Or….it is possible to do both from one car park or the other…..if you fancy a VERY long ride!

Gorlech is closed due to logging FWIW.

Abergorlech car park for Gorlech trail and the 'other' one for Raven (don't know what it's called!).

I use 661 Kyle Straits for knee protection and Race Face FR on the elbows.

A good combination in the Alps the other week. The elbow pads did their job 3 times on the 2nd day of our trip!

Understeer? It's not a bloody car 😆

I'd go with a 5 but then i have one!

Whilst in the alps a couple of weeks back our guide had just replaced his Heckler (same as yours, also cracked!) with an Orange Alpine.

That would be a perfect match for your 36 Talas forks too. They can be biult up pretty light if you use a RP23 instead of a coil shock.

Not bright enough for roads….are you blind?!!!!

It's more than bright enough for my commute along very dark somerset lanes!!!

Also makes a flipping good torch for camping and taking the dog out into the garden at night.

However, it's way too heavy for a helmet mounting and i found the beam too small for off-road but i didn't buy it for that.

Think of it as a funky gadget, if you have deep-ish pockets 😉

Mine did that straight out of the box, just send it back and they'll sort it.

Mine's ben working fine now for a year or so.

W2 gets my vote although having slagged off Penhydd for years (having done it once, on a sh1t hardtail, as a beginner!), we did it the other week and loved it!!

No matter what you ride, for god sake eat at the Drop Off cafe!

Kramer – I find it helps if you don't break your bike a week before a bike holiday 😀

So you won't be hiring a Mondraker (or should i say Moonraker) or Kona?!

My wife loved the riding we did and she isn't quite so keen on technical stuff as i am.

She walked a few sections but also did stuff that surpised her….that weeks riding has had a huge impact on our perception of whats technical back home!

Our guide was great and talked us through the really technical bits first, giving advice etc. I consider myself fairly capable on a bike but the riding there really opened my eyes!

Having spent a week in the tarentaise valley on my Orange 5 (stayed with the White Room)a week or so ago i can tell you it was perfect for what we rode.

It never felt out of it's depth but as said above the area is more epic singletrack than DH.

Stevo – You better be ready for our return next year, i want some more "wee bit faffy" trails please!!. Looks like we'll be bringing friends too judging by the response our holiday got when i relayed it back to my bikeshop owning mate! Hope your getting a well earned break now.

GEDA,

Is there a good online source of riding info for Sweden. We're going to be there for a week(Stockholm) next summer for my cousins wedding and we want to take the bikes.

Any help would be much appreciated as the riding looks great, from the little i've seen!

Nick.

Nice one MrBlond! I did a quick search on CRC but those didn't come up.

I was thinking black might look abit naff too 😆

Just cos it's a cheap bike doesn't mean it can't be colour co-ordinated!

Tart indeed.

Okay, will sort that tonight. Will have to see how i get on with those bars.

I'm pleased with it as it was cheap, hardly used and looks a little different compared to all the usual carbon road bikes i see around my way.

I change mine all the time depending on how much kit i have on me (camelbak full etc.)

Thats the great thing about air shocks 🙄

If i'm doing a long ride and have a full camelbak but don't want to end up with a near rigid shock by the time my camelbak is empty i set the sag with medium (2) on which helps prop up the rear until i have less water then just leave the shock open, if that makes sense?????

Anyway, works for me!

Havn't set it up properly yet so saddle will end up higher….fit seems okay although the bars do seem weird but the trouble is i only have experience of MTB bars.

It obviously feels stretched out but what bars would you fit instead?

Also, how do i raise the stem height? Again, i'm not used to the old fashioned quill stem thingy!!

Hi,

Get yourself over to Bikestyle in Clevedon, jusy off the M5 so not too far from you.

Speak to Phil, he sells Yeti and Intense. He runs a Tracer with CCDB shock and he has a demo medium 575. He'll demo his Tracer too i think.

Finding a large may be a problem as i would have thought that most shops demo a medium as it covers most people.

This is my local LBS and he is great. Well worth the journey IMO.

Can someone tell me more regarding the spec? Was it good back in the day? I know nothing about road bikes you see!

Been running 09 Rev Maxle's for a few weeks now after using Fox Vanilla R's 15QR previously.

For the record, the Rev's were alomost exactly the same weight (although my Fox were 07 internals in 2008 uppers/lowers with a little extra oil in the coil side to ward off stanchion wear), Rev's are waaaaay stiffer, the maxle is far better than the 15QR and i honestly can not tell any difference in performance.

