Cheers for all the replies!

This has given me a lot to think about. The reason I was pulling away from the medium is because my max stem length would be 70mm and I would be running 50mm for the Trans Provence. The last thing I want would to be cramped for long periods of time.

I am also aware that the large has a 19″ seat tube as opposed to a 17″ on the medium and this could effect standover, however if I’m running a Reverb anyway like on the Alpine then surely it will have less effect as if your on a 17 you will be showing more seatpost meaning you won’t be able to slam it as much or if your on a 19″ you will have less post showing and will get it down lower, albeit on a slightly larger frame. Or am I talking bollocks and showing a poor aptitude for basic maths……. ;)

Might not be exclusive to yourselves but Afan Lodge is the real deal….

Have stayed there since it opened 3 years ago and it is proper good! Big Comfy beds, power showers, bike storage, muddy clothes containers, has its own restaurant and bar with Grolsch on tap and breakfast is included. works out £35 per person a night and the owners are awesome.

Did I mention it has a log fire and 40 inch plasmas playing bike DVDs?

It’s our choice now everytime. Hope this helps a little ;)

Just read this from Orange Alpine 160 sponsored rider, Trail Builder and riding ninja Rowen Sorrell about his trip to Garda and more importantly his ride down the 601 who just about says it all really:

‘Let me try to help you visualise. Riding down two of these trails, Slabmus on Monte Stivo and the 601 down from Monte Altissimo, your eyes were out on stalks, you were focusing so hard on what was coming up. I’m used to really technical sections in tracks and trails, but I’ve never ridden a 30 minute section! I’d say the 601 trail was pretty near the limit of what is possible on a short travel bike and we were pretty pleased to clean it, but I would advise you to try this one with caution as it is a very technical run. At the bottom of one of the descents on the Limone side of the lake I remember thinking this is perhaps the first time I’ve wanted a kidney belt on a push bike. Probably partly down to the fact that we were riding short travel bikes and going full–bore everywhere’.

‘You can of course back it off and pick your way through these trails, but what the hell’s the point in that, these trails are perfect for letting the brakes off and rattling on down full tilt, it makes you feel alive. If you’ve never ridden loose rock then it takes a little getting used to, it ranges depending on the trail from gravelly stone, much like around Monaco and Nice, to fist and football sized rocks you simply have to hop skip and jump on the fly. Sorry, does this sound uninviting? It shouldn’t, I really enjoyed the challenging trails and riding around the lake the vistas are stunning. There are of course some mellower trails too up around the Ronzo valley where the gradients are gentler and it is a little earthier, but the general vibe when you’re descending around Garda is that of…it’s shake rattle and roll time!’

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/travel-guide-lake-garda.html

Couple of additions to my post after reading mighty mowgli’s post. You can tell its been five years since I rode there as I added an extra 6 to the name of the trail, it’s actually called 601 not 661 and when I mentioned climbing for an hour to get to the refuge it is actually climbing from Baldo where the chairlift ends to Altissimo.

Nice one Mowgli! Stopped me from giving the Op non-pucker info there! 8)

Hey Rich,

Iv ridden the areas you are talking about mate. I can honestly say also that it is the best, most technical riding I have ever done and that includes Whistler and the French Alps.

The best ride that we did was the Mt Baldo to Torbole run which is nearly 50km of DH Switch Backs, traversing the mountain for nearly 10 miles from the start point at Malcesine. The best thing to do is check the Gondola a few days before as they are a little funny about bikes. They usually only run a couple of chairs a day that bikes are allowed on. Once at the top you need to hang a left off the lift where you will traverse for maybe about 3km and then the track heads uphill for about an hour of climbing to get you to the very top of Mount Baldo. You will know you have arrived as there is a small refuge/ restaurant with prayer flags outside waiting for you.

Now, the riding…..
I rode a 6 inch Ellsworth Moment with a coil on the back and I felt a little under biked. However this was going back 5 years and it had a 69 degree head angle so wasn’t like a modern All Mountain bike! ;) The trail is called the 661 and literally starts the second you ride away from the refuge. It’s loose, and when riding anything you displace in the way of rocks or scree seem to follow you, proper unnerving initially but you start to learn how to surf it after about 15 mins! Some of the obstacles on route will have you speechless like Maribor type rock gardens or big old step downs but on the right bike and with a big set of Kahunas strapped on I’d say its 95 % rideable.

