Skiis & Biikes - Ontario

Icebreaker 2011 Launch

November 26, 2009. Our buyers, Heather, Donna and I attended the launch of next year's Icebreaker clothing for the 2010/11 season. We all know and love the merino product that comes from the finest New Zealand merino sheep!!

Robbie (left) and Ron (right) present Heather, from our Collingwood store, with an outstanding achievement award for the Collingwood location. A bottle of reserve New Zealand wine-nice!!

 

After the formalities, we spent a tough day previewing the line which will arrive in our stores next fall (2010). It was great to see that so much of the feedback from our alpine market has been taken into consideration by the Icebreaker design team. Here's a sneak peek.

-Valerie

 

Buying Kicks off for 2010/11 ski season!!

  

Last week we visited Spyder's North American HQ in Boulder, Colorado to preview the 2010/11 collections.

Here is our "proof for the boss" photo that we were actually working out there in Colorado.

As you can see, there was plenty of snow in comparison to balmy Ontario. The storm started when we arrived in Denver and stopped the night before we came home. Nothing like a few inches of snow to get you in the mood for that winter that feels like it'll never get here.

Well we can't give away any top secret info about next years product yet, but here are a few cool pics of the Spyder HQ:

 
 

Design Obsession: Skiis and Biikes Clothing Team

 

Each season our ski and snowboard clothing buyers are challenged to the daunting task of editing thousands of styles down to what they feel is the crème de la crème of outerwear for our stores. It may appear to be a matter of simply choosing what is pleasing to the eye, but our obsession for good design makes or breaks the fate of many garments. Our buying team is not only interested in clothing design but is also educated in architecture, fine art and floral and interior design. A very detail oriented team!!

 

Often, our staff or customers remark, “I saw a particular jacket in another store. Why don’t you have it at Skiis and Biikes?”

 

For many reasons, garments are rejected from our assortments. Our first consideration is the first impression. If it is not pleasing to the eye, we immediately move on. The next consideration is performance. We buy under the assumption that the consumer will be skiing or snowboarding in cold, mountain conditions. Garments with inferior insulation hit the cutting room floor. They are often attractive and well priced but if we do not believe the garment will perform to our standards, it is rejected. Same goes for fit, waterproof ratings, breathability of fabric, overall comfort and construction, warranty considerations, ease of zippers and findings, and the list goes on.

 

We participate in winter sports and take pride in offering products we would only consider wearing for our own use. The last thing you want when you are on the mountain is to feel cold or uncomfortable. Our design obsession ensures we are working hard so you can maximize your on-hill enjoyment staying warm and comfortable.

Cover Your Butt: A guide to buying skipants for the 'not so average' person

Buying ski pants might just be the runner up to shopping for swimwear. Not exactly something we all look forward to as it can pose a problem for the short-legged, long-legged or anyone who does not conform to the ‘average’ body type. Skiis and Biikes believes that we all deserve great clothing to ski in, regardless of size and body type. We go out of our way to find basic black pants for men and women in a variety of sizes and lengths. All pants in our assortment are warm (minimum 40 g insulation), waterproof and breathable. We bring in a variety of brands and fits to suit many bodies. It is best to shop early for the best selection and please provide us with your feedback. We are often pushing our suppliers to expand their size ranges and sometimes they need to hear it from you too!

 

-Valerie

Product Testing: MOUNTAIN FORCE SKIWEAR

Mountain Force is a new ski clothing company from Switzerland, introduced in Canada last season. It broke out on the scene with super luxurious stretch fabrics inside and out paired with a new ceramic heat-reflective coating, making the garments incredibly lightweight but warm and comfortable.

 

As the ski clothing buyer for Skiis and Biikes, I thought the jackets felt so lightweight that I was pretty skeptical to buy it for the first season. A friend had tested a jacket and pants at Mt Tremblant (brrr) in January and assured me that she was warm as toast. I was blown away by the beauty and innovation in the product, so went ahead and put it into the stores for 2008/2009. Still, I was curious about the performance of the product so I arranged to test a suit myself on an upcoming trip to Whistler.

 

I was traveling with a friend who was also wearing a Mountain Force suit. It was a great opportunity to compare notes. While the conditions varied from fog to blizzard, the suits were comfortable in all conditions. My friend added a couple of extra layers underneath while I was pretty comfy with a base layer and single midlayer. 

 

The fit is fantastic and very slimming, as a result of the low loft insulation. The snow and water shed instantly, including bums after the dreaded wet chairlift. Because the garments are 100% stretch from the inside out, they moved with us, felt completely unrestrictive and retained their shape. Breathability was excellent in the warmer, foggy conditions.

 

Overall, we rank this new brand very high. The fit, fabrics and innovation score 10/10. Mountain Force will be arriving for men and women again this fall in all stores.

 

-Valerie

 

WAKESTOCK 2009

This year wakestock headed up to Collingwood at the old terminal. There were lots of great bands, a great crowd and even better performances by the riders. Like I have mentioned in one of the previous posts, the staff at Skiis and Biikes are big on many different kinds of sportsm and it just so happens the Wakeboarding is one of them. Many of the staff in service at the Toronto store are avid wakeboarder's and wakeskaters. One of our winter snowboard staff actually competed in this years Wakestock and finished 1st in his class. Congrats to Andrew M!

 

Thanks to Jeff at "Wake Camp" I was able to head out onto the water with him and his sons to snap some photos of both them and the competitors. Here are a few shots from the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greg B

Toronto Hot Spots!

