Photos: Hailey Elise
We're lucky to have a ton of amazing women in our local cycling community. We celebrate them every day, but International Women's Day is a great opportunity to step that up, and do something really special. That's why we partnered up with SRAM and Hilltop MTB on an International Women's Day lunch and learn, focussed on brakes.
Jaime Hill, owner of Hilltop MTB, and Ambassador Program Specialist at SRAM approached us with the idea of using IWD to host a fun Lunch and Learn session, consisting of a guided ride here on the North Shore, with a lunch and a tech workshop here at the store, with the aim of imparting some wisdom with some local ladies that shred. We love being able to host events and build community, so this was a no brainer for us.
Starting with a classic North Shore ride, the group of 26 ladies met on Braemar Rd for a couple of lower Fromme laps, taking advantage of the lower elevation trails during some cold, damp conditions. The ride took in the lower portions of the climb trail, sessioning Lower Expresso, Pennzoil and Lower Digger. The focus of the ride was on braking - an often overlooked part of riding. Covering brake setup - lever reach, free stroke, lever position, and into ideal on-trail braking technique, pro coach, Jaime, covered a ton of ground, imparting valuable wisdom.
Heading back to the shop, the riders were met with a mexican feast from Tacofino and beverages from local companies Beva Brewing and Squamish Water Kefir.
For the final part of the day, our talented mechanic Ash Kelly and Jaime from Hilltop split the group in two for expert tutorials in SRAM hydraulic brakes, including replacing pads, cleaning and staging pistons, bleeding, proper brake setup and periodic maintenance and some time working on the new ultra-powerful SRAM Maven brakes. Brakes are one of the most important components on your bike, and while it pays to make sure they're bled and have good pads, there are a ton of things you can do to improve brake feel and power outside of those.
To finish things off with a bang, one lucky attendee left with a limited edition Maven brake set that was raffled off. All proceeds ($700) went to North Shore Women's Centre. We want to extend a massive thank you to SRAM, Hilltop MTB, and all the ladies that showed up, including a bunch of the Shore Sirens. What an amazing day!
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