Or a 6.5lb 650B Mega with VERY similar geometry, if you really must hop on the bigger wheel bandwagon.

Yusss!

I love bontrager xr4s, decent weight and big with a lot more grip than nics but not too much more drag. A 2.25 one of those on the font and a racing ralph on the rear would be a decent combo.

Done the Eastridge 661 enduro last year and a few of the Innerliethen ones and would say the level is about right. Eastrdge had a decent amount of ‘flowy’ pedaling whereas Inners was more techy plummeting with a mad dash up/ along fireroad. Both seemed good.

In every case the winner is an (often ex) pro Downhiller.

look before you leap surely

Aye, just don’t do it in the middle of a trail so people crash into you at 20mph. (though on graded trails it’s not that necessary?)Or, for that matter, get all your mates to line up on the trail to take pictures of yourselves doing a jump or drop. We were riding in a group of 4-25 depending who was about and we never really caused any issues for anyone. But you can see how doing something that’s fine on a normal ride or even at a trail centre becomes quite dangerous with the amount of traffic and the speed it’s coming at and the terrain those people have to navigate. The French ‘get it’ en if someone’s only marginally slower than you they’ll pull over and let you through or give you a wee shout to let you know you’ve got some pure-sponsored whip machine up your chuff and it would be great if you could stop pretending your on the cover of dirt for five seconds to let them through.

did anyone else develop a bit of a “thing” for girls in body armour?

– Yes. for some reason I kept thinking if a girl’s in a full face then she must be hot. There were a bunch of fairly rapid, genuinely gorgeous French ladies giggling away pushing up past us at one point and that was quite a moment. Probably laughing at the Rosbif, no doubt.

Well jealous, wish I was doing it this year, misplaced my helmet on race day the year I was in it! Stravaing and racing mates in PDS has made me well keen for some Alpine racing. Hope you have a great time and stay safe! Don’t try and ‘get your lines down’ if yo’re not at the very front or back you’ll be bottlenecked on all the technical stuff so get ballsy/creative with you line choice to gain places!

Be careful, I found my arch EX rim to be made of cheese.

My synopsis.
It was wet then it was dry.
Muddy Marys seemed a great tyre for the whole week.
Lots of new/ updated trails compared to the last time I was out there.
Lots of good trails are now forbidden (still ride just as well though).

There were mincers everywhere. There’s nothing more annoying than some softy southerner on a £6000+ bike track standing his way down a trail, or just stopping to chat just round a blind corner. Go back to Afan/Essex.

On a more positive note, considerably more ladies out there.

Less pressure = no rebound damping more = less travel. Think service may be needed

Cheers, will crank up the pressure!

No pertinent info on the website unfortunately. May just have to buy a soft spring or play with bathe pressure on the unknown valve.

I’m in Les Gets now and its about 35 degrees.

Looks like rain all next week apart from Tuesday/Wednesday. Hopefully It’ll be intermittent though.

I’m off tomorrow. Not too impressed with the weather though!

30 riders, is not alot,

Indeed, that’s what I was saying. What I meant is that just because fewer riders have ridden a segment doesn’t necessarily mean that the times will be poorer. I’m generally top 0.5-2% on trails I’m riding blind at trail centres that have had >250 riders (supposedly more competition = higher standard) but I’m only 2nd-4th on a lot of local trails I know like the back of my hand and have <30 riders.

I’m sure it’s the same for many places with big MTB scenes making the local routes a high standard.

MTB KOM `s are worth nothing

There are plenty of popular routes though, any trail centre and popular bridleways will have hundreds. Indeed I’ve had a few road KOMs on my remedy so I imagine it works both ways.

My most popular local descents (blue pig and pecket well) have <30 riders but the standard is very high I would say.

Plus, I think DH or off road loops and routes generally are a better indication of all-round rider skill than who’s got the biggest legs?

Have a few, proudest one was skyline at Afan despite getting caught up in some mince. Third now though : (. Going to try and get a few in Morzine (times this early in the season don’t look too hard) which is a recipe for limb shattering.

Likewise had a few climbs too but teh pros lap them up soon enough. Going to give them a go on my new 29er soon though.

As sad as it seems, Strava has made me get out on my bike more than anything. I never went out on my bike on my own before but it gives me a ‘challenge’ to compensate for the lack of a social element.

EDIT: 8 – lost a few. I WILL regain them! :x

I’ve come to the conclusion that stan’s rims are made of monkey metal and will try spank’s new oozy evo rims after my Arch Ex has decided it doesn’t much care for being circular.

Think they were there last night too. a friend’s words were “Avoided picking up any mooty gold or a dag from the pikeys Irish Travellers at the bottom of the hill”.
I’d not want to leave my car unattended with any valuables in but then I’m obviously massively prejudiced.

I’d just take both chainrings and use the 36 for having fun and 32 for raceday. The steepest climbs are quite short and you’ll likely be that kacnkered you’ll just push them (plus there will likely be traffic of people pushing anyway so running a 36 wouldn’t be too bad. However, if you’re happy to spin up teh climbs then 32t would be better.

TL,DR: take both, try both, choose best one.

Hayes brakes should be fine I reckon. It’s not a a very ‘brake-y’ course except for the bottom in the woods.

Pressures wise, it will make a tiny difference put nothing that substantial.

Take a look at Manitou Towers if you’re a lighter rider. You can get brand new sets for c.£290-350. Great small bump compliance owing to a little coil mechanism. (but this makes them wallowy/ not euro efficency-core compatible if you’re a heavier rider)

check the specializd clutch and butcher tyres. come in a 1.5 ply casing that’s both sturdy and reasonably light (<1kg). Can be found quite cheap too.

