We have a Levo SL built light and a S Works Turbo Levo built as light as I would want it to go. Probably the only way to lighten it more would be to go lighter on the Grid Gavity tyres or the smaller battery which would be foolish taking into account the riding I do.

I would pick the Turbo Levo over the SL every time. Got a range extender for the SL but never used it.

I think there will eventually be a compromise and we will standardise on lighter full fat bikes however I never notice the extra weight when out on the trails.

Looking at that picture ours all come out from the otherside. The non drive side. Post a picture of the other side

If its the same as all the Specialized rear axles we have its an allen key to unbolt it. Is the head not turning. If you had it out at the weekend I cant see how it can have seized on the hub bearings.

X01 chains on all our bikes except an XX1 that came on the Turbo Levo. As above they last for ages.

I also have the same kit and spares whichever bike I’m on.

I keep saying that the next one I meet stranded trail side due to them not carrying anything then I will just ride on but in reality I won’t as I’m not that kind of person

Depends on the weather. Don’t have a problem with any falling down

1. I do it my self and regularly check it. After trying everything on the market I’m back on Stans

2. I have the Dynaplug racer. On the rare occasion its been needed its worked fine

3. I carry a tube. Cant remember when I last needed to use one but have given a few away trailside to recue someone’s day

4. I use a cheap Aldi compressor at home. Cheaper than an Airshot and no faffing

5. Carry both.

6. Not bothered with one and been lucky so far. I do ride rocky stuff, loose and not loose.

7. Just ride in what I would normally wear. emtb or mtb

Notice this in Finale a couple of weeks ago.

From the shuttle uplift point there were more emtbs than mtbs for the single uplift to NATO Base and Rollercoaster. Looking round our campsite there were more emtbs than mtbs and same on the campsite uplift.

Got talking to a few of the Germans on the campsite who thought it was only the British who have a problem with Emtbs

No riding for us. Garden tidy and bike fettling after the holidays.

Not sure what he has to do to convince the judges.

The crowds didn’t like their score.

Dropped on a girl at the side of the trail in Finale a couple of weeks ago who had crashed and a rock had snapped the valve off on her front wheel. She had three guys with her and they had snapped all there tyre levers trying to get the tyre off. It had a insert fitted. They had an inertube but couldn’t move the tyre at all to fit it

We had some plastic coated metal levers and a spare valve in the back pack. Managed to move the tyre and insert enough to get the valve out and a new one in.

No way was the tyre coming off the rim trail side. She thought she had a 12 km push back to Finale

I’m not convinced they are worth the faff when it goes wrong on the trail.

Is there any reason that it wasnt fixed out in Finale using holiday insurance

Reason I ask is Kevin got badly injured in the Alps last year and although some of it was mended in Switzerland the main damages weren’t picked up on till we got back and the holiday insurance wouldn’t cover the UK costs. In hindsight it should have been all sorted before we came back.

We were lucky as the Swiss third party insurers picked up all the UK hospital and physio bills.

Took 12 months to get him back on the bike although his injuries limit the techy riding and jumping.

We have just got back from Finale and San Remo this week. Had a great time and can’t wait to get back

Sending  healing vibes

We have used this a few times when daughter has been competing

Tweedside Caravan Park
01896 831271

https://g.co/kgs/ohrgv3N

Back to reality

Twice in 37 years of riding off road.

2nd time was last week whilst exploring in France. We were 15 miles off road away from van.

Chain broke and lost one of the little wheels so had to take out another link before repairing with a SRAM split link.

You can use Cartes IGN for free

Watched it first time round. Author was from the village I grew up in

More famous for his book and film Kes

Easiest and best I’ve used is the Specialized rim strip.

No faffing but you need to by the right wheel size.

Agreed. Main thing is he got back up and finished.

