That’s me in the youtube video. The route ridden is the one that goes via La Chaux and has a fair proportion of getting on and off the bike up until you go under the Grandes Combes lift. There’s a very rocky and exposed switchback section almost immediately after you leave the piste above the Prodains lift, which isn’t in the video. I played cautious and walked these as I was out on my own and no-one in my group knew where I was riding. Some of the following sections of singletrack feel like it starts to get going and then you’ll encounter a really tight rock pinch or similar.

As to whether it’s worth doing – the meadow singletrack and the stuff through the woods is fun once it gets going. I enjoyed it as a bit of exploration in a holiday which was mainly riding the bikepark and off piste DH trails (I had my downhill bike out there as well that year).

A lot of the cheaper policies, whilst covering the activity, make no mention of search and rescue costs. Although you’d have to be fairly unlucky to need it, I’d want to know that this possibility was covered!

Snowcard and Dogtag both explicitly mention these as being covered. I’ve just shot Yellow Jersey an email to ask as they don’t mention it in their policy summary.

Edit – quick response from Yellow Jersey. This is covered by their policy.

Hi all, to resurrect this thread I’ve just come across these to replace the four flanged bearings in the rocker link:

https://www.kineticbikebearings.com/f6802-llu-max-e-bo.html

Comes to more than the full bearing kit on CRC but hopefully better quality. Since I’ve previously replaced the main pivot and have just done the horst link with Enduro Max I’m hoping that it will last a bit longer than the 1000km the original set racked up.

Tom

Have a look at the service guides on SRAM website. You don’t need to nitrogen charge them, you just need this adaptor and a shock pump.

LLF ygm

Large one here in the Dark Peak. Only one ride in but liking it a lot so far. More comfortable rear end than the Transition TA29 I was running before and the extra reach and slackness is good. I’m 6ft and it feels good to me with a 50mm stem on, reach once sagged is pretty similar to my FS.

I don’t think you can get it as frame alone, but the Whyte G160 uses a 216x63mm shock

Thanks Coomber

Coomber, is yours an XL? Any chance you could weigh the frame before building it up?

Thanks, Tom

I had the excitement of passing Hora going the other way near South Head a few years ago. The extent of our conversation was “Are you Hora?” and “Yes”. Still it was good to see Singletrack royalty out on the trails.

I’ve got one I picked up cheap just to try a bit of general drop bar bashing about (not racing). I’ve only had one off road ride on it so far and it’s the first cx bike I’ve had so I can’t compare it to anything else.

The sora kit all works fine but it’s not as smooth as the 105 or ultegra I’ve used on other bikes… although I wouldn’t expect it to be! The brakes seem ok for cable discs but not spectacular.

On the plus side the frame looks nice and tidy, and the internal routing makes it all look pretty clean.

Biggest negative about it I would say is the stock wheels which weigh in at 2.5kg, so you might want to think about swapping them out if you want any sort of acceleration out of it. Luckily I had a spare set of 29er wheels I could stick on it instead.

If you’re looking at the new size large one from gocycleshop on ebay then I stuck in an offer which was a fair bit under their asking price and was surprised when it was accepted with no counter offer.

HTH, Tom

I’m size 10.5, ride SPDs and do get heel rub. It’s not when I’m pedalling, but its my trailing foot (drive side) that does it when I’m descending.

I definitely ride with a heels-in riding position though and had the same thing on a Meta V3. Doesn’t bother me when riding and the frames have been helitaped to protect against this. I do wear out the sides of wider shoes quite quickly as a result though!

No problem. I guess they use the same chainstays for the Meta trail, where it might be more likely someone would want the ability to fit 160mm rotors.

Yep, 180mm post mount needed.

S11 7TS – Norfolk Arms pub. Or there’s an even nearer carpark where Houndkirk Road becomes Sheephill Road

Trans-AM in L you say? :)

Now running stealth Reverb and flat bars. Crying out for a stouter pair of forks than the Revs on there

A similar bodge when my Vivid snapped at the top of the La Clusaz. It was only used this to push/take it back down on the lift, I don’t think it would have held up to riding!

If you’re descending from the Pole as in jsync’s route then look out for some singletrack coming off on the left as the doubletrack bends right.

Follow this and bear right and you’ll end up on a rocky bit which then switchbacks and drops down through the woods.

Enjoy :)

I also had an original Tesla which started slipping under load. Replaced under warranty with a Tesla Evo which had the teeth on two of the pawls shear off and damage the ratchet. That one was also replaced under warranty by Superstar.