According to the trail closures post, the FC will be working all hours of the day 😀

Perhaps the OP should read "Why do I accept shoddy goods"?!!!!

I actually research products before buying and as a result havn't had any issues with any MTB stuff i've bought (that i can think of!) 🙂

I once bought 2nd hand Fox forks that turned out to be shagged, that was my own fault and lesson learnt!

A bike is a series of mechanical parts, so actually using it results in wear!

Maintenance might be a factor to bear in mind too.

5 couldn't be more simple, 575 is a little more complex.

I have to say if i didn't have a 5 then i would have a Yeti but then my wife and i would have matching bikes!

I have an 2009 Orange 5 and my wife a 2008 Yeti 575.

Both are great. I'd say the 5 picks up speed very quickly and the Yeti climbs superbly (and is very light for the travel) but isn't quite as involving as the 5.

Not sure that helps you much 🙂

I can tell you that both performed flawlessly last week in the Alps!

Are you refering to what i think you are chunky?

Sooty – Les Arc covers a fraction of the riding Stevo knows. How do i know?….because my wife and i spent a week with him in Sainte Foy. Les Arc is great if the funicular is running.

Whilst you clearly don't need a guide for most of the Les Arc riding, without a van uplift you won't get to ride some amazing trails elsewhere in the area….oh well 🙂

I used to think that getting your bike 'Alpine' ready was abit pointless but…after my first weeks riding in the Alps i have decided that next year i will be fitting a shorter stem, fitting a bashguard and possibly getting a height adjustable seat post 😀

Copter tape from Just Riding Along. Not cheap but has done a great job on my new Orange 5 after a week in the Alps last week. Loads of scuffs to the tape but nice shiny paint underneath!

Tarentaise valley!!!!

Les Arc, St. Foy et etc 8)

Not just the weekend either!

I used the recommended pressures on the fork legs. Couldn't say what they are altohugh i went for the middle recommendations for my weight so i could increase/decrease as needs be (but havn't had the need to)

I set it once and havn't bothered with them since. They seem fine to me but i will be setting them up again when i get to the White Room chalet in Sainte Foy tomorrow evening! 😀

Mine wouldn't turn on straight out of the box with brand new batteries in it. I sent it back and they replaced whatever didn't work…the switch??

I have left it for months on end (Haven't used it regularly since December when i no longer had a job to commute too!!) and it hasn't drained the batteries in it so seems strange that others have had this problem. The batteries in it haven't been charged since December!

Oh…and that business of not shutting down to a low level is **** scary when tanking it down a pitch black country lane!!!!!!!!!

But are they worth paying extra for over the 2009 forks?

I paid £320 for my 2009 forks a couple of weeks ago….so are these that much of a leap forward?

X2's are indeed awesome. I'd say they have the power of the black/gold monos and the modulation of the last mono's.

The X2' on my new Orange 5 are more than powerful enough, for me at least.

Lets see how they perform for a week in the Alps next week 😀

We ride together most weekends, i ride whenever i can be bothered during the week and we're going on our first Alps trip next Saturday!

All our holidays are bike holidays as well and no kids to get in the way, nor shall there ever be!

Those exception tyres are awful. Stupid light but stupidly fragile too.

Slashed a few rides old Crossmark on the Skyline descent on a not very rocky section. Lesson learnt!

Sidewalls looked thread bare after the first ride!!!!

Got XM317 on my Orange 5. Seem fine so far (only a few rides old).

As far as i can tell they're alot lighter than the DT E540 rims i used to use and are just as stiff.

I like 'em!

I try to forget about 'those' timing issues 🙂

I actually preferred the mass start at 10:00 am method that was used at the Brechfa Enduro.

Its a great first timers event! I've done the two that have been held so far and will be doing the December one too. I had a great time and have found myself getting more serious about riding in general since the first one.

I had a crack at the Brechfa Enduro too, that was tough but did alright considering i didn't take it that seriously.

These are great events if you want to dabble in abit of racing. Really want to do the UK round of the Avalanche Enduro one year too.

Personally i wouldn't want to do it on a hardtail, i think at least a little travel helps. Rowan Sorrell won the Tech. category on an Orange 5 last year and managed 10th(i think) in the Enduro category! Enduro winner was Rob'Box'Cooksley on a 100mm travel Ram bike.

Mine's an 18" and came with a 90mm stem.

The 2007 5 i sold recently had a 75mm but i have yet to decide which i prefer!

Looking forward to it even more now thanks to the comments above and look forward to meeting you Kramer and chimpymcchimp.

I'll keep a look out at Geneva for you 😀

I got the SS ones for £37.99, they were on offer. Might still be??