and yes – the gardener needs to trim!

I know endlessride are doing fathers and sons weeks again – sounds like a good fit to me!

I have to say that i did always get a bit of a downer the first few rides back in the surry hills from coming back from the alps.

But it soon passes.

And then I moved out to the alps.. what does that say I wonder.

Not knocking the UK trails – I love scotland especially. But here you have the added benefit of Cable cars, trains, and the odd 1000m climb. I love it.

Some advice – budget in a new pro pack from Jungle – bearings, axles etc. The old one did eat bearings I have to say.e

Nomad in the alps is a good choice. (I would say that).

I can say that I didn’t get along with the older model too much – Not sure why – just didn’t seem to work for me.

However the new one is simply fantastic…

Sorry that doesn’t really help you there in this instance. I would say that a coil is worth the weight penalty – Pedaled mine up 500m yesterday evening and down again obviously. The dual ply tyres also hindered it going up. But spin and winch up it went.

Tomorrow I’m taking the train up the mountain!

nice new bikes Gareth. now where are mine… damned GLS man is avoiding me I can tell 🙂

Still think the Alpine 5 looks nicer though!

If you’re gonna stick to riding the XC stuff then just ride with what you’d normally ride with.

Bigger brakes won’t hurt.

Bigger tyres won’t hurt if you’re gonna use the lifts most of the time.

Pads not necessary but may help your confidence.

if you normally ride with SPDs then stick to them.

Basically you’ve got to weigh up the added weight of alpifying your bike vs the cost of any climbing you’re going to do.

Most of us out here that ride big days with lifts AND go off and do 1000m climbs and the long descents have one bike that does it all – Nomad / Alpine 5 / Patriot / Heckler type bike with 160 forks – weighing in around 30-35lbs. Seems little point in having a light weight bike to skitter down the mountains. No need for a full face helmet unless you’re downhilling. Pads are optional.

here’s a question though… how much difference does altitude make on an air shock? i.e. at 3300m at the top of the megavalanche vs 750m at the bottom…..

it’s a right pain. try running a mtb chalet with hire bikes and your own bikes – all getting about 4-5 hours riding per day!

Well – you could say that about England with their no cycling on footpaths law. same thing really.

And yep – being further down the valley gives loads more scope for the other trails around – And they are good- my post wasn’t intended as any sort of put down Mr Scruff! If the Valais area wasn’t a 2 hour drive from here I’d certainly be there more often!

Yep – if you want better brakes and don’t want to shell out for them just nick them off the Quake. simple.

See you in august!

Not skied there – been meaning to though – looks like a good place if you’ve got a guide to show you about…

The pressure in the hold is the same as the cabin or there abouts… it’s not like you get air shocks blowing up on flights – there’s a small nitrogen chamber that’s at stupid PSI in most of them…

wait till I get my red Sunline ltd edition bars on there… then it’ll look the bomb 🙂

And I’ll maybe put my heavier duty white syncross wheels on it (couldn’t be arsed to change the tyres over…) next time I puncture or when the tread runs out perhaps.

There it is. all ready to be hammered tomorrow. hope it all stays in one piece.

I’m afraid not twohats. We’ve got a lovely young lady chef Jess and a slightly less pretty Phil for the bikes. Phyliss of endless ride fame for those that know 😉

all a bit incestuous here 🙂

Forgive my ignorance, but 900lumens = how many watts of the old style non HID lights?

what cynic-al says. set the sag and go – ignore what the gage says until you’ve got it right. then try and remember that number if you need to re-set it.

Easyjet don’t allow you to put kit in your bike bag… but you can sometimes get away with it.

Just nod your head when they ask if it’s just a bike in there..

as for C02 canisters – hide ’em in your bike – like down the seat tube or something.

yep – just take the quake!…. or if you’re not planning on doing the more downhillery bits the current rotors will be fine.

the other thing with Switzerland is that you’re not really allowed on trails that aren’t official bike trails or aren’t fireroads… so any official sites won’t be showing you the singletrack footpaths… not really an issue except for touristy areas like Verbier / Zermatt and the like. Hence Bike Verbier no longer actually based in Verbier…

If you want to run singleply in the alps i’d go tubeless.

if you’re running dual ply – not really much point in tubeless – except to increase the faff of inflation. not like you’re gonna pinch flat a DP tyre really.

Try here:

http://www.mountainbikeland.ch/en/welcome.cfm

It’s the convenience Juan.

lots of people have money, but don’t have time. So they want to make their week count, so they pay the extra money to save them time. Time planning, time going the wrong way, time looking at the map, it’s all about time.

Same argument as to going to a restaurant instead of cooking for yourself. I bet you go to restaurants don’t you? 😉

simple really.

no probs.

the WC course is definitely something you should see to believe. however it’s certainly a waste of a big climb to see it if the lifts are closed.. it’s not like there’s a few tricky bits, it’s just one massive super tricky bit.

Your best bet for that kind of work is to be in town – not too many bars/restaurants do international recruitment…

The Alpe d’Huez pool cafe is free so long as you buy a drink.

ah – just saw you’re staying in Gryon – don’t bother with Champery. just ride there – use the train to get back up from the valley… plenty of riding around.

Champery lift won’t be open…. and there’s too much snow up at 1600m + anyways… and don’t even think that nailing a UK trail centre will stand you in good stead for the Champery World Cup course – it’s so far and away harder than anything I’ve ever tried to ride it’s stupid – (muchos respect for the world class riders)

What you want to do is either pedal about the Champery valley, or take the train down to Monthey – ride over to Bex and then use their train up to Greydon and Villars. The slopes are south west facing – clear of snow. You can get a good deal of height off the trains.

Other than that there’s Dorenaz – down the valley a bit – there’s a lift that runs all year. Or Montreux for the Rochers de Naye train – you just might have to get off before the very top – but some epic descents to be done off that down to the Lake.

I know a few guys who live in Champery who’ll show you about for a bit of a guiding fee if you like. email me – guy at flowmtb.com

Certainly finding your own accommodation will be cheaper. If you’re after a lift assisted holiday with no guides, you may have to go in late August rather than september – There are some lifts open in September, but most resorts start closing down leaving only a few lifts open. If you don’t care where you’re staying, and are just thinking of the money, then Alpine Elements just can’t be beat. You get what you pay for – as with anything.

Some more pics up here:
clikerty click[/url]

Mr Endlessride himself going fast round a corner 🙂

Plenty of uplift options – all minibus shaped though.. Best bet is to visit the bike shop in Finale Borgo (the old town)

‘Twas a great few days. First few spent in Molini with Raymondo, Ade and Jo of Riviera Bike –

(sort your helmet out Ray!)

Then off to Finale for some sun sea sand and singletrack. And no pinch flats on the hardtail!

Yep – there’s a couple of companies like Ski Lifts that will do a shared transfer thus keeping the costs down.

it is odd that france has so much lift assisted riding down proper mountains and they’ve got the track up there… Why?

this doesn’t look steep either from the helmet cam either…

Does this look steep?

new pistons are about 5 quid from CRC. sound like they just need a service.

alternatively if you’ve got the cash a new set would obviously be less faff!

35 euros each way is pretty good. you can only get cheaper if you hire a whole minibus and there’s a load of you.

hope they see the funny side of it…

not really what the scheme is there for though really 😉

Ski lifts will do it. website

yep – that’s exactly it – a black route is likely to be physically demanding, but you might get back thinking what was all that effort for!? climbing up fire roads to descend on tarmac. not much fun.

check the IGN map before you head out!

yeah yeah 😉