Keep following the signs to Torbole and eventually the trail smoothes out a little and you will start to love every switch back, on the way into the town is pure mental, riding down through houses and steps and winding streets, a little like what you would see on an urban red bull rampage!

One thing to be aware of with this run though is it isn’t a black run in Whistler or the Pleney descent in Morzine. What I mean by this is its no 5-10 min run. It is quite literally a 4-6 hr all mountain descent. We rode off from the refuge at 1500 hrs and arrived at Torbole at 2000 hrs! Completely spent but a once in a life time trail that is at the very top of my riding memories.

If you need any help when you get there you could pop into the bike shop in Torbole which is great and also can offer an uplift service. Sorry the name fails me but its the only one and is on the right as you first get into town coming from the Malcesine side. Also you will need to get back to Malcesine if that’s where you are staying and its about 10 miles away so may be worth sourcing a local cab number like we did after a couple of beers at the harbour. Would also be beneficial to learn ‘bike friendly taxi’ in Italian ;)

Sorry for rattling on, but I hope this can help you in some way. If you need any more advice on accom or health spars for the day after then feel free to ask away….

All the best,
Lee.

@ Woolymonster could we have some pics of the Titus please mate….

I’m thinking of buding one up, looks like a class act!

As someone who owned a Five for years, now rides an Alpine and has a Carbo I can see points in both sides of the argument here.

The way I see it is that Orange appeals in many ways that other brands could never do. I had my alpine resprayed last year and it came back like a new bike. If I need a part I get a human who understands what I’m on about and I can usually sort things in a few seconds, unlike when I used to
own a specialized. Lets not mention trying to do a bearing change on my Pitch :)

They also ride the bikes In places we ride which means a lot of things are a non issue, mud clearance, bearing changes, 7 coats of paint…. Lol

Also, if your making an assumption on looks alone then if you haven’t rode one you may be pleasantly surprised. They just seem to get it bang on. I do get that they are a little overpriced for what they are but remember, just like a golf or a transporter, you will get that money back on resale.

Just my thoughts for what little they are worth…. ;)

Merry Christmas!

I do this job for a living,

You would be surprised how used to it you become once you develop a trust in your fall arrest equipment….

An experienced Aerial Rigger would think nothing of having their Lunch at 1000ft or whipping the paper out, however we have taken recruits and students up and have literally had to prise their fingers off and do absail rescues to get them down!

I have respect for the guy in this video, however he is free climbing for the last part which is massively forbidden in our industry, even in the States. Him falling or dropping a tool from this height could have massive consequences on the guys lower down the mast or on the deck.

A real test of climbing aptitude comes on your first mast climb in Afghanistan or Northern Ireland with the threat of someone trying to take you or the mast out. That’s when you realise if your cut out for the job or not…. ;)

We did one at Plas Y Brenin last January and whilst the course was informative and taught by climbing ninjas, there was no snow.

Because of this we did all of our crampon work on a wooden crate outside the centre and on the second day just did a normal day in the hills. Admittedly the clag came in and vis was down to about 10ft so it had an element of winter weather thrown in but still not the real thing. Must admit I had a superb time and the bar and facilities were top notch but missing the vital element…..

If we go again we have said we will do a Glenmore Course,

Hope this helps a little,

All the best,

Lee.

Something that happened to the BB shell that I would rather not start going into detail with on here. It cost her the race as the bike was unridable and it was its first outing since moving over from Giant.

I would agree with you that a lot of things happen in racing that are attributed to racing, however this was not one of them.

Dave saw the frame for himself and agreed also. I didn’t come on here to have a go at On-one, I came on here to defend their customer service to the hilt, in our case at least. Because of this we have been loyal since and only a few weeks ago picked up another frame which I am building up at the moment.

My missus had an issue with a Carbon Whippet frame that cost her 1st place in the nationals last year and she ended up finishing 4th.

We drove up to On-One a few days later to have it out with them and not only did Dave come down and speak to us personally but he replaced the frame and sorted my missus out with a 2012 XT 2 x 10 groupset including brakes as a way of apologising and fitted it all for free!

A cock up to start admittedly but like a lot of people are saying they seem happy to try to fix things when they do go wrong. Top Bloke.

Lee.

Woolymonster, if you remember also around the time I was taking a lot of Morphine for this sinus infection so I cannot be held responsible for my actions…..