So now on the third hub and out of the warranty period. Have a spare nukeproof hub in the spares bin for when it goes…

I have the Origin model with a number of upgrades/bits swapped from my V3 Meta. The wheels are set up tubeless with rim tape and valves. It is a lot more of a ballache to get the bead to seat than on either the 26″ Flows I had before or the Superstar wheelset I have on another bike.

Like others here mention, I have just had to rebuild the rear wheel with new spokes as it was eating the non-driveside spokes. For some reason they kept snapping inside the nipple :/

I’m also on my second pair of the Marzocchi 350s as Windwave decided the originals needed to go back to Italy for inspection after problems with excessive stiction. And the Monarch Plus I bought separately to replace the x-fusion shock is also back at Fishers after developing a problem in the compression circuit. So currently running the x-fusion on it, which is OK but doesn’t match the Monarch+ for performance.

So, all in all it’s been an eventful 3 months of ownership but I’d still recommend the bike. I’d probably buy frame only if I was doing it all again, but they didn’t have this in stock at the time of buying.

I had exactly the same symptoms on my 1.6 petrol (although when turning left) shortly after doing an oil/filter change.

Turned out it was the connector for the oil sensor, which I think must have been disturbed when changing the filter. Unplugged, cleaned up connector and plugged back in and no problems since.

May not be the same thing with yours but possibly worth checking?

Tom

189? :) Would second the post about R&R though if you don’t want to be responding to us all individually

Bwaarp – I’m not sure it has been anodised, it certainly looks like raw aluminium to me and you can see the cosmetic effect of the heat from the welds on some of the tubes too.

I was trying to avoid a black one since I have a black Scalp. And I don’t think I’m brave enough for the yellow! I’ll see what I can find out there at the same price as the original retailer – if there’s a silver one which is a bit more like the photo of the Scalp above then I’ll go for it.

Cheers for the feedback guys

Tom

I’m wondering if a raw frame which was going to be painted/anodised has somehow made its way into the silver batch

Cheers, that’s what I thought so it’s going back. Shame they don’t have any more in stock in that size, I’ll have to shop around for a replacement I think.

Tom

http://www.lovevda.it/turismo/dormire_e_mangiare/dove_dormire/dove_dormire_detail_e.asp?pk=3621&infopath=/turismo/prima_di_partire/informazioni/pagina_ricerche_e.asp

It’s half way down the awesome Pila – Aosta run, so you get to start and end your day with that :)

Tom

I think the main lift in Verbier remains on daily opening until late September, and later than that for weekend opening.

If you buy a copy of Dirt there’s a voucher in there for bogof lift passes too.

Fair enough, if it turns out you need a 550 and Loco hasn’t got anything in stock then give me a shout. My email is in my profile.

Cheers, Tom

Do CCDB’s take the same ID size as Fox? I have a 550lbs Nukeproof Ti spring in that size I am looking to sell. It’s 2.25″ stroke and 126mm free length. I’m currently running it on a 190×50 Van RC.

Tom

Great news that things are moving ahead on the ground

I’ve got a broken collarbone at the moment, so won’t be able to do much spadework :( May wander up to see whats going on and offer words of encouragement though

I’ll let some friends from the Uni club know too, some of them might be up for helping out although I’m not sure how many will be around in the middle of the Easter break.

Freespace at Eastleigh just has a decent sized BMX track and some skate ramps & concrete bowl.

Some photos of the BMX track with the park in the background in this thread

Lordswood had a small one up until a couple of weeks ago when the bulldozers came in to demolish the Utopia jumps up there. Not too surprising since they sat on some land outside of the Forestry Commission managed area and right between two private properties.

The frame is a Claud Butler, I recognise it from my first mountain bike, a 2006 Cape Wrath, but the same frame was used for several models over several years.

Cheers guys, hadn't seen Rockshox do a Maxle version of the Races until I saw that table. Unfortunately Fishers don't seem to bring them into the country… :evil:

RS – I don't think you read my post, I've owned 2 sets of 20mm forks. Although to be fair the post title didn't reflect the question I was asking really… edited now

If you're after a (good) cheap one, then 3focus is £5 on Descent Gear at the moment. One of the best 2008 DH season reviews imho.

Tom

http://vimeo.com/5976158

Fun track that one. Quite simple but all just fast flowing berms :)

I second what Nasher says about the Stinger. My Spicy dropped the chain constantly during 2 weeks in the PDS. Bought a Stinger when I got back and it's been no problem since.

(Hi Adi, after test riding yours in Italy last year I ended up buying a Spicy after my Meta got stolen!)

Tom