Just back from another awesome trip with Bike Verbier followed by a 3 day tour round Mont Blanc. The riding was phenomenal but the toll on kit was just a little bit mental.
Broken front rim and cracked POC full facer, new ice tech rotor warped after three days of riding, new XT rear brake needing bled after three days (the front started to throw in the towel on the last day in sympathy), two week old Mavic shoes starting to come apart at one of the straps, air leaking from my Magura Wotan's to the extent that part way down big descents they would pack down with about only an inch and a half of stanchion showing, brand new Crank Brothers BB creaking under load by the third day, rear mech going out of alignment and my left hand XTR seizing up. Arse biscuits! I think I need to find a cheaper sport! Ha! Ha!
Given that isn't an option, what do folk recommend as Alps proof kit that is tried, tested and reliable? The forks and shifter were the real lowlights. The shifter seized on a descent into Courmayeur on the second day of the tour ride while the forks decided to throw in the towel at the same time. Playing with the rebound adjuster would have been an option but it had fallen off on a previous ride. Doh!
Oh and I managed nine days out of the new XTR vented sintered pads. Not sure if that's good or bad but the resin ones without the vents seemed to be the longer lasting option in a mix of wet and dry riding. Think I'll be sticking to the latter in future. 😀
i always use hope v2 brakes. marz or rock shox forks.
Try riding betterer and use the brakes less....
HTH...
What size rotors did you use? I did 6 days in the Alps with the new XT with hope 203 /183 rotors on a DH rig and they where superb.
Ice tech rotors, magura forks and crank brothers BB? What did you expect? 😉
For me, bombproof stuff that keeps on working season after season: Hope V2 brakes, Hayes 9 brakes, coil Lyriks, standard Shimano HTII BB's, Fox coil shocks, Hope hubs (maxle issues aside!), Maxxis tyres (in dual-ply UST flavour).
Personal rant - Ice tech rotors (and, to be fair, hope vented rotors) are something I just don't get. Many, many other brakes don't suffer from heat problems without them, so why spend a fortune on something unnecessary? And putting 2 different metals sandwiched together in an environment of rapidly changing temperature just seems daft.
Rotors were 203 mm ice techs.
Had Hayes Mag DH's previously but they were a bit tempremental.
The Magura forks had a real shocker. Descending to Chamonix was a bit, err, interesting. I forgot to mention that despite being greased, the Maxxle supplied with the forks bent when the lever was pressed against the edge of the axle outer. Cue the use of mole grips and a bit of swearing when I had to remove it! I think a credit card and a bin are going to be the fix for them. Ha! Ha!
Oh and my Gore Alp X shorts had the tape come away from the fabric too. Another thing to fail.
On the positive side, my Alp Kit Gourdon bag and Rab Photon Hoody worked brilliantly as did my dry bags. My old King hubs kept spinning and my frame just worked as usual so it wasn't all bad!
Tony - Sanny needs lessons in riding off that wooden shite you love 😀
Forks: Coil Lyriks
Rims: Mavic EX721's
Helmets: Usually buy something around £80-£100 (not £300 POC's!) because like you, I crash and cheap ones I don't mind replacing each year, they've done their job.
Rotors: Any 180mm/160mm will do
Brakes: Shimano XT
Shoes: FiveTen
BB: Saint
Derailleur: Saint
That is all Alps kit that is tried, tested and reliable for me. Been to Morzine/Les Gets 6 years running and Whistler 1 year. Tried lots of other stuff - Hope brakes, Marzocchi forks, different shifters, derailleurs, shoes, pedals etc... the above is what I've settled on and is reliable.
Proper maintenance of the bike is very important IMHO. I strip my bike down to every last nut and bolt - completely bare frame, and build it from scratch prior to every Alps week. I service everything as I'm doing this. I repeat the strip down/service after the week.
The usual result is I'm the only one out of about 10 of us that never has any mechanicals (there goes that luck for next year now!).
