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...should I fear for my life and limbs!?
I actually find it can be more grippy there in the wet. The steepness usually drains it pretty quickly.
Dry here at the moment, wet the last few days but the trails are absolutely fine. So long as the lifts stay open i.e. no thunderstorms, you should be good.
I'm off too! (mountain bike chalet) who are you going with?
Query - when it's wet in the Alps, what do you do? Stay in? I usually find it quite $hit in the rain, frankly. I don't mind riding Surrey Hills in the rain but the Alps, well that's different. It's so miserable when there's no visibility (though there is nothing as gnarly as a ridge descent in the mist, actually...). 99% of the reason I ride there is the views.
Chamonix might be different as it's so rocky that it doesn't get that muddy. We'll be doing tree runs in Les Houches on Sunday I think - might be a bit boggy at that end of the valley in which case we'll just spend all day eating cheese & sausage in town. One of our number will have spunked 60 euros on a hire bike for the day though so we're obliged to stay out all day really...but it's shit in the rain.
Me too ! Trail addiction eagles nest - on one 456 ss with z150s
One of our riding group has a place in 1950 so 7 of us are heading out there early in the morning and flying back Tuesday evening. Bike packed up last night with super tacky DH tyres so should find grip if there is some I hope!
Can't wait - first time I've MTB'ed outside of the UK and on chairlifts!
Sweet! You'll like it!
I just got back from there the rain is fine, it pissed down every night but was sunny in the days and drained really well, we had an amazing hailstorm one night too, like conkers they were.
From experience, take a couple of sets of pads and don't use a 165mm disc on the back it's not enough especially if you're big!
If you aren't being guided, I've a few trails I can point you toward. If there is thunder they shut the higher lifts by the way.
Also have a go on the airbag in 1600 hilarious! !
Col de Cou in the mist last year [img] 
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Fun, yeah, but this is how it f***ing should have been
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gah!
I currently have bat wing michelin wildgrippers on (hello the 1990: called for their tires please) just chucked in a comp 16 and a tioga white tiger - the mrs has a white tiger out front and a quite worn comp 24 out back
It will be fun - i have a set of mud mads too but they are shite on rocks 🙂 so they can stay at home !
Everythin else in my collection is either sub 500 gram xc race tires or 29er - except the surly larry an endo 🙂
Joolsburger - hope i get away with 180/160 minis - although used to do annoch mor sda races on 165 c2 front and rear
We're base in Peisey-Nancroix which i'm told is fairly quiet
Went to morzine last year and was pretty underwhelmed (i know, i know probably didn't see the whole area) but not a fan of motorway runs so les arcs should be interesting
Les Arc pisses all over Morzine
203/185 rotors here with fresh plus spare pads and a newly fitted double and bash setup so think the bike will be fine - just need to worry about me!
Les Arc pisses all over Morzine
😀
wkd!
Might see u guys out on the trails or in the pub
It is very quiet in Peisey that is where we stayed. It's well worth having a meal in l'ancolie restaurant which is truly excellent. Or driving up the valley a little way to the Chez Felix for food and beers.
I'm 17 stone and 185 165 was nowhere near enough as you build up some momentum there!! I was boiling water off my hubs FFS!
You'll have a great time it's just brilliant and there's so much more there than there was a few years ago when I last went.
Les Arc pisses all over Morzine
Agree. I stayed in Peisey. Liked it a lot.
The one thing the place lacks (or at least it did in 2003) is a good bike shop.
30 quid for pads in Bourg!!
Take pads! I blew a set of SS kevlars in one run. Sintered is the way to go.
Wish I was back there now. Bah.
sintered!
god it all changes round here.. "Organic the way to go.. you'll boil your brakes with sintered"
I've got 4 sets of organic
Think my mate has 160mm discs.. will he die
Yes, yes he will
I used a set of kevlars on the front for a run off the back of vallandry around 5km and at the bottom they were gone. Rear sintereds lasted the 4 days replacement sintered fronts the same. However I am a heavy bloke and frankly I was on the brakes a lot as once I'm up to speed stopping is an issue!
Did boil mine but they worked ok most of the time only lost them once, but they did get hot the rear one has gone blue!
I'm sure you'll be fine as I expct you're lighter and none of my mates had any problems.
i paid 16 for my last set here (intersport, shimano xt).
was wet yesterday and had a good ride - makes a change from all the dusty stuff we've had the past couple of months.
Les Arc pisses all over Morzine
definitely.
plenty of nice stuff in la plagne too, but as with the whole valley, you've just got to know where it is. the sign-posted stuff, ime/imo isn't that good...
oh, and finally, there's a lot more to the area than just Black 8 (which some people seem to ride non-stop) and the DH course...
I stand corrected. I was told they were more than that lucky I took some with.
