£16 from decathlon, look pretty cool in the flesh as well. Other colours also available.

The enduro evo frame would work. I use an evo for everything other than dh, but even as a dh bike its pretty capable.

For something with less travel maybe the YT industries play. Looks like a properly fun little bike.

http://www.yt-industries.com/shop/en/Bikes/Play

Bradford
Keighley
Burnley
Rochdale
Bury
Castleford
Billingham
Middlesborough
Batley
Dewsbury

The cream of the north

mondial du vtt @ deux alpes, better than the passporte as its a link up of all the downhills (with some extra bits just for the event).

I think there is something at Meribel as well.

I was however very disappointed to see he wasn’t riding an Islabike. What was his Dad thinking?

He was thinking “if my son is going to ride downhill, I should buy him a bike that won’t snap in two at the first little bump”

I was just going to post a similar question.

My son has some rev race u turns, they have been serviced twice and they work pretty well but they continue to lose travel and when I let the air out to reset them the negative valve spews lubricant out. Can they be cured?

Mellow
Solarize , j magik
Relevee (Carl Craig mix)
Cafe de fleur (Charles Webster mix)
Booster , planetary assault systems
R theme, r tyme (Derick may)

Rocking
Into the night, planetary assault systems
Steps to enchantment, jeff mills
Any mix ever by taakaki itoh, dueltek or go hyiama
Anything by christen varela

The stuff at Shipley Glen is on the Shipley end, and below the crag. There is also a quarry at the eldwick end with some lines/drops/jumps. Cottingley woods has some steep lines (the other side of the valley towards wilsden). Harden moor is also not bad (but not mega). Esholt is pretty good as well (head up the access road to the sewage works and look up the hill)

Auvergne? 2parks near Lioran and one at superbesse and some gnarly old school stuff at la bourboule (all lift accessed)

Lac blanc/vosge is good but it’s still a fairly long drive and the park stuff is pretty short.

Probably superbesse in the Auvergne is the closest park. It’s a long way for a weekend though!

There is a small bike park in the ardenne in Belgium, only 400m of vertical and only open on the weekend. Might be ok for a weekend though.

Is climbing a bit snobby or are we just the new kids on the block?

New kids on the block probably.

TBH I wouldnt even bother with the roped stuff at the beginning, Just go bouldering. That way you can sort of climb together and kids prefer it to the hassle with ropes.

Forearm strength comes with time unless you want to start specific training like finger boards. Best thing initially is, at the end of a session, find something relatively easy and climb up and down till you cant hang on any more.

Tigne lift pass is free.

You can sleep in the upper aire de camping car for 7 euro a night, or turn up after 6.30 (after the police have been round looking for money) and stay for free. You could also probably wild camp up the side valley from Val d’isere (where the dirt jumps are)

Tigne/Val d’isere is a decent place for a cheap alps trip.

3 months in Malaga would be a lot and pretty expensive on uplifts. If you wanted to stay in Europe, you could combine Spain with Portugal. There is some pretty good Downhilling around the algarve.

If you do go to Spain, have a look at the bikeshuttle. I met the owner in Andorra and he is a really cool guy and I think he is cheaper than switchbacks.

I don’t get the obsession with light weight/rigid kids bikes. My son had a cnoc 16, he managed to snap it, i hate to think how long the 30% lighter one would have lasted. He then had a hotrock 20 that survived 2 seasons in the mountains and got him down stuff that a really good (better) young rider couldn’t do on his rigid bike. The suspension might be “crap” but even 1.5 in takes the sting out of rocky trails.

The weight penalty for something like a hotrock or a Scott voltage is more than made up for by the better all round ability imo

Wild camp in the Morzine Carrefour car park – buy as used season pass and sell it on with a small loss – a month just cost me 40 euros..

You can do something similar for Deux alpes, camp by the river going towards Venosc or one or two other spots. Buy a season pass and sell it on.

Andorra is also a good venue, wild camping on the vallnord station car park, do the season ticket thing. Also beer is super cheap (and fags) .

Decathlon subsin nuckets are pretty cheap and look fun.

Forgot to say, bring some spare innertubes, the track is pretty rough and not groomed bike park.

The downhill at la clusaz is pretty good and ther is some xc around the plateau. It’s a decent option considering the limited choice at this time of year.

La grand bornand is crap, don’t bother ever!

For late season, the pyranees are better than the alps. Vallnord is open to the 15th, grand valira the 30th and la Molina the 15th sept. Excellent weather still as well. No good for a day trip from annecy, but for future reference!

The accelerated induction is just to really make sure you can ride a bike. A couple of tests, a go on the start gate and that’s about it.

