Worth paying the extra for the Alpine?

I realise that’s a bit of an open-ended question. I like long forks and the extra weight doesn’t bother me.

There must be a stack of people on here who’ve owned both, how did they compare, which of the two did you prefer and for what reason(s)

Thanks.

I’ve had, a PA Mk1 (medium), LoveHate and Alpine (Mk1) and I prefer the Alpine, as it is bit lower and longer and slacker.

Not the best climbing bike, but one of the most fun I’ve ridden.

love love love my alpine. Never had a PA and was unsure of which of the 2 to buy, after a long chat with Mike decided to go for a slightly more playful bike than an all day XC type one and have no regrets.

Thanks for the replies, definitely swaying towards the Alpine as I’m more of a short/sharp/shock than an all-day epic rider. That is to say, I’m quite lazy.

If you like to bugger about on the downs then an Alpine is a great all rounder, if you hanker after slacker front end. They are very strong and have decent comfort aswell.

i’ve an Alpine and last summer managed to ride 80+km a day, six days on the trot in the alps whilst guiding.

with a decent saddle it’s not a problem.
if you have a u-turn fork them climbing isn’t a problem. with 160mm fork it is still do-able, just a little drifty on the front.

I love my Alpine. That is, loved the steel Alpine and just getting used to the Titanium.

(OK its not mine… Yet…)

oh, well if we’re doing photos….

Even better, I’m off to ride mine now.

Wow that titanium Alpine looks lovely. About the only thing that would persaude me to sell my Mk1. I use mine for quick blasts but can quite happily do long ride on it as it is very comfortable. Thankfully my forks have ETA so climbing isn’t too much of a problem. If I ever win the lottery I’ll get some 160 Talas which would also shave a pound or so off the weight, but in the meantime I’ll ride and enjoy it as it is.

Now I’m sure mike said he wasn’t going to do them in titanium… Not sure I’d sneak that past the mrs!!

I have a 853 PA and an Alpine. Loved the PA and love the Alpine MKII even more. I was running it with Pikes now with Marzocchi 55s which are a bit too long but the Pikes lost it a bit on the rough stuff. I love it and do 80km rides on it and some Downhill stuff. Climbing is not a problem and where I ride has some pretty steep technical climbs.

Now I’m sure mike said he wasn’t going to do them in titanium…

Had his arm twisted. Get a test ride at The Bike Chain in Edinburger….

Do you have a Steel Alpine jimmy? If so what differences did you notice between the Ti and the steel versions?

Whats the seatpost dia. on the Ti?

30.9 I believe.

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a tapered HT or 1.5″, and the DMR swopout dropouts on it, so you can run it with either a QR, Maxle or as a SS.

Guides for a dropper post would be nice as well, as long as it didn’t look messy.

Are the cable guides welded on or bolt on jobs? As the ones on my missus’s Yeti are the bolt on type and they make for a very neat solution.

If Mike puts swopout droputs on that I will post him some flaming dog excrement.

why?

They are wrong. 👿

That Ti Alpine might knock the Brodie Holeshot off the top of my knuckleshuffle list.

My guess is the are both made by Van Nic ?

They seem like a neat solution to the many axle standard, and look pretty tidy IMHO.

Certainly no messier than a replaceable dropout

love my MKII alpine
i wavered between the PA and the Alpine and despite most of my riding being on the tame side, i dont regret my decision one little bit.

when i got it, i thought that a Ti Alpine was pure folly
having ridden mine for 18mths ish, I now think that a Ti version is the only thing that would have me considering a new frame. I would want it exactly the same as the MKII tho

*waits*

You wouldn’t want to run a dropper post? Odd that’s the only fault I have with mine, and the only reason I was considering changing it.

I would say a dropper post is a must for a bike like this… and for now I’m a Reverb fan which means 30.9 or 31.6 only.

My guess is the are both made by Van Nic ?

Brodie is not a van nic frame.

im still in two minds about a dropper post, pros are fairly obvious, cons however….. cost, maintenance, reliability, need?, appearance.
ok so if im considering a Ti frame, the cost of a dropper post should pale into insignificance. Do i need one, when a qr will suffice and frankly looks a damn sight better – even before the consideration of another cable and lever on the bars……

but for me personally, all my bikes are 27.2 so i would rather keep them uniform, that way when/if i plump for the GD one can be swapped between bikes

surely better to go 30.9 and use a shim down to 27.2, that way you can use a dropper post from anyone if you want.

