Five Hills Bikes

Spring is Around the Corner

Get ready for spring and riding season, it’s just around the corner. How do we know? Spotted our first Robin today and registration for the Gravel Grinder Spring Classic Dirt Road Ride is now open. Register early to ensure your spot in this beloved annual season opener. It never feels easy to get those legs moving, but it sure is fun. Check out all the info and register here.

In the meantime, we still have snow here in Waterbury and a size run of fat bikes from Surly for you to try out. Stop and and take one for a ride while you drop off your cross bike for a preseason tune.

Maple Sap Season

Gone Riding - Vacation Time

We’ll be stepping away from the shop for a few days of vacation time, heading off to the desert for some well deserved riding in the sunshine.

Five Hills Bikes will be closed from January 29th through February 9th, reopening on February 10th. You can still order anything you need via Bike29.com, it will be available for pickup or shipping on the 10th.

Look out for information about our upcoming events, a fat bike ride on February 26th and the annual Gravel Grinder on April 22.

Snow Bike Riding

We’re happy to announce that our second Surly Pugsley snow bike is in house. Now we have a large and a small — as well as plenty of snow.

So if you’ve been seeing all the fat bike coverage and wondering what it’s all about, swing by the shop and take one of ours for a little spin.

Snow Bike Demos

You might have heard of a snow bike or a fat bike, we call it a fun bike. These bikes accommodate extra super wide tires so now you can ride where it was very difficult on a mountain bike. Explore the backcountry via snowmobile trails or class four roads, these fat bikes will take you there.

Bike29 / Five Hills Bikes has demo fat bikes available. Stop in and give one a spin behind the shop, or for $40 you can demo it for the afternoon. If you like it and want to get one, we’ll apply your demo fee towards the cost of the bike. Currently we have a small Pugsley available for demo, with more sizes and models arriving soon.

Snow bikes don’t have to be expensive and they’re a great way to enjoy everything Vermont has to offer in the winter. Give us a call at 802-244-7330 to discuss and plan your demo.

Holiday 2011

It’s that time again. The 2011 holiday season is here. We urge you to support a vibrant community by shopping with your local, small businesses — like us! We’ve got some great things for the cyclist and outdoor enthusiast.

Check out some of these suggestions:

Stylish jersey from TwinSix

Cycling socks from Bike29 and Endless Cogs

Lighting systems

Tubes make great stocking stuffers

Lube and cleaning supplies

Floor pump

‘Tis the season to support Waterbury businesses. We’re world famous for our custom wheel building, custom bike builds, belt drive and 29″ wheels. Feel free to call us at 80-244-7330 to discuss a special project or special surprise for the holidays.

Leaf Blower

Five Hills Bikes will be closed on Saturday October 8th. We will be attending the first annual Leaf Blower ‘Soon to Be Classic” Fall Ride.

It is a fund raiser/epic bike ride with lots of food, activities and fun to benefit the Stowe Mountainbike Club. All proceeds go directly to the trails we maintain. Come out for a ride and check out our work! Meet at Skiershop on Mountain road in Stowe at 11am for registration.

Welcome Family Physical Therapy

We pleased to announce that Family Physical Therapy will be located in the front of Five Hills Bikes / Bike29 while they repair the flood damage suffered at their South Main Street location.

Five Hills Bikes is open for business and accepting bikes for service as well as selling parts and accessories, handbuilt wheels, 29ers from Niner, tires, tubes, nutrition, and more.

Please note that Five Hills Bikes will be closed on Saturday, September 10 for a vacation day. It’s been a rough week in Waterbury and everyone needs a long weekend of riding mountain bikes up in the Kingdom.

Shop Update

Water rushes into Waterbury during the storm

Many of you might have heard that Waterbury was severly flooded when Hurricane Irene passed over VT on Sunday. Our friends and neighbors in the village evacuated just in time as the flood waters rose to 3-4 feet in their houses and businesses. Due to the flooding, our favorite post-ride pub, The Alchemist, will be closed indefinitely while they rebuild.

We were lucky to be on high ground and the shop was not affected by the flood and we are open for business. Please have patience as we may have to help our friends  and neighbors during the recovery effort and might not always be available. Feel free to call us at 244-7330 to check hours and availability.

As for the Perry Hill trails, the Stowe Mountain Bike Club is asking riders to give the trails some time to dry out and to consider volunteering with the flood clean up effort in Waterbury in lieu of mountain biking while the town recovers from this tragedy.

To help with the relief effort, please visit the Waterbury Good Neighbor Fund and donate money or time to help get our town back on it’s feet.

Tuesday Night Ladies Rides

Sterling Valley Ladies Night Ride from mandy wisell on Vimeo.

Tuesday night is the Ladies Night Rides. Each week we ride trails in Stowe or Waterbury, according to the posted schedule. The ladies rides are open to ladies with at least some mountain biking experience, they are not beginner rides (sorry, the terrain is just too challenging in Stowe and Waterbury). It’s a great environment to challenge yourself and work on some skills with a supportive group of ladies or make new friends that enjoy mountain biking as much as you do. The rides are generally 1.5-2 hours long and very social while still getting a great ride.

The Ladies Ride always goes as scheduled, except if the weather is really terrible. Check the SMBC Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @mandywisell for ride announcements and weather proclamations.

Here’s the schedule for the second part of the summer (subject to change):

• July 12: Stowe — the Wall
• July 19: Waterbury Waterworks and pot luck
• July 26: Stowe — Town Loops and Pipeline
• August 2: No ride (sorry, traveling)
• August 9: Waterbury Perry HIll
• August 16: Stowe
• August 23: No ride (sorry, traveling)
• August 30: Waterbury Perry Hill (last official ride)

Waterbury rides meet at Five Hills Bikes, leave at 6pm. Exception will be Waterworks, we can meet at my house. Email me mandy (at) bike29.com for directions.

Stowe rides meet at Town Loops trailhead behind iRide, leave at 6pm.

We generally start riding right on time, so plan to get there 15 minutes early to get ready. Hope to have a nice crew again this year, last year we had a lot of fun. Any questions? Joining us for the first time? Feel free to email me mandy (at) bike29.com.

Thursday night is the main shop ride - Waterbury trails. Leave from Five Hills Bikes/Bike29 at 6pm. Ride is about 2 hours, social pace, mostly Perry Hill trails. All are welcome. Call 244-7330 or email georgew (at) bike29.com for questions.

Vermont Mountain Bike Festival

Come to Waterbury for the Vermont Mountain Bike Festival on July 16 & 17. It’s a ton of fun and a great way to get guided tours of all the local trails, and not just Waterbury. It’s a lot of fun.