Am thinking of doing the above if I can get myself organised enough to register for early Feb. I presume registration fills pretty quickly?
I would like to do the whole loop (will not be taking any of the DH options due to lack of skills). Some previous anecdotal advice I have seen here and on other forums confirms that people have done it on hardtails, whilst other posts say definitely ride it on a full susser and save yourself a beating. I only have one bike, (an xc hardtail with 115mm travel) and although I can get in 2.3 tyres comfortably, the lack of suspension issue won’t go away whatever tyres I put on to cushion the ride.
I don’t know how it compares to other rides for effort/distance/technical challenge. Presume having the lift assistance is a massive boon as this limits the climbing a bit… As examples of day rides I have done previously, these include Skyline, half of South Downs Way and a few 5 hr+ trails around Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border (all 6,000 – 8,000ft). Nothing massively technical, but did exercise the lungs.
Questions:
Can I use a hardtail to do it?
Will my ‘comfortable on a red’ level of ability be sufficient?
How fit do you need to be?
IMHE, YMMV etc etc
ability - you'll be fine
fitness - i am fat, and I managed it, plus a days riding on either side, and I was fine. forearms were ruined by the end of the day though, and my knees are still bit sore!
bike - like everything else, yes, you could ride it on a hard tail, but really, IMHO, that would be the most unpleasant way to spend 9 hours on a bike. It's big loop, and it might be tricky to complete it all at HT speeds.
The trails are rough, you will take a beating. I was on a 120mm FS 29er, and I would really have liked quite a bit more. Makes the breaking bumps on some of the man made stuff bearable with more travel.
It is however, almost excellent event I am am thoroughly looking forward to this year!
Kev
use the search mate, we've done quite a few discussions on this recently.
Comfortable on a red covers the ability, but one bloke we took out there last year was in bits by the end. He's done the SDW, so technically fine. His 120mm FS with 160mm rotors was fine for the first 20km, but after that he was just shaken to bits.
The descents can be very long and bumpy (especially the Morzine switchbacks - you just have to take these at speed and let the bike do the work) and a long-travel FS with relaxed angles will definitely be an advantage.
I now use a Patriot - squidgy coil suspension, 200mm brakes, 2.5 DH tyres. If you have the cash, hire something like that out there, but you'll need to be quick - if you're starting from Morzine then I know Torico are doing Nukeproof AM bikes for the coming season, which look ideal.
Nick (or anyone)
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40050&t=12831132
Should i buy this instead of my 29er Giant HT ?
Option 2 of course is to hire a bike on the Weds (for the Friday) when we get to Morzine.. it's only £60-65 after all for something appropriate.
Do they have the brakes the wrong way round ? Not that it will matter too much at my speed 😉
Personally I'd not buy that bike (anything with Avid Juicy and Pace forks has me running in the opposite direction as fast as possible), and I'm no great fan of Cannondale either, but if it's in good condition and it fits you, yeah, why not?
Better would be a Patriot, Enduro, Nomad (possibly a bit too much)....try southerndownhill.com - there's loads of suitable bikes on there, most of which are at reasonable prices.
(EDIT: Brakes are variable, depending on which shop you go to. Some will set them to your taste, some won't bother)
http://www.toricomorzine.com/bikehire/mega/
might book one of these today... use it, abuse and forget it
I've done 5 PPdS. If you're reasonably fit you'll be fine on that bike with some 2.3 High Rollers or similar. And you'll enjoy riding past the folk on DH rigs between Chatel and Morgins.
People are getting spoilt. I did the first two with canti brakes and a 90mm fork !
Excellent JAck. MY fittness is better than my skills 😉
It's great on a hard tail or a full suss, I have done both. Ride what you already have, put decent rubber on it go out there and have fun.
You'd have to be a masochistic mentalist to do it on a hardtail. Plus: you want to enjoy a few days riding either side. 140-160mm FS is where its at to enjoy it properly. I used my Intense 5.5. It was perfic! Apart from the brakes. If you want to invest in anything, that's where it'll matter. You'll cook 'em!
Fitness wise, you'll be fine. Another unfit fat bloke here who managed it ok. Though as has been stated, you'll feel like you've gone a few rounds with tyson by the end of it. You get battered!
Its absolutely bloody great fun though. Enjoy!
BTW, I meant to say "a most excellent" not "almost excellent". Doh! 😳
Binners, I am totally with you. Like I said, you 'could' doit on a HT, but I could also walk up and down Anoch Mor in flip flops. It would be massively unenjoyable.
To the flap jack above who did it on a 90mm HT with rim brakes... 😯 are we getting spoiled? Of courses not! We are just increasing our expectations and changing our perceptions on what fun equates to when riding a bike! 😉
Kev
There's a theme here. If you're unfit 'larger' gentleman, you spend more time in the saddle resting rather than hovering, so you need an FS. If you're a bit fitter, you can spend most of the day off the saddle so an HT is fine.
Only caveat is that your bike must be stable at speed, there are several points which you can be doing over 45mph if you feel up for it.
We were out there for a few days and saw literally a handful of hardtails. All ridden by people sporting the Psychotic 1000-yard stare of a Vietnam vet. Was it you flap_jack? Do you look like a serial killer? 😉
In that time we saw approximately 123,345,789 full bouncers. Make of that what you will. At one point I did wonder aloud if there were any middle-aged fat blokes left in Britain 😀
Binners and random quitting smoking rage attack shocker 😉
P.S. Keep up the good work on quitting.
Having watched a bunch of the videos of the trails out there out of my 130mm HT and 145mm FS i'd be taking my full sus.
gribble search out the other threads. As per the other posts above you can do it on a hardtail (some do) but you'll get shaken to bits and for the other riding you'll want to do a full suss is the way to go. 2 members of our party rented bikes last time, rent an AM bike.
I'm not fit (typical 2-3 hr rides 20-30km) and I can get round but as the slowest member of the group. Whilst you don't have much climbing there is quite a lot of pedalling. Based on the rides you done you have the technical skills and by the end of your time in the Alps you'll have moved on a level.
It's a fun event, a good intro the Alps and best done with a few days riding before/after.
flap jack, PMSL 😆
As a fatty I am looking forward to doing it all sitting down again this year. 😉
Kev
Do you look like a serial killer?
[img] http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRwfxLRGt3eLOuvc0ZvECtRyYyfcaOxHm9U75GIhGzh7vHC8HHfZrxxSF6J1w [/img]
This is shockingly close to what I look like...
[b]weeksy[/b]
might book one of these today... use it, abuse and forget it
You must pay for breakages so don't abuse it !
Renting is a good idea and that's a good bike, if you have the budget you should rent for one/all of your other riding days as you'll really enjoy the trails that way. My mates rented gear inc full face helmets and body armour and they were both thankful of them on the free riding days 😯
If i decide the FS is the route to go down, i'll probably buy a s/h Specialized Camber or something over here.
Use it there and then flog it when back.
Hire will cost me £200 for the 4 days, i shouldn't lose that much on a buy/sell deal really.