Hi All I have been reading this thread with interest and thought I would add my 2 cents, from a non DH rider perspective. I was riding in Morzine a week ago and it was brilliant. To set the picture, I am not a DH rider and usually ride marathons on a HT or 100mm travel full sus. I had a 160 mm travel bike about two years ago but sold it as I was not using it living in JHB. Only really used it when visiting Tokai or Jonkershoek. Technical skills: I am not bad on a bike and really enjoy fast flowing single track with small jumps and drop off etc. If your idea of mountain biking is long district roads and mowed veld, then Morzine is not the place for you. If you are comfortable and enjoy single track like you find on Tokai or going into the Umko valley, then you will love Morzine. I went with the missus and we rode mostly green and blue tracks, and the PDS trails in between. The trails where great. You don’t need to be smashing the super technical black runs to be riding the best single track you have ever riding. I will post some pictures to show the quality to the “family” green runs to see how good they are. The great thing was the misses could go slower and handle the tracks without too much issue, while I could go a bit faster making them a challenge and there was still plenty on jumps etc to more than challenge my ability. The trails to suit all abilities and the views, no traffic, and the warm weather during our winter, makes this a fantastic mountain bike holiday. You can even hire a road bike and ride some TDF category 1 climbs in and around Morzine if that is your thing. Own bike v hiring I was in Europe for a couple of weeks before going to Morzine, so I could not take my own bike. I hired a car to drive down from Paris so no bike racks. The advantage of hiring a car is that it gives the ability to do some site seeing and we where able to catch a stage of the TDF on the way back to Paris. I also stayed slightly out of Morzine so I could easily drive into town to go riding the for diner etc. The price off accommodation was better slightly out of town. We left the hired bikes at the shop everyday and just picked them up in the morning and dropped them off when we where done. I hired an AM bike, which was in good condition and could more then handle anything I could through at it. Unless you are a serious DH, and AM bike is all you need. What is important is the slack head tube angle and at least 140 to 160 mm travel. For 2 bikes for 4 days cost me R6 700. If I was going directly to Morzine and was going to use an AM when back in SA, I would look at purchasing one. Equipment Almost all the riders where in full face helmets, neck braces and pads etc. We where the idiots with a normal riding helmet and no padding etc. It was good enough for me, but there where a few jumps I would have hit harder if I had the added protection. But there where also a few occasions when me in my dorky helmet and no pads was outrunning fully kitted riders in DH kit. The cool thing is that everyone is there to have a good time and no one cares what you wear or what runs you do etc. If you have the cash and can see your self using it again, a purchase or hire of the full face helmet and pads is recommended. I would not go back without a kidney belt