Visiting Vancouver - Looking for rental + trails

PB Forum :: Canada - West
Visiting Vancouver - Looking for rental + trails
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flag Kichu182
Posted: May 27, 2016 at 11:59 Quote
Hey guys!

I’m in Vancouver for a conference, and coming from Ontario, I know I just have to experience some of your famous north shore trails. I have a free morning before my flight, and I was hoping to use it to hit the trails.

I’m staying downtown, and I was wondering if there was a bike shop in close proximity to some trailheads that would rent me a bike for the morning that you would recommend? Ideally somewhere where it won’t cost me a fortune to Uber to from downtown (I’m staying near BC place). So far I’ve found Endless Bikes as a rental place, but I’m unsure if there’s any good trails near there? I’m hoping for some great local advice!

Thanks in advance!

Cheers!
flag bernk
O+
Posted: May 27, 2016 at 13:27 Quote
I'm wondering the same thing regarding rentals. By the way, there is no Uber in vancouver. We do have Evo (car sharing) and the cars all have roof bike racks.
flag Kichu182
Posted: May 27, 2016 at 13:29 Quote
bernk wrote:
I'm wondering the same thing regarding rentals. By the way, there is no Uber in vancouver. We do have Evo (car sharing) and the cars all have roof bike racks.

Ah, thanks for the heads up! Evo sounds great with the roof racks. Maybe I can hustle a little further to find some prime trail then. Endless Bikes sounds is looking like a good rental place, nice selection of Rocky trail bikes. Good reviews online.

Any suggestions for local trails to hit up that aren't too far away?
flag gramboh
O+ FL
Posted: May 27, 2016 at 15:49 Quote
Endless is good. You could pedal up to Fromme from there but it will waste a bunch of time. Lynn Valley is the closest bike shop to Fromme trails, not sure if they do rentals/demos but you can call and ask.

See if you can sign up for Evo with your license as the other poster said. I think the rental cars are $15 an hour and have dual bike racks, you can grab one downtown, go get your rental bike, ride a few hours and drop it off back downtown. Will be fast which is important if you only have a few hours as the shops probably don't open until 9 or 10am.

Get the Trailforks app on your phone for navigation. Most bang for your buck would be to park at the Fromme parking lot as it cuts out a bit of climbing and there should be room on a weekday morning. Can pack in a lot of riding in 2 hours there, same with Seymour, and both are close to the bridge back into downtown.
flag kurtwerby
O+
Posted: May 27, 2016 at 16:13 Quote
I'd suggest heading for Fromme once you get your bike sorted. If you only have a half day you're less likely to get turned around on Fromme than Seymour. Seymour can be a bit confusing if you've never ridden there before and you can eat up a lot of time trying to figure out where you are.
flag Kichu182
Posted: May 27, 2016 at 22:35 Quote
Great - thanks guys. Just registered for free with Evo - what an amazing service with the bike racks. You BC folks really do have it better.

Any recommended trails in the Fromme network? Also, between a Rocky Thunderbolt, Instinct, or Altitude, which bike would you recommend for these trails? I ride a 2009 Rocky Altitude (140mm) at home.
flag kurtwerby
O+
Posted: May 27, 2016 at 23:14 Quote
Kichu182 wrote:
Great - thanks guys. Just registered for free with Evo - what an amazing service with the bike racks. You BC folks really do have it better.

Any recommended trails in the Fromme network? Also, between a Rocky Thunderbolt, Instinct, or Altitude, which bike would you recommend for these trails? I ride a 2009 Rocky Altitude (140mm) at home.

For trails it depends on how difficult you are looking for. You can always start mellow and take it up from there. Maybe head up the road and ride Bobsled first. It will be the second trail on your left just before the second switchback. It's a fast and flowy green/blue new school trail and will spit you back out on the road. Head back up and do Floppy Bunny. You'll see the entrance on your left before you get to Bobsled. It will spit you out back on the road as well. From there you have lots of options. Maybe head back up the road and do Expresso. It's super fun and deservedly popular. After you ride it you will come to a junction with the Baden Powell trail. Head left here and it will bring you back to the road. If you still have the legs to pedal up and want something harder head for Ladies Only or Pipeline. Classic Shore! Everything is well signed and this will give you a good sampling with what's going on on Fromme without having to climb higher up on the road, which will eat up a lot of time. Enjoy!

