With temperatures dropping, snow dusting the peaks and summer operations winding down, is it yet time put the bike away and hunker down for winter? Hell no.

September is my favorite month of the year for biking. Cool mornings and evenings and an occasional splash of rain to keep the trails tacky is a much more desirable riding condition than sweating buckets and chewing dust during the hot mid-summer. The trail crews in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park are hard at work to make next year’s opening easier, which means lots of buff trails for the Fall.

With my trusty Devinci Wilson in the shop for some unscheduled maintenance, I stopped by  G1 Rentals at Whistler Blackcomb to try out one of their new high performance demos – the Giant Glory 0.

The techs at G1 have been more than impressed with the reliability and functionality of the new fleet this year. The sturdy Giant frames are equipped with the full SRAM componentry – Rock Shox Vivid shocks,  Avid brakes, X series derailleurs  and Truvativ cranksets. While many may think that rental fleets get trashed and thrashed,  the performance models actually don’t go out on the hill as much as you think and ALL bikes receive three, five and ten-ride servicesto keep them running in tip top shape. For more photos of the bling Glory 0 check Pat Hui’s post here.

Taking off down Original Sin on a Glory O can be described accurately in one word – FAST. With all the lightweight bells and whistles (World Cup Air Boxxer fork, carbon XO derailleur) this bike was built for DH racing. Acceleration on the flats and out of corners was effortless, the plush rebound from the shocks kept the bike wanting to eat up the rock gardens and sail off the drop offs. Flow trails were just as fun, the light and nimble Glory able to boost of jumps with amazing control in the air. The Avid Code brakes took some getting used to, the four-piston stopping power almost feeling like too much sometimes and locking up the wheels. After a few laps however, a light feathering of these powerful brakes had me in the zone.

A select few Giants are on sale outside of G1 so if you are looking for park machine for next summer now is the time to grab a bargain. 24 days of Whistler Mountain Bike Park left!

WC Boxxer can be a maintenance hassle. Good thing there are trained to techs to keep them plush.

I'll take extra carbon please

Long days in the park need a sturdy shock. Rock Shox Vivid passes with flying colors

Maxxis Minion - the bike park standard

Avid Code - More braking power than you will ever need.