How much do you want? I have a HUGE roll (about 30 meters x 50cm) at the moment (not that I’m boasting!)

But I can cut you a length – Something like a rate of £20 a meter x 50cm ? Been meaning to do something with it like cutting to sizes and ebaying it off..

It’s proper 3M stuff – we’ve used it on our rental bikes this summer to good effect.

mail me – guy@toricomorzine.com if you’re interested.

Sorry to hear the OPs story – sounds like the accident could have occurred anywhere with 50m of elevation + rocks and a bit of bad luck.

The number of crashes here are all down to the shear amount of descending you can get in if you’re just riding the lifts all day for a week – it must be equivalent to a years worth of riding in the UK if you climb everything you descend – it’s simple probability really. Plus riding at inappropriate speed on inappropriate bikes for the trails – (generalising here, nothing about the OP’s tail).

I never understand why people come on holiday here on their 5 / 6 inch trail bikes and do nothing but ride the chairlifts + DH trails. Surely one run of the Chavannes is enough to put them off rattling their bikes to pieces! If you do a bit of exploring, it not only prolongs the life of your bike, it increases your chances of making it home without a big stack! Safety first and all that.

We use the Vet near the Pegeot Garage in Montriond. But…. no appointments – and after visiting a vet in the UK, this one seems a little backward / dirty / strange… but to be fair, the lady vet gets the job done.

There’s a far cleaner / more professional outfit in Tanninges – they probably do appointments as well. But given that you have to have the tablets 24 – 48 hours before you travel, this may mean a separate trip, or a wait at Calais (they wouldn’t let us on an early eurotunnel before because it was only 20 hours since the vet visit…!)

Think the only option for kids is Intersport – we (Torico) don’t do kids bikes!

There’s a bus service from the top of Super M to Avoriaz because the Prodains lift isn’t working (too much dynamite was used when sorting the foundations for the new lift they’re installing!)

Tourist office will be more help than this forum I bet – morzine.com 🙂

I just replied Mike (Assuming you’re the same Mike as I just replied to of course! – I only had one email from a Mike…)

Cheers for the kind words people – means a lot.

Guy

Damper fluid goes into the damper cartridge unless you have an open bath fork.

If all the fluid fell out of the lowers, then you can just replace it into the lowers – should be about 15ml each side?

If you have an open bath version, then the damper side will need a lot more than that – again into the lowers (fork inverted, bottom bolts off)

You should check the amount of fluid in the air chamber (after removing all the air!) – some forks have issues where the lower lubrication fluid leaks into the air chamber.

2 super tacky High roller 2.5 dual plys on my Patriot.
and
LUST 2.35 super tacky High roller 2.35, with a cross mark LUST out back on my Five (think it’s 60a, it’s not specific on the tire wall).

when the rear Super Tacky wears out on the patriot, I get a new one and put it on the front, then the old front gets relegated to the rear.

I’ve not changed my tyres on the Five since last June – they do the trick very well indeed.

A bit more frequently on the Patriot though – those 42a’s don’t last long here.. Only really an option if you’re a: rich, or b: a bike shop owner 🙂

No – it’s not this summer… they broke the cable when putting in a new lift nearby (whoops!) – you’ll have to roll down to Morzine and get the Super Morzine bubble up.

You can still finish off the day riding down from Avoriaz, so it’s not too bad.

You can collect passes for other people – so only one person needs to go down. You just have to pick that person!

speaking as someone who owns a bike shop in Morzine, AND takes my own away when I go on holiday – I can see both sides to the argument.

All depends on you, your bike, and your bike maintenance skills.

We cover all wear and tear on our hire bikes and buy them new each year. What you’re paying for is peace of mind that if anything does go wrong with the bike due to simply riding it, we take care of it – if you blow the shock or forks, we fix that. If you snap a spoke, or buckle a wheel slightly, we fix that. Snapped gear cable, brake bleed, brake pads, tyres, etc etc. All stuff that your €80/day will buy you. Any crash damage is charged at less than retail.

Plus there’s no hassle packing / unpacking the bike each end.

The other thing is the type of bike you have – is it suitable for alpine riding? would you have more fun on a bike that’s set up for alpine riding? Are you just going to hammer your trail bike down the DH tracks? (If that’s what you’ve got!)

And the last argument is flexibility – it’s a whole lot easier to choose to hire a DH bike for a day or two if you want to have a blast on one if you’re renting anyway! Or vice versa – hire a trail bike to get away from the lifts for a day if your main thing is DH.

For a 4 day trip I’d say it’s worth renting.

