4th time for me, this year on a zesty (on which the forks are completely busted now)
ace day out as usual, if you know the area you can add as much downhill track as you like (les crosets, pleney etc.)
the roads in switzerland were fine this year (lighter bike and xen helmet helped)
a friend and I had an amazing race down to morzine with a french kid on a dh bike, high 5s all around when we got to the bottom 🙂
i'll be back next year, but then again I live an hour and a half from Chatel now 😉

torgonabike enduro <link> anyone?

don't do tubeless in the alps

pah.
2.5 UST super tacky minion front (on the front), 2.5 UST 60a minion front (on the rear), the choice of champions

high rollers are so 2005….

passportes was great today!

no you don't need a specific chainset, the total bearing width etc. is the same as hollowtech 2.
enduro fork seals do decent aftermarket replacements – I heard Phil Woods does them too, not seen em though.
enduro fork seals ceramic clicky

jhw, see lift opening here:
http://www.portesdusoleil.com/fr_ete/Remontees%20mecaniques/remontees.html

pleney doesn't shut til 5th sept, and bike park stuff in chatel is open til the 12th september.

Did I mention I got a job in Geneva and now live 1hr from Les Gets?
Looking forward to the 1.5hr drive to Morgins for the passportes on Saturday – current weather forecast is good, freezing level back up to where it should be (3500m)
Bring yer sunscreen

The views are simply amazing; I mean just breathtaking

if the weathers any good (to put your mind at rest the current forecast is looking promising – certainly not the snow that made the Freeraid at 2Alpes much fun :))

around 80% of the people taking part are on XC/Trail/Am bikes

around 80% of the people are off this forum
still good fun going sideways round flat corners past jeyboys (will it be you?) on the fast descent to morzine

slightly on topic, megavalanche people be prepared for lots of snow this year.
The freeraid at 2Alpes (just across the valley from Alpe d'Huez) has had a route change due to loads of snow from 2600m (2.7m metres still on the glacier at 3400m according to the update)
And its due to get really cold here this weekend (freezing point at 1600m) so its not going to shift all that quick.

good luck everyone

I was sat there thinking it looked just like the stuff I can ride only bigger

isn't that the idea? gives a point to relate to, see.
what do you want to see them riding? chainlink fences all the time?

miserable boring stw-ers, as usual

think I am going to release a 24hr film of SITS, you would love it

CG = win
juan = fail

the best frenchman won

freeriders are bobbins and fall to bits (they don't have a wraparound sole like the hi\low) in my experience

dedicated golf shoe wearer here, and when the sole goes, get the 510 stuff stuck on from the place in sheffield

golf shoe for the win

glad they mentioned the damaged helmet

helmets don't heal, you have to get a new one
luckily, the same can't be said for arms

just got back from Morzine, few runs down pleney, over to Les Gets (via a bit of the passportes route) for a few chavannes, back to Morzine.
Lifts open there now 🙂

nice day in the Alps

I'm saying that one might reasonably expect someone with a bike of a particular value to be of a standard not too far below the relative cost of the bike.

so if you're crap you ride a cheap bike, if you're very skilled you ride an expensive one?

I may suggest that the users of this very forum fly in the face of that statement

love the way the 2nd guy has to avoid a chicken on the "run in"

top stuff – love it, like the songs says, having fun!
ragging their bikes, something people on this forum should do more of rather than slagging others off or discussing the pros and cons of wearing a helmet

iphone? no multitasking is there?

christ – amusing story turned into "you're going to die" thread by the miserable stw users.
go get a life

and look those bikes from 1936 have the same quick releae mechanism as some mountain bikes still have today – thats progress folks!
well if it worked for them…. 😀

I'll let you know how it is this year, freeraid is on in 3 weeks or so (weekend before passportes)

🙂

I'll repeat for those of you who missed it.

clipped in?
you ****!

specially for burmaboy 😉

and for everyone, don't get so uptight, its only bike riding!

Ok if you wanna ride flat pedals and tell us you are just as efficient go ahead.

