Les Angles is about 1.30 from the Med.

Verdon is indeed ace, nice rivers/lakes and dependant where the base is, about 1.30 from lift assisted riding at Allos. Some brilliant riding around the gorge as well.

Finale?

I think it depends on where and when you intend to use it. If you are going to mostly go abroad to somewhere sunny, a small an is fine as you wont be spending too much time in it. If you intend to use it in the UK and therefore spend a lot of time hiding from the crap weather then I would suggest something bigger.

As a compromise though, I saw some really nice renault trafic type conversions in France last year. One couple I talked told me they got rid of their biggish van for one of these as the big van was just too much hassle, even though it was more comfortable. Bit like this but a renault:

I really like these, garage for the bikes 🙂 :

2 days easy at deux alpes, longer if you are prepared to do the same trail more than once. More at alp d’huez/Oz en Oisans/Vaujany (all linked). If you stay somewhere like Venosc you have easy access to both resorts. If you get bored really easy, there are also 3 smaller stations closer to Grenoble (Villard de Lans, les 7 laux and Chamrousse).

I like Tigne/Val d’Isere but they are nothing like as good as deux alpes/alp d’huez.

the reality is that if he’s between sizes he’ll be better off on the small one for now, especially if he’s doing “proper mountain biking” on it, but then you have the expense and frustration of replacing it with something bigger before too long. Alternative is, he has a bike a bit too big for now and might struggle more and not be as enthused by mountain biking as much if he can’t chuck it around in the woods as easy.

This sums it up really, my son was riding a 20″ when he was seven (about the same height). He was still riding at 8/9 and could have ridden it for a bit longer but the components started falling to bits. When he moved to 24″ he was unable to do a lot of the things he could do on the 20″(wheelie, manual, jump etc.) It was just a bit big and it pissed him off, luckily he had a bmx to keep him interested. If your son likes messing around in the woods, riding gravity stuff and getting air, a 20″ would be much better.

It will be a heavy frame as its steel and a jump bike. Something alu would likely be better. Other than that, the only problem is finding reasonably priced wheels and if you are really keen, short cranks. 26″ forks work fine on a 24″ bike.

I think it depends what riding he is likely to be doing. If its a bit tech then possibly 20″ (but it wont be for long)if its easy fireroads and stuff then you could get away with a 24″ (but its likely to be a bit big initially).

Mazz lost it 4 to 5 years ago, I bought some of these

Yeh, they had one bad year, 2008. They got their s__t together again pretty quickly though. My 2009 66s have been bombproof and my 2012 888s are awesome. Most people also think the (post 2008/9) 55s and 44s are ace as well.

If I was in the market for a new fork, it would be Marzocchi every time.

As said, if you have a bit of time and the cash, there are some bargains to be had. This autumn after years on a stinky, decided I wanted a proper downhill bike. I started looking in September, made a few low ball offers on some nice bikes, some of which almost came off (Blinged out, one summer old TLD Demo for £2200). Eventually I got pretty much exactly what I wanted (almost brand new supreme operator with ti888s and a Ti sprung rocco for £1500) Just keep looking on pink bike and ride io, be a bit cheeky and you will deffo get a bargain.

There is usually some cheapish demos and scalps being offered and from time to time a proper bargain on a less well known euro brand (some guy was asking £900 for a year old solid mission). Also look at the less trendy, brands like kona as the operator is a great bike.

Way too cheap. The fact that you have access to free gear is irrelevant as no one else will and will price accordingly. Your hourly rate seems pretty low as well (as long as the work is going to be quality).

Think of it this way, the guy will be getting a 4-5K ish bespoke kitchen for £925 and some wood. Even if you doubled the labour component it would still be cheap.

Saddles, seat posts and bars make sense as you will be able to swap them to the next bike as the 14″ gets replaced. I wouldn’t spend any more money on it though.

Up to 20″ the only thing I ever changed on my sons bikes were tyres. 24″ bikes became a whole different matter as by that stage it was obvious he could ride well (and loved it) and we were spending long periods on the lifts in the summer.

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nice, super friendly little bike park.

Might be something here.
http://fr.wikiloc.com/itineraires/vtt/france/midi-pyrenees/saint-lary-soulan

they have a blue trail which can be done by most

Not sure about this, the blue dh trails are the hardest blues I have ridden anywhere in France. Grading in general is at least one colour out (the red is harder than the WC piste in Andorra for example and the blue Izengarde would be a hard red anywhere else)

Good little park though, trails are pretty long and the uplift is fast.

