligan 3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Aside from finding info online? I have a book somewhere around here that deals with mountain biking trails mostly in Southwestern Alberta, i'll dig it up in a bit and see what the title was.
Abneycat is offline  
Old 02-05-10, 09:27 AM
  #5  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 172
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
There are so many road rides that will be worth your time, but I'm going to suggest that you ride Highway 40 (in Kananaskis) while it is closed to cars, which is usually until the middle of June.
Sheik_Yerbouti is offline  
Old 02-07-10, 01:30 PM
  #6  
Senior Member
 
coldfeet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,118
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
You will find lots of different kinds of riding around there. Beginning of May can still be cold, and some snow higher up. If you're staying through next Winter, studded tires are almost certainly in your future.
coldfeet is offline  
Old 02-10-10, 09:58 PM
  #7  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
cupcrazy4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 228

Bikes: '08 Kona JTS & Riviera (?) Sport converted Fixed Gear

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Highway 40 is closed to cars in June? Then how do people get to Kananaskis in the first place? At any rate, I'll definitely check it out. I am staying through the winter, but not sure how much riding I'll be doing in the winter.


Also, any suggestions for gearing? I'm running a 36-50 up front, and a 12 - 25 in the back currently. I'm getting a new cassette this weekend and not sure if I should get a 12-25, or 12-27, or something else? I don't want to be over-geared for the intense singletrack, nor under-geared for the road rides. It's a dilemma.

Any suggestions?
cupcrazy4 is offline  
Old 02-11-10, 11:28 AM
  #8  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 172
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Only part of the highway is closed. Something about wildlife, but i believe it has more to do with crazy snowfall and no desire to spend the
money clearing it.
Sheik_Yerbouti is offline  
Old 02-11-10, 01:26 PM
  #9  
:::
 
RMWrides's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: At my house
Posts: 127

Bikes: Many

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
The part that is closed is the highest paved road in Canada. It is one of the best rides around. From the front door of the Delta you can ride some cool tracks that work with a cross bike, but the mtn rides in that general area require a full-suspension (or at lease front) just due to the nature of the topography/geology.

have fun
RMWrides is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
sporkfly
Great Lakes
1
11-07-18 10:28 PM
bennybenny
Great Lakes
5
01-28-15 11:50 AM
JoinSTCC
Texas
2
07-06-12 08:39 PM
ckaspar
Mountain Biking
19
03-02-12 12:32 PM
a_gamboa07
Mountain Biking
1
03-28-10 05:35 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.