It’s a road fat bike.

650b Giant Trance with the carbon frame and 150 Pikes running 1X11. It’s the best MTB I’ve owned and is my only MTB at the moment. I regularly go to Swinley and the Alps ( two extremes, I know ) and it’s fine for both. I love it and saved a chunk of money as I built it up myself.

Last year I was in the Alps in October half term. The first few days were sunny and warm, after that it snowed and was -7 at the top of my local col. Take clothes for all weathers. I also take an MTB in case road biking is snowed off.

I rode a Defy with RS785s up and down Col du Galibier, Col de Jox Plane and my local col, Col du Pierre Carre this summer and the brakes were excellent. I’m used to riding those cols on rim brakes. The discs were more progressive and confidence inspiring, even if not necessarily more powerful. Then there’s wet weather performance, which is a good argument for disc brakes in its own right. Disc brakes on road bikes are here to stay. It’s like the whole 650b thing: whether we like it or not, it’s here to stay and will quickly become the norm. Personally, I think it’s a great idea.

About four miles, mostly on cycle paths. I look on it as a warm up and warm down.

Ok. I happen to have a spare Shimano type freehub knocking around, so that’s covered. Just curious if it’ll work or not.

I run XO1 and was thinking of going the other way when my uber expensive cassette wears out, i.e. fitting an XT cassette with the rest remaining SRAM. Will this work?

Altura Attacks are MASSIVE. I bought a medium, as with a 30″ waist I fitted their recommendation. They were huge. I ended up with an XS. This was OK, except that I wanted 3/4s, which don’t come in an XS, so I had to stick with “normal” length shorts.

Rode Swinley this morning. Stopped at the top of Red 25 before the fast, jumpy bit. Me and my mate had a chat and a think about Mike. Being where something terrible happened certainly made it very real. Ride safely, everyone.

There are some fun DH style runs with uplift in Les Carroz, about an hour away.

I use them on Giant PSLR0 disc wheels and they seal brilliantly, even with no fluid. I did put some in, just in case, however… They’re hard to find, but bike-components.de have some at the moment.

1X11 with 30T up front was great for me on a 650b Trance.

RIP Mark. Next time I ride through Red 25 you will be in my thoughts.

Slight hijack, but could Torico fix my dodgy R785 leaky brake from my road bike? I’m in Les Carroz, so not too far away.

Loads is leaking, but not all the time. When it leaks, it goes for it!

I’ll be lounging later. I’m going to come back down to Samoens and meet my family there for lizard catching and playing in the river. I may cycle back to Les Carroz or bung the bike in the car…

Stoner – great. 9:30 at Samoens OdT it is. I’ll be on a black Giant Defy and wearing a blue and white top, but no pink carnation.

That’s great. Thank you.

Stoner, I’m planning on riding Joux Plane on my road bike tomorrow, heading from Les Carroz to Samoens and up. Thanks for the info re the landslide. Shame, as the descent into Morzine is fun! If the group can take one more, I’m up for it.

Have you played about with the B screw? The setup can be sensitive to this.

I’ve got Giant’s PSLRO Disc carbon jobbies and they use 6 bolt fitting. Everything feels fine, even under hard braking. I’m in the Alps at the moment, so there’s been some hard braking… Also, so many MTBs use 6 bolt with wide, grippy tyres on all sorts of terrain without issue, so I don’t see why road bikes would be any different.

Aero enough down an Alp, and aero enough going up slowly!

Took my Defy up Col de la Colombiere today and it climbed well. It was fast and stable on the descents. I got up quicker than on my old TCR. The discs were nice on the warp speed descents, but the front did complain by squealing a little. Still, one finger braking from nearly 50 mph is nice.

I’m running a Minion DHF 2.3 on the front and an Ardent Race 2.2 on the back. It seems to be a great summer combo. Size wise, they seem to be about what they claim.

I currently run an XO1 groupset, but have a spare Shimano driver for my Hope hubs. So, as and when my uber expensive SRAM cassette wears out, I’m hoping I can swap the hubs and bung a new XT 11sp cassette on.

I put a spacer in the wrong place on a cassette and spent ages trying to index the gears….

Fair enough. If the bead comes off the rim with no weight on it you definitely need a solution!

@Munkster

I remove the wheel from the bike and hang it up, thereby taking pressure away from the tyre. That way it stays on the rim as I put fluid in through the valve. After that I simply re inflate.

28 will be fine with a compact. The hills are long, but generally not too steep. Of course there are steep sections, but you’ll manage those ok.

I got mine ok. I also bought some bars at the same time. Yes, they were delayed, but free postage and a free bottle made up for that.

I have Shimano RS785 hydraulic calipers on my Defy and they are excellent. The power is sensible and very easily applied. Suddenly discs on road bikes make complete sense and don’t seem out of place at all.

Go tubeless. I’ve switched the Schwalbe Ones. All the benefits we see with MTBs and no drawbacks.

First proper ride out this evening at 75F/85R. The bike felt fast, smooth and comfortable. Considering the lack of hassle setting up tubeless and the tyres coming in a at £30 each from Germany, I don’t see why tubeless for roadies isn’t isn’t as popular as for MTBers. It’s ace!

I’d do it. I built a carbon Trance using a s/h Trance SX frame that already had a Hope headset and a new BB. I bought from Germany and watched for sales, getting an XO1 groupset from Evans. The brakes and pedals I had already. All in all, I spent £2800. Giant sold the SX in 2014 for £4750 and mine is better specced. I’m pretty pleased!

I’ve just bought a carbon Defy and I’m really pleased with it. I was riding a carbon TCR and find the Defy just as quick, but with the added bonus of disc brakes and Di2, not to mention out of the box comfort. Availability was an issue for a medium (I went for the Pro 0), but I hit lucky in the end, after many phone calls and emails. I swapped the wheels out for Giant’s P-SLR0s which I sourced from Germany. They’re now set up tubeless with Schwalbe the One tyres. The Defy is a great bike which is fast, comfortable and well specced for the money, especially as I somehow got a decent discount! So, maybe check out a Defy, as well.

I’m happy to report that the tyres held pressure overnight. I’ve just dropped them to 75F/80R, so we’ll see how I get on with that.

Thanks for all the input, especially concerning pressures. Looking like 80F/85 rear is the way to go.

Replenish sealant every six months?

Thanks, Shred. I’ll try those pressures and see how the bike feels.

The tyres are sitting at max pressure (110 psi) at the moment to make sure they stay seated, but tomorrow I will try 90 front, 95 rear and take it from there. The tyres are 25mm and I’m only 65kg, so we’ll see. If anyone has any advice on this, I’d be grateful!