Have alook at rivierabike not only loads of mtb but alsoo loads of other stuff, from sea sports to climbing etc….

I will be out of the Uk for 9 months in a week.

Yay!!

The Vito and VW are very overated vans, they are popular with fashionistas.

You can get 2008 plate vivaro/traffic/ducato from the auctions for under 5k at the moment as the market has completely dropped.

I laugh when I see the amounts people will pay for a VW with 200k + on the clock!!

The Italian Riviera?

Loads and loads to do.

And for the odd day you can go biking in the mountains behind it.

Some info here at rivierabike about places to go, stay activities etc..

To be honest some of the seriously modded cars like that vayn and the corsa dont get driven too stupidly, as the they cost too much to damage and often underinsured.

Its the halfords add ons that are a pain.

that said I was one when i was a yoof.

I have also found that hope hubs are not what they used to be.

I signed up just so I can track a handful of old friends.

Its agreat way to get in touch.

After that I use the phone, email and pub and dont use it to chat etc..

In the mid 90’s I rode chamonix, morxine etc, on hardtails, with 60mm suspension and v brakes.

We did a big, fast descent in cham and some of our tubes blew up because the rims got so hot!!!

For that year it will be the old ISCG.

The holes on the latest ISCG are on a wider diameter.

Italain Riviera?

lovely beaches, nice weather, all the glitz of the Riviera, yet just 1km inland it all changes, medieval villages untouched by time and commerce, stunning scenery and incredible mountains.

And if you fancy a day or two on the bike whilst the missus is sunning on the beach look here

I am not impressed with my hope pro IIs, i repalce the front bearings every 3 months, I have also repalced the rear 3 times in 2 years.

THat said my GF’s old XC hubs havent been touched in 6 years, and I know many others who have had similar longetivity wirth their older hubs.

Why are the latest stuff much poorer quality.

As for CK their headsets are nice, but the design is not good for longer travel forks.

Problem with CK is that its so precision engineered, everything they fit into isnt!!

I would like to see an 09 nomad with chain device and bash.

My mates VP free has the E13 protruding below the bash guard and constantly hits the chain device.

The new nomad looks like the pivot is below the bash guard and will be even worse when a chain device is fitted!!!

Bit of an oversight for such and expensive frame.

THe IGN as bove

However you will be limited to whats avaiable for Italy if any as the Italian maps are awful.

The french maps do show a bit of bordering country but not much, not sure if it will be the same on the electronic ones though!

Graham

do you mean the master soket is the box on the wall?

Is there another socket in there?

Sorry I am a numpty with wires and PC, could you explain.

Cheers

Mavic had an electronic system in the early 90’s (they made a road group) it didnt work well.

Anyway the forget electric shifting with mechs, gear boxes will be the future for mtb.

cheers junkyard.

Very cheap that after market one compared to the SRAm replacement! and if you could get them!!

rockthreegozy, that looks like my bike will be, green decals (our comany log) with brown set.

Looks like my decision is made.

where can I get a new med carbon cage? (or the inner cage at least) as mine got caught in the spokes.

Juan

Will be back in Italy next week. Heard there is a lot of snow in the mountains, even Mt Bignogne in San Romolo.

would be good to catch up, I dont know many of the trails near nice, so maybe you can show mw some.

Marmite

The Rock d’azur is a great event (very XC though) but there is much better riding further East. So if you are there for the weekend, do it any longer then maybe travel around a bit

There will still be a lot snow in April!

So what are the big differences / ever changing of rules then?

All the powdercoaters that quoted that did not include the removing of the old paint…thats eems the expensive bit!!

Yes I have had a few Giant trance and reigns in my hire fleet, and I did have the 07 reign with the tora, swapped immediately for a 160mm marzocchi tho.

Enjoy your new machine!

If you want best of both worlds:

uplifts riding and also point to point tours over the alps and finish on the med then try rivierabike

Other than that Canada would fir the bill, loads in the USA… i have always wanted to fo to Bolivia tho.

THe reigns are lovely frames,the reason the mags gave it poor marks for the steep head angle is that Giants always underfork their bikes.

I mean a spindly 140mm spindly fox 32 is no good for a 6 inch Am bike, and que steep angles as a result. Theey do the same to the trance and trance X range.

Put some fox 36’s, lyrics, marz 55 and it transorms it to the perfect do it all bike, with perfect head angle.

a lot of marketing

A friend made a solar panel by painting a radiator matt black, putting it i na wooden frame with glass on top.

Works a treat, he either gets hot water or uses less gass in winter.

He saves approx a 3rd on his gas bill.

His house is super insulated with wood burners etc.. etc..

at the end of the day UK house design is not fit for function in our climate.

lapierre zesty

nuff said

or giant trance X

May see you in Nice and Molini way?

And you can show me some trails above Nice!

ciao

A

Take a look here in the Maritime Alps

a bit different, free uplifts and very varied terrain

Another place to look is the Maritime Alps (above the Cote d’Azur & italain Riviera)

Excellent weather and very diverse trails from spanish rocky, wooded and high alpine. Guiding uplifts and Italian food 🙂

try here

Raw material costs are going up which is in part the issue.

But with the £/Ä parity there lies the main problem.

I can see us joining the Euro in the next 2-3 years, its inevitable since we import almost everything and dont manufacture.

And if London loses its status as the financial capital, then the UK will be fecked!!

One of our past guests did it this year, in the pissing wet and mud.

She became the fasteest british girl to complete it (9th overall) after Tracey Moseley couldnt be arsed to do it.

Hicksville

Finale has some excelelnt trails, but is very busy and the trails are eroding.

Behind finale is Calizzano, it was how finale used to be without the hordes, very fast smooth fun singletrack.

Further east is San Remo which is manic..steep and very techy, 30 mins further in the mountains the trails change from wooded singletrack from fast to techy and of course is the stuff in France.

This is where voulioz trains for the mega!!

More info here http://www.rivierabike