One of the best parts about working out of the Toronto store is our location. Within just mere minutes
from our store we have the Don Valley MTB trails, Vanderhoof Skatepark, Ellesmere Skatepark, and lots of great roads and path's to take our road bikes out on. Skiis and Biikes is a very "sports cultured" store. We have staff that do every kind of sport you can imagine; skateboarding, road biking, mountain biking, BMXing and much more. The other night we went out and hung out at our local skatepark with some of Toronto's most talented! What a blast it was, we had the shop lights out illuminating the park, and the riders were out until 2 in the morning ripping it up!

GET MOTIVATED!

 

    One of the most difficult parts of cycling to many people is staying motivated to keep riding. For those of you who are looking to whip yourself into shape and are using cycling as your number one form of exercise you probably know exactly what I am talking about. Getting up the will to go out day after day and push yourself further and harder each time. I can safely say that in the past I myself have found this to be an issue. Between work and my own personal life, trying to get out on my bike sometimes doesn't always seem like the most fun thing I could be doing. How did I solve my dilemma? I got myself a cycling computer, well actually I got a Suunto Watch. 

    With the Suunto watches your are able to monitor your Heart Rate, Calories and allow you to set goals for yourself. The Suunto also offers a number of POD's that allow you to monitor speed, distance and cadence. All of last year I had been using my Suunto T3C watch with the Heart Rate monitor. Each time I would go for a ride I would slap on the Suunto set up and would rip it up as hard as I could. At the end of each ride I would record how long I rode, what my max and average Heart Rate was and how many calories I burned. The next time I would go out I would try and beat everything I recorded from my last ride. This year I picked up the Suunto GPS POD to give me a little more information. I am now able to monitor how far I have ridden and what kind of speeds I was able to reach. 

The Suunto is by far my preferred form of cycling computer, however if you aren't looking to

spend $150.00 you can get the basics starting at $25.00 with on bike computers from Sigma, CatEye, Trek, Specialized and others. The bike computer is the best way to help keep yourself motivated to get out and ride your bike. If your out buying a new bike this year or looking for some fun accessories to throw on to an existing one, the computer is an affordable and fun option, something you surely wont regret!

Why Go Carbon?

 

When it comes to bike's today there are so many options that it blow's many people's minds. There are many different materials to choose from when investing in a new bike. You have different grades of aluminum, steel, and carbon that make up the frame of your bike. What many people want to know is, "what is the difference?" What are the benefits to choosing one type of frame over the other. And why should I spend $2000.00 over $1000. With an alloy frame you get lightweight and affordable because the frame is easier to manufacture. Because the frame itself is affordable you get a good bang for your buck, because within a $2000 budget you can get yourself top notch components that will give you a great bike in the end. When you go to Carbon your typical starting price is going to be around $2000 and with that you're looking at basic components and a little bit of a heavier bike because of that. To get the quality components you would find on a high end alloy bike you can think about spending between $2500 and $4000 to get the same quality if not slightly better. So what justifies doubling your budget? Well if you're a beginner rider and just want to try and get into the sport but aren't certain its going to stick. Well you don't have to worry as much because in most cases you will be quite happy with a basic alloy frame. If you are a die hard rider, competitive rider or someone that wants to get into riding, and know its something that will stick and plan on progressing, then Carbon is going to be the best place to start looking when looking for a new ride.

            A Carbon bike is going to be much more rigid than alloy which means it is going to perform better. Each time you pedal the bike all of the power created will be transfered from you to the road with no wasted energy making the ride much more efficient. The frame is going to act like a big suspension unit in a sense. Roads are rough, never smooth, because of that you're body has to fight off these vibrations that are created in order to ride comfortably. Carbon fiber absorbs these vibrations before they make it to your body. If you are someone that goes out on there alloy frame and rides for 2 hours and gets tired, jumping on to a carbon frame will add a few extra KM's to your weekend ride and still leave you with a good bit of energy at the end of the day. Due to the fact that your body is not longer wasting energy trying to fight off all the vibrations, it has a lot of extra energy left over to put into riding your bike for longer. 

            If you like riding road bikes in particular you will notice the biggest difference on these bikes. You're going to increase performance, efficiency and comfort, so get out and try something carbon, you wont regret it I promise!

SAXO BANK BIKE SPECIALS!

    If you have been following this year's Tour de France you may have seen a few of our new bikes in the mix. This year Specialized bikes put together a few of their bikes and did them up with a beautiful special Saxo Bank team edition paint job. Skiis and Biikes managed to get our hands on a couple of these bikes and are they ever hot! We have the Tarmac and the Roubaix Comp with this sweet paint job. Both of the bikes have a full Shimano 105 part spec and are full carbon frames.

 

                    Team Saxo Bank Jersey

    Skiis and Biikes currently has a special Tour de France Promotion running where both of these beautiful bikes offer you a deal that is IMPOSSIBLE to turn down. The bikes are marked down up to $1000 off the white sticker price, and with the purchase of either you will receive a Specialized Sworks helmet and a 1 year premium membership to the Specialized Riders Club all at no extra charge!* For more information on the Specialized Riders club visit www.specializedriders.com and be sure to stop by our locations to see these beautiful bikes and take one for a test ride today!

*see www.specialized.ca/tdf

          Specialized Roubaix Comp (Saxo Bank)