I've used organic pads in the Alps for years. Never had any problems in any weather condition. Sintered suck IMO and IME. They overheat and squeal like hell if it's damp.
Your mate will be fine. I know a guide still on V's.
Maybe I don't drag the brakes.
All this chat is giving me itchy feet, we are heading out to trailaddiction on 23rd.
Enjoyed Morzine in the wet last year so les arcs in the (fingers crossed and don't say it too loudly) dry should be good.
Hoping its good for 17-24th September, also hope I'm ok on a hardtail with 180mm rotors! First time, so excited already.
Despite my braking woes I have to say it was as much fun as I think it's possible to have on a bike. Grinning from ear to ear most of the time!!
After watching vids - glad i build up a 160 ht just for this - a fully rigid woulda been nae fun out there !
If the trails are anything like the ones in Meribel they drain pretty quickly even after the monster thunderstorms we've had in the past week.
Intersport in Bourg should sort you out with all the spares you might need.
Wet?!?!? You pussy! 8)
I was there early June (I know... too early, all the lifts are closed etc) and there was a foot of snow as low as Bourg one day.
Actually snow wasn't the main problem on the trails - it was all the trees it brought down which made it.. erm.. interesting
Forecast improved slightly - heavy rain Snday afternoon now but dry otherwise.... getting VERY excited now!!
The weather in the Alps is very localised and almost impossible to predict. It can be pissing down with thunder and lighting in one valley and the other side of the mountain it's blazing sunshine.
You'll have a blast.
Have fun folk! I was there the week before this one with The Mountain Bike Chalet. Two tips though: don't rely on anyone on having Hope pads in the area, although XT (available locally) will work fine. XT do not come with a pin so don't lose it (like I did!). Another: if you go for a day to Tignes (which you can with TMBC) be sure to borrow one of the Canyon bikes for an afternoon.
and have a steak aux girolles in L'alpage above 1800.
This is my video of my final day in Les Arcs with Trailaddiction last year.
It had been really peeing down all night and then in the morning until about 10am when we went out.
Trails were a bit wet and sketchy for first couple of hours but dried up remarkably quickly and the riding was just as good as it had been when dry the rest of the week
god it all changes round here.. "Organic the way to go.. you'll boil your brakes with sintered"
Dry == organic, Wet == sintered IMO 🙂
My organic pads lasted the week this year with TA in the Goat Shed.
I reckon there's another trip in them to be honest.
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It did lash it down on Wednesday last week but was just damp and a bit (nicely) sketchy on the Thursday morning and pretty much bone dry by Thursday afternoon.
Love that whole area. Great for all types of riders from DH right the way to road stuff.
I got back from the area last week (hello hungry monkey and thanks for shwoing us round!).
It was very wet on our last day riding and we did a pretty technical trail called Double Header, which seemed to hold up really well - one of my favourites of the trip and highly recommended.
SS sintered pads seemed to last better than SS organic or kevlar for me too. Killed pairs of both the latter in less than a day riding DH in the Alps.
MTB-Idle. You were lucky nothing fell out of your pack whilst riding.
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French DH champs at Meribel on Sunday. Looks like the trail drained out really nicely 😕
ocrider - MemberFrench DH champs at Meribel on Sunday. Looks like the trail drained
In fairness it lashed it down for the best part of 18 hours on the Sunday of the French DH champs and installing drains wouldn't have done anything for it.
The only thing that stops it raining here at the moment is if I take our dogs for a walk. As soon as I get 5 minutes from the chalet it brightens up.... 🙄
Right then off to get some Hope pads organic and sintered. Looking at the forecast I think the weather is going to improve, I hope.
2 of us are driving down on the 23rd staying in the Eagles Nest.
In fairness it lashed it down for the best part of 18 hours on the Sunday of the French DH champs and installing drains wouldn't have done anything for it.
I figured so, just being facetious for the sake of being facetious 🙂
Doesnt help that they are talking about snow above 2000m during the next few days.
Choosing to believe Nig E5 - 4 of us driving down on 23rd and staying at The Goat Shed
Got back from LA after 2 weeks there on Saturday.
The riding in the wet is fine. Once you're in the woods you barely notice it's raining - too much to concentrate on. Getting caught on the world's slowest chairlift (Cachette) in a thunderstorm is a different issue though. SOOOO cold. In many ways there's more grip in the wet than there is in the dust if its been dry for a long time. Some of the roots can be a bit slippy though - just hang loose!
As far as brakes and tyres go - most of the guides love their Saint 4pots. I was running Hope M4s without any significant issues. Biggest rotors possible though. Original Hope pads seem to last very well - I had a 6 month old set in when I arrived and swapped them after 10 days. Some guys were getting through SS or Disco pads in a couple of runs. Tyres? 2.5 TPC. Supertacky front, Maxxpro rear - jobsagoodun 🙂
Enjoy!