And why wouldn’t you hire? Well because you bought an expensive bike and you want to ride it in the alps!

I fly and travel with my bikes all the time – never had an issue on the flights etc and am happy to fix it when it breaks.

I tried resisting the urge to drop to my 24t inner from a 32t middle (11-36 cass) – when I first got my 5 with it’s 10 speed gearing. Whilst it was possible for me to ride most stuff around here (morzine, lifts closed), I would only ever be able to do it if I was either one my own, or totally unsociable and ride off the front of the group I was with – the time spent waiting at the top was also spent getting my heart rate back down to normal!

Then I thought to myself – fxxk it, I’ll stick with 2×10 thanks. If I lived in Dorking then it might make more sense for 1×10, or if it was an Enduro race bike perhaps… but other than that, I like my knees too much to get drawn into it. The 9-36 hope cassette does look promising though… could drop down to a 30t ring and be done with it.

My patriot on the other hand is 1×9 and only comes out when there’s uplifts involved. Then the climbs aren’t so long or it’s hike a bike territory.

I’ve got a 5 and a new Patriot (perks of being an Orange dealer i guess!)

I have to say that the Patriot is pretty much gathering dust now that the lifts are shut. The Five is out and loving it – probably done about 3000m of climbing in the past 4 days – and riding down of course. There’s no way in hell I’d have done it on my Patriot (37lbs, CCDB, Fox VAN RC2, Dualply tyres etc).

I could get it down to about 33lbs with an RP23, tubeless 2.35 tires, and a Float fork. But, the carpark test of the RP23 had me changing the shock back to the CCDB. And then taking the Five out instead!

Having said that, I did complete some epic rides on the Patriot in the summer – lift assisted but with a good 500m or so climbing per day, and it coped – it does pedal well, but that’s well for a 180mm bike.

Personally, if you’re climbing the same amount as descending (i.e. no uplifts) – then stick with a Five or a 160, the Patriot is too much.

hmm – try again:
[/url]
IMG_4653[/url] by guybowden[/url], on Flickr

erm… this trail also links from the top of Pre La Joux to Linderettes… you lot are missing out 🙂

[/url]
MTB Portes du Soleil July 2011 (35)[/url] by Carl and Sian[/url], on Flickr

back to the OP – we used to have a couple of bikes each year get delayed with people out on holiday with us – this year there’s been a shed load – not sure why, but it doesn’t seem to be just about easyjet. I am currently waiting for a bike from Hong Kong to turn up!

Liverpool seems to be the worst route for missing bikes for our guests…

and we all know – newer = better 🙂

will put it next to an 08 patriot for comparison and see…

and I’ll get mine on the scales when it’s built up as well – I reckon it’ll be around 35/36lbs – dual ply tyres and coil front and rear will bump it up.

I’ll see if I can dig out a deore cassette as well – keep the weight up 🙂

I tried 1×10 (by not using the granny ring) for a while after I got my Five. But have since given up trying – not much chance of making it up the col du cou etc without a granny ring or legs like contador.

I did have 1×9 on my Nomad and did a bit of pushing – not so bad if it’s too steep to even bother riding.

new Patriot will be 1×9 though – 34t and an 11/34 on the back.

quick work Mr Yeti! whereabouts did the crack appear – just so I keep an eye out

too slow.

I got one, gone back on warranty already though

why’s that then?

Too heavy and big for an all mountain bike?

depends how big your mountains are really.

it’s a neon yellow one. sunglasses at the ready.

I’ll put whatever cassette I have spare on it – alloy spider or not – can’t say I’ve ever noticed a difference in the ride quality of a chewed freehub compared to a non chewed one.

Sorry – I only know guides based out of Morzine. But I’m sure they’d be happy to meet you in Chatel for 9.30 / 10ish (i.e. after they’ve ridden over)…

downgrade the brakes to Avid elixirs
upgrade the shifters to XTR (with money saved on brakes)
upgrade the forks to Float 140 RLC
ust upgrade kit – but ditch the conti tyres it comes with, fit some High Rollers / Crossmarks
thompson kit and big bars..

oh wait – that’s what I did 🙂

…..which means it must be the right way to do it!

I’ve done the Cham to Samoens trip a few times – don’t think it’d be much good the other way round – but then we did get a lift up Brevent to kick start the day – no such luck the other way round… Antern to Servoz/St Gervais would be good – then tram it up to Cham at the end of the day…

Hire bike shop or candy store? check the first two pics here

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150206989686371.310616.567451370&l=9086c708f0

Neon Yellow wins it for me – 5th in from the left – that’ll be the colour of my new Patriot then 🙂

new printers are only 60 quid with wireless built in. depends if yours is anything special or not I guess

what stratobiker says – but i’ve never had any need to run a DH tube in anything. Dual ply tyres will do the trick on their own.

