my trip is paid for so it will be my first time going. i no a lot of you guys go every year so could you tell me the does/dont there please.

im going for 5 days driving from wales first week of july could you tell me what kit/tyres ect will i need.

cheers
chris

No clue what you should take other than a bike, some padding and a full face. We were there that time last year and had the most amazing tires. Very jealous, can I come? This is my thread that I started, might find something of use in there! Have fun!!!

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sensible-advice-for-a-very-confused-girl

Sorry about the crappy title. 😳

*most amazing TIME, not tires lol

cheers emma, did u need someone to show you around or was it pretty easy?

We bought a book called bike fax, it’s really good – there’s a link in that thread somewhere but shout if you can’t find it. Had an ign map (French version of OS map apparently). It’s all easy enough to get around though

im looking to do mostly DH but i also want to do some long enduro style AM riding like the mega.
is it worth taking a good few sets of pads and spare rotors?

not been to morzine, but from my experience in Les Arcs for 2 weeks –

1) Get your bike in good working order way beofre you go out.
2) Replace anything that’s looks worn beofre going out
3) Get some googles ( if you’ve got a full facer )
4) Take plenty of pads out with you.
5) If your driving it’s worth taken a toolbox out ( i’d say) as well as a spare tyre set if you’ve got one
( although tbh for a week your probably not need one
6) Take plenty of dh tubes with you if you run tubes
7) For tyres ( never been to morzine) – but I’d look at Maxxis high rollers – in dual ply ( Or minions?? too??)
8) Take metal tyre levers to if you have differculty with getting the dual plys on – take care not too pinch the tubes tho
9) Take a spare rear mech habger and a spare rear mech and a cable or two and chain lube etc. if you run a chain device your eat up loas of lube.
10) Take a Boots or similar first adi kit with you
11) There may be other stuff too but i’m tired…
12) If it ain’t broken – do not fix it – do not tinker with your bike all evening unless you have too. And if it is broken fix it the evening.
13) Get a eurpoean insurance NHS type card ( forgotton name) – this takes a week or two to come through, is free and can be ordered online
14) Get proper DH insurance too – snocard, dogtag etc

Enjoy 😆

When are you in Morzine? We are there 23- 30 July.

Morzine is awesome! you’ll have the time of your life out there! i thin Juiced pretty well summed it all up really…..brake pads are alot cheaper here than they are up in the mountains and they will allways go on you 2000 metres up in the hills when you need them most, so take them with you. Full face and full body armour will serve you well as we saw plenty of people broken and cut up at the end of each day who were only wearing XC helmets.
Most of all though…….enjoy is all, oh and make sure you finish your free wine bottle just before the desert course as they’ll give you another bottle and you can carry on drinking well afterwards then for free 🙂

Take some spare brake pads
Take some spare inner tubes
Fit some dual ply tyres (dh tubes arent worth bothering with if you use dual ply tyres)
Make sure your brakes work properly before you go
Make sure your bike works properly before you go
Perhaps fit a 203mm front rotor
Take a spare rear mech if you can
Take a mud tyre, or two even!

A full face helmet and full body armour arent necessary unless you think your going to be pushing yourself to your absolute limits. I usually wear some knee pads and a full facer cos I have them, but body armour I find a bit uncomfy for riding in.

If your riding a hardtail then 5 Ten impact shoes are useful for keeping your feet on the pedals over the bumps.

Take some water proofs aswell.

You’ll certainly get your money’s worth out of dual-ply DH tyres, Minions or High Rollers would be perfect. If you run them with DH tubes at a reasonable pressure you could well get away without any punctures at all, depending on how tidy your riding is. Buy your tyres and tubes before you go, there are loads of bike shops out there but they are significantly more expensive, especially if you’re used to paying on-line prices at home.

The Bikefax guide is good, but in reality you can’t miss the main runs around Morzine / Les Gets and you’ll easily get loads of info from other riders. It’s all super-easy to find. Go up a lift and you’ll see the trails heading back down, you’ll pick it up in no time.

The spares you take are up to you, but I’d recommend a mech-hanger as they can be hard to get depending on your bike, maybe a rear mech if you have a spare one kicking around and you’re prone to abusing them, but you can get them out there no problem. Take some spare brake pads, especially if your brakes are unusual. People bang on about going through six sets of pads in a week, but in reality, if your pads are bedded in properly, a new set will get you through the week just fine, unless it’s wet and muddy.

You don’t say what kind of bike you have, but if it’s an XC bike then think about getting some wider, heavier-duty wheels. £150 spent at Superstar on a set of DH wheels might end up being good value for money in the long run. Getting wheels re-built keeps the bike shops in Morzine in business very nicely, it’s not cheap out there, but you can often get it done same day.

It’s a great place to get your first Alps fix as it’s all so easy to find, and there’s loads to go at given the length of time you’ll be there. Give yourself time to get used to the size of the mountains and the speed you’ll pick up. It is very different to the last descent at your local trail centre, you will be going much faster in a much shorter space of time.

Full-face helmet for sure and goggles, or glasses if you really don’t like goggles, arms and legs definitely, back protector recommended, or go for a pressure-suit. You don’t want to bin-it on your first day and ruin the rest of your holiday.

The ‘do’s’ go for a beer after your last run down, and jabber on with all the other riders about your day on the hill. There’s nothing like a cold beer in the evening sunshine outside a bar with a big line of bikes propped up outside. Do go to the bakery in the morning for coffee and great pastries. Do remember the feeling of getting off the lift with your bike and starting your descent with a view of Mont Blanc in the distance. And do try to find some motivation to ride in the tiny mountains without chairlifts when you get back home.

‘Don’t’, well don’t be tempted to have a beer or three at lunchtime, no matter how tempting the mountainside bars look. Your afternoon riding will not be the same.

You’ll have a blast.

Also going to Les Gets for 2 weeks for the first time since 1997 so thanks for the tips – I’m sure the bike scene has changed a bit in 14 years!!

Definitely go for the dual ply tyres and spare mech hangar,take it easy and don’t try to keep up with anyone. Try to ride over to morgins for the day and definitely have a beer on the way home.

drillier i will be riding my cube fritzz should be ok for morzine and other places around there?
will i need to someone to show me around the other trails and places?

You won’t need a guide to find the vast majority of the DH stuff. It is all very well signposted. Lots of leaflets and trail maps available from Tourist Information too. Just go in and ask, they are all very helpful indeed. The telepherique stations have the trail maps too.

i will be riding my cube fritzz should be ok for morzine and other places around there?

Should be spot on yeah, you’re going to love it.

Dual ply tyres if you considering any of the downhill stuff and plenty of spare tubes! Rode there for a week on my coiler and was never ‘underbiked’. It’s very easy to get around and you can get a piste map style map which is easy to follow.

If you get chance head over the hill to Chatel and Champery there’s loads of good stuff over there.

We were easily doing 70 miles of downhill a day so your bike will take a hammering, get your shocks / wheels checked and serviced before you go as the shops aren’t cheap out there for parts!

Have fun!

i want to do a run like the mega where i out all day one one trail is that possible?

What?

The mega avalanche track is about an hour long isnt it? Not a day?

the hills are not so big in that part of the alps, so the tracks are not massively long

thats fine just wanted a bit of a mix cheers guys loads of help there

sorry guys forgot to say i ride dh with clips should i buy a set of flats??

got to be honest i hate flats

flats or spuds is THE debate. Go with what you feel comfortable with. You can go out for the whole day if you plan it well- maybe up the super morzine, down into lindarets, up the mossettes to the Swiss side, across to the top of Morgins , ride that then head back across taking in the Crosets runs? This will help but you’ll see plenty of people to ask and you won’t get stuck
http://www.portesdusoleil.com/images/upload/portfolio_img/Portes-du-Soleil-VTT-2010-V3–HD.PDF

Just make sure you don’t miss the last lift, and if it looks like a storm get back to where you can ride home, there is no messing when the lifts close.
Drillers advice is spot on- ignore the horror stories of using a set of pads a day unless you are way out of your depth. Take the time to look around and remember its better to ride a section carefully then lift it back up and try again rather than try a flatout blind run and bin it first time out.
And after all that you’ll be ambling around on the 3rd night looking at the immobliers windows and working out how you’ll raise 150k euros to buy a place.

Ride with what you know would be my advice. If you normally ride SPDs then stay with them.

I agree with the advice on spare pads and hangers etc. You may not get your bike specific stuff out there and it will not be as cheap as here. I have ridden Morzine okay with single ply Hi Rollers so not sure you really “need” dual ply.

im going for the first time the start of august. The group i am going with is quite varied. is there enough flowing singletrack / xc trails to keep the short travel, hardtail riders happy??

Other half took his fritzz and it was perfectly fine and rode clips, again fine. To be honest if you’ve ridden round Wales it’s very similar I thought accept more tiring as descents are longer 😀

Long as you know your limits go with what you got, if something goes wrong there are loads of bike shops about and they all spoke good English or were English and ‘living the dream’ so help is there. Just have fun 🙂

im going for the first time the start of august. The group i am going with is quite varied. is there enough flowing singletrack / xc trails to keep the short travel, hardtail riders happy??

Whenever I’ve been I’ve only ever taken my hardtail. Fit some dual ply tyres and some long travel forks and its fine. Its only really the Pleney Run and the Les Gets main track that are brutal on a hardtail since theres braking bumps galore. Still good fun to do though.

I found the Swiss national and the Morgins tracks really good on the hardtail since they seem to get much less traffic than those others so theres not many bumps. Plus Morgins is awesome.

Cheers for that David, just what i wanted to hear 🙂

I would add to take extra care on the Swiss National- no end of people were binning it at the top last year.

What map would you recommend to show these trails. i.e. Swiss National, Morgins etc etc

the pds one I’ve linked earlier is as good as any. The Swiss National is at the top of the Mosettes lift and you’ll see people riding down to the start , you double back under the lift down the fireroad type thing and its on your left. Look over the edge and you’ll see it snaking down , hairpin after hairpin! Morgins is a town, there are 2 main tracks there both serviced by the same chairlift, both are kept in tip top condition and are pretty spectacular imho. I had my best day there last year and I would definitely make the trip there again. As a bonus there is a deli/sandwich shop about 700yds up the road from the lift station that does epic salads and rolls.

yeah, take some waterproof, trousers and a jacket and with and carry them with you each day, even if it looks like it’s going to be hot. Waether can quite quickly turn around, even on hot days.

use your usual tyres but get the thick DH tubes, or get dual ply tyres if you’re really paranoid. Other than that, just enjoy it, the alps is a great place to be in the summer.

I had a guide when I went took us on 6-10 hour rides all over the mountains, he was awesome Jo was his name 🙂 took us on some off the beaten track trails he called it Xc but it was pretty gnarly DH all over great fun, he would stop on the trail and there would be a couple of rocks by the tree line we would then cut through the trees and end up on some very nice single track, his secret trails he would joke.
I would say take spare pads I went through 3 sets in two weeks,
203mm disc front and back, 2ply tyres , and the usual spares tubes etc.
When I came home my bike had taken quite a battering,
Forks had blow something inside RS Lyric Coils
Wheel bearings went on the rear hub,
Pivot bearings had fallen to bits
BB had gone
and my rear caliper was never the same again.
All the parts where only 3 months old when I went 😀
Santa Cruz Heckler was my bike never smiled so much when riding 😀