I am thinking of going right round by Refuge de Moede Anterne which gets you onto a gradual descent to Plaine Joux. Depending on time you could then climb again to Chalets de Varan, although the descent from there looks quite steep and it’d be a bit of a kick in the balls if it wasn’t rideable. Diosaz isn’t really passable without going into Servoz as far as I know.

There is a novelty value to 1400m-odd of berms. It seemed like it wasn’t really ridden-in last Summer, but then there is so much of it to maintain that it might just stay like that. I definitely wouldn’t be fussed to miss it, but we caught it in swirling cloud/sunny spells and the scenery was good.

That first trail in your shots might be my favourite anywhere, its the only one my mate has mentioned as a “must-do” as well.

Sounds like a good adventure! I would like to explore Flaine properly, the only time I’ve been there is skiing in a whiteout. I am going to try the trail off Brevent that ends at Lac de Passy, its a nice spot for a swim. I’m still hoping to try the TMB if I get the sunshine. Some of that July weather would’ve been fairly uncomfortable at 2500m!

Brilliant! Would you mind doing a run-down of where you went round Flaine?

There was nearly a bloodbath. But there wasn’t.

Always unwrap it as quick as possible and pocket the receipt. I have swapped a fork round without the wife noticing before.

Your “points” have all been covered about 3 pages back.

You are just trying to persuade everybody to get as upset about all of this as you are.

In fact you’ve talked me into it. This is an outrage against trading standards and common decency which sets a dangerous precedent.

You seem obsessed with knocking the guy. He has fronted up to the problem and looked into the specific case in hand. Anyway, you keep that winning behaviour up, waving around a couple of dodgy frames you’ve never laid hands on and quoting imaginary rules of the internet.

🙄

Why wouldn’t they be fulsome in their praise? Perhaps if Brant had multiple logins, waffling on about his own products, being outed and then coming back and making a fool of himself, people would lose respect for him.

As for this anonymity nonsense, would you really be bothered if a load of people on the internet knew your first name, country of residence, and the fact that you had a wonky bicycle frame? Is somebody going to steal his identity or place great shame on his family, armed with this information?

Well if I was a mountain bike designer or distributor this would never have happened, and let me tell you why…

The plastic is what really scuppered him.

It depends on the intended use, the freeride stuff is very baggy, the plainer trail stuff is more fitted.

I really like the design and the stretch fabrics are very comfortable, but the last 2 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of gloves I have bought have all fallen apart. I might try the Mavic stuff and see if it is better made.

£500-£700 seems about right, depending on the quality of accommodation and the uniqueness of the route. People are paying you for an experience so the more you can sell them on that the better – highlighting locations at the end of each day, nice meals, trying to link in with a lake or a spa or a nice bar for a cold drink at the end of a day. You would also need to plan for being less than 100% booked on your first year – realistically you would need to start trying to sell from Christmas and/or be prepared to offer some cheaper weeks to give people that boost to trust you with their money and time.

Group hugs if anyone feels threatened.

I am in the same boat at the minute and am likely to go for a pick-up with a lockable hard top, and a row of Thules on the roof. I’ll go that way because its a commercial vehicle for tax/BIK, the double-height hard-top will hold a massive amount of kit for big trips, the 4×4 will come in handy at home and abroad, and my wife would rather drive it than a van. When you get to a certain storage capacity your options are either a massive 4×4/people carrier, or a van or pick-up.

I don’t get people complaining about the driving experience, for a size comparison you are looking at an X5 or Discovery and none of them are involving to drive, especially if you’re used to a performance car. The bigger pick-up engines have loads of torque and overtake easily enough.

At the end of the day it will boil down to how the running costs work out in your tax situation and what you need your vehicles to do. As NZCol said you could end up regretting not having a quick car and that might make it worth running a combi or a pickup/trailer for work.

It depends where you are thinking of riding. If you’re doing the DH/MTB specific trails the bike will take a hammering. The descent from Flegere for example, is something like 1400m, and despite being man-made it is pretty rough and rocky. If you’re doing stuff like that you’d probably be better hiring something bigger. If you’re using the lifts to explore a bit, the Flux should cope alright.

I use Assos. Does this look like a man who compromises on his comfort?

I bet they just shrugged and deleted your email 😆

It is good to know the option is there. I’m hoping to do a 2-day TMB but there aren’t that many multi-day breaks where I can get away, so I could get scuppered by the weather and have to break it up.