:wink:

Timb34, just read that piece by Adam Craig, really informative, honest write up. There seems to be some fun in their also, just a little at least…. :)

Juan,

Wouldn’t call you anything mate! Any constructive advice is taken on board. I think the reason we got the places is because if I’m honest we don’t fall into the typical Brits abroad alpine type, if there is such a thing? We ride on all sorts of Alpine tracks, in many different places. The 661 to Torbole high above Garda is one of the crazier trails we have done and Fay held her own against many fellas on bikes with much more travel. I hope trails like this will have stood us in good stead for what will be coming up but you can only give it your best shot.

Andy,
I take this as a deliberate highjack attempt and one that could potentially see me parting with a lot of hard earned…..

However, it is a lovely bike you have there mate and one that I struggled to keep up with at Inners! Not sure how much of that was down to its jockey though ;)

How Old School? ;) are we talking Raleigh Activator II or Pro Flex Beast or a bit more modern like a Marin b17? ;)

Mb Nut, Lots of good info there about making a change. You may be right and I think it could be done for very little money changing hands either way. My eye has been taken by the £799 frame price of the Titus El Guapo with CCDB air! I cannot believe that they can get this bike out the door for that price, I really can’t, even with On Ones buying power. I reckon this would build up about 28 lbs with my parts and with the borrowed Specialized 4 bar set up may be a demon at climbing. It’s got to be worth my consideration at that price….

Ti Pin, I really admire your honesty! If you don’t mind me asking what bike were your riding?

All the best,

Lee.

Cheers gibbon! I think a lot of it may have come down to the quality of the write up as well as speed of application. We did sit down and spent ages getting our paragraphs right in the way that they wanted it ‘a description of your riding of big mountain adventures’

In the last few years we have ridden crazy natural lines above Lake Garda and Mt Baldo with descents of up to 4-6 hrs, proper back country AM in Canada literally hours from anywhere and epics in NZ. I think they seemed to like what we had been upto and it must have read a lot different to the usual ’10 days in Verbier’ which is what my riding may have only consisted of 7-8 yrs ago.

Joe is a friend of ours from the RAF so I will be tapping him up in the new year for a plan to get stuck into. It is his fault that I ended up applying for this event as he sold it to me while we were away on an expedition last year in Germany. A week climbing in the mountains provided a lot of time for bike talk….. ;)

Cheers for the bike info also, if I remember rightly Steve Jones from Dirt used an S Works last year and did really well on it, 9th place I think!

Chief Groove,

We have been on the Alpines for 2 years now and I think we have got them to a point where they at the best they can be based on weight/performance balance. We bought them as ex hire bikes after a season in Morzine and they were in the lightweight air guise at that time. I remember when we first got them back and thinking this does not climb as good as my old five by a long-shot. I can’t put my finger on it but something was astray. Maybe the slack head angle or the raised pivot point but things had become a slog.

Since changing most of the parts out they are now better climbers and more importantly are fast in places that they used to slow up, like undulating terrain, e.g Laggan Black. They seem even better with the CCDB on there for climbing also. They still seem to need a lot of pedalling to get them up the hills though where my mates Mojo HD just transfers your power really well.

You make a good point about buying something that has little if no advantage on the way down. I would go as far as saying that if a Heli dropped you off at the stage start point then I am convinced that you would have the best 160mm bike on the planet for the Trans Provence, but how much will you have to pay in the legs and lungs to get it to the start of each stage?

Weeksy I think you have gotten me a touch mixed up mate. I am just a guy with a decent level of fitness and 15 years of riding experience who has decided to enter an event that is slightly out of the ‘normal’.

That does not mean I’m any better or worse than anyone else…. Just have a missus who can be very persuasive when it comes to our racing calendar! :) If she didn’t push me you would find me smashing run after run in Morzine or Champery this summer, not walking for hours with my bike on my back…..

Wouldn’t know where to start with a blog mate! How hard can it be though? I’ll defo look into it if you think people may be interested. Like a journey from bare frame in a garage to last place on day 7….. :)

Thanks for all the messages so far! Really varied responses with so many different ways forward. I’ll start by looking at some of the points brought up.

A couple of people have commented on the competitive side of things and the way I look at it is like this: There is a high possibility that we will never get another chance to compete in this race again in our lifetime. If you look through the start list almost all of the racers are different from last year with the exeption of a few pros. Taking that into account I see no reason why we shouldn’t do everything we can to smash the phys and get the perfect bike set up to allow us the best possible chance of doing well.

