Blimey Page 6! FFS

As everyone knows, the best bike is the one you currently own.*

I own a Five, and it’s not only better than all the other bikes in the universe. It’s also better than all the other Fives in the universe. Why? Because it’s mine. So there.

* genuine fact.

– is that along the right kind of level this argument as got to now?

I reckon this thread probably goes someway to promoting the Five – could you see a similar thread about a Trance getting to 4 pages long!?

I’ve just got my first five – think it’s ace fun – much more so than a heckler I’ve owned (angles) – less faff than the Blur 4X I had (bearings) – less quick down than the Nomad or Last Herb AM I had obviously – very lively in comparison, I can’t just plough through a rock garden any more, but that’s OK – skipping about is just as fun – it’s all about riding a bike after all – if it takes longer, then to my mind that’s a good thing – more time having fun on a bike! And it gets up the hills better than any of my previous bikes (probably a lot to do with weight being the correct side of 30lbs)

Probably too much bike for most of the UK, but out here in the Alps it’s great – we’ll see how I feel once I stop climbing for my downs and the lifts open. But then I may just get a cane creek shock and fit my Lyrics on the front.

Versatile? Yep. But then you could say that about a lot of bikes around the 140mm mark.

For me the simplicity is great. So there’s a bit of brake jack or whatever XYZ path square edge blah blah. But I can’t see this bike being out of action for any length of time because of bearing issues. The 4X was a pain in the arse – the Nomad was much improved in that department.

Ultimately it’s a free country. Buy one if you like it, don’t if you don’t.

Anyhow – there’s my two penneth.

It’s a good excuse to get some better forks I reckon 🙂

4 is better than 2 is better than none.

They don’t get all 4 down the valley in Thonon – seem to do alright.

Is it not the case that Frame design has caught up. You now find the same sort of geometry in a 120mm bike as you used to find on a 160mm bike – i.e. it used to be longer travel = slacker angles – now it’s not so clear cut.

And as the geometry is a huge part of how a bike rides you can now get away with less travel and less weight, so easier to get up the hill, less wallowy etc etc, still fun on the downs.

And the argument about trails being ridden on rigid bikes meaning no one needs more travel is surely the same as saying everyone should just have a model T ford. It worked didn’t it?

And for the record, i’ve gone
0″ hardtail,
5″ Old enduro
0″ Prince albert
6″ Old Bullit
4″ Blur 4X
5″ Heckler
6″ Nomad / 0″ Blue Pig
5″ Five

I’ve found the five is a lot more lively than the Nomad, but you don’t get through the rough stuff quite as quickly. Fun all the same though!

so we are 🙂 cheers jhw.

nice one – cheers for the advice – so plan to set off from the top at 9am to be sure of not riding past 10am – allowing puncture time, faff time etc. So a 7am start from the van. nice.

all the time. mostly forget to switch it off. doh!

What no orange haters? Blimey.

Got a good 2000m + descending on her today. Think its fantastic.

I have got a set of lyrics that’ll go on there when summer comes. Until then the 32s are pretty damned good I have to say.

And yeah, like the 4x but probably less maintenance… bike design has caught up at last!

Build is standard Pro

– just realised how un-“standard” the build is – chainset, mechs, chain, cassette, headset – those bits are “Standard” on the Pro build. The rest isn’t.

Defo go for a small chalet / apartment. Try the tourist office.

Put the tyre on with a tube overnight then

…leave it in. it’ll stay inflated no probs 🙂

got the first couple of issues – quality “mag”. more of a coffee table book than a mag. well designed, good articles, nice pics. I feel bad reading it when I’m eating lunch – gets finger marks all over it!

pretty sure it’s just the accessories that go with it. might be wrong though if all you’re filming is your bars and it’s at the same angle…

We (Me with my “Torico Morzine” hat on) left the doorstepskis shop because it’s winter 🙂 not much point in a bike shop in the winter (perhaps a small point in having one this winter, but that’s not really normal). We’re re-opening near Bar Robinsons this summer – June 11th.

We’ve been riding around Morzine, St Jean d’Aulps, Samoens and Saleve this winter so far. I know people who’ve been riding downhill in Bex + Dorenaz etc recently as well.

And we’re sure to be heading out a fair bit between now and lift opening as well – get in touch – hello@toricomorzine.com

Flowmtb videos on Vimeo

And take a look at ridemorzine.org for maps and routes etc..

I’d also suggest typing ‘Morzine’ into YouTube and see what you get..

do you say – “I’m going out on my bike” or “I’m going out on my 2 wheeled vehicle of fun”?

perhaps that’s what they mean?

Transporter FTW!

Wipe clean plastic seats as well.

But I do like the look of the Ferrari – probably goes up hills a bit better than my van.

