A good way to go is get a zipcar or autoshare membership to get the insurance they offer. It was $50 when I looked into it, then rent from who ever you need. Zipshare insurance was a onetime fee and lasted for the duration of your membership. So even if you never rent from them over a 2 year period, one would still get credit for 2 years accident free on their insurance record. I like enterprise, but I also got a good discount from them. Credit card also works well, but read the fine print, it doesn't cover everything on the insurance.

With Zipcar I also paid for the deductible waiver. I can write the car off and not pay a cent.

+1.. I wasn't suggesting ducking out of the responsibility of being a good city driver, but I've heard that the VP/lawrence test centre seems to have a higher fail rate -- whether this is related to the DVP merge, or more dubious factors (higher "failure quota" = MTO makes more money on city folks?), I was trying to give rob the best chance at passing :)

On a car-related note.. despite my best efforts to hold out, I'm reluctantly joining the dark side and buying one. Building up an insurance history (i.e. via zipcar) would have been a good thing.. insurance looks like it's gonna be pricy.

I gots me an ice racer as of this afternoon! :)

nice!!!

Pics?

Any kind of hook-up you can get with an insurance company is gonna help....parents...siblings..friends...anyone who has a history with the company and can refer you. When Mindy and I started looking for car insurance, we cold called a bunch of places and got quotes in the $3500-5000 range for just liability. :eek: After getting a hook-up thru her dad's insurance we ended up starting at about $1100...it has gone down every year since.

Another good way to get cheaper insurance is to through a group plan, many of the universities and colleges are hooked up with Meloche Monex and will give you a good deal once you have a degree.

Like CavernMech, I was getting quotes of $4500 for my POS Honda that is worth half that until I called up Meloche Monex and, on a whim, the guy asked me if I had a degree from a Canadian university. When I said I have one from U of T, he asked me for my student number, confirmed who I was and he gave me a rate of $1100. It has gone down each year as well....

Interseting, I did not know this.

Totally off topic....I am stoked to learn the Jamaican Dog Sled Team will be competing is this weekends festivities! COOL RUNNIN'S!

Is it them that gets the money, that'd make sense, but I've noticed a lot of the MTO offices are run by independant private companies on behalf of the MTO.. always made me smile when I think about the licence corruption stuff came into the news ;)

yeah +1 on that, I'm going to regret that when I do come to get a vehicle (I'm sure it'll happen) - I need a licence first myself, my UK provisional doesn't mean squat here, and it's a bit pricey to fly over just to take my test (though I've got until 2048 when it expires :)).

Yup, the same deal works for people from York, Waterloo, Queens and McGill, that I know of....all of my friends use Meloche Monex now. It is a subsidiary of TD Price Waterhouse, so it is a pretty safe bet.

Thanks for the tips, everyone.

FWIW, Meloche Monnex was at already the top of my list -- I guess the UofT thing helped with the quote, plus I can get a combined discount as I also use them for tenant's insurance.

I too have my insurance from Meloche Monnex on my Jetta, and it's gone down every year since I've had it (about 6 years) with them. *knock on wood that I haven't just jinxed it* Basically it's "group insurance" so you have to be part of a group of some sort... as you guys mentioned, being part of a university alumni group is one method, but there are others. Also, you get a pretty significant discount if you get another policy with them as well. I do my renter's insurance through them as well, and with the discount it was actually cheaper WITH the renter's insurance than it was without. :P

I <3 Cyclocross. Pictures from the Gentle Lovers blog (http://www.gentlelovers.com/)

http://www.gentlelovers.com/wp-conte...07/10/rear.jpg
http://www.gentlelovers.com/wp-conte...lideshow10.jpg
http://www.gentlelovers.com/wp-conte...0/11557jpg.jpg
http://www.gentlelovers.com/wp-conte...0/11559jpg.jpg
http://i17.tinypic.com/6y169sy.jpg

Yep. [these] Chicks on bikes are hot.

ha ha sweeeeeeeeeet!

sounds like its gonna be a fun outing...take picx!!

Meloche Monnex is the company I use too. I just told them I graduated from University (I hadn't at the time) and I don't think they even checked. You can also ask your parents to put you on their policy as a co-insured, explicitly. I'm not sure if it works for family members, but it will give you an explicit insurance record. My ex was on my policy as a co-insured, even though she didn't need to be. Then when she got her own car insurance she had a track record of insurance.


I was talking with is son, Marcel, about getting one. I just didn't have the cash at the time. Charlie got one, though.

I stopped into Cycle & Fitness, a shop on Dufferin just north of Rogers on my way back from the Great White North. Small shop with a tonne of new bikes: opus, rocky, giant, ridley... among others.

The owner Ziggy raced for the Polish national team. He said that there are 8 velodromes in Poland!

I told him about the Devils Strip Rollers and the sprints at ont place. He was really into it and praised it as an effort to get more peeps on the road (not his words). Yo go ryan and will!

He is organizing a road race May 11th on the island. Could be a good warmup for the Worlds.
www.zmcyclefitness.com

Cyclops - pre getting cleaned up. Still not sure if I am going to get it painted... prob not. I guess it depends on the components I find. Thoughts? http://www.flickr.com/photos/8307403...7603875351187/
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2217/...b2359f.jpg?v=0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8307403...7603875351187/

I do bikes much better than I do photos, but this is what I've got. I left the wheels at the shop so can't take any more right now...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a9/...e08fe08002.jpg

Also, Ziggy is a great guy, and he always has some good deals at the bike show too :)

I've always liked white frames with darker components, something like the grey Campy Centaur group would look wicked on that frame. The group can be pricey on eBay but it is supposed to be a great group. My Razesa is white now and I sort of took this Pini and this Univega as an idea of how I wanted it to look:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../PiniWhite.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...Ez/Univega.jpg

Yeah, Ziggy's races are always awesome. He ran a couple of the Toronto cx races this year. Individual lap times and everything including splits/etc. Pretty awesome.

eg: http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pa...75oca07_2.html

Mouse-over a lap time and you get stats for just that lap.

Yes, once again, I'm a total data-nrrd. :)


Nerdsgirth: bike is hot! I'm excited you'll have a road bike this summer. I was actually thinking about maybe giving the Island Crit a go.. it looked like a fun atmosphere last year, but I was too busy playing bike polo. ;)

I'm also planning on checking out the Learn-To-Race Monday night crits out at Centennial park, which is organized by the Midweek Club. Apparently the Monday/Tuesday evening crits are a lot of fun. Nice to spin out there after work and hang out and do a little racing!

+1

In fact, I might have one on the way! :)

Hey, I thought you were thinking of selling your road bike?

The polo was great though... I'd forgotten about that. Now that the ice racer is done I think that'll be my new project!

Serious Wheels!
I can't wait to play polo!