If you go, make sure there is a free gate session afterwards, you can then ride for a further two hours at a reduced rate. You don’t need to ride a Bmx, I use my hardtail when I go. And, prepare to get crushed by a load of fast little kids if you do the gate session!

Saturday. La Molina
Sunday. Vallnord
:D

You can only take your bike up on the first lift of the day, there is a downhii off the top. All bike parks in the area (St Lary, cauterets) will be closed as of today probably. There is likely to be decent xc between there and Luchon and over the other side of the tourmalet towards St Lary. The marked trails around Luchon are pretty bad although I am told that there is loads of decent riding if you know where to look.

Th commencal jr is a very small 26 wheeled bike. I am looking for something one size up from a 24 “.

Commencal supreme 24. My son had a go on one and reckoned it was really good.

Walkers trails are fair game. A lot of the off piste I have been shown starts at a sign ” no Mtb”. Andorrans are pretty cool about stuff like that :-)

A local I know has offered to mark some trails on my map. Apparently there is a load of stuff from the col d’ordino ( needs an uplift) and stuff that goes from the top lift over towards arinsal.

If anyone needs info ask at the bongo (I should be still around) in the carpark and I can at least tell you where some of the good stuff into massana is.

“If you stuck 24″ wheels in a 26 frame wouldn’t you have to fit mega short cranks to avoid bashing the ground all the time?”

Plenty of short Bmx race cranks, my son has some 145mm funn hookas on his dh bike, they were really cheap on crc at one point.

For a 12 yr old, a small 26 inch frame with 24 in wheels would be a good option. There was a lad here (Andorra) last week with a meta 4x and 24 in wheels and it seemed spot on for him. If you want to spend ££, commencal do a kids 26in supreme.

Can’t help on riding spots in the south but 4x, Bmx tracks and dirt jumps are all pretty useful places aswell for a kid that wants to progress at dh

There is a great ride round the lake above castallane towards Allos. Can’t remember the name of the town I started in , get the vtopo guide and there are loads of rides in the verdon/Allos/castallane area, all good!

For the majority of stuff (in the park and outside) anthem should work if you are comfortable on it. The trails felt more fun for me on an enduro than a stinky. If you have something bigger I would take it for the park though, it will be more fun.

Go, it’s a great place.

It is an ace little park. More enduro than full on Dh but the tracks are fun and varies. The scène is friendly and relaxed and thé area is really beautiful.

Descents from the col d’allos are brillant but you need à shuttle or 800m of road climbing. Thérè are other marked xc options à bit down the valley
Pra loup is not far away for à change and There are marked trials round barcellonette .

It is à really good area, possibly m’y favorite part of the alps and the weather is an added bonus.

My son has been riding a fairly trick big hit grom since he was 7. So far it has seen 3 seasons in the mountains and probably will see the same again before it gets too small. It was worth the investment as he can ride faster and longer than if he was riding a hardtail. He also has a fairly trick hardtail for dirt and general messing about.

Personally, I reckon that if a kid is keen and rides well, there is no big deal about spending a bit of money on good bikes.

La cluzas has a small park (2 runs) and some xcmarked trails. Beautiful village but not really worth the detour.
Les saisies has a small park (5 runs) and a lot of enduro style stuff that you can get busses back from. There is even a mega long marked trail to alberville and a (I think) 10 euro shuttle back. Areche also has som uplifted stuff (just down the valley from les Saises.

If you are at les arcs, les saisies is really not far and worth a day or two.

Best of the less known areas IMO are future south, Allos and orciere. Or even Deux alpes which is ace and closer.

Someone told me it was a broken collar bone, and he was ok.

Awesome wc. Thirion was on it in the steep stuff, the track was properly crazy, the crowd were nuts and Aaron Gwinn gave my son his red bull cap!

Some of the of the crashes were really nasty but loved the chainsaws :lol:

Will be interesting tomorrow. Gee looked pissed with his 3rd, Danny reckoned he had a bit more in the tank, hill and minaar looked fast.

The course is nuts, fast at the start then it goes really steep. No one is moaning about it not being a proper downhill course!

Granvalira tomorrow, world cup watching Sunday. 8)

Demo 8 seems to be the go to bike in Andorra.

Is it time for the annual jones bashing thread again?

I like his gonzo style, I also respect the fact he is a decent rider and passionate about the sport. He has also turned dirt into arguably the most influential (and best) mag in gravity mountain biking. Maybe you are just not the target demographic!

You can stick a normal 26 in fork on a 24 in bike with no issues. A cheapish air fork would be fine ( and way better than a rigid one)

The weatheR is crap in the pyrenees :(