how viable would Chatel be on a hardtail? Or would i be missing all the fun?

What kind of price will i be lookinga t for an adequate DH bike out there though?

will try them, starting to think a package deal might be cheaper!

I want to have a proper crack at DH

Have had some friends ride at Morzine and all have returned saying its incredible. I see it like skiing, there’s different grades to practice on until you get good, and thats ho wi will take this.

And DH in the UK? I’ve done a wee bit at fort william, but nah Morzine is the place for me to try!

Sir,

I have a 9 speed 4X hardtail race bike and a Gary Fisher Big Sur XC.

I have never invested in a meaty DH bike primarily as there’s no point living in Lincolnshire!
I’m fairly ample on a bike and done quite a bit now. Obviously nothing on this scale though. Just back from a trip in the cairngorms.

I will be going with 5 others :)

I will check em out, cheers!

But in a weekend is it really going to absorb that much moisture?

We encorporated the an slugan into it aswell altough, we took the an sluggan where we climbed and descended dropping us into badagusih, played about on the Canadian trail before heading up round Loch Morlich a bit for lunch, then over the ryvoan to nethy Bridge, a low altitude good ride actually.

A fantastic area to bike in, We jogged up to the north Munro, but didn’t touch the South one, didn’t set off till 11ish so was a fairly late start.
Next Time i think i would ride it the anticlockwise direction, but i completely enjoyed the ride. If I’m honest anywhere there is a good day and im already planning a cheeky return in october!

Has anybody done the ryvoan pass to nethy bridge from the Glenmore lodge centre? It’s a great wee ride and a bit of a leg burner. The Green Loch is an interesing one aswell!

What a view from thee top though ey!

Whatever the direction debate, it was a day out in the mountains which was extremely fun and I would happily do it that way again. I really struggle to see how the other way can be so much better, it looked a lot looser and rockier and something requiring much more patience and time, on another day something I would donut I really enjoyed the landy descent it was like the Burma Rd times 10!

Any route uestions or conditions i’m happy to answer

[/url] CIMG6609[/url] by lewismorgan2011[/url], on Flickr[/img]

On the way up

[/url] CIMG6620[/url] by lewismorgan2011[/url], on Flickr[/img]

from the cairn at the top

[/url] CIMG6621[/url] by lewismorgan2011[/url], on Flickr[/img]

All the walking really was worth it

[/url] CIMG6624[/url] by lewismorgan2011[/url], on Flickr[/img]

flying down the descent

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CIMG6626[/url] by lewismorgan2011[/url], on Flickr

Demolished Bridge

Edit: that means CBM we did clockwise!

Burma Road we carried on along the landy track down to carrbridge, then hooked on the military road.

CBM we started near the cottages at the bottom pushing up through the woods and past the digger. Descending meant down the track which cambered left, over all the drainage bars, which meant hopping them every so often! I think probably the best way. It finished at the demolished bridge

pictures are to follow shortly

Definately recommend it, just looking for opinions of Carn Ban Mor?

So how was it?

It didn’t start great with the trip being delayed 2 days by the fatality of one member in a car crash, but we decided to head up anyway.

Apologies Jess for not contacting you, it completely slipped my mind and we’d have probably missed your stay anyway.

How was the riding, amazing!

Burma Road was brilliant ascent, bit of a leg burner but fun, word on the street was the track off the top was rutted from all the donkeys ragging there brakes down it, so we opted for the standard descent. A 34 mph crash left my wheel like a square and my body like a ragdoll, but somehow picked myself up and got back at it. A fantastic ride, even better that it finished in carrbridge where we stayed.

Carn Ban Mor was out of this world, by far the best ride of the holiday by all means. It’s fairly terrifying, stood at the bottom looking at whats to come, but we where straight at it, in an anticlockwise direction. In hindsight I am in two minds, clockwise would involve a bikable ascent and a rocky technical descent. However anticlockwise meant pushing at least 4/5 of the way, but the mad cambered descent by far made up for this. There was a dgger about 500m up doing some path maintenance. At the bottom, the bridge no longer exists a 2.5 km walk downstream or you can do what we did, shoes and socks off and brace it, as long as you have a firm grip of your bike and dont mind getting bit by midges, you’ll be fine!

