[jubilee]

Hey all,
I have an '03 or '04 (can't remember) Spot that I use for trail riding and light freeride. It's got a PUSH'd vanilla 125 up front and the romic DD in the back. For all of you that's been to Whistler, am I good to just slap a short stem (currently 110mm) on this bugger and lower the seat for a June Whistler trip? FWIW, other parts are race face cranks w/bash ring, velocity aeroheat rims w/king hubs, avid mechs, sram xo, panaracer fire 2.4's. Thanks for any info! Just got the ok from my wife last night for the trip!!!

 

[FM]

First of all, you are going to LOVE whistler... it's the best riding i have done anywhere.

Now, there are two aspects to whistler; there is the bike park, and there are the "XC trails".

XC in B.C. is usually equivelant to free-ride in north america. Your spot will be great for this stuff, but bring pads and a short stem (70mm is great). Alpine trails with plenty of vert, up to 5k' in one ride, so a 30-35lb bike is nice. You will also see steep roller slabs ala moab, log rides, rock drops, ladder bridges, teeter-totters, and steep rooty descents. A few must-ride trails:
"kill me thrill me"
"cut your bars/river runs through it/flank trail (climb up to) cheap thrills (descent)/ Danimal" (thats one really fun day of riding you can do right from the village)

"trash"/"Tunnel vision"/"riverside trails" (another fun day, a bit easier)

"Comfortabley numb" (this is the BIG epic, not as much FR but LOTS of good alpine singletrack & lots of vert)

There is also GREAT riding in Squamsih and Pemberton.

Now, the bike park:
Your spot will do OK here, but expect some damage unles you go easy. Riding uphill is ILLEGAL so any bike under 35lbs is underbuilt. Jumps, jumps, jumps. Honestly, the park is so much more fun on a big bike with a full-face and full armour. Otherwise it's like riding a moped on the freeway, it will get you there but it's a little scary and you'll get passed a lot. The upper stuff (Garbonzo lift) is much more fun imho, it's more FR trail and less bmx.

Anyways, thats a start... hope that helps. No doubt, whistler is the future.

Hey all,
I have an '03 or '04 (can't remember) Spot that I use for trail riding and light freeride. It's got a PUSH'd vanilla 125 up front and the romic DD in the back. For all of you that's been to Whistler, am I good to just slap a short stem (currently 110mm) on this bugger and lower the seat for a June Whistler trip? FWIW, other parts are race face cranks w/bash ring, velocity aeroheat rims w/king hubs, avid mechs, sram xo, panaracer fire 2.4's. Thanks for any info! Just got the ok from my wife last night for the trip!!!

 

[jubilee]

First of all, you are going to LOVE whistler... it's the best riding i have done anywhere.

Wow! Thanks for the mucho info! I'm so freeking stoked on this trip. I'll probably rent a bike there or try to "demo" one from my LBS for a fee....he's cool like that if he's got the spare bike. I'll be going with some pretty hardcore DH'ers so I guess I'll leave the spot at home, but I will bring the DJ bike! Thanks again.

EDIT: I see you're in seattle. Maybe I'll see you at the collonade after it's done. I can't wait to drive over and try it out.

 

[006_007]

Hey all,
I have an '03 or '04 (can't remember) Spot that I use for trail riding and light freeride. It's got a PUSH'd vanilla 125 up front and the romic DD in the back. For all of you that's been to Whistler, am I good to just slap a short stem (currently 110mm) on this bugger and lower the seat for a June Whistler trip? FWIW, other parts are race face cranks w/bash ring, velocity aeroheat rims w/king hubs, avid mechs, sram xo, panaracer fire 2.4's. Thanks for any info! Just got the ok from my wife last night for the trip!!!

As already posted, your 5-spot will be amazing on Whistlers "XC" trails. But do bring armour. For the actual bike park I would also recommend a demo rig. When the park opened what 5 years ago I started out on my FSR enduro. I enjoyed myself, but never craved more then 6 runs in a day. Once I got the big bike up there it is tough to keep me away.

 

[FM]

No worries- but I would still bring the spot for the trail riding. I've ridden my implant there too, it's fine but it has a 5" Z1 on it. Personally, I'll take the westside trails over the bike park any day. if you have seen the whistler part of "The Collective" ("Gargamel"), that's the westside. Not to be missed! There's no lack of things to scare the crap out of you on whistler "XC trails"!

PM me before you go, if you like. Last summer I was in whistler at 1-2x a month. This year, i have a baby, so probably not so often... but still, I have friends there you might be able to hook up with for a "locals tour" of the trails....

PS, check the WORCA link below....

Don't forget your passport!

Wow! Thanks for the mucho info! I'm so freeking stoked on this trip. I'll probably rent a bike there or try to "demo" one from my LBS for a fee....he's cool like that if he's got the spare bike. I'll be going with some pretty hardcore DH'ers so I guess I'll leave the spot at home, but I will bring the DJ bike! Thanks again.

EDIT: I see you're in seattle. Maybe I'll see you at the collonade after it's done. I can't wait to drive over and try it out.

 

[macrider]

Hey all,
I have an '03 or '04 (can't remember) Spot that I use for trail riding and light freeride. It's got a PUSH'd vanilla 125 up front and the romic DD in the back. For all of you that's been to Whistler, am I good to just slap a short stem (currently 110mm) on this bugger and lower the seat for a June Whistler trip? FWIW, other parts are race face cranks w/bash ring, velocity aeroheat rims w/king hubs, avid mechs, sram xo, panaracer fire 2.4's. Thanks for any info! Just got the ok from my wife last night for the trip!!!

As others have said, your 5 Spot will be great for XC riding in the Whistler area - but I wouldn't want to ride it on the lift-serviced parts of the mountain - if you are going to want to try the more technical aspects of Whistler, why not rent a bike for the day from their extensive fleet (Kona last year)? Bring your Spot for the great XC trails in the area, bring pads and either a full-face helmet (strongly recommend when you are riding "stunts" - elevated bridges, ladders & teeters) or at least something with more coverage like the Giro Semi MX. Have fun and expect bike (and body) carnage...bring a spare rear der and maybe a spare brake rotor

 

[slowrider]

Whistler

Take the Spot. I took my Foes Fly and my 5 Spot last year and rode the Sopt more than the Fly. I have to qualify that however because I don't do huge drops. If that's you're thing a bigger bike is in order; or both. Whatever you do if your'e on any kind of budget stop at some store in Vancouver to stock up on snacks and breakfast and maybe lunch stuff because resort pricing is definitly in effect in the village. Buy the beer locally though, I tried different beers from different breweries every day and didn't find a bad one.

 

[Brodiegrrl]

The thing about the bike park is you can do 6-12 or more downhill runs in a day.

lots of stutter bumps.

lots of optional hucks or rolls.

if you stay on the more technical stunty trails ( joy ride, national course, shlayer ) you won't get as punished. If you go on the faster trails you will get punished.

Garbanzo trails are more 'natural' but are getting trashed and pretty bumpy.

Its a numbers game - how many hits can your 5 spot take?

rent a bike. Don't just look at the bike park rentals - Kona.

Also check out Summit at the Delta - Banshee Chapparal.
or Fanatyco - not sure what they are renting this year.

 

[jubilee]

Also check out Summit at the Delta - Banshee Chapparal.
or Fanatyco - not sure what they are renting this year.

Do you know if anywhere's up there is renting the banshee scream? Thanks for the info...

 

[Brodiegrrl]

Do you know if anywhere's up there is renting the banshee scream? Thanks for the info...

Don't know about the scream, but the chap's pretty sweet!