Bike hire seemed to be Scott/Commencal or Decathlon.

Summer plans are pyranees and Andorra for the world cup dh. 😛

Decent fs, 20 and 24 inch with decent geometry, light but strong 120 ish (air) suspension.
Sort of mini heckler sort of thing.

Bike park near Alicante is called la fenesosa I think.

Kona operator
Kona stinky delux
Spesh enduro evo
Santa cruz chameleon

The French forums are all over this. It appears there isn’t too much love for the guilty party

which ones? I looked on bigbike and 26in and there was nothing.

No idea about the politics that seems to be going on here but: the v topo guides to the var and alpes maritime were written by Greg germaine and most of the routes I did were pretty good.

It is a bit disingenuous to suggest he doesnt know his way around the area, plus voullioz is happy to work with him so he cant be totally useless.

Both sospel and peille are FFc centres, there are waymarked trails and you can get a map from the tourist office in Sospel. Trails are nothing like a uk trail centre though, pretty techy and in places seriously exposed.

All this trolling is not even funny 🙄

Could also add:
Isla bike for the sprog (might be s**t and overpriced but they do keep their value)
Les Arcs for the alpine holiday (never been anywhere else but can absolutely guarantee that it has the best riding in the alps)

It depends on what sort of climbing really. For rock climbing, Orcieres or super devulay are not far from ceuse. Also, the Briancon area has loads of good rock and decent riding close by. Allos is close to annot and the verdon as well.

No real idea about the mountain stuff though as it was never my bag.

Absalon and chavanel live near frejus, pretty sure they didn’t move there for the crap fireroad riding.

Sospel and peille for starters, the petit maures and maures have some decent stuff (not signposted). The estererel has some stuff but its pretty hard to find. Inland, some stuff around draguignan. Buy the v topo guides for the var and alpes maritime, plenty to go at.

One thing to consider, in summer a lot of areas are off limits due to fire risk.

Tailgators are pretty good IME. They allow you to let the kid go on their own when gravity is in their favour (easily), they are cheap in comparison to the other solutions and they were fine for my son off road and over longish distances.

It would deffo be my preferred solution if I needed something again.

I would definately rent a car. I have never been in July but I can imagine its hot and very busy on the coast. Going inland and into the mountains will possibly be cooler and less busy. The verdon and lac st croix are worth a trip, Frejus/St Raphael is pretty nice (but will be rammed as well).

3rd largest retailer in the world, historically best margins of any uk operator, massive growth potential in SE Asia.
The us investment was a bit unlucky in it’s timing but generally a well run business. I reckon they are here for the duration.

Buffett seems to think so as well, he has a pretty big investment.

If the depot in Nottingham is anything like the one in Leeds, it will be ace for kids.

Have pretty much come to the conclusion that 24″ wheel suspension forks are not worth the bother but wondering if any of them are actually vaugely lightweight or give reasonable performance.

How about some 26″ forks on a 24″ bike?

Ax les thermes and Prades are a long drive from the western coast. The nearest bike park to Bordeaux is Artoust.

http://www.26in.fr/bike-parks/artouste/

St Lary is good, Cauterets is ok but not as good as St Lary. Luchon off piste is apparently pretty good but the marked trails are rubbish.

If you are reading to improve your vocabulary, then checking a dictionary for a word you don’t know seems logical.

A budget of 1500-1800 and a bit of patience will get a really nice bike off pinkbike/rideio.

I would deffo go 2nd hand, loads of decent stuff on ride io atm. Including an m9 with 888 rc3ti if you are desperate to drop 3 grand 😯

My mum is, there is a range of products now called lactofree (cheese, milk, cream, butter). Another thing she has just been told about is an enzyme that breaks gown lactose. Holland and Barrett sell it, it allows you to eat dairy products without the bad side effects. She tried it for the first time recently and it seemed to work.

2alpes was open this year from the 16th June. Montgenevre, Allos were open weekends from June 1. The area around allow has some great am riding so plenty to do if the lifts are shut.

If you decide to go end of aug, go to Andorra. Weather is generally ace and the lifts are open till 2nd week sept

My main issue with buying something reasonably obscure is that if you are road tripping for a decent length of time, things inevitably go wrong. If your bos suspension fails in a resort, you are goosed, whereas someone will probably be able to sort rockshox.

Yt industries play?

Michael Phelps maybe?