Don’t know what tangent this discussion is exploring now but having just watched the video I am mildly outraged.
I’m not scared to get up in ramblist’s grills about access (even when I’m blatantly in the wrong) but this just takes the mickey.

There are simply too many people walking up the trail for it to be fun, responsible and safe and will surely have given hundreds of people a poor impression of MTBers.

I’ve ridden munroes, fells etc and always do so in a responsible way, this is just juvenile ego-massaging riding with no concern for others’ safety or monutain biking’s reputation.

You’ll have to get down the Isle pretty sharpish.

Maybe try renthal’s super soft kevlar jobs? Minging colour but should be nice and absorbent. Or, if you’ve got giant hands, try oury grips, the Euro boys love them.

Can of cheap silicon spray from your local hardware store. Couple of quid. Bosh

We knew the difference between question marks and full stops.

I find it’s people in there 30s and 40s that are the worst offenders for not knowing their own language. After going into business after university (graduated last year) I’m consistently amazed by the number of websites, emails, articles and advertisements I read that are littered with poor P&G. Whereas when I read some of my friend’s trivial posts on Facebook or casual emails they’re more often than not pretty spot on.

I will be honest though, I went to one of the best grammar schools in the county and even there the English teaching was awful, due mainly to the curriculum. I learned how to spell and punctuate from reading newspapers and journals and been embarrassed by some of the corrections in my first few essays.

As for science, I somewhat agree. I did separate science (3 GCSEs) back in 2005 and thought it reasonably challenging and broad but dual award and certainly single award science left a few gaps.

My biggest groan about education is that A level Maths is not compulsory. It flipping well should be! Or at least GCSE made into a more developed award like dual award science. Not knowing calculus and having an good grasp of statistical analysis is a major problem in the global market place. Furthermore, it’s a massive disadvantage for any scientist/ social scientist when going to university. If a good level of mathematical ability was assumed, our university teaching could impart a lot more I feel.

I recently changed the bearings on my 2010 remedy and would not wish the experience on anyone. To be fair , it turned out only two were still working so they were in a bad state which might have explained the ungodly force needed to free them. I usually do all my own mechanicing but I’ll be getting frame bearings done at a shop fro now.

If you’re looking for black trails I wouldn’t bother with Glentress. Lagan is a must do though if you’re travelling between the West Coast and the Cairngorms. I would definitely sacrifice a few trail centres for the riding on Skye and around Torridon though, properly epic.

I once went to a petrol station in Northern Ireland and got taken down to a shipping container to part ex a shotgun we had (apparently this was legit) and swapped a baikal and a naff small gauge for a sexy berreta clay gun (I only do clay shooting) and £100. Some of the guns in there were very, very suspect though. Halfway through the transaction a guy came in looking like a cross between a roided gypsy and Johhny Rotten so we got outta there sharpish. It does seem silly for something so potentially lethal to be so freely accessible and cheap.

Torridon, Skye, Fort Bill, Kinlochleven Ben Lomond/Trossachs, Cairngorms then maybe borders on way back (Inners, GT, Kirro etc)
Torridon miles = 3 normal miles though so don’t get too ambitious.

aye I think I’ll go 2×10 with 26/39ish or whatever is close to that. I think 32 x 11-36 will leave me lacking at the top end on a racey 29er and I wouldn’t want to go 34×36 if I’m using it for big days out/ multi day races.

Cheers for the response. The bb92 question was more about chainguide compatibility as I can’t run ISCG or BB mount and wouldn’t know about this seat tube or direct mount business.

You collect it at the bottom of the lifts at your starting destination. I started at Montriond but I guess Morzine’s will be at the Pleney or maybe in the square next to where the bike show is? You get a bag with lots of free stuff and your plates upon registration (take your email print out).

I’ve recent;y been running an eskar as it was cheap, and and the tread looked good. Turns out it’s awful. I’ve used it for Ten under the Ben (lost my rocket ron somewhere) and it was pants even in Jey mode. It was alright riding rocky stuff in Torridon and was again, naff back home in Calderdale. The terrain it’s worst at is dry, slightly loose or dusty trails e.g. Lee quarry after a nice week, Scottish trail centres or the Alps in general.
My favourite alps tyre is a 2.4 fat albert or a bontrager xr4. If you’re looking for heavy duty maybe take a look at a 3c minion or specialized clutch or butcher (I have a clutch sx and it’s very good). Schwalbe’s DH stuff might be fairly decent too. I don’t really like high rollers for the front but they’re a nice tyre on the back.

check it has enough water in it. I had issues with draining, the RAC man started it up and checked it and it drained straight after. Checked it myself and it was pretty dry.

Scrivens!

I learned the intro to one of his songs once and that was enough for me. But I don’t have double-jointed thumbs so I never stood a chance anyway.

One thing I like about mavic rims is that they stay the same shape for a long time. I haven’t had that luxury with the stans, pacenti and bontrager rims I’ve used. But they are dreadfully narrow.

Cheers guys, I;ll definitely give it a look when the sun’s been out for a while!

They should be fine for a week’s riding so long as you don’t land on spiky rocks with any force. All rims are vulnerable to abuse and the flows strike a nice balance between being tough and usefully light. Of course if you’re worried, or know you’ll be riding very rocky off-piste terrain, you might be better served with something meatier. A lot depends on what type of rider you are and how heavier you are too. I’ve been to Morzine with people on xc rims and they’ve had no issues and I’ve been with people on dh wheels that have buckled them.

More props for the sx tyres here. I’ve used the clutch and it’s great, very grippy, rolls well and doesn’t wear much at all. Decent amount of rubber in the sidewalls too.