Just email 5:10 and see what they say

I’d quite like the 5 to get the triangulated swing arm but I’ll take a new Alpine next year.
New owners – new tweaking.

How big (and heavy are your balls)? You’ve got 2 kids so don’t need them anymore.

Note – If you’re Cam Zink that’ll save you about 40kg

It takes at least 2 years to leave the EU so while the crap Pound will put the prices up you’ll not have to worry about import taxes for a while.

Cheers guys.

We’re just looking at options as I’ve done Morzine with really wet trails and although it’s fun for a while the novelty wears off pretty quickly.

And as we have a van we have the option of pretty much anywhere in Europe.
Also it’s nice to ride new places.

Tom Kp

Cool cheers. Just looking at options to avoid the rain. I can’t be doing with slogging around Morzine in the (very )wet.

A lot of people seem to find the Pug Boxer a better van for converting into campers. Not as fancy or fast as a Ava/Merc, but the Pug engine is steady and reliable and as said above they’re galvanised. And TBH how fast are you actually going yo drive a camper van?

I wouldn’t have thought so as 35mm is a new thing and 1.5 steerers (while brilliant) are now deemed obselete/old tech.
Personally I loved mine.

I test drove one a few weeks ago and thought they were nice to drive. I’m not sure about the longevity of small engines with extra turbos for hauling heavy loads such as if you’re a builder, tradesman or towing. But if it’s for biking and leisure then I’m sure it’ll be fine as we don’t really load them up with heavy stuff all the time.
In the end I went for a Transit Custom, it’s a 2.2TDCI and is a little bigger (and we’re k my talking inches) than my old Vivaro. They’re the same power as the 1.6biturbo Renaults/Vauxhalls but they don’t need to be tuned up as much to get there.

And when you stop off somewhere on the way to/from the trails or park up in Morzine you don’t have to worry about the bikes being visible on the back seat to scum or easy to pinch off the top/back of car. Chatting to one of the drivers at BPW a while ago and he said all their bike thefts had been from the car park.

You can also sleep in vans and the dirt/wet is contained in the back.

I tried it last month when my van broke. 2 weeks later I own a new Transit Custom. Cars suck, modern vans are lovely. The wife has a car if we ever need one, but usually the van goes everywhere.

Depending on your wheels size you can also consider Double a Down or EXO instead of dual ply. I normally use dual ply tyres in the Alps but last year I managed quite happily with Maxxis Minion DHF front and rear. 2.5 EXO 3C tyres. I won’t use any other brands as have been disappointed with anything else I’ve tried.

To quote Jared Graves from a recent Specialized Bike check on PinkBike “with Maxcis it was easy, you just ran Minions”

Tom KP

Currently using some from Chapeau and it seems to work well. Have also used Assos cream as well which was good as well

Mine was returning rather slow. But then I checked the air pressure and pumped it back up to full pressure and it was back to normal speed.

Do it. Live your dreams. Life’s too short to do something you hate

I’ve had a Vivaro (same van as Traffic) for the last 5-6 years, it’d had a hard life before I get it and died (at 220000 miles) a few weeks ago (fan belt broke and knackered the cam/timing). I was looking at the new Vivaro but was put off by the small 1600 engine, I know it’s turbo’d so similar power to the old one but I’m not sure of the longevity of all these modern vehicles with small engines compared to a decent sized one. In the end I’ve just bought a Transit Custom, 2.2 Diesel engine and slightly more space inside (and I mean slightly)

That said you can pick up new Vivaros pretty cheap at the moment.

I would have thought your 5010 would be fine. It’s probably got better set up components than anything you buy and build up cheaply for the trip. Just whack some bigger and stronger tyres on it and go for it.

I think the advent of new trail and enduro bikes which are much more capable than previous years will mean that the number of DH bikes in the Alps will gradually decline. We used to take out DH bikes but each year I’m seeing more and more 130-160 bikes out there. It opens up the opportunities of what you can ride (most people don’t hit up the big black runs anyway). A lighter trail bike will make getting to places like Morgins (an awesome set of trails) than lugging a DH bike that far.

The UK tends to be steeper but the Alps are longer. I would have thought whatever you run in the UK would be fine. The GF has a Madone and managed a week with the gearing that came with as standard.

Hope Tech Enduro or Mavic 521s, reasonable weight and bombproof.

I bought one in Tesco, it was black, light and it’s never lost a bottle in 5 years of road biking. I liked it so much I spent another £1.99 and had 2 on my bike.

Tom KP

Nope, if I’m not riding it I see it as a waste of space and a waste of bike, someone else could be out having fun on it. And it I can’t sell it for much then I figure I’m just helping out someone else who can’t afford an expensive bike. I gave away a really good BMX last month because I never ride it anymore. Cost me a lot of money a few years ago, but now someone else is riding it.
too short to stockpile crap that never gets used – give it to someone who’ll actually enjoy it.

Tom KP

A grand would buy me some new Hope wheels and cranks for my MTB and wheels for the road bike.

eBay some cheap Sun Ringlé Double Tracks. Only problem is they way about 6 tonnes.

Mavic 521s aren’t particularly wide, but they’re one of my top rims. Pretty much indestructable and not too heavy.