My previous experience with rim strips etc always ended in a swearing match.

Currently have 819s and UST tyres = track pump works like there’s a tube in there.

Same with a set of Fulcrum Red Zones. Zero hassle – I’m never using anything that’s not a proper UST solution or inner tubes.

ha – yep I wouldn’t touch that Brevent Samoens trail until September – or the Holy trail – Not worth it: Queues going up and down that ladder, waiting on every switchback for walkers etc… And tutting guides telling you it’s “their mountain” and you can’t be there. Bit late by the time you meet them – not like you’re going to turn back!

There is a route down on the left (as you go down) that avoids the ladder – involves a bit of goat like scrambling, but doable carrying a bike.

And thankfully the worst bit of all – this bridge near Sixt:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/endlessride/3900835335/in/set-72157622187078657 has finally been replaced..

Thanks for the map – had done “sicktrack” before – not known it’s name.

Not been up the Grand motets side for a while (in summer at least) – looked slightly different in April:
[/url]
P1020254[/url] by endlessride[/url], on Flickr

ha I love that the two answers to “if you could only ride ONE trail” both have more than one 🙂 – including my answer.

Goes to show – there are some right belters up there – both in the valley and heading out of the valley.

Not done the Servos ride – I guess that’s a bit of Holy trail then turn right somewhere?!

And Sicktrack.. what’s that then?

I have to say I’ve never really got it when people drive round to Pre La Joux. If you’re going to drive anywhere you should drive to Les Linderettes and just get one lift to the top of the park. An hour saved in the car. simples – but you still may as well ride there, it’s not much more time (if any – once you consider packing bikes, unloading etc) and it’s riding rather than driving. Morgins I could maybe understand as the ride back is a bit of a chore – but it only takes 45-50mins to get there from Morzine if you’re not hanging about.

As for guiding – depends really – if you solely want to ride bikepark stuff then fine, no need – but if you want to explore a bit then to avoid wasting time on the dismal trails Millitant is talking about then it’s worth while – and as a group of you it won’t cost much at all.

The other thing a guide can do is a bit of tuition. We can all ride a bike obviously, but unless you’re a long lost Atherton we can all improve with a bit of coaching. Not to be dismissed!

Lift pass – definitely – 6 days is €87

if you could do one ride in chamonix what would it be?

One ride: The ride back to Samoens from Brevent.
If I had to stay in the valley: Grand balcon sud: – brevent to argentiere.

But I wouldn’t do either in July or August.

As far as the OP’s question – I’d say your newbie mate will probably struggle to find a lot he’s happy to ride in Chamonix. There’s some stuff there – Le Tour springs to mind, but the best stuff in Chamonix is not for beginners.

Could be not enough oil in there in the first place and you didn;t notice the top out business. Is there any damping at all? or some then none.

In any case – take the compression damper out and take a look in there – the oil should be about level with the bottom of the compression assembly when that’s in there and the fork is extended (which will be the 135ml Nuke is talking about).

If there isn’t enough oil top it up. It’s not uncommon that a fork comes with the wrong oil level in there.

check how much oil comes out of the damper lower leg and you’ll have your answer.

6 day lift pass is €84 plus €3 for the hands free card.

trail maps – try here: http://www.ridemorzine.org/2010/03/maps/ the PdS also released a new trail map late last summer – this can be bought at the tourist office / lift stations. It’s quite good, but misses out on a few choice routes.

me – in my garage. brand new as well – came on my Five.

How’s £100 inc. postage? mail me – guy@flowmtb.com

Cheers Bazzer + Steve for the kind words.

We’ve got two catered chalets this summer. Both run by couples who’ve ridden and worked here for ages. They know the score – where to ride & mark up your maps for you etc. Both places have got workshops on site – and the owners (me + Sara) also run the best bike shop in Morzine*

The lifts are fully open from June 24th to Sept 5th this year – so you can get to Champery for the world champs by bike – or just ride your bike later in the year!

flowmtb / Torico Morzine

* we think so anyway 🙂

the VW is a bit narrower and more car like in it’s dimensions than the other two.

I’ve got a LWB T5. I very much doubt a Traffic would feel as solid as a T5 does after 180,000km on the clock.

There’s a reason they cost more 😉

My Last Herb AM. for sale in the classifieds 🙂