If it was me I'd go with the Altitude.
flag gramboh
O+ FL
Posted: May 28, 2016 at 13:16 Quote
^^^ second this advice. Get the Altitude for extra margin of error with more suspension. The climbs you will do on Fromme will be the fire road so not a big deal to have a bigger bike. Good advice on the trail progression too.
flag tealdub
O+
Posted: May 28, 2016 at 14:57 Quote
Also agree with the advice above. wouldn't go seymour without someone to show you round given time is limited.
although there are a couple of really nice, more flowy trails there this year...
there are some really nice summarys here.... http://ridespots.com/destination/mountain-biking-north-vancouver-british-columbia/
Just be aware the upper loops at fromme do take a while. for expresso you are looking at about a 30 min climb and 20min odd ride back. Even the traverse "access" trail Baden Powell is pretty techy rock for quite a bit. 20km is a big ride on the shore! average speed is almost always under 10kmh
flag kevin267
O+
Posted: May 29, 2016 at 20:23 Quote
Don't count out just signing up for a 'tour' with Endless, they'll sort out all the logistics /details (could probably pick you up, worth asking) and you'll have a blast
flag Kichu182
Posted: May 31, 2016 at 11:34 Quote
Thanks for all the advice guys - massively appreciated.

Question regarding parking at the trails. Looking at trail forks, it says there's a lot almost inside the trail network, but no longer on an actual road. Can I drive right up there? Or do you just park along the road on mountain highway?
flag gramboh
O+ FL
Posted: May 31, 2016 at 14:36 Quote
Kichu182 wrote:
Thanks for all the advice guys - massively appreciated.

Question regarding parking at the trails. Looking at trail forks, it says there's a lot almost inside the trail network, but no longer on an actual road. Can I drive right up there? Or do you just park along the road on mountain highway?

There is a parking lot beside the water towers off Mountain Highway, that is what you see on trailforks. Note that the lot fills up on weekends and on some evenings at 6ish with good weather (or events like races). When it's full, you have to park below Coleman street on Mtn Highway (higher than Coleman is permit only) and pedal up.

Second the idea of calling Endless and asking about a rental + guide or group ride whatever they might be doing that day.
flag Kichu182
Posted: May 31, 2016 at 15:51 Quote
gramboh wrote:

There is a parking lot beside the water towers off Mountain Highway, that is what you see on trailforks. Note that the lot fills up on weekends and on some evenings at 6ish with good weather (or events like races). When it's full, you have to park below Coleman street on Mtn Highway (higher than Coleman is permit only) and pedal up.

Second the idea of calling Endless and asking about a rental + guide or group ride whatever they might be doing that day.

Thanks for the help! I'll be going up Thursday morning, so hopefully it'll be fairly empty.

I did indeed call up Endless, but no group rides that day. They offer tours, but at $235 it's a little pricey for me unfortunately.
flag liqu1d
Posted: May 31, 2016 at 21:40 Quote
I just did the same trip. Came from Ont, rented and rode fromme. I can highly recommend eco-rides. They picked me up where I was staying, drove us out to the trails, and showed us around. The rental bikes are norco range. Was incredible value at $125!
flag bernk
O+
Posted: Jun 3, 2016 at 11:33 Quote
That does sound like a good value.

I'd also like to point out that Evo just recently opened up their "home area" to include North Vancouver, which is awesome! That means you can end your trip there and not pay while you're riding. Then you can roll back down hill and pick up another car to head back to the shop, or just ride all the way back since most of it is downhill it shouldn't take long.

Oh, and definitely check out the Trailforks app. It's free and great—not a common combination Wink
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