It's actually kinda tough out there now. There is a housing shortage. The DWP owns much of the land out there, and so there is limited real estate for purposes of new construction (one of the reasons the Owens Valley looks much today as it did in 1905). It got to the point where Mammoth Mountain (the local ski resort) lost a lot of lifties ... they couldn't find a place to live and left for other pastures.

I'm not sure I could live out there permanently, but I tell you ... I could stay there for months at a time. I settle right into it ... cowboy boots and all.




Re the wheels: I hemmed and hawed between going with some special built 3x wheels from wheelbuilders.com, some wheels from neugentcycling.com, fixing the Mavics (there are some kits out there on eBay that purport to at least temporarily solve the Mavic hub issues), or just going with a set of bulletproof Shimano wheels.

Then I saw that Performance had a set of Reynolds Solitude wheels on sale. They were heavier than I wanted (1560g instead of 1450), but since they were only $250 for the set, I figured I could make due with them until I figured it out.

I think I'm gonna try out the Mavic hub fix, but still get some 3x wheels built at wheelbuilders. Thanks for asking!