But for those of us in the real world clipped in is quicker, more efficient and for grown ups. Doesnt matter how good you are at pedalling or how big your leg muscles are.

Clipped in for SS , Cyclo cross , xc , downhill and freeride.
Flats for the BMX in the skatepark and maybe the odd DJ action to.

sam hill thinks you are a d i c k

minion fronts, on the back and front

oh and as for saying "hike a bike" and glacier in the same sentance, get a grip.
This is a proper mountain you are talking about, not the local woods.
Kendal Mint cake won't save you now

me sarcasm?
no it really is a great descent

yes there is lots of snow here still….

pretty sure you can do the whole mega route all season as well. Access to the 2alpes glacier is limited, mainly due to the fact there are skiers and snowboarders you might hit 🙂 but not so Pic Blanc

the way people go on here its like France is shut for the summer apart from Passportes and Mega week…..

clipped in?
you ****!

oz station 1350m
allemont 720m

the bus between Allemont and Oz station (where the first lift is) goes all season, a few times a day, not just on mega week.

As you are staying in the campsite in Venosc, great ride home at the end of the day….

(cheeky edit)

sola, have to disagree, poorly maintained when compared to what? Morzine where there is no maintenance at all?

but if you have other options, Les Arcs, Sauze D'Oulx, Verbier, all less full on DH than Morzine (although lots of good stuff around there off the beaten track – Morgins for instance)

surely thats a zesty without the horst link or looks?

great place – some top quality trails, including the mental run down to venosc and the super steep double black.
Also some real back country routes starting at the glacier (~3200m)

Much higher than morzine therefore less trees

You are more limited than the morzine area though for trails, the morzine lift pass gets you all around the porte du soleil (as you probably know), best you get at 2Alpes is a day free at Alpe d'Huez with a weeks pass anyhow.

Still one of my favorite places to ride, the weather is better than morzine (further south) and there is a real mix of people there, and its always amusing to see the skiers\snowboarders coming down from the glacier at lunchtime in full cold weather gear when its 30degrees in the resort 🙂

wrong bike, wrong niche. Fail

passportes isn't like the freeraid (which does use most of the downhill trails in the 2 Alpes area, have you done the venosc descent – awesome but full facer certainly required!)

its like a big laid back ride in the alps. The craziest descent is the one down to morzine IMHO, great territory for passing on the inside of corners, foot out, flat out.

That said I have done passportes in a full facer, but this year will be wearing a xen

good review geetee

so whose pet troll is obi_twa then?

Member Since
May 17, 2010 (1 week)
Location
Dundee

is this a new niche?

no-helmet niche?
no skills, no helmet?

wtf? If you do not want to wear a helmet, don't bother me with it.
Is it really worth a discussion?

hmmm what colour pants should I wear? maybe go commando? lets ask stw……

no, its shit

yes your clearly right obi_twa, the person who has put the uplift on didn't look to see what the trails were like. whoops.

or is it the fact that you are as uniformed as the majority on here?

Well not that I saw anyway

hard to see the DH trails from the fireroads and B roads you were on.

Its where DIRT do a lot of testing BTW (in fact their office is in the FoD)

are these proper oakley lenses? If so, then its oakley who put the glasses together IMHO, you will find them very good service wise.
My oakley prescription rx have always been good. Got a pair of square wires about 6 years old, on their 2nd set of prescription oakley lenses. My standard glasses are sculpt 6 with clear oakley lenses.

If not (i.e. vision express lenses, pentax etc.), then you are in the hands of vision express, good luck!

the optician makes more money selling you their own lenses, rather than oakley ones btw

broke both mine, one 5 years ago, one 2 years ago. Did the mega 8 weeks after doing the second, no pain from either now

the fleshy stuff and ligaments will be sorted in 7 or 8 weeks, stick in there

nice chess set

both wrists, at the same time.

evidence click here

also demonstrates how powerful Hope V2 brakes are, when you land with them on 😉