Now, we do not have illusions of grandeur here, definitely not! We know that the top boys are still going to be at the top but there seems to be a gap from around 7th to 18th that ends up seeing quite a few amateurs thanking those final standings. I see no reason why we can’t fight for those spots, however that becomes hard if the bike you are sporting weighs 5-6 lbs more than another equally fit guy or girl with a similar skillset. This is what I really want to avoid.

I raced this year at Mountain Mayhem and lap for lap managed to take a fair bit of time out of Guy Martin who in my opinion is a great rider, so that sort of thing encourages me to try and be competitive in this one also, or surely I should have just booked the Holiday varient of this race?

My missus races Elite level XC and is pretty handy in the Alpine Enviroment also so I know she will want to do as well as possible. I saw how frustrated she used to get coming up through the ranks when she started out on a battered old Giant Anthem and was fighting it out with girls on 19 lbs super bikes. This time however we both have a chance to create a level playing field.

To the guy who mentioned the other Orange boys will be on their Alpines, that has not been the case in recent years. Joe and Hannah Barnes and even Rowan Sorrell have chosen to go with their Fives for this race over other bikes. Unfortunately I don’t have this option at present but if it makes for a better climber then it’s one that could be explored.

The guys who seem to be making life easier for themselves are sporting Carbon 150/160mm bikes, not too slack 67 degrees, built up at around 27-28lbs and 2 x 10 to get that granny ring to stop the legs from burning on the silly steep stuff. I would be happy to go down this route but cannot justify two rigs of such similar set up and cost! If I consider this then the Alpine may have to go, regardless of how good it is in most situations.

Bolton Jon, Really sorry you did not get in mate. It must have been mental at 1200 hrs with all those fastest mouse fingers. We literally had the form gone as the clock hit 12 and we got an email saying that it had sold out before it got 1200.01 secs! Hopefully mate you will be all over it next year and that Liteville will be ripping up the trails,

All the best,
Lee.

Really pleased for you mate! That’s exactly what I thought when I first threw it round Deggers! When you get them out to the Peaks, Lakes etc they will really start coming into their own….

Granted, a 170mm fork will be a little bit harder to climb on but a way that I have found to deal with it is if you know you have a long climb, say the big fire road climb at the start of Delga red, drop the preload to zero clicks which will allow the fork to sit much more in its travel and with you at 84kg it should act more like a 150mm. As soon as you get to the top, add you 12-15 clicks back and get all over the descent! ;)

All the best,

Lee.

My missus just bought me a Rockstar frame as iv been off work with bad Sinisitus so she was trying to cheer me up! What a legend!

Going to build it up over Christmas and have bought some 2013 Sid’s from On One for £299! Have seen some 2012 Rebas though from Merlin for £269 and they are tapered and 15mm were the Sid’s are QR and non tapered so will need to buy a reducer headset. both 100mm though.

Any thoughts? Have 28 days to return the Sid’s if need be. This bike is going to be built up for Mountain Mayhem and other endurance rides next year. I only have an Alpine 160 as my do it all bike so was getting a bit sick of hiring or borrowing for specific events.

All the best,

Lee.

What Shandy said.

Bwaarp, I admire your knowledge about geo and wheelbase etc but sometimes isn’t it just better to sling a leg over a bike and make a decision? I rode Five for years before getting my Alpine and at Glentress a couple of years ago there was a demo day where I got to try a Foxy, a Dune and a Cove Hummer Ti.

At the end of the day I was sold on the hummer but could not get on with either of the Mondys as the medium felt short and the large felt massive. I was happy to get my Five back as that bike worked for me. It has been ridden everywhere from Whistler to Champery and at times yes, it’s been out of its depth but I liked loads of things about it and a couple of things that I didn’t.

How can numbers be the be all and end all? A few years ago it was all about short top tubes and now just look at a current medium Alpine, 604mm!! I personally think it feels great, loads of stability but another guy might hate it. One thing for sure though is that zero stem on the new Foxy must have appealed to Fabien in the testing stage or he would have chinned it off.

As I said horses for courses :)

Well I had a good conversation with him at Champery Worlds last year and he was telling me about his input on the prototypes that him and Spagnolo had been testing.

Don’t get me wrong I only have the blokes word and insight and maybe it was marketing but something tells me different. Especially when you see the massive rise they both run on their Renthal Bars. They do what feels right, not what’s in fashion.

