1) Super Morzine and Chatel has plenty of fun fast trails which aren’t crazy. Family(?) , Panorama(?) and Serpentine are some examples I can remember. If you pick your lines, the Pleny black isn’t massively tech but hugely fun, and the blue is good too. When I was there I did check out some of the off piste, and everything I found was way way above my level, but there is plenty of marked stuff which is great.

As above, its like the UK only steeper and faster. The new red in Les Gets was insanely steep. We were there pretty early season and the braking bumps in Les Gets were pretty unbearable. This year I won’t be riding there again if they are as bad. Everywhere else was fine strangely.

2) I asked a similar question the other day: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/morzine-bike-options-rentbuytake-out

End result is I’ll probably be taking my bike out again, possibly renting for a day or 2.

Thanks for all the replies!

Reckon I’ll do as suggested and just take my bike and maybe rent a day or 2 if I fancy it.

Seems maybe our group just got unlucky with breakages! :-)

(I’m also a cack handed muppet with zero mechanical sympathy it seems! )

Apart from a couple of burped tyres I dont think anyone in our group had any mechanical issues

We had 3 sets of forks die (2 DH, 1 trail) , 1 shock, 2 tyres shredded (single ply), 2 mechs torn off, a bash guard cracked and a broken chain guide. Went through some pads but that’s expected, especially as it was so hot and dry this year.

Thanks again for the advice.

I’ve done most of them last few years, great fun, super relaxed, jump straight into open.

Just start nearer the back if you’re not confident, but the road straight and first hill always thin things out nicely.

I’ll be riding a Giant Trance, flat pedals, with a blue Giro helmet , come and say hi if you spot me!

Not to mention I’m much fussier about maintenance now, I’d end up spending a fortune on making it all work well and never get that money back, might as well spend it on my bike or rent one.

This is exactly my fear with buying one!

Or even buy some off CRC and leave in their packaging. Anything I didn’t use I’d send back when I got home.

This is an excellent plan!!! :D

In terms of rental places, I can recommend Torico and the Alpine place (red signage).

Is this the place?

Homepage

Torico have already been booked out of DH bikes for when I’m going. :?

What’s your trail bike OP?

Giant Trance 4 (140mm), but every component bar the pedals and crank has been upgraded. :lol: 150mm Pikes and Monarch+.

Only 2 of us in the group last time had trail bikes, everyone else was on DH bikes. I didn’t feel underbiked and had a great time. Its more just that the wear and tear on the bike was pretty high (hence why everything has been upgraded) and it ended up costing me nearly as much as the holiday to get it sorted. Sure, I could of sorted it for WAY cheaper as I used it as an opportunity to upgrade.

My bike wasn’t the only one to take a beating, only 1 bike in the group came out unscathed (which ironically was the 130mm trail bike!)

If Torico are good, a 4th option is to do the first few days on the trail bike, then last few on a rented bike…….

Quite a few friends have bought cheap DH bikes just for the Alps and then realise it’s more fun on their up to date trail bikes after all

Yeah I’m thinking this. My trail bike is decent spec, and the DH bike I’d be looking at buying would be 7-8 years old and likely ‘well used’. Plus there seems to be a lot of 26″ DH bikes on Pinkbike which have been for sale for months, I really don’t want to be stuck with a bike I only use 6 days a year.

How about your options of where to ride this year instead?

Really enjoyed Morzine last year, and didn’t feel I even saw it all. So many great places in the alps, but with a bit a knowledge of Morzine I now have an idea of what tracks I liked so can focus on them this year.

Previous friends visits have resulted in taco’d wheels , torn off mechs , smashed rings etc.
Which the hire company would surely expect you to pay for, wouldn’t they?

I’m also sure you have to pay for any damage you cause to a hire bike.

Totally true, my logic for this was that I’m only 60kg, and not doing big jumps or anything, so the chance of damaging a DH bike/rims etc would be less than a trail bike.

I might just see if anyone I know has a DH bike for sale, which I can then test out to make sure its not shagged, but if not just take the trail bike and take the hit on wear.

All the other rental shops I can find are much more expensive than the http://mtb-rental-morzine.fr one, so I think renting is out of the equation.

Well, it’s a bike, it’s supposed to be ridden. .

I 100% agree. 100% . I ride quite a lot, and there’s always something breaking or wearing out, the bike has been in a permanent state of “not quite right” for about 6 months. Only the cranks and pedals are original and its 20months old. Anyway that’s a separate rant! :twisted:

If you ruin your forks, then they’re either shit, or you are

Defiantly both :-) forks were Suntour Epicon 140mm, damper split open and spewed its oil everywhere

79 euro a day… seems expensive to me if say you go for a week?

I looked the other day and 6 days was about £275. Costing in transport ,tyres and service didn’t think this compared too badly. They’ve not got availability now for when I’m going so it’s a bit irrelevant :-)

If you’ve actually got your own bike, then I can’t see why you’d rent.

I can see your point, but last year I ruined my forks , as did 2 other people on the trip. Previous friends visits have resulted in taco’d wheels , torn off mechs , smashed rings etc.

This is to be expected to a degree , but I’d like to avoid spending nearly as much as the holiday just fixing the bike up afterwards (which is what happened last year)

I always thought the blue (?) Verderers last decent at FOD was excellent value. 12mins climb, and then 7mins of good speed fun on the way down. I think its because there are a few flat/slight uphill pedals but you seem to keep your speed well from the previous decent.

