Seems there are a few people on here who are taking part in the Trans Savoie this August. I’m interested to know what frames and components people are riding and also whether anyone who has done a similar event has any survival tips?

I have a fair amount of experience in riding techy alpine stuff but have never done it with thousands of metres of race pace vertical 6 days in a row! Wheels are my biggest question mark at the moment so interested in peoples thought on this in particular….

I’m still planning to use my trusty Nicolai Helius AM. Pivots have been changed, wheels rims replaced, new tyres, drivetrain replaced, shocks serviced, brakes bled and new pads (with spares)… been cheaper to buy a new bike 🙄

Original thread

From the brief looksie Ive had, something like that new Cube HPC 160 or whatever it is, you know? The one with 650B wheels, would be close to ideal I’d imagine.

For 6 days of riding/racing in the alps I want RELIABILITY[/u]

I want to ride my bike and enjoy the event; all six days of it. I do not want to be faffing with the bike any more than I have to

What rims are you running Messiah?

I’m trying to get a set of the new DT Spline One EX wheels but its questionable whether they will turn up in time so my backup is to build up a pair of Flow EX rims. Durable but a bit porky.

The cube would be a good bet. I’ll be on a Scott Genius 700 (650B) that will be man sized for the race.

Currently running some of the Light Bicycle wider carbon rims. If they hold up okay for the next few months they will stay on, otherwise I’ll be running the ubiquitous Flow on Hope hubs… Reliable.

I am still planning on taking my Devinci Dixon. Got e13 wheels at the moment which are proving solid but am worried if anything goes wrong they might be difficult to fix whilst out there..

Going out to spain for a week and when I get back it is as above, i.e. new pivots, suspension fully serviced, new drive train, brakes bled..

Still weighing up full face versus trail lid? leaning towards the former..

Still weighing up full face versus trail lid? leaning towards the former..

Intersting point j3ffo. I will almost certainly be trail lid and minimal armour… same as I always role.

Yeah trail lid was originally what I had in mind, and I know the organisers suggested a ‘sorted all mountain lid’ fairly early on. Am waiting for a response from Ali to hear his latest thoughts..

Other than that it will just be gloves and knees for me…

How’s everyone’s training going, feel like there is a chance I might have bitten off more than I can chew from some of the stats…

Trail lid for me although I may through the full face in as a backup. I have the benefit of not needing to fly so am a little less restricted when it comes to baggage allowance!

I broke my finger 4 weeks ago and it still on the mend so training is not going as well as I’d hoped. Gym time and running but no technical riding training. I would normally be doing big all day enduro sessions in the mountains at this time of the year.

I’ll start building my bike soon and will probably post pics once its done.

Hi chaps

Just thought I’d let you all know that I had an email from Ali saying the following

“Regards helmet – if you are in any doubt, full face may be preferable. You can take it off on the climbs if you are too hot.   The technicality and exposure of special stages certainly warrants extra protection.”

The FB showed some pics of them scouting the route this week they seemed to be wearing a mix of the two.

Think I’ll take both and see how it goes.

HTH (4 weeks eek!)

I’ve enjoyed their FB posting over the last week… its helping build my excitement level.

Despite my determination to be super prepared, everything is going to be last minute for me! I’ve ridden off road in anger a total of 3 times in the last 10 weeks due to injury and I still haven’t finished building my bike! I think I’ll be relying heavily on those discounted energy gels.

That’s not so good 😕 I hope the finger will be healed enough to not cause problems for you.

My mostly road commute training has been working well; I’m feeling better on the bike than I have done for years which is brilliant.

Mountain wise I’ve ticked off a few of my favourite big hills with the focus on riding the descents fast and smooth without stops… feel the burn.

The summer weather has helped greatly with this 😀

I have had a crazy couple of months with work relates stuff and haven’t been able to give as much time to training as I would have liked but am definitely fitter than I ever have been and now the work stuff is over… can…not..wait!

Looking forward to meeting you guys. Jeff

Duplicate post

I’ll post my bike next week once I have got back to Switzerland and can finish building it. I’m still debating, amongst other things, bag size, helmet choice, tyres and the number of inner tubes I should take. Way too much to think about in the next two weeks!

Tonight I will be packing my bags… two more sleeps 😯

Very excited about it all now, although plenty of things to pack/pick up between now and my flight on Saturday morning.

I’ve started a blog

I’m rather excited 😳

nice blog, rather jealous moi…

Blogs are contagious, I started one too! My training story is a little less positive than yours messiah, although I hope you didn’t train thinking you only had to ride 21,000 feet of DH rather than metres?!

http://www.skidsareforkids.com

Details of my bike build too if anyone is interested.

Nice one Stim.

Thanks for the correction… sorted now 😳

I’ll be watching out for future installments on the blogs guys….good luck with the event.

I’ve bookmarked your blog Messiah, hope you have a great time on it, bloody jealous. 😀

And not wishing to be a complete copy cat, I’m also tapping out some meaningless drivel:

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