Hey It's me Pat! I'm the other half of Dismount and sometimes I write these things. I was born in Toronto but grew up in Vancouver, where I discovered my love of riding bikes in the woods. I moved back to Toronto during high school and have stayed here ever since. I think we're so so lucky to be able to live in a big metro city and still, I can hop on my mountain bike or gravel bike and ride to a trailhead of one of the largest trail networks in the province. Coffee drink of choice : A bunch of small cups of drip coffee so I can tell myself I haven't had that much when in reality I've had the equivalent of 3 Dunkin Donut sized XL's. 

 

Pat's Picks! 

1. Patagonia NanoPuff Earflap Cap

We have a LOT of headwear in the store and this is what I think is the nicest piece of the lot. Warm, fits under a helmet and oh boy does it ever look awesome. 

 

2. Patagonia Retro X Vest

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a vest guy. I love em. Use it to layer with a jacket on those cold days or pop it over a hoodie in the fall, the fleece looks great and will keep you toasty. 

 

3. Topo Designs Global Jacket

I have a good, seam sealed and waterproof jacket already at home, but it sure doesn’t fit as well as this one. I love the cut on this jacket. It’s absolutely perfect for the fall/winter and functions super well on the bike as well as off. 

 

4. Outer Shell Drawcord Bar Bag

This bag is the closest thing to a perfect bar bag as I can think. You can access and use the entire bag with one hand, so you can grab a snack or camera no problem while you’re on the bike and the adjustable mountain points ensure a super secure fit. Also, handmade in California!

 

5. Outer Shell Pico Panniers

Y’all are sleeping on how rad these are. The mounting options allow these to mount to both a mountain bike suspension fork and also a standard fork with three pack mounts. The capacity is huge, there’s multiple pockets and gosh darn they let you bring a lot more stuff with you when you’re out adventuring. 

6. Topo Designs Mountain Sock



This is a very good sock and let’s be honest we all need more good socks. Probably a bit warm for the dead of summer but they are fantastic for the fall and winter. I use em on the bike all the time as well. 

 

7. Norco Optic - Coming soon!

I love 140mm travel bikes for our local trails because not only can you let it absolutely rip on the downhill sections to maximize your fun, but because it helps the rear wheel stick to the ground so well on the climbs it will help you make every uphill technical climb that much easier. When it comes to awesome trail bikes, there’s not many out there that are more coveted than this one!

8. Blackburn Side Beacon Lightset



Bit of a nerdy pick I know but sue me….Working in a bike shop all day everyday exposes you to all sorts of amazing stories but also some of the bad ones. A large majority of collisions that happen every year are side impacts, but most lights only give you visibility from the front or rear. These attach super easily to the side of your fork legs to make you seen from all angles. Neat-o, right?

9. Salsa Cutthroat



Try as you might, but in my humble opinion there are no other production drop bar bikes out there that are even in the same hemisphere as the Cutthroat for comfort and capability. I’ve never sat on a bike and immediately thought to myself “wow, I could ride this for 10 hours.”But don’t let that fool you, it still has a full carbon frame so when you want to put the hammer down and go fast, this bike hauls.

 

10. Surly TV tray

This is the most practical and rad flat piece of metal you’ve ever seen! This attaches to your existing front or rear rack with extremely cool hidden mounting hardware to give you a removable wider platform. Boring to most, but it’s so well designed and gives you so many places to hook bungees and straps to it takes a regular old pannier rack or front rack and makes it so much more practical.