under the current manky weather im thinking of holidays for next year. i wondered what riding breaks in the alps etc are like? may sound a silly question but whats so good about the alps/mountain regions? ive seen pics and the views etc are fantastic but enlighten me further please.
also whats the riding/bike recuirments like? ive got a full sus xc bike but its 120mm travel and 160 mm rotors, is this not enough or are some areas more hard core than others?also what sort of costs are you looking at?
cheers!

It's bad if you go for 1 month, but then break your collar bone on the second day.

oh dear.gutted is the word i belive?

Big question so here's a few highlights as to what's so good:

– The views. No photograph can ever really convey just how majestic it is being in the high mountains (which we don't have in this country). You simply have to be there to really understand what it feels like.
– The sheer quality and abunance of the riding. Imagine taking all the very best bits of every single trail centre in the UK and then putting them all into one area and you still don't come close to the quality and quantity of the riding in the alps.
– The lift service. Everyone can benefit from this, even people who only ever ride XC/Trails because no matter how how the lifts take you, you can still do an all day ride and make more altitude than you ever could in the UK. Then at the end of the day you've still got around 1000m of altitude still in the bag to enjoy.
– The atmosphere and ameneties of the location. Most of the alpine ski resorts are MTB meccas in the summer. Unlike many of the UK trail centres, the apres riding is great: great food, great beer, great atmosphere.

Any bike will afford you a fantastic holiday; it doesn't matter if it;s a hardtail, 100mm race bike or 200mm DH bike.
Your discs are however going to suffer, being only 160mm they won't dissipate heat as well and you will probably find them getting cooked (which means they stop working) quite quickly. The descents are just so long in the alps that you need larger rotors or the skill and nerve to not use your brakes to control your speed. Good news is that it's easy and relatively cheap to go up to 200mm rotors even if it's only temporary.

cool, sounds good.any particular areas that are best/popular/cheapest? whens best time to go?

http://www.bikevillage.co.uk

some of the best trails, definatly the best food going.

We found the Les Arc (Tarentaise Valley) area a great intro to Alps riding.

The trails were mostly no more technical than at home but with MASSIVE descents.

Go….you won't regret it. We loved it so much we're returning for 2 weeks next year.

We stayed with The White Room in Sainte Foy, a lovely resort. Very quiet with amazing singletrack from the door.

I can only really recommend the Port Du Soleil region as that's the only place I've ever really spent any time. That means locating probably in Morzine or Les Gets. There are other locations such as Champery, but these two locations are very well set up for MTBers and have lots of shops, cafes, supermarkets and self catering accomodation. The lifts out of these resorts are good and give you access to the whole region of the Port Du Soleil, which extends over a huge area and crosses into Switzerland.
If it's your first time, then a really excellent way to experience the alps is to go at the end of June/first week in July and do the Pass Porte Du Soleil event. This is a huge tour of the area, using the lifts for almost all of the 9000m of altitude the route (which is 75km long) takes in. It's extremely well organised, signed and marshalled so you're never far from safety. The route is very manageable for all levels of rider and bike (you routinely see Euro day glow, lycra clad, novices on Euro 100 Carrefour specials on the route!) and refreshments and entertainment are provided along the route.
Having said all that, there are lots of other really good resorts to choose from. I've heard excellent things about Verbier and Les Deux Alpes for example and I;ve spent a few days in Chamonix riding. The latter is quite steep though and not very easy to navigate if you're not sure where you're going but it feels more natural.
The final comment I would make is to consider going with a guided holiday company. There are plenty around (not used one myself so I can't make a recommendation specifically) and they will allow you to get the most from the area.

Have you ever gotten to the bottom of a long UK downhill singletrack and had the look of a grinning idiot and couldn't wait to go back up. Well the Alps are like that, times 100.