Anyway, enjoy the bike mate!

Lovely bike mate! You should be very proud of your build….

It may look a bit different but Fabien knows his shit so think there is a little bit of function over form here.

Some people take the piss out of the way my Alpine 160 looks, knocked together in a garage etc…. However on the right track there are a lot of my mates who wish they had it when I’m leaving them behind. They get their own back on certain climbs though :)

Horses for courses fella, think you picked a great one!

All the best,

Lee.

Will do mate, I got my Crossmax Sx’s on the previous page from bike discount and they were here in two days, cheap also.

A nice frame deserves a decent pair of hoops……

Just what I wanted to hear! Was thinking of maybe going with your wheels also. bit of extra strength but still light. On the lookout for a good deal :)

Khani, Just bought a mk 2 Rockstar frame as my Mountain Mayhem/XC bike. Ain’t built it up yet just saving etc….

What you reckon of them mate?

All the best,

Lee.

Don’t think you will regret it mate, If I can give you a little bit of advice as iv had them on for 3 months now. If you want them to feel good round Llandegla, set them up with 3 clicks of compression from soft, 20 clicks of Rebound towards fast (30 in total) just to get it reacting to the smaller stuff and set your sag by adjusting the preload to suit you. I’m 12 and a half stone and run 10 clicks to get my 25 %.

By doing this it will feel relatively soft and reactive but will still be coming back nice and quick, but won’t throw you off. So much so that I did the Cresta run at Inners 3 weeks ago and it was fine on their drops and jumps.

Best of luck mate,

Lee.

That Yeti is immense mate! If I didn’t have the Alpine I would love to save up and own one of these…..

David, you legend!! She is on now…. Lopes MRP.

Tis an ex hire bike that I bought from Morzine. Sold the Five to fund it and sold all the old bits after the last Alps trip to fund the new bits. Tried to get some money in before doing it up. Also had the frame brought down to the Alloy and then Lacquered by Orange.

Saved a fortune but had to do it it stages as the money came through. Really proud of the finished article though.

It weighs 31.8 lbs even with coil and was a revelation on Snowdon last weekend. Gonna be using it for Enduro next year, Lake Garda and hopefully Trans Provence if I get a place :)

http://oi48.tinypic.com/25ev6fl.jpg%5B/img%5D

Anyone who can make this into an actual picture instead of a link that would be much appreciated

I have these forks on my Alpine 160, as does my missus. The fork is immense and that is coming from someone who used to ride a Fox Float 36.

The Floats felt dead in the mid travel and only really came into their own when on our annual trip to Morzine. The 55’s are active everywhere and have made trips to places like Llandegla enjoyable where beforehand it was dull.

Where it really excels though is on days to Helvelyn or like last weekend on Snowdon. So much grip and not much of a weight penalty. Also, they look mint and get loads of positive comments. I can honestly say that the 170mm has not effected my HA and everything still feels ok on the climbs.

Hope this helps in someway,

All the best,

Lee.

Thanks Northwind!

Just me and the missus.

Will have a look at the first one now…..

DrP,

As I said it is a venture and I won’t be earning 35k this year. Have put my life savings into it from 15 yrs in a public service job to make it happen.

If the OP wants a career change that pays well then I can help him to get there,
However it will be a fair few years before I could wish to be earning the figures he is looking for.

A consequence of going it alone.

The way forward is to retrain in Fibre Optics which is currently the biggest growth industry and push for jobs that involve testing and commissioning of Fibre Optic networks. Awesome money if you make a good name for yourself.

I am a Fibre Optic Trainer in the RAF and one of only 11 people in the country to hold FIA Trainer status. Check out my new venture here and let us know if you fancy booking a course….

http://www.thefibreschool.com/preview

All the best,

Lee.

http://oi46.tinypic.com/kf5zb4.jpg

Thanks mate!

Trying to do it off an IPad so not to sure of this one will work either. I had a Five for years before this and rode it everywhere, Morzine, Garda, Whistler….. However I always wanted a little more travel. As it is my only bike I wanted to build it up light but strong and can add some dual ply etc when it needs it. I am sure it wouldn’t suit everyone but it’s working out ok for me.

Shifter, reverb lever etc were tweaked on first ride.

Wheels are immense by the way. This bike now carries massive speed on the flats like Llandegla now where it used to be a bit of a drag….. ;)