Last week (in the colder weather) both me and a friends Reverb started returning slowly/not returning at all. When it was taken inside into the warm it then started working properly. I left it outside for an hour or so, then rebled and it now returns faster than it ever did.

Not sure if the temp had anything to do with it or maybe coincidence.

Is there not a new Adidas MTB shoe that’s high top IIRC?.

I had a look at the Adidas Stealth soled shoes, but they all seemed like freerunning jobs rather than MTB.

Ordered the Shazams in the end. They look like they’re going to fit the bill nicely. Cheers for all the suggestions.

The Line King was what I was looking at earlier in the year. Seems they are discontinued now and impossible to find in my size.

Blue suede shoes, sir?

I did see those, they are under the ‘Dirt’ category so wasn’t sure how suitable they’d be for mountain biking?

Those Sombrios Shazams looks pretty perfect, so do the Loams. Reviews all seem positive too.

I have a Small 2014 Trance 4. Recently fitted a Reverb Stealth.

I kind of bent the cable a little before I fed it through, but only took me about 2mins of waggling to get it up to the out port. I then used a pair of small pliers to grab it and pull it though.

I did not have to remove the BB.

The Rob Barker photos are up now: http://www.robbarkerimages.com/events/gallery.php?mode=gallery&id=173&page=1

Nice pics!

Was a really fun event. Well organised and everyone was very friendly.

I just export the still from the editing software (in my case Premiere). Works best when there is plenty of light to keep the shutter speed high.

I ran the new NN front early summer and loved it. Switched it to the rear for an alps trip and it was shredded on the rocks. Multiple punctures everyday. So would advise against if where you ride is rocky.

I’ve been switching from a HR2 3C and NN Pacestar (2015) over the summer on the front. The NN rolls much faster, and is noticeably lighter. HR2 is an excellent allrounder as you say, but maybe the NN seems to work a bit better in sticky mud. I’d say the HR2 bit better for wet roots and loose dust though.

Took the two ends off, looks like Dingleberry is right, as the silver end doesn’t screw directly into the post. But! It does mean Ill shave off 20mm or so from the post length, as the Conectamjig thing is just to save having to bleed everytime you remove the post, which I’m not fussed about anyway.

Thanks to everyone for your help. :D

That’s a connectamajig isn’t it. Not required but makes removal a bit easier.

Ah! It is! Yeah. Looks like that’s optional as you say. Nice one.

Here is my friends Regin:

and then mine:

Looks like the cable goes straight into the black bit on the Regin, which is what I’m after. Might just give it a go and see what happens :)

thanks, the 100mm body is the same length as the 125mm (see E on the chart)

If I got a 100mm, I’d have to run it higher out of the frame as you’d say, but this is the opposite of what I’m looking for, as I want the seat to be lower in the frame when in the dropped position.

Looks like the part might be called a ‘strain relief’ ?http://www.amazon.co.uk/RockShox-Strain-Relief-Reverb-NEW/dp/B0063HGOO0

My friend has the 2015 2 and I’ve got the 2014 4 (upgraded to Pikes/ Monarch Plus , 1×10).

The 2015 2 Fox bits seem decent enough, think the Giant rims are a mission to get sorted tubeless.

Great bike, frame is very light and versatile. Race XC on it and took it to Morzine this year.

I’d say the Canyon Spectral is closer rival to the Trance than the Strive, but the Spectral smashes the Trance for equipment to £. I’ve not ridden a Canyon so can’t compare the ride.

First time riding those stages, they look like they’d be super fun in the dry! Reckon today was worst conidtions I’ve ever ridden it. Good fun sliding about in the soup! 8O Well done to the organisers, very well run event, marshalls all had big smiles despite having to stand around in the rain all day, everyone very friendly. Definitely be back again for the next one. :-)

One question, did anyone else think the transition times were very generous?

After breaking my forks last week in France and then panic ebaying everything in sight to buy some new forks, I’m now set for Sunday!

Only ridden QECP once, and it was brief. You guys reckon a High Roller/ Nobby Nic combo good enough for wet use there?

Been using one on the rear for 3 months or so. Took a couple rides to get used to the lack of braking traction, but now I love it. Really fast rolling and playful tyre. It’s not great on really steep loose stuff, or mud, but for general summer trail riding I can’t fault it.

I’ve got the long sleeve 661 top, which I wear pretty much all the time when I’m riding. The fit is kind of funny, it’s very very tight around the waist (im 30″ waist) at first, and then was kind of baggy around the shoulders (built like a waif). After a couple of uses, all the stitching around the waist came out, so it fitted better. Then all the stitching tore and came out around the neck and arms. I repaired it, and at the same time pulled it a bit tighter.

Its a good product, but mine was very poorly made.

After missing out on, or being unavailable for just about every enduro race so far this year, I set my alarm and got a ticket at 8:01 for the QECP race.

I’ve never ridden QECP before, watched some videos on Youtube of last years race, looks quite peddally, anyone got any tips for riding there?

I’m quite interested to hear about this from someone giving it a go for the first time.

First time racing ever for me on Sunday, so was going in pretty blind. The transitions were much longer and harder than I thought they would be :D . Stages 1-3 were roughly what I thought the timed bits were going to be like, 4 and 5 were probably the hardest runs I’ve ever done, but I managed to keep momentum through them and keep it rubber side down, so those 2 stages made the day for me. stoked. :P

Out of interest, how did this one compare to the other ones in the series, and just other enduro type races in general?