Biking about Rothiemurchus and finishing down the ryvoan pass was a fantastic if slightly easier day aswell, the bothy is due to be demolished and rebuilt this weekend!

A day at Badaguish located the XC race course which although short was intense and the Canadian memorial trail by far our favourite section. One wouldn’t advise to do in poor weather just for the respect for the guys who built it.

Another day was at Inshirach, Glenfeshie and messing about on some of the awesome trails around Carrbridge. Difficult to find but definately worth it.

And not forgetting breakfast at teh station cafe and a big fat day off!

A fantastic place, my only regret is not going up and down the Lairig Ghru or doing the Lairig an Laoigh and back by the geldie and feshie, but aches and safety concerned delayed this!

Lairig for us is on the 23rd, could change that if your about and fancy it though.
It does seem huge and im unsure how bikable it is, but what beats going deep into the mountains.
I forget to mention, tehre’s a Hot Tub and a Sauna at the lodge so your welcome to bring something to relax in after!

CBM should be good on the Sunday I’m all excited now!

Your more than welcome to follow us up Carn Ban Mor on sunday -_-
Having a digg at the monster ride of down the Lairig an Laoigh, along the geldie and back up feshie, wish me luck!

[/url] bikes[/url] by lewismorgan2011[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Identiti
Chris King No Threadset Ti Baseplate
Sram x9 Rear and shifter
Pg 990 cassette and chain
Easton Ec Carbon DH bars
Selle Italia S Vanox seat
Easton Vice Stem
Crank Brothers 5050 XX ( Terrible, do not buy!)
Rockshox Argyle 409
Raceface Diablolous BB and Crankest
Identiti Krisis frame
Halo Tornado Wheels, spindoctor hubs ( Great for bombing about on)
Avid elixir r Brake
Continetal Tyres
Truvativ box guide iwth my homemade alteration!

Gary

Big Sur frame
Deore Lx Crankset
Recon forks
Sram x9 rear and x7 front with x7 shifters
Juicy ultimate brakes
Dmr pedals
Schwalbe tyres
Standard Deore rims
Cane Creek s8 headset
Bontrager Bar and stem

The Identiti is a fantatsic bike and is solid as a nut. Garys not bad but has a habit of snapping the frame at the rear, cant fault there customer servic ethough.

weather actually seems to be picking up

Hmm There are plenty of fantastic riding about, its just finidng it,
I Think Carn Ban Mor is completely bikable?

I’m running Argyle 409’s on my 4X, few minor issues, but they work perfectly and are hassle free, cant fault them :)

looks like Carn Ban Mor should be ok,
Just The Lairig I’m worried about!

So i see, lets just pray for good weather, if not sat round the log burner slurping malts sounds good to me!

might not be a bad idea

They would be directly drilled/into the bar so its flush with the bar,
in terms of weakening the Titanium bar, this is what the consultency with many engineering firms and designing to protect this.

The bars will be a “Light your way” jobby and are intended for a high price range quality market.

Its still in design stage, but its got to be neater than having big bulky lights on your bars.

Only design issue currently is getting an angle so the light is visible from the side. I think all of the issues are things we can work around though!
Will keep updated

all planned for a one day lug! get the mountain rescue no. ready!

the message was aimed at cruzheckler not you.
and i apologise, but im not going to say thank you after every comment

I think i’ll give the warranty claim a go and see what the result is :)

an RA?

so i thought,
Fishers rang me and sounded really posotive and helpful, i smell some bulls**t from this guy though!

“Lewis,

The pitting you mention is usually from material stuck in the dust seal reservoir over time that wears away at the finish on the stanchion. This is usually not a warranty issue, but we can always have your shop send it back to us under an RA so we can check it out.

Thanks,

Geoff Przekop”

I don’t think so haha, doesn’t quite explain the pitting at the top of the forks -_-

I thought so, they seemd helpful so lets see what happes :)

its not rust sPots, its pitted into the forks.
Sram contacted me this morning to say send them back for warranty assesment :)

muddy i know, as i’ve just been out for a spin -_-
just quick pictures to see what you guys think

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CIMG6339[/url] by lewismorgan2011[/url], on Flickr

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CIMG6346[/url] by lewismorgan2011[/url], on Flickr

I apologise that my life does not evolve around stern letter writing,
I took Maths Physics and Chemistry, I’m not a hairyfairy englishy person -_-