What you need to do is catch the and D-Lock them to a traffic light, lamp post (or my personal favourite, a ship about to leave NY) I can’t comment about the last one (a hardcore bike courier in NY told me about that one a few years ago) but I will say that a traffic light is a good one (allegedly). There’s no evidence to link it to anyone, but I’d love to see them grind it off from around their own neck.

The difference between Transition and Yeti is that they test their bikes in the Pacific Midwest (where it’s nearly always wet and muddy in the woods) as opposed to lovely sunny Colorado and their bikes hold up well in our less than favourable weather conditions.
Transition also take their time getting products into production (as far as I can see). We had an original TR450 and not only was it indestructable and one of the best DH bikes I’ve ever ridden, it barely needed any maintenance (besides a bit of a wipe and lube) and performed flawlessly regardless of if it had been put away clean or not the previous time. It was the same with the GF’s Covert, only problem with that was it came with Fox 34 CTDs, she wore out the complete drivetrain, brakes and wheels before it even needed a bearing change/

So while I agree that the Yanks can make bikes that survive in the UK, I just don’t think Yeti do.

Tom KP

How are people going about getting them warranteed? I email Fisher about mine a few months ago and got no reply. Honestly can’t remember if I bought it from CRC, Wiggle or Merlin.

My Alpine 160 had an annoying creak. I stripped and checked or replaced pretty much everything only to find it was the pivot bearings. Luckily they’re cheap to buy and dead easy to fit using nothing more advanced than a hammer and block of wood (see Orange website for guide)

It coul d be you’re bib shorts, I’ve probably had more problems from crap shorts that saddles. My road bike has a Charge Spoon and my MTB has a Pro Atherton saddle. The Wife loves her Bontrager saddle for road biking.
Anti-bacterial chamois cream and arse/groin wash?

We’ve bought 2 Capras from them and they have both turned up on the week they were meant to (Even though YT aren’t great at replying about exact dates). But they have been good at replying to enquiries and stuff like that.
A friend broke one (by crashing fairly hard and they sorted it out with their Crash Replacement Program no bother.
They’re great bikes (CF and Alu) and a brilliant price. In the near future I may well actually get myself one (but then 3 of the same bike in the household might look a bit lame/wannabe team!).

Tom KP

Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5 – 30psi front and 30-35psi rear. Both tubeless. I find that any less than 30 and the tyres fold over and squirm when pushed into corners. The GF runs 20psi front and rear.

They’re grippy and come up fairly large.

the problem with spending £4K on a van (especially a Crafter/Sprinter which are expensive and basically the same van) is that for that price you’ll most likely either get something that’s high mileage and/or something that’s due to need everything serviced or replaced. Personally for one of those I would be expecting to pay more than twice that for a decent one and then you might still get one that’s about to have everything wear out.

Both good vans though.

Tom KP.

There’s a High Ropes course in the woods at Morzine. Caters for all ages (from a mini course for the really young through to adults). Pony rides, rafting, para-sailing, and everything else mentioned above.

Tom KP

The GF and her brother are running them front and rear both like them but she still prefers a 2.5 Minion DHF (But she’s picky about her setup), it’s certainly not slowing her down. I’ve ridden them a few times and they’re pretty good. But I’ll always be a DHF front and rear man myself

Tom KP

Hope for the win.

Although DT Swiss are decent wheels I’d go for Hope every time. Strong reliable and the best after sales care and support I’ve ever experienced.

Tom KP

Just don’t hit it really hard, serviced my floats a few times without damage or problem.

Superstar Nao pedals are great. The newer Nano X’s come up pretty big. I’ve currently got a pair of their old Ultra Mags with Ti axles and a standard pair of nanos, both old and still going strong. New seal/bearing kits are pretty cheap as well.

Other brands may be flashier but not necessarily better. My favourites are Burgtec Penthouse Flats but they are £££

Tom KP

Yep, I run tubeless without any problems and my rims and tyres aren’t Tubeless versions. This is my preferred method Ghetto tubeless. I have found the standard Stans stuff to be the best so far. I currently use cheap tesco BMX tubes without problems. But for rims with narrower presta valves I’ve just bought cheap Schwalbe presta valved BMX tubes from CRC.

Tom KP

I have a MobiWasher V17, it has a battery pack (which is still going strong). I bought it in 2008 and the only problem is that the mains charger died (bought a generic replacement on eBay for very little) and the gun broke (got a cheap Aqua2Go gun from eBay for £10). It’s still going strong, I normally charge it from Maine and rely on the battery for a few weeks but the cigarette lighter still works well. It is hard to get hold of MobiWasher spares, I assume they’ve gone bust and CRC bought their remaining stock but they seem compatible with all the other brands (Aqua2Go is the main one and also most generic washers). I’d say they’re well worth it, especially if you own a car or have nowhere to wash it back home.

I bought ours as we used to live in Bristol and wanted to minimise the amount of time they were outside and visible to avoid scum spotting them and robbing us (didn’t work, the bastards!)

Tom KP

I’ve got a tyre on an old knockabout bike that I patched with duct tape during the 2007 Megavalanche and it still goes up tubeless.