It’s all experience at that level

No we are at Orange in France

No idea what they are they are quite a bit bigger than a tennis ball

After two days of no riding due to the strong winds we managed to get out in the hills and trails north of Orange to do some exploring. Found quite a bit of sweet single track. Had to negotiate fallen trees, a snapped chain and an Elmer Fudd moment when we popped out of a trail to find a man with a gun.
Cracking day out for our last ride in France for a while

Welcome to the club. I was always nervous track side but when you are so far away you can just keep everything crossed. It’s good experience for them to sort stuff out them selves

Châteauneuf-du-Pape

The Mistral wind rocking the van

Mine has just gone the same. Can’t read anything it’s that small. Android phone

Some more great trails above San Remo. It’s a bit more rustic than Finale but we’ll worth the visit. Moving on up into France tomorrow but not decided where to as yet. Was going to be a trip back to Les Orres but it’s a bit cold there at the moment.

Have a look at this to give you some idea it was a full day filming including loads of drone stuff to get it down to under 2 mins.

Abigale commented after that it was like riding with a wasp at the side of you at times.

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/sixth-element-carbon-wheels-abigale-lawton-video-2017.html

Main thing is to enjoy the holiday. We are down in that area Finale and now San Remo before moving on inland  tomorrow. Riding has been so far amazing

We took in some of your last day riding yesterday. If it’s all as good as that you won’t be disappointed

Sorry you see it that way. Rim could have failed or you could have had an impact and damaged it.

Either way they have given you the benefit of doubt and sent out another rim.

To me it still the failure of the shop to not have built it.

I crashed and damaged my S Works carbon bars 2 weeks before our Alps trip this summer. Still under warranty but never dreamed of claiming under warranty and instead asked the local dealer who I didn’t by the bike from as it was second hand to process it for me under the Specialized carbon crash replacement scheme. New bars were sent out and fitted by shop before we left.

That’s what a good shop should and will do to help. Not the same experience you have encounted

I’m with the others on this. I think Specialized have honoured their part and the bike shop for what ever reason haven’t sorted it.

When ever we have had a problem in the UK and abroad Specialized have always been quick to sort it

How did the rim fail

Took loads today but can only upload five. I thought it was going to be increased

After moving on from Finale this was our first day out in the hills above San Remo. Started with a 11 mile and 1700m climb to get to where we planned to start our descent. Played about on some of the ridge trails to stay high up Then started to follow the different trails down. 20 miles of DHs and 2100m of descent saw us to the sea.

Some awesome trails all to our selves

Will the shop lend you a wheel whilst they find time to rebuild it.

How did the wheel fail

Are Specialized paying the local shop to rebuild it

HD and SL rims will have different graphics so might not match the other wheel

For info we have 3 sets of Roval Carbons other half has hammered his  and they are still going strong.

A cracked rim wouldn’t put me off riding the same again

Great result and team work. Well done

Another early start for us to make the most of our last day in Finale. Did a couple of the classic runs before heading further afield to ride some of the harder to reach stuff we hadn’t ridden before.

Hard day out in the hills. Loads of miles, climbs and descents. The fun factor was off the scale.

Another great day out with Mario, our guide for the week from Trails Adventure

This is the policy wording from Yellow Jersey.

The first sentence is CSAs get out clause. The second sentence is the consumers. In our instance we informed the next day.

Under the FCAs Consumer Duty regulations the policy wording needs to be achievable. If you can prove you informed them as soon as possible then it’s hard for them to get round it

Yellow Jerseys Underwriters are Allianz. However Allianz outsource their claims to CSA and they are the ones who are the problem. Google for them.

They tried to not payout for Kevin been rescued by helicopter last year but in the end had to. Our complaint about how they handled it was knocked back so we we went to the Financial Ombudsman but before they made a decision Allianz had reviewed our complaint to CSA and upheld it in our favour.

Unfortunately most of the big insurers that are underwriting mtb holiday insurance use CSA.

Funnily enough 15 months after the accident we have recieved an email this week from CSA asking us if they can represent us in a third party claim against the Swiss company.

Pudding was 4 scoops

Back street restaurant in Finale Ligure

No music on

An early start for us today with 35 miles and 1700m of descent on the trails above Finale on trails we haven’t riden before. One more day before we move further on the coast to San Remo

@reeksy Mario the guide is the best we have used in the 9 years we have been comming here