while I was out enjoying this beautiful day I stopped at bikes on wheels and urbane to pick up some stuff. During my visit to bikes on wheels I got to check out the marinoni pistas. the fork on the '09 can only be described as fugly and while I was busy trying not to puke all over myself I also noticed that they are $350 more expensive than last year! sucks!

also, anyone here ever shellac cork grips? got any tips?

is the 09 fork the one that's curved? the straight blade ones are definitely way better looking

Open can of shellac, and dunk the grip in until coated, remove, dry and repeat 4-5 times. Or brush on.

my vote would be to brush it on after they're glued to your bars. you could always put some masking tape on the bars to catch any stray shellac. i think there's some pointers about this on the rivendell site. i've shellaced cloth tape - it can't be that different.

Relevant factoid...shellac is made from bug poo. " The More You Know".

Ride from Yonge & Finch to Yonge & Bloor, safe route?

Yup, mostly downhill too since the city gradually slopes towards the lake...the ride home might suck though...

I've done cloth as well. Only tips are to make sure no drips hit the frame, and to make sure you check after applying a coat to make sure no drips are on the grips. Cork grips look nice.

yeah it's a pretty nice ride, just watch out around the 401 ramps, a lot of last second turns and things like that

Not my favorite. The area at the 401 is awful, especially coming south under the bridge as cars come flying down the off ramp at 70 and try to get into the left lane too fast, and going north isn't fun as you need to cross the westbound onramp lane south of the bridge, then get across the eastbound onramp going under the bridge. Drivers don't seem to like it when I take the lane there. Eglinton to Lawrence is a crappy stretch, full of potholes and crappy road, aside from that Bloor to York Mills is no problem and north of the 401 is fine as well, mainly that sheppard to Yorkmills stretch is full of drivers in a hurry to get on/off the 401. The ride north is basically all uphill to Sheppard.

I have two serious questions for the cyclists in Toronto.

"Any one know Uncle Jacob's bike store around Spadina & Dundas? Is it worthwhile to buy bikes there?Reputational wise?"

"What are some quality bike stores in Toronto that sell freestyle BMX bikes that are not too expensive ($200-500) and money worth (not ripoffs)"

Thanks so many.

Bikes on Wheels has some BMXs. I haven't looked at them or the price but there's defiantely a couple in there.

there is a shop at King and Spadina, South-East side, that sells mostly BMXs.

I thats Hogstown bikes.

Queen East, the block before the one The Tulip (coxwell) is on (if heading E), on the the North side.
BMX shop

we (the bike joint) have a BMX for sale. It's a mongoose. Looks OK to me, but I have no idea what constitutes a "good" BMX, but it is in new condition. yours for 150 if you want it.

please do not buy from uncle jacob as he has been known to sell stolen merchandise. if you want a used bike try bike pirates.

If you are buying used, why not check Craigslist or Kijiji? I see lots of BMX bike there.

And yeah, Uncle Jacob has a reputation for selling ill-gotten bikes but I think he is more on the up and up now...at least his prices reflect some sort of change in policy as he sells very mediocre bikes for a lot of money.

Thats CORE...Cycle Solutions BMX shop. If you go there talk to Chris...he is a great guy and a fantastic flatland tricks rider as well.

getting past 401 is the hardest part and its already a challenge in good weather, nevermind if its bad weather.

i usually take bayview and then to eglington and then to mt pleasant.

the ride home is considerably more challenging and i did this a few times. the most memorable one was in work clothes, just bought a used bike that was 20+ yrs old, 75psi tire pressure, and saddle height was 5 inches way too low.

its a climb all the way up mt pleasant on the return.

i still got home about 15mins after the subway would have gotten me.

Chris as in the Irish guy? Blond hair?

Picked up a set of dimension flat top road bars from Urbane today, I'm loving the ergo bend over the classic bend of my old bars. If only the weather didn't suck so much I'd love to see how these fare on a long ride.

He pretty much runs the place. I think he is the only guy over 25.

Paging I-Herald....I have a question for you...P.M. sent.

Where can I find the store Chris is at??? Like exact street number, or intersection?

Thanks a bunch.

core is at at queen and coxwell, just west of coxwell

Received and responded too.

anyone here on redflagdeals.com?

if so, can you hit up the forums, go to sports/fitness, and in the cycling thread tell them i got banned?! haha

You mean this thread?

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/s...583240&page=92

It's looking like I might not have my daughter this weekend, which means I'm going to want to hurt myself pretty hard on the bike this weekend - anyone up for a donut ride again? fixed or geared I can ride both right now.

disclaimer: I might NOT be able to make it, if plans change with my crazy ex. and I have my daughter that obviously takes all priority :D