Yeah, I read it while I was stuck on the Gardiner this morning.

+1

*rim shot*

Depressing anecdote: I was riding the Queen streetcar westbound yesterday & overheard a concerned woman (who was taking her kid to the ROM) asking the driver about where to get off for the subway. Being that I'm a nice guy, and was also heading northbound on the University line, I showed her where to get off the streetcar/onto the subway/how to use transfers/etc. I asked her where she was from and how long she was in town for, and she replied: "I've lived in the Beaches for 10 years.. but I drive everywhere. My kid wanted to ride the streetcar for fun."

It was her FIRST time using public transit in the city.

While I am trying to be more positive this year and not so cynical.... maybe when she gets out she'll get loaded and hug a tree.... with her car.

Surprising to read that bike/ped numbers went down, it's constantly surprising how many bikes are out there in whatever weather here in the city.

What a bummer overall though, I do understand the need for a vehicle but still... the sprawl and perception of cycling here in the city is a big factor - a lot of my non-cycling friends really think it's too dangerous to ride on the roads here and I don't blame them for thinking that sometimes, it can be intimidating out there with legions of seemingly dimwitted/poorly qualified drivers chomping at the bit to get to the next red light/stop sign.

Yeah, many of my friends have the same views, that it is too difficult to ride a bike in this city. Over the past 4 years or so I have bought many cheap bikes, fixed them up and given them away to friends, family members, significant others and co-workers. Probably close to 20 bikes now. They all love cycling but most of them stay to the cycling trails or the park system, feeling it it too dangerous to be out on the streets.

It gets a bad rap and it's a controversial topic I think, but CM would be a great thing for new riders to attend to see and meet the others out there and realize there's just a lot of "regular" folks out and about every day and that everyone on the streets isn't some rebel from beyond the Thunderdome. Too bad the same bad rap prevents a lot of those people from coming out.

Also, CM is tomorrow

Because fixed gear lets you pedal squares and you get lazy at the 11'oclock position whereas a roadbike does not let you get away with this.

/goes to watch Road to Paris

Agreed there Brad, works in both ways sadly :( - I think some of my friends are even intimidated by the "hardcore" cyclist image, too - the lycra/jerseys and flashy bikes, etc. I just wish people would ride more, I've offered many times that I'll ride anywhere anytime schedules permitting, but I think I intimidate them myself too because they feel that they'd be slowing me down or see how much I ride and get discouraged, etc. despite me saying it's all about the fun of riding. I'm hoping I can get one of my more active friends out more, she's just worried about the roads - so maybe I'll take her on the trails.

I hope to be at CM tomorrow, I'll have to haul ass as I'm picking my little one up, but I hope to be there, trailer and all.

Off hand comment: surprised that the roads in High Park are in better shape than my own street, all nicely cleared and ice/crap free, heh. From the time I got there including an hour+ workout and getting back to the bike and accessories loaded back up, there were a couple/few people looking for a dog that must've run loose in the park - I do hope they find the poor thing :/

Note to Kol Klink. I am sick like dog and can not drop off the frame tomorrow as planned!

Haha

Clearly there's going to be some sort of bowling competition at this year's SSWCs. I got that one in the bag! (no balls pun intended)

http://sswc08.blogspot.com/2008/01/w...and-balls.html

They have some pretty funny stuff over there

LMAO on this one, Human Tetris:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84_QL...eature=related

UPS can suck my sweaty ballsack.

$350 of goods from the states = $182 duties. Package refused.

Ouch..... back to the neither worlds of the back of the brown truck.

Heheh, that is really funny. The pool looks like it is filled with pee because of the yellow lining.

SSWCs look like a blast, inc. the burger joint :D

Had the dentist this morning, so had to ride out to Etobicoke (well, not as far as it sounds.. Royal York/Evans) and then into work, wind heading west sucked the big one, but coming back had a lovely tailwind across most of Queensway and hit 35mph (I rarely get over 30) which I just calculated out to 56km/h - not too shabby - only *just* beat a streetcar to Queen/Ronces that started off at the Park Lawn loop as I was passing so I know I was going a fair clip across eastbound, love the tailwinds, cruising on King after felt like a snails pace in comparison.