Disappointing vid. No high 5’s, moto whips or massive huckz at all.

That’s the trouble with affordable video cameras – means average joe’s like me can make videos without all that high 5, whips, huck nonsense!

sorry

phototim – I’m down the road from Morzine – St Jean d’Aulps.

I know people have been riding Bex and Dorenaz already – probably able to most of the winter. We’ve been riding in Saleve (above Geneva), Samoens, and locally. Although todays ride was a bit ambitious:

[/url]FxCam_1301838123822[/url] by guybowden[/url], on Flickr

1440m & north facing.

Rochers de Naye – looks like it’ll be ready to ride from the top in May, yep – might be a bit of snow to clamber over right at the top.

But you don’t have to ride all the way from the top – looks like if you get off a stop or two before then you’ll have a mere 700m or so of descent.. not too shabby.

And tomorrow it’s off to La Grave for two days skiing 🙂

One I did earlier – Chamonix, September last year.

You want to get yourself to the Valais area – Montreux, Bex, Dorenaz, Verbier – a fair bit closer than Les Arcs..

This is Rochers de Naye – train up from Montreux, 1000m descent back down. 40 min drive from you.

Map to Les Arcs here by the way

Roasting hot in Chamonix yesterday – not done any ski touring in that kind of heat before 🙂

I’m quite liking the ski / bike / ski / bike mix this season!

Cheap bike holiday + Package = that holiday you’ve seen advertised. But you should be asking the forum what they think of that company.. all’s I’m saying!

Apart from that you should expect to pay 400-500quid plus flights for a full package deal.

People usually get away with more when flying from Gatwick. However the checkin staff at Geneva are known for being sticklers for the weight limits / bike only in the box rule.

And yep – 32 kg in total including your bike.

it’s pretty hard to do if you’ve got a DH bike that weighs 20kg on it’s own. Plus a bag / box at 5kg. Plus your kit.

Swiss air charge more, but give you much more weight – I think it’s 20kg plus 32kg for the bike.

friend of mine called up a girl through guardian sole mates, turns out she lives next door to him so he went round and spied an ex hire bike I’d sold to her last year… this is half way across the world as well.

tell me that’s not strange!

which videos are blocked andy? being in France they’re not for me 🙂 I’ll change the music – which ones?

first poster was right.

either dual ply jobbies…

…or I was running the 2.5 Minion DHF EXO tyres at the end of last year – saved a kilo of weight – depends if you’re just riding the lifts or not.

I live in a ski resort, this is my 6th winter season, I ski 2-3 times a week.

Can’t say I’ve ever been taken out by either skier or boarder – or taken out anyone my self.

But then I do tend to stay inside during half term.

hmm – don’t think I want boots – the MT71 don’t look too bad. neither to those Vegas…

ha – I take it then it’s not just me 😉

Many of those sort of things anywhere near flowmtb chalets?

Yep – that ‘local loop’ is easily doable during a ride from flow HQ – plus there’s plenty of other singletrack to ride if you know where you’re going

I think the answer here is that if you need a lower guide for your old setup – 2×9 or 3×9 – then you’ll need one for this new 1×9 setup.

If you never saw the point in it then don’t bother.

I personally go with a lower guide – I like to know for sure that my chain is on there before I crank the pedals – you’ll still lose weight over a 2×9 setup with the lower roller, just not as much!

my aussie shepherd likes to go for my tires. makes riding with her frustrating to say the least…

ditch the granny ring. get a 34t middle + chain guide.

you’ll still get more than a 1:1 ratio – anything slower than that and you may as well walk.

if you run out of gears, you’re going too fast (or down a road)..

IMO of course 😉

I’d definitely go for a guided MTB holiday somewhere like Spain or Italy. Or Morocco etc.

guided trips are great ways to have a ready made bunch of riding buddies – and as mountain bikers are a nice bunch on the whole, you should get on with them!

We had 12 of them last summer. Great bikes. The prayer is a very capable bike for hooning about on – cheap as well.

The foxy is very quick. The Summum is long. and the Dune is my Missus favorite bike. she’s keeping it!

That trail in the first video is up above St Jean d’Aulps – you can either get the cable car on a Wednesday or Sunday, or ride up from Graydon. It’s imaginatively named the Joranloup Singletrack.

With that information and an IGN map, you should be able to find it 🙂

My flat to the top (via the lift) and back down the trail to my flat is a 45 minute round trip – I like that!

ski in france. the avalanche risk has been “1” for the past few weeks 🙂

admittedly the snow has been crap… you can’t have it all – best slopes for skiing are almost always the ideal slopes for avalanches. Nice and steep, lots of snow.

It’s a bit like food – the good stuff is always bad for you. damn it.