Yeah it just looked like the road was wet where I went down and I was about in the middle of the right lane well clear of the mess in the gutter. I was riding along, tapped my front brake and the bike was just gone from under me. At 7:30 the stretch of danforth and greenwood was about as bad as the sidewalks were and I probably only made it about 800 meters this morning.

Neck is sore but I'm sure it's nothing, just tensed up and jarred it from going down that unexpectedly. I called in sick as consolation so it's not all bad ;)

Around thar area there are 4 shops. Spokes on Avenue Rd just north of Old Orchard, Sporting Life for bikes, Yonge North of Broadway, Cyclepath Yonge, south of Eglinton north of Manor and Trek Bike store across the street fron Cyclepath. Spokes is more a mix of bikes, Sporting Life has some nice high end stuff, but pricey. Cyclepath is where I went for 2 years, and the Trek store is mainly road bikes, at least the one time I went in. Sporting life is mostly snow boards this time of year and I have only ever part small stuff at Spokes. I would hit them all to see. Been a few years since I lived in Lawrence Park.

I definitly enjoyed the studded tires today. 42/18 made for a nice easy ride to work, granted it took longer but I was able to make it up hills cars were stuck on.

This is spot on. Nothing really top notch around that I know of although I've never been to spokes.

Sporting Life can be ok, they often have good prices on higher end components like chris king headsets, they usually have a lot of stuff on sale at the end of the year, my friend got an giro ionos (?) helmet for under $150 ... I don't go to cyclepath anymore, usually when I go in there it's 2 kids sitting at the front desk making dick jokes (not that i would do any differently) and when i ask about something they just say they don't have it, really dismissive and not helpful. Trek has definitely changed, more of a mix of road bikes and mtb bikes (which are probably mostly sold to college students in the area), they have an ok selection of accessories if you are hard up for something, I did once get an sram powerlock from there, but have never found anything else. It's not much different than shopping for a bike at walmart, people who work there are generally nice though.

I usually just go down to the downtown shops if I need something.

If you're looking for a nice way to get downtown, check out the bike route 35, although Yonge for the most part is not bad and is very quick to get downtown, it's mostly downhill.

hey man, you will be right by me, im a bit north of you @ sheppard and although i haven't been riding too much with snow on the ground, i'd be game for any rides on the weekend. i have some roadie buddies that are usually good for weekend mornings.

there is also ENDUROSPORT.com, and Will from Urbane now does his thing at their Laird Rd. location. Cool guy and if you are into road bikes, this place has more cervelo than you can shake a thousand-dollar-bill at.

Yeah, I'm almost done exams right now in Guelph, so I haven't ridden at all for like 2 months, it's been ridiculous... (although, that was partly due to a sprained ankle at the end of September).

I'm in Toronto until the begining of January. Other than this weekend (I'm moving fri/sat) I'm game for riding whenever. PM me or something

Where in downtown do you usually go? I want to stick with one shop and try and build some sort of relationship (kind of like when I went to Sweet Pete's all the time last year, but I wasn't too happy with them...), but I'm not really familiar with any shops outside of the west end.

I'll definitely check out Trek and Cyclepath (which my friend previously recommended as a good shop), thanks.

It has been listed for quite awhile and started out at $1600. I would say that it is a bit much, I see used FTPs on eBay for $700 or so, the HEDs are cool and all but are they worth all that extra moola? I don't think so...

Oh yeah this place is cool to, I have run into Will a few times there and remembered him from Urbane and alley cats. They definitely have a cool selection of roadie stuff and clothing.

MEC for day to day stuff, usually Urbane for parts and stuff not available at MEC, but I also like curbside and bikes on wheels if I am in the area. I'm sure there's a ton of other good shops downtown though, so I don't want to necessarily leave anything out, those are just super easy for me to get to.

Man, the entire west end is an ice rink. Fun times.

suck my dick... brakes.

I'm sold.

Well. 90% sold. I want to try them in a super duper all out storm first.

bin jacked

dick brakes?

Wha?

So you guys are basically taking a look out the window each morning and if it looks good, pumping your tires up a bit. Otherwise, you're letting some air out and unleashing the spikes?

</givehimspikes>

http://www.blarghboredom.com/image/ArmyOfDarkness01.jpg

Indeed, this morning I didn't bother trying to ride on my street, I just walked to Roncesvalles. Tonight, I couldn't be bothered with the concentration/stress of riding down my street and rode gingerly along the sidewalk tonight most of the way from Sorauren.

Those studded tyres are sounding fairly appealing, if this weather trend keeps up... Do those Schwalbe Marathon winters come in 700c sizes? I've only seen 26x1.xx sizes online so far - and who/where to get them in town?

How is the handling, can you ride as per dry conditions over this sheet ice, or does it just allow for a bit more grip and you still have to be careful, etc? *waits for reviews :innocent:*

Hey Phil, I picked mine up at Bikes On Wheels and mine are 700x28.

In terms of handing - are you talking about the studs or the marathons? I'm assuming that you're talking about the studs because the marathons, over sheet ice, will handle pretty much like anything else... just gotta go straight, go slow and pray you don't have to stop. In wet, slushy and/or snowy conditions they're fantastic.

Mike: Haven't dropped below max pressure yet. I'm saving that for winter.

Phil: Much better than slicks. It's not a moron license though.

I'm heading back to TO from the Left Coast. I was never one for video games as a kid, I prefer to play with the cars/pedestrians and tracks. TO as I understand it is slowly becoming the Portland of the East.

Eeeeexcellent, thanks Matt/Brad - I'm trying to hold off to see if it's worth getting studs or just some 'cross tyres or something for the snow/gack. Depends on how the season shapes up, I guess, as I have the impression the studs would get worn to hell on regular asphalt and would be a waste for the most part.

That's what I'm testing out now. I'm running them every day. Apparently the new carbide studs last pretty well.

I actually have pretty crappy studded tires, Innova 106. Bought them from Robin for $7 each. Studded down the middle only. I run them at 65psi for normal conditions, lower if it is really icy, bumby, rutted roads/bike lanes. I find slow and steady over the icy sections at a high psi are fine, but once it gets uneven I need to go lower.

They are definitly slower and heavier but I geared way down to 42/18, about 63 gear inches. On dry pavement they are a bit louder then normel knobbies, but not any slower.

Word. I've not got an extra wheelset for my fixed gear and I don't want to be dicking about with tyre changes so that'd be very useful info.

edit: nice pyze, I'm still debating whether to drop ratio a bit more too - so far it's not been needed, but again, if last year is anything to go by it'll probably be a good plan, as would the studs.

edit - the sequel: Matt/Brad - are either of you running them on a fixed gear? I'm wondering how they fare with skip stopping and the likes when slowing on regular pavement - again, I'm concerned with excessive/early wear-out.

I don't know that I'd say that. The cycling infrastructure this city remains pretty useless and all the major east/west routes in the core leave you the option of riding along parked cars in one lane or street car tracks in the other.

Harbord is awesome though. The rest...

I have the studded tires on a fixed bike, I don't like brakes in the slushy/snowy roads of T.O. and find I have better control when slowing down.

2 good sites for studded tire reviews and info are Peter White and Ice Bike.