[roman]

Hey,

I'm moving to Toronto this weekend. I'm a little bit spoiled by awesome trails I enjoyed here in West Virginia, so I’m worried I’ll have withdrawals while I’m exploring mountain biking possibilities in the Toronto area.

Can you local guys provide some info on trails, local bike stores, and Canadian online retailers?

Thanks

 

[Drunk]

Hey,

I'm moving to Toronto this weekend. I'm a little bit spoiled by awesome trails I enjoyed here in West Virginia, so I?m worried I?ll have withdrawals while I?m exploring mountain biking possibilities in the Toronto area.

Can you local guys provide some info on trails, local bike stores, and Canadian online retailers?

Thanks

I work at Trail Blazer Cycles on the Danforth in Toronto. We do a sunday ride in the Don Valley to get more info email us:

[email protected]

 

[Bill Payer]

don't worry roman...

I am not familiar with the riding in West Virginia, (will have better idea next month while on a NC road trip) but there is great riding in and around Toronto

bikeroom.com is a Canadian online retailer, (I don't get much bike stuff online since I like my local bike shop, but I am sure others will have suggestions)

Once you get settled in, post here and a local will hook you up.... and welcome to Ontario!
what brings you?

P.S. nice site Drunk, I will be checking it out further

 

[roman]

I am not familiar with the riding in West Virginia, (will have better idea next month while on a NC road trip) but there is great riding in and around Toronto

bikeroom.com is a Canadian online retailer, (I don't get much bike stuff online since I like my local bike shop, but I am sure others will have suggestions)

Once you get settled in, post here and a local will hook you up.... and welcome to Ontario!
what brings you?

P.S. nice site Drunk, I will be checking it out further

Thanks for welcoming me and for the info.

 

[GearHead]

Avoid Bikeroom.com at all cost. Do a search on MTBR and you will soon find out why. Speedgoat is very good shipping stuff to Canada, otherwise we don't have any good big Canadian mail order places. I like to buy all my stuff form my LBS anyway and have found that their prices are just as cheap if not better than most mail order places.

Are you living right in Toronto or somewhere close in the GTA?

No offense Drunk, but the Don Valley isn't exactly what I would call a great trail. It is very short, lacks technical challenges, and has very little flow to speak of.

There are many great trails just outside the GTA. What level of rider are you, what type of riding do you like?

 

[Chad-WL]

Welcome

Welcome to the GTA.

Bikeroom isn't as bad as it gets made out to be all the time. I had a good experience with them, so have a few others, they still are in business, so they must do something right.

Toronto has a great are norht-east of the GTA in Uxbridge. (Look for it on a map). There are three great areas to ride that are all attached. Durham Forest, Walker Woods and Glen Major .

I'm from the East end, but ride Uxbridge every other week.

Chad

 

[roman]

It looks like Toronto has a lot of great local bike stores. I live in small WV town; we have two LBS here and they both suck (nothing is in stock, high prices, takes forever to deliver) so i've been using online retailers.

I was wondering, when you order from Speedgoat or Jenson what kind of taxes or tariffs do you have to pay when shipping to Canada.

I enjoy riding technical trails, but don't mind XC.

 

[AndrewTO]

Welcome Roman! Always nice to have another rider around. (and another poster in the biggest Canada section )

LBS - there's NO shortage of these in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). Some areas more-so than other's, but tons, nonetheless. What you'll find usefull or not is, of course, up to you. http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=88133 (HAHA! ANOTHER Sticky!!!!! )

Same can be said for trails. Subjective, by far, as to what's good or not - as you've already noticed. Most of the "good" stuff is, IMHO, more accessible by driving for an hour or less from Toronto. There's at least a dozen places that come to mind. http://www.theride.ca/ You can also check Trail Reviews at the top of every MTBR page.

As with others - might be a good idea to post your general location so other's in your area can better help you.

Mailorder ~> Canada - Ramsay's is a name that quickly somes to mind, as well as MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op). Ramsay's is based out on the East Coast (more or less) while MEC, although having limited supplies, is right in downtown Toronto. There are a few others, but the deals some from the U.S. mail order houses. We all know how this works.

Mailorder ~> US - you'll never get charged any duty on new or used bike parts shipped up from the U.S. You WILL get charged with taxes, however. 7% GST (Goods and Services Tax) and 8% PST (Provincialy Sales Tax) will be charged on anything you have sent up. Whenever possible have your stuff sent up using USPS - it's the cheapest, as per the business agreements made with USPS and CanadaPost. IIRC, you'll be charged a $5 flat rate (don't quote me on this). NEVER EVER have anything sent up using UPS or FedEx!!!! You WILL get hammered with Brokerage fees.

Basically, if you have something sent up from the U.S. with USPS take the U.S. dollar value, multiply by 1.55 and that's what you'll be paying in Canadian dollars (pretty close average with experience to back it up).

If you have something sent up with UPS or FedEx then do the same, but multiply by 2 instead of 1.55.