Holy testicles batman that's rough. What happens now? They return to sender and sender then asks you WTF and you re-organise shipping?

Fingers crossed my IRO frame won't be a major PITA with duties, I might ask Tony if he can send it USPS when the date gets nearer (1st week of March, woo).

So Wes that was your IRO you sent back? Insane duties. How do they calculate that?

I think that the duties would only apply if the frame was made outside of the USA but with NAFTA, the frame should be clear of duties, no? It would have just been the sales tax, likely just provincial. I think UPS just charges a brokerage fee based on some pie-in-the-sky calculations and charges you a premium based on the taxes that they paid at the border for you. In other words, it is bull****.

Nice little bianchi frame

http://toronto.craigslist.ca/bra/bik/550192539.html

This is about the 5th time he has listed it which is odd since I figured a celeste Bianchi frame would sell right away. Maybe something is wrong with it?

The dropouts look a little short, so my guess is that the fixed/ss crowd isn't jumping on it because of that. It is a little scuffed, but doesn't appear too bad.

IRO's are made in Taiwan not the U.S. so duties are going to happen. The thing about UPS is that they dont bother to use the proper duty and import codes on anything so you end up paying them waaaayyy more than it should be.

So if whoever in the US ships UPS you can/may not get screwed? As a consumer can you ask for a certain shipper to be used?

Did it come assembled, or as frame+fork? AFAIK, only assembled bikes and wheels are subject to duty. On the other hand, that doesn't stop UPS from adding arbitrary (and unregulated?) brokerage fees. Shipping USPS guarantees a $5 brokerage/border handling charge. And, of course, you need to pay tax on all purchases.

EDIT: UPS charges seem arbitrary, but apparently they're outlined here. Also note that if you're shipping something expensive and have to use UPS, it may be cheaper to ship with their Worldwide services, which I think include the customs clearance / brokerage charges.

I try to ask for USPS or FedEx whenever possible. UPS seems utterly incapable of finding my apartment building and their warehouse is way out in Milton or some other section of North Junga....

I got my build kit delivered duty-free from UPS, but I had to pay $90 (wayyyyy too much IMO) for my Aerohead rims (not even assembled wheels, just the f*(&ing rims) which I figure is because the rims were made in not-USA, but the kit components were, or grouped as USA-born perhaps?

Cesar from bicyclewheels.com shipped my wheelset up here via USPS, and I just had a Canada Post $15 charge on those - which seemed like a 'fair' fee for customs/tax. I would think it's upto the shipper what method they use, and unless there's some business reason why he can't do it, I'm sure Tony can use other means to send stuff out.

Not to mention UPS will charge you the duty PLUS a brokerage fee... My most recent bike from IRO saw a $112 duty / brokerage charge and Tony even devalued the bike on the forms for me... Worstever.

In my experience receiving stuff from the US it is best if the shipper uses USPS and not UPS or FedEx. My GT was shipped via UPS and I had to only pay some taxes on it because it was made in the USA. My Razesa came via USPS and I paid even less taxes on it and it was the full bike whereas the GT was only the frame/fork.

I think it also depends on the declared value. For some reason the guy who shipped me the GT put a declared value of $500 on it, so I paid taxes on that, which was a bummer as I paid far less than that for it. I think he declared it at that for the insurance, I dunno. The Razesa had a declared value of $150 which was great as I only paid the taxes on that amount. If you can get the seller to put a lower declared value then you pay less taxes but then if it is damaged, you are screwed.

Jeez, it is kind of a pain in the asss ordering stuff online but part of the fun is waiting for the package to arrive. I wish everybody was as good with shipping as ProBikeKit is.