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Bozeman or SB?

gemini2k

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
So It looks like I'll have the oppurtunity to spend my summer in Bozeman Montana, or Santa Barbara, CA (SB for sure, Bozeman a 90% probability). Pay in Bozeman is a little bit better (and lower cost of living), but of course the main concern is riding (DH and FR).

Does the fact that theres a ski lift resort an hour away from Bozeman outweigh the fact that their are probably way more trails (and the famous tunnel) near SB? Is the riding significantly better at either? I figure they both kickass so...I'm not too worried. But any thoughts would be awezome.
 
Zark

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
Wow, sounds like a win/win situation.
I'll tell you one thing in SB's favor: Women Lots of beautiful women ;)
 
R

RideND

Monkey
Nov 1, 2003
795
2
Mandan, ND
I am not gonna say one is better because I've never been to SB, but Bozeman is a great place to be. It isn't very big but the people are laid back and they have a bunch of fun trails. Search Bozeman and I have a post with pics of some of the trails we did.

edit: just scroll to the bottom of this page and it should be down there.
 
Biscuit

Biscuit

Turbo Monkey
Feb 12, 2003
1,768
1
Pleasant Hill, CA
The decision comes down to money.

Bozeman:
- you'll make more
- lower cost of living
- you'll spend less

SB:
- you'll make less
- all your money will go towards rent and broken bike parts
- you'll spend what little else you have buying rediculously hot, scantily clad women drinks
- when you run out of money, you can still hang out on the beach where the fact that you can't afford shoes doesn't matter as long as you have shorts and sunglasses
- you won't want to go back home and will have to make the tough decision of being perpetually poor or living a normal life.
 
gemini2k

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
well housing is included in both (physics REU) so i don't have that to worry about. But i'm making probably 20 percent more in Bozeman, but yeah, hot cali women are a nice bonus
 
SinatorJ

SinatorJ

Monkey
Jul 9, 2002
582
51
AZ
Big Sky one hr away and really good. Rode there 2 years ago on the way to Aspen, from Switzer. Kinda back woods but really good trails. High speed Gondola too
 
sweetimzack

sweetimzack

Monkey
May 28, 2006
108
0
805
Santa Barbara's a nice place to live even thoe the rents high but theres a good amount of trails and three or more places that has some pretty nice jumps around town if you dont wanna go to the mountain for trails. I live in SB and its pretty fun living here plus no hill billys in sb like there might be in montana lol
 
sriracha

sriracha

Monkey
Jun 9, 2006
496
0
805
i lived in bozeman, a while back, and currently reside in SB.
they're both great places to live and ride, both have tons of great trails.
bozeman has more trails, more variation, more mountains, LIFT ACCESS at BIG SKY, dirt and trees.

SB has rocky, sandstone, sandy trails, with shrubbery instead of trees, tons of HOT CHICKS, and of course, beaches and waves.

you'll find stunts and jumps on the trails in MT/WY. none of that is allowed in SB.

you really can't go wrong with either.
 
E

ekozy39

Monkey
Apr 27, 2005
312
0
gemini2k said:
So It looks like I'll have the oppurtunity to spend my summer in Bozeman Montana, or Santa Barbara, CA (SB for sure, Bozeman a 90% probability). Pay in Bozeman is a little bit better (and lower cost of living), but of course the main concern is riding (DH and FR).

Does the fact that theres a ski lift resort an hour away from Bozeman outweigh the fact that their are probably way more trails (and the famous tunnel) near SB? Is the riding significantly better at either? I figure they both kickass so...I'm not too worried. But any thoughts would be awezome.
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SB.
You don't need a charilift. You can shuttle to all the good runs. 1 hr drive from Bozeman to the lift, and in the same 1hr you will already be charging down Tunnel! Don't forget your cowbell.
Either way props to you for being able to line up those kind of options..
 
Tmeyer

Tmeyer

Monkey
Mar 26, 2005
585
1
SLC
Been to both and ridden both, very different. Bozeman is a great town and I vote for it. Great trails, laid back atmosphere, Yellowstone it at your door for non biking trips. Big Sky is really fun to ride and they are constantly building their bike program. Fast singletrack and lots of stunts. Also some fun rides close to town. I'll admit though, I am not a fan of so cal and prefer the mountains and people of Montana any day. Nice decision to make though!
 
gemini2k

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
Tmeyer said:
Been to both and ridden both, very different. Bozeman is a great town and I vote for it. Great trails, laid back atmosphere, Yellowstone it at your door for non biking trips. Big Sky is really fun to ride and they are constantly building their bike program. Fast singletrack and lots of stunts. Also some fun rides close to town. I'll admit though, I am not a fan of so cal and prefer the mountains and people of Montana any day. Nice decision to make though!
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werd, someone who's done both, thanks for direct comparison. Ya I was thinking about the people thing too. I'm from chicago, so I figure Montana people are probably more my style than those crazy californians :P. What's the summer weather in Montana like, cause maybe the fact that SoCal is like 70-80 and sunny 365 days a year means i'd get to ride more on the weekend. (I'd be there from like june 4th to august 10 or 11th, somewhere around there). But california girls are such a nice draw......
 
offtheedge

offtheedge

Monkey
Aug 26, 2005
955
0
LB
....and in SB they learn their students proper.

save your sanity, your money and your soul go to Bozeman. The riding may be year round and epic in SB, but you'll likely become pissed off at people in general by moving to California.
 