So, there you have it. Enjoy and hope to see you out on the trails!

 

[GearHead]

Part of the mystery of USPS revealed when shipping from US to Canada,

USPS:

Regular
0-20$ + Free
20+ = 7% HST + Your Prov. Tax % + 5$

Gift
0 - 60$ = Free
60+ = 7% HST + Your Prov. Tax % + 5$ on the amount above 60$

 

[Drunk]

Avoid Bikeroom.com at all cost. Do a search on MTBR and you will soon find out why. Speedgoat is very good shipping stuff to Canada, otherwise we don't have any good big Canadian mail order places. I like to buy all my stuff form my LBS anyway and have found that their prices are just as cheap if not better than most mail order places.

Are you living right in Toronto or somewhere close in the GTA?

No offense Drunk, but the Don Valley isn't exactly what I would call a great trail. It is very short, lacks technical challenges, and has very little flow to speak of.

There are many great trails just outside the GTA. What level of rider are you, what type of riding do you like?

Hey GearHead,

No offence taken, but what the Don Offers is the place I ride most morings. It's a tremendous resource and takes too much flack for be but not technical and/or having no flow. It's kind of and oxymoron because if it wasn't soo technical it would flow better. Also with the rebirth of the switch back/party atmosphere you have 1-2hours of on dirt riding inside the biggest city in the country. That's what makes the Don great.

Lates
Owen

 

[Bill Payer]

http://www.theride.ca/ You can also check Trail Reviews at the top of every MTBR page.

haha, interestingly enough, this site has a photo feature on.......
ready?......

.West Virgina 2004 Road Trip

it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all...

 

[tatdotcom]

Hey GearHead,

No offence taken, but what the Don Offers is the place I ride most morings. It's a tremendous resource and takes too much flack for be but not technical and/or having no flow. It's kind of and oxymoron because if it wasn't soo technical it would flow better. Also with the rebirth of the switch back/party atmosphere you have 1-2hours of on dirt riding inside the biggest city in the country. That's what makes the Don great.

Lates
Owen

agreed, i rode the don twice and found it to be rolling the second time. you need momentum to get you up the next hill since it can be steep and have tons of roots. you just need to attack the technical parts with no fear and you'll have yourself a nice ride. if you choose, there are more advanced parts to take on the sides of the main trail for freeriders.

you can't beat having a trail in the city. where i'm from, i need to drive close to an hour for my fav trail.

 

[BlackOut]

Guides

Hey Welcome to Ontario.

I use 2 sources mostly for trails. Having lived here for a long time.

First is a book. You can get it at better bike shops in the GTA. It's Rider Mel's guide to Ontario. I like the no crap review, trail map and directions. Gives you an idea of what's around.

http://www.ontariotrailguide.com/

The other place that I stumbled across for good information is the Toronto Bicycle Network.

http://www.tbn.ca/

They have regular rides on the weekends and if you don't go with them you still get good directions on where to ride.

As for online retailers, as long as they ship USPS you are in better hands than UPS/FedEx.

I like JensonUSA, pricepoint.com, Speedgoat.com. Someone that will really treat you well is Larry @mtnhighcyclery.com. He gets things across the border without mishap everytime.

 

[FD1]

Durham Forest . . . . .

Depending on where you live in Toronto, and whether you have wheels or not, you'll find Durham forest and Glen Major to the North east are free and have lots of trail choices. There are trails as technical as you lke. To north is Ravenshoe quite technical. Off to the west of TO are many others whcih I am not familiar with. Check the trail revues section on this website.
Another vote here for Speedgoat

FD

 

[roman]

Lots of good info. Looking forward riding in Ontario

Thanks guys.

 

[Nicros]

To be honest

Having lived in NC for 9 years and having made frequent trips to WV for biking - ahhh 24 hours of Snowshoe - sweet, I regret to inform you that you'll likely be a bit dissapointed in the riding available close to you (though there is much better riding, its a bit of a drive). I'm originally from just west of Toronto and moved back here (to the Toronto area) about 6 months ago. Here, obviously we don't have mountains which means you get a lot of short, steep climbs and descents. Not bad, but certainly not the thrill you get riding the mountains, no long ascents and descents. The trails are not particularly long either, most places you get 5-8 km, not miles of loops that you go around and around. You don't get a lot of technical sections like I've seen in WV, so if you like that type of riding, you'll need to travel some distance to get to places like Blue Mtn and Kelso. BUT, there is some fun, fast, flowy stuff here - its just a different type of riding.

If you're originally from WV, you're in for quite the change in culture, attitude etc. This is a really cool place to live and Ontario has a ton to offer so make sure you take the opportunity to travel all over the province - IT ROCKS! You're also only 3 hours from great riding/skiing/snowboarding etc in NY, about 8-10 from awesome riding/skiing/snowboarding in Quebec and 8 hours from great riding/skiing/snowboarding in VT. Best of luck with the move and I hope you enjoy TO. Take care.