A Ti frame should last you a while, so I would want one that’s as future proof as possible.

Also the GD really isn’t that good when compared to a KS (I have seen/used both).

I am interested in the Ti Alpine (and have the cash put aside), but if it comes with a 27.2 seatpost, I will get the Brodie

A Ti frame should last you a while, so I would want one that’s as future proof as possible

Why? Makes sense years ago when Ti frames were used for xc mincing, but for a dh hardtail I dont see why it would last any longer than steel, unless its built really heavy and that sort of defeats the purpose.

I had a steel Alpine, was great for all sorts of riding. I use 130mm forks and it worked for jumps, xc and dh. I put some 66’s on it and rode it in morzine, morgin, alp d huez etc. and it was awesome.

I had a 17/22 size which was a touch on the small side for me (6’2″) for xc riding.

If your mainly doing xc miles I’d get the PA.

nah, if have an aversion to shims

interesting to hear you rate the KS above the GD, most of what i read is very much the other way round

So you are saying, because you are so ‘core’ you aren’t worried about future proofing it, as you will break it before than becomes an issue ……

I’ve had a PA (Mk1)/Alpine (Mk1 17/23) and Love/Hate and if you aren’t worried about how long it takes you to get to the top of a hill, the Alpine is a much, much more fun ride, and the only fault I have with it is, it won’t take a dropper post, yes I get get off and lower it manually, but personally I find on big descents with the odd cheeky climb its more fun to be able to stay on the bike and keep riding rather than getting off to raise/lower the saddle.

So you are saying, because you are so ‘core’ you aren’t worried about future proofing it, as you will break it before than becomes an issue ……

Dont know whether I would break it, but I’ve seen loads of broken Ti frames on here recently.

interesting to hear you rate the KS above the GD, most of what i read is very much the other way round

After initial problems with the KS (loose head, and gouges to the post) its been pretty much faultless, and the lever is a nice shape and just works, smoothly and with little pressure. The uppy downy bit, is smooth and you don’t have to double tap the saddle to get it to move. All in all, I’ve found it to be a fit and forget item (after the initial problems).

GD, I have/had the 3 position one, (1″ then 4″ drop) and I found it just didn’t work well, even though I stripped it lots and regreased everything, quite a few times

Problems I found were:

1. Boot would unclip letting mud/grit in and then the motion wouldn’t work very well. Cable ties, etc didn’t help.
2. Double tap of the saddle, took a bit of a knack, whereas the KS just goes up or down when you press the lever, and while it did work, when stuff gets steep you don’t want to be arse tapping your saddle trying to get the catch to release.
3. The lever was thin and a bit spindly, and had a bad habit of flexing and then getting stuck on my grips
4. Getting the saddle to work at all 3 heights was a bit of a bastard as soon as mud got past the boot (see point 1), so you had to twist the plastic collar to try and get the sweet spot, but what you normally ended up with its either fully extended, 1″ drop but wouldn’t stick at the full retracted position (it would go down, just not hit the catch, so when you stood up it would spring back up), or fully retracted, 1″ but not fully extended.

Also apparently you aren’t supposed to ride in the 1″ drop for any length of time as the catch isn’t upto much.

The GD was good 5 years ago, however things have moved on.

is the KS the under saddle lever or is it remote (on the bars)

sorry, difficult to tell from your description

On the bars, never really saw the point of under the saddle adjustable seatposts. As I like to keep both hands on the bars on technical bits.

hmmm, i dont like clutter on the bars

but agree that for the best effect thats how it should work

Where do I order my Ti alpine with dmr swopouts?

email thebikechain in Edinburgh, I think they need to get 40 made to make it worth while, so they are still working out if there is enough interest.

I emailed them a while ago and they were very helpful.

hmmm, i dont like clutter on the bars

Do you use lockons? If so the KS remote replaces one end of them which minimises some of the clutter, plus the lever isn’t that big/ugly.

oooh i didnt know that

comes in 27.2 also……..

never tried the 27.2, plus they seem very hard to get hold of.