The sum total of damage to my bike this year after a week-long thrash in Morzine was a slightly abraded cable housing on the rear derailleur.
built me an on-one 456 SS 2 weeks before france
caned it for a week
total damage - one worn out deore middle ring and a ding to the rim ....
did how ever spend most night fixing bikes including putting most of a yeti asr 5 that had snappeds parts onto a comencal hire bike that weighed as much a neutron star !
lol@shedhead 🙂
sanny, it's been too long since we rode dood!
Had a week in Morzine recently and nothing at all broke, can't have been trying hard enough! Rock shox front and back (lyric and monarch) on my Mega and they worked flawlessly (though I did notice the rear shock getting very hot after some runs!) Elixir CR with 203/185 rotors, no problems at all other than having to bleed the front once. SLX cranks and BB and X9 shifters, all fine. Didn't even need to change pads (though was very careful about bedding them in properly). Hope hoops with flow rims, only one little ding in the rear rim.
Did rip a pair of endura shorts though.
EDIT: Oh and baggage handlers did manage to rip a hole in my bike bag!
Sounds expensive 🙁 In a month of whistler riding the only stuff I've had to replace have been 2 tubes, brake pads (formulas small pads seem to wear really quickly) and leaky fork seals. Sounds like I've got away quite lightly so far! My body's in worse shape, having to take days off every week so my wrists and fingers can recover 😆
I did 5 days of riding in Meribel in July and didn't have to do anything to my bike. Others bikes seem to have got really hammered: bushings, pads, bottom brackets, misbehaving air suspension, gears going out of sync. Bits dropping off etc etc...
Rigid singlespeed rocks 😆
[i]The shifter seized ... the rebound adjuster would have been an option but it had fallen off on a previous ride. Doh[/i]
Maybe maintain what you have a bit better?
I did five days on a pair of £4 Superstar pads from STW classifieds and the free Fibrax ones I was sent (Tech M4). The other lads I went with destroyed there bike to the point that he couldn't fix it. He spent 4 days in a tent and we butchered his bike to fix the other. My Hope hoops where worth every penny.
Maybe maintain what you have? Interesting. Why did I not think of that? Doh!
The frame was stripped and rebuilt before I went. New brakes, bled by my LBS, new rotors and pads, new bb, serviced the King hubs, regreased the headset etc. The forks were always the worry. They developed a top out clunk a while back which seems to be a common problem. It didn't affect performance but was a bit annoying. However, the losing pressure was a new one on me. I guess things just break and go wrong is the lesson.
The XTR shifter seizing was a funny one as it happened on a descent when I tried to change gear not under load. I had a seven week old 105sti shifter seize solid a few weeks ago. No crash damage but it stopped working for no obvious reason. It always seems to be my left hand shifters that fail. Ho hum! I must have too strong a left hand! Ha!
Ha!
Oh and I managed nine days out of the new XTR vented sintered pads. Not sure if that's good or bad but the resin ones without the vents seemed to be the longer lasting option in a mix of wet and dry riding. Think I'll be sticking to the latter in future.
Resin pads last silly-long, I've not actually managed to wear any out yet, keep replacing them for races due to contamination. Will clean them and stick them back in eventually.
Wotans and a CB BB? What have you done with the real Sanny?
Are you sure the frame survived the 9 days intact....
t'was a valiant effort getting the bike down into Chamonix with that many broken parts. "l'velo, c'est casa? Non, l'velo, c'est put@#~£"
As for reliable parts, Stock Lapierre Spicy 216, 3 months in the alps, breakages: big ring lost a tooth (replaced with bash guard) torn rubber queen rear. No new pads or nufink. Finally replaced the rear pads on the hardtail last week, though it's only had about 1 months riding in the alps (+ 1 year in Scotland,)I have gone through 2 rear hubs now on that right enough.
You shoulda taken the 29er
It's been nearly a week since I rode the Tour du Mont Blanc or 3 Countries Tour with MBMB with some nice riding in Les Houches either side.
Things I noticed with my kit were...
Gore Bike Wear kit was amazing and I wore it everyday, much to the disgust of my fellow riders 🙂
Hope Tech X2 brakes are not the best for bringing you to a stop/slowing you down. I really struggled for control on a wet and slippy descent to Trient (although mmy Larsen rear didn't offer much bite either).