JHW I’ve never done Anterne – always gone Holy Trail direction from the top of Brevent, or back round the front.

Could you give me a link to the bus timetable from Courmayeur?

EDIT – Used my initiative.

http://world.chamonix.com/PDF/courmayeurete.pdf

Any issues getting the bikes on?

If anybody is looking for a down day then there are some incredible baths at Pre St Didier. I am hoping to take the road bike over the cols and meet the missus for an afternoon at the spa.

http://termedipre.it/

I thought it must be round that side. I’ve been looking at doing the TdMB this year and I’d like to explore round there and do some more around Anterne. I’ve done Buet on skis but I’ve no idea what it would be like in Summer, apart from being a very big push!

Looks brilliant. Where is day 2? Did you have a crack at Buet?

I have a pair of the Sombrio forensics that have only got one hole in the forefinger. Any Sombrio stuff that I’ve bought in the last couple of years has fallen to bits.

I think the hotel might be owned by the same crowd as Morzinelets if that is any help.

Are these the same teachers that were wringing their hands about people taking their kids on holidays in term time?

His pimp-hand is weak.

Useless, again. How does this come as a surprise to them anymore?!

High Roller Safety Recall or What Crampons for MTB – jhw

Legend CHX in Cham Sud really helped me out when I was having trouble with a Saint brake pivot, fixed it with a bolt and washer for €5, its still working great 2 years later. Zero G is decent too.

You should be able to write off everything you use for work against tax. Bike, spares, etc.

I seriously doubt that there is any legislation in place to tax somebody for private use of a bicycle as a Benefit in Kind. An accountant might want to put something in your tax return but I would expect it to be a BIK on a percentage of the bike’s value over a write-down period. By the time you split it over several years, take out “business use” to give you the private benefit, and then tax that, it won’t be a big number.

I had the hamstring graft which has slightly different implications for the rehab – I needed to do a lot of work on the hamstring. As I understand it the patellar tendon is very painful at first, but avoids some of the problems which come with slicing a lump off your hamstring.

As a few other posters have said, the key to any recovery is the rehab you do. Mine was gone for a couple of years before the op, I did plenty of work in the gym, and it was definitely worth it for me getting it fixed – it is much more solid.

There is a big stigma on here about gyms being boring but they really aren’t. If you get the right physio and learn about developing good functional strength, core strength, and flexibility, you can take a lot of positive out of a 6-month stint in the gym. Try and find the right physio and get them to build you up to some free weights and kettlebells. The bikejames website has a lot of good exercises and there is a good core workout with liam killeen on Youtube, which somebody else posted up before. Everybody has physical limiters on the bike that they can improve dramatically in the gym.

Depending on the type of op and any meniscus issues

2 weeks – very gentle exercise bike, in pain

4 weeks – starting to be able to do wee intervals

8 weeks – doing decent sessions on exercise bike

12 weeks – doing easy rides on a normal bikes

24 weeks – starting to work up to riding “as normal”

You can make pretty good progress if you do the gym rehab and look after it well. I know people who have been back on the bike a lot sooner but the graft is vulnerable if you do this.

A_A we are hoping to have Ferris, Heaslip and O’Brien fit for the World Cup, that will be a pretty abrasive back row. I don’t know if switching sides made a massive difference to O’Brien. Leinster had no ball in the first half, as soon as they get momentum he will always turn up, breaking tackles. He is unbelieveably quick for a big lad as well, he outpaced Ruan Pienaar over 50 yards in the Ulster-Leinster game.

An elbow and a shoulder from DeGale, with all the cuts coming from head clashes. He was very lucky not to be docked points. DeGale looked like the amateur that hadn’t kicked on, lots of flurries of slappy punches that Groves was able to wear and land some heavy accurate shots in return.

Whats their beef with Alberto?

Post up in the Wanted section looking for something cheap, then flog it on eBay.

Wait a minute…

The US investigations have brought down some very high profile athletes. They amass a lot of evidence and they pursue any witnesses that perjure themselves. It looks like the cracks are starting to appear.

Hincapie is only denying speaking to 60 Minutes, anything related to Lance Armstrong is a straight “no comment”.

Somebody got taken out of school and didn’t catch up with their spellings.

No matter how smug you become, your kids are going to be just as painfully average as you are.

Yeah, who cares if he cheated and beat somebody who rode clean?!

You might like to edit that post squealer you could get somebody in trouble…