sweetimzack

sweetimzack

Monkey
May 28, 2006
108
0
805
lol yeah if your not mexican then youll prolly get pist off at the mexicans , im not racist but calis turning into mexico lol thats about all you have to deal with here for people besides youll find your occasional stupid person when your out driven around, plus we got some nice beaches and montana has lots of sticks lol i know this is for you between sb or montana but id say go with hawaii lol thats where im going after high school its warm year round and the waters warm and theres waves year round and hot girls 24/7 plus you got the crazy hawaiin mountains that have some pretty sick trails lol but with whatever you pick hope your happy with it!! if you choose montana make a new post and let us in this post know how it is lol :cheers:
 
C

chrismac

Chimp
Nov 3, 2006
46
0
gemini2k said:
What's the summer weather in Montana QUOTE]

summer in bozeman is off the hook! i moved out there from minneapolis and stayed for 8 years.. yeah, it won't be 70-80 deg. everyday, but you'll have a good share of beautiful days, and never too hot.. even if it is hot, find some shade and its cool and dry. bring a rainjacket on epic rides, skinny dip in mystic lake, rip cypes canyon after work as the sun drops, rail the bmx track, float the rivers.. their is so much quality goods around that area.. you just need to spend some time finding it, ie. its not sticking its nose out at you in waves and bikinis.

finding it is not hard either. people and vibe are awsome and addictive; its a strong group. everyone is kyaking, climbing, fishing, brewing, biking, camping, hiking, exploring.. and getting along better than most communities ive been a part of.

stick around for 'taste of bozeman', where they shut donw main street and party! (same for christmas stroll at 20 deg), sweetpea festival is also kickin sometime in august. they just built a new green library.. this town is full of good sh*t. hard to make a living, but they take qualtiy of life pretty serious.

girls, yes hmmm. when i first moved there in '95 it was def a bit dry. after a few years it started boooming and was popular to go to school there, got a little Boulder-esque with property values and crowd, hence that factor is not as slim as it used to be.. but many of the jewels have been mined. ever heard of the ralph stanely bluegrass song 'how mtn girls can love'..? well he's right, they're different (I date a MT girl). now i don't know about surfer lovin', but i have a hunch the bulk girl population in SB won't be as inclined to spend 6 hrs riding epic trails through thuderstorms, skinny dip in icy mtn lakes, and camp that night like mine! your one nighter odds are lower, but take 'offtheedge's' advice and do whats right for your soul.

damn i miss the mtn life.. good luck, doesn't sound like either is gonna be bad experience.
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gemini2k

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
looks like SB it is, I have to decide by Monday and won't find out for sure about bozeman till later next week, woe is me...........go science
 
auntie bob

auntie bob

Chimp
Jan 28, 2006
58
0
I'm montanan.

bozeman has tons of trails. they are steeper than you're used to. there are like 80k people, 2 custom framebuilders, 2 high-end indy backpack manufactures, redneck bars, and farm girls in sweaters.
the college there is traditionally an ag college. where farmers go to school.

It gets totally witch-tit cold there for several months. Probably like you've never seen.

This is a good thing. it kills off or scares away whiny, weak people.
cold weather makes coffee taste better.
and it makes farm girls put on sweaters.

the solitude of montana is totally antithetical to babelfornia.

arnold schwarznegger is the governor of california.

It's farting distance from some of the best skiing in the country.

if you move to california, I'll be sorry for you.

oh and this belongs in the lounge.
 
K

kail

Monkey
Mar 14, 2002
134
0
Montana
The funny thing about this thread is that in 10-15 years, Bozeman will be exactly like California - because they're all moving HERE!!!!!! Yes, it's a great place to live now, but it has one of the fastest growth rates of any city in the U.S. I don't know where you're going to work that you'll get paid more than in Cali, but the wage to cost of living ratio here SUCKS! And the reason for that is simple: Affluent people are moving here in droves from big cities, mainly from Cali and the east coast, and gladly paying a million dollars per acre for prime agricultural land, so they can put a trophy home or "ranch" on it.

There is no industry here except the construction industry and the tourism industry, and we all know what kind of jobs the tourism industry supplies: crappy ones. If I sound bitter it's because I'm a 5th generation Montanan, and it saddens me to see my family's way of life (ranching) go by the wayside to make room for urban sprawl.

But yes, the riding is phenomenal here. Big Sky is pretty good, but I've been riding there since they've been open to bikes, and frankly, they could do a lot more. I prefer to drive the 8 hours up to Fernie B.C. - they know what's going on. What I love about Bozeman, as well as the rest of Montana, is the high-speed singletrack. It's not overly technical anywhere (except for a few "locals only" freeride trails that we've built), but it's fast and flowy. Good luck in your decision.
 
auntie bob

auntie bob

Chimp
Jan 28, 2006
58
0
kail said:
\...in 10-15 years, Bozeman will be exactly like California - because they're all moving HERE!!!!!! Yes, it's a great place to live now, but...There is no industry here...urban sprawl....
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Have you ever been to southern california?

Good lord man you have no idea how good you've got it.

Bozeman has a decent growth rate compared to the rest of the state. Galatin county -Billings- is the best at about 4%. And yes, it's largely californians and other foreigners. I know, because I once built houses for them in great falls.
put that in perspective! I'm in phoenix now. Their growth rate is similar to billings. But this year 30-60,000 people will move here. That's like half of bozeman, every year.

Urban sprawl? urban centers in AZ and CA have urban explosion. There's no water, the air quality is horrendous, and the city planning would make you cry.

I could go on. Point is, MT in general is one of the best damn places in the country, and if you don't like it, feel free to bail.
 
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