Forum menu
personally i'd never go back on a pure DH bike, modern trail and AM bikes are so capable, a DH bike is just not required and you can actually access more fun riding on trail and AM bikes, rather than bashing out battered DH runs all week.
someone mentioned it earlier, its no fun pushing a dh bike up a mountain when you miss the last lift!!
In simple terms, IMO it's like taking a Boardman Hybrid road racing... Yes the Zesty will be fine... yes the Zesty will cope.... but.... and it's a big but..
It won't give you the confidence and speed a more appropriate bike will. Instead of it being you that's the factor holding tthings back, it will be a combination of you and the bike.
When we went i took a 170mm Bionicon, i was quickest to the bottom of all the sections going down.
My mates were on a zesty and a stumpy... they're both superior riders to me... but the bike meant i got down quicker/better/easier.
Why go all that way and end up getting frustrated because you're on the ragged edge all the time and your mates are strolling down ahead of you with ease.
I have no doubt Steve Peat could get to the bottom quicker on a Halfords HT than i can on the 180mm Scott i've hired for this year... but i'm not Steve Peat, i will be quicker, have more pleasure and feel safer on the 180mm Scott ... simple as that.
Pikes and a Powerball 😉
The 'bigger forks on my bike' really is a half measure. Bottom line. It's the Alps, Morzine, it's amazing, get a proper DH bike one way or another. Guys slating the DH trails as 'rutted' or similar probably aren't riding them properly and making the most out of them. They are superb. It sounds like a downhill holiday. Take a downhill bike.
Never been to morzine, but we did go to les arcs and tignes last year for a week. I took my 160mm ibis mojo hd.
5 days out of the six i was on my mojo, on the sixth day we hired downhill bikes,and to be honest i reckon i wouldve been faster on the mojo on the majority of the trails than the dh bike. I guess the trails just didnt warrant a full dh bike,but everyone else was on dh bikes still.
Not sure if this is relevent and how similar tignes and les arcs are to morzine,but thought id throw my experience in.
And there's me thinking of taking my 100/120mm 29er out there 😀
You could always buy a used 160/180mm bike with the appropriate brakes, forks chain device etc. already fitted then sell it when you get home..
Unless you think you'll need/use the burlier equipment in the UK in the future.
Buy an old set of 36 van rc2 use em for the holiday and sell when you get home you'll probably only lose the cost of postage...
Been to Morzine/Les Gets/Chatel the last two years on a 5 with 140mm 32's, never held me back!! See plenty of 'XC' bikes being sent down the DH runs so I wouldn't worry, just know the limits of you and your bike and have fun!! One of our party had a 120mm FS Ghost and never failed to ride anything the guys on 180mm mini-DH bikes tried.
I'd get something like this and punt on again afterwards:
[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/7922580/ ]http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/7922580/[/url]
[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1435493/ ]http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1435493/[/url]
I would bite the bullet and get a second hand DH bike before the season starts, there are bound to be bargains around. Your mates will most likely want to ride all the flat out main lines for the majority of the trip, which will be pretty hard going on your Zesty.
If you ride a couple of days then decide to hire a bike, it will cost a packet and you will be riding an unknown quantity, probably with suspension that doesn't match your requirements and anything you break, you pay for. Get your own bike, sort the suspension for you, then sell it when you get home and you haven't ragged your pride and joy either.
I agree with everyone who says get a cheap DH bike. First time I went out was on my Heckler. I survived but came home thinking I would have fun on a bigger longer travel bike, 2nd time I went out was on a Santa Cruz Bullit, rode more or less the same stuff. My pal was on a 224 hand he had a great time, Isurvived but came home thinking for the DH trails out there a DH bike is what you need!
Also it would be heart breaking to spend big money making your Trail - AM bike a bit more DHy only to have it ruined int he alps. Spend the 600ish you would pay for Pikes on a decent 2nd or 3rd hand DH bike and leave your good AM bike as it is! I sold my Bullit and now have a 224 too. Its the right tool for the job!
So just back from morzine riding my carbon 100/120mm Xc 29er.
Everything was totally rideable and I think I was more limited by the geometry than travel; the few blacks I tried were 'interesting' to say the least although rideable with my weight right off the back.
Saying that I'm currently looking at frames with slacker geometry and more travel for next year; I was looking at a couple of the smaller gap jumps and just felt under biked to attempt them (plus lacked a full face/armour).
Was really impressed with the grip of the big smorgasbord and chunky monkey tyres I bought for the trip. The smorgasbord especially provided awesome grip down steep off piste blacks.
Now back to ogling the Codine....
Came back from Morzine a few weeks ago myself and found a few things out. I took my 160mm Ibis and my brother rode a Trek Slash, for the first 7 days we had non stop rain and the trains were the muddiest i've ever ridden. The AM bikes were good here as being a bit lighter they were easier to pick cleaner lines on and muscle around in the gloop. There wasn't much in it when it came to jumping and because of the weather we rarely left Morzine and Lets Gets so the trails we rode didn't involve huge drops or jumps. On the first day the trails dried out the braking bumps started to form and the bikes got a hammering. We blew a set of Pikes, 8 spokes and made 3 wheels unrideable in one day on bikes with expensive kit. The bikes rode really well but at times they felt outgunned despite over taking loads of DH bikes and I was disapointed to get home with a big bill to repair my 'good' bike. If I had enough money to swap the parts out to more burly stuff for out there i'd take a 160mm bike again but for next time I'll be building a tough DH bike that stands up the the terrain more and I don't worry about as much.
Taken the Alpine 160 out for the last 3 years and found myself having no less fun than my old DH bike. I always find it funny seeing people out there on an old DH bike they picked up cheap 2nd hand with old Geometry and suspension and when you talk to them or overhear them in the lift lines it turns out they've left their £7k 160 "Enduro" bike which has much better suspension and angles at home. Modern AM/Enduro bikes are so capable nowadays that unless you're blasting out and out race runs it's not really necessary (just ask Graves and Mullaly).
Tom kp
So just back from morzine riding my carbon 100/120mm Xc 29er.Everything was totally rideable
Unless your a pro, I'm pretty sure you didn't ride everything then! 🙂
Some of the trails (mainly te off piste runs, which are some of the best riding I found there- and one or two of the official runs) are a struggle not to go over the bars on a downhill bike.
It's all rideable on a enduro bike, but if you're there for a while then a downhill bike is worth it, you'll feel a lot less beat up after a few days and enjoy it more! Probably riding lines you wouldnt have chosen otherwise as well.
Just back from a week in Chatel, we were nearly all on enduro style bikes 2 x Spesh Enduro, Commencal Meta AM, Spesh SX and one lad on a Morewood 4X bike..
Rode most of the stuff out there, it's all rideable on these kind of bikes. We also rode up the Col De Coux and came down the ridge into Champerey, there's no way you'd want to do that on a DH bike. As with most riding it's a compromise, you can't have a bike that excels at everything but the enduro type bikes come close.
interestingly the Morewood was wrecked by the end of the week... but the lad on it was probably the one going the biggest out of all of us.. including chasing locals on their DH bikes...
Unless your a pro, I'm pretty sure you didn't ride everything then!
Everything I tried then 🙂
Blues and reds for 90% of the time