Four year old Orange Five with 140mm QR15 Floats was more than enough for the climbs and descents.
Running tubeless with non-UST single ply Maxxis tyres isn't the best approach - popped the front off the rim carving through the loam in Thermal Park on the way to St Gervais railway and ripped the rear tyre on the descent from Col de Ferret on a bloody waterbar which resulted in using tubes. Sturdier tyres required and probably a less lazy approach to clearing water bars 🙂
But after my first ever trip to the Alps THE most important lessons were...
I'm not as fit or as good on a bike as I thought I was 🙂
The Alps is a completely different ball game and I can't wait to go back 🙂 I loved every minute of it and it is THE place to improve your riding and fitness.
I've given up using air forks or shocks (as much for performance as reliability) in the Alps. Marz 888s on the DH bike, Fox 36 Vans on the XC(ish - it's a Patriot) one. Fox DHX5 on the rear.
Hope V2 work well, as do Hayes HFX9, though they're a bit on/off for my liking.
Magura may well be good forks (though I have my doubts) but the drawback is getting them serviced that day by the average Alpine bike shop. A coil fork probably won't go bang, and if it does, using something common means you'll be out riding in a few hours rather than buying a new fork at Alpine prices.
Rims? On the Patriot I'm using either Mavic XM819 or EX823 - had no problems with either, though the 819s clearly aren't as bombproof, but 200g/wheel lighter
BB? A nice Shimano one at £20 works well, or a Hope one if you want it to last longer. I'd never consider using Crank Brothers for anything, UK or Alps.
Looking at this again has just made me have a think about what's still on my bike after 4 seasons of Alpine guiding.
SRAM Attack shifters have done all 4 seasons, still on the main bike.
Hope Pro2 / DT Swiss 5.1 wheels are still going strong, now my "second" pair of wheels, built up with lighter tyres, etc. for when the lifts are shut.
Hayes 9 brakes, still going strong after yet another cheap, easy re-build, not on the main bike any more though.
Hone cranks, same as the Hayes - now on my hardtail, but still going strong.
Changed my bars this year as a precaution, and switched to over-size bars, otherwise Thomson stem would still be going (still looks brand-new too).
Coil Lyriks have done 3 seasons, but with extensive repairs!
DHX 5 Coil shock has done 2.5 seasons with no maintenance!
Superstar pedals have done 2 seasons and are still smooth and play-free.
And finally, I'm still using a WTB Rocket V Ti saddle that I bought second-hand on here half-way through my first season! Looking a bit tatty now and will probably have to go. 🙁
The only bikes I've seen with lots of problems in the Alps have been the ones with poor maintenance apart from a Cove Hustler frame that broke in Alp D'huez this year.
Good idea for a thread and sorry to hear about your forks. That was a great week - how did the TMB work out?
In terms of kit that's lasted me, Mavic D521 wheels on Hope hubs have been good for two seasons. Same applies to my Avid Elixirs. Everything else I chop and change too much to draw any inferences about durability.
My Fox Float 32s have been looked down on by many a rider but they've never failed catastrophically although their performance is consistently slightly below average.
I thought I got off lightly from nigh-on three weeks in Alps this summer...
- One snapped rear mech hanger
- One or two snapped cables
- Lost compression dial on Totem
- Snapped one helmet peak mount when flying headfirst into a tree
- Eight pairs of brake pads
Some of my friends did hundreds of pounds worth of damage on the same trip. I suspect my relative wussiness may have saved me a few quid.
I broke a demo 8 and a set of 888's one year. THat was an expensive holiday.
The tour was ace. 3 days in an anti clockwise direction. The climb out of Courmayeur was the hardest day due to the Refugio we had planned to refuel at being shut. Doh! The route we took had a lot of smooth flowy singletrack on the descents. I reckon a week of riding in Verbier immediAtely before it and ****ting my ribs wasn't ideal prep but the ride was terrific.
Any chance of some route details on your TMB Sanny? Thinking about doing something like that after our season ends next week. Poring over maps at the moment, but good to get first-hand input!
nice - sorry to hear about the rifugio (and your ribs!)