france – a good place to be let loose on a dh bike ?

going to les arcs for a week , the missus muttered them words … “it would be cool to get a shot on a downhill bike and see what thats all about” ………..

much sucking of breath and realising it was going to be expensive – but still less than buying one 😉 – id quite like to hire one for a day my self tbh ……. – not done it for YEARS last downhill race was in 2004 i think….. think my armour and stuff is still at my parents – i can just imagine the smell !

having never been there – are there easyier lift assisted routes she can cook the hire bikes brakes on ? – she is competent on a bike but i still wouldnt send her down dunkeld or fort william irrespective of the bike she was on !

should i make her wait and hire something from alpine or icycles and ler her loose on inners for a day ?

Evac, hospitalisation and re-patriation will be cheaper from Inners 🙂

to be honest most of the tracks in that area aren’t that difficult to get down, some big features that can be avoided. obviously the difficulty is in pinning it all the way down.

aye thats for me thinking the dh bike makes me invincable again !

the guides out there will be as good a judge as any after riding with her for a few days im sure.

james thats what i was kinda hoping.

she knows her limits – i often exceed mine 😀

IMHO there’s nothing at inners worth hiring a DH bike for.
Couldn’t you just borrow one?
a DH hire bike is unlikely to be sprung right for most guys never mind a girl

you raise a good point there GW on all 3 counts. esp if shes gonna brake all the way down , inners would really just be a good xc ride spoilt by a heavy bike 😀

re borrowing one – i dont think i know anyone that still rides dh well enough to borrow their bikes 😀

I could lend her one (I even ride small frames) but it’d be way oversprung for her.

What bike does she have? Can it be DH’d up perhaps? Eg, short stem, wide bars, bigger brake rotors, big tyres, different forks, seat post out of the way etc?

Its a merida hfx job – was bought as an XC bike as thts what we do ..

its getting heavy duty tires/bigger rotor up front. for going to france – we are going out to do a back country week primerily but have a day to fill on wednesday. her bike has a fairly short stem on it already but i have an old azonic hammer kicking about that im thinking about sticking on for her to try. shes getting a better quality QR to make it easier for seat raising and lowering …

Im not really interested too much in sticking longer forks and things on her bike as its not a dh bike and im not even going to try and pretend to her it is.

cheers for offer GW but you must weigh the same as me 😀

tbh shes that light and cautious a 4/5/6 inch air sprung freeridy bike with more dh orientated parts fitted would probably be a better bet than a full on dh bike which would be cumbersome for her.

can hire a commencial mini dh with air shocks both ends for 80 euro for a day with spine guard , full face , knee and shin

realisitcally i do not see her ever taking up dh so its an experiance thing – bit like bunji jumping for her !

the brakes will be arse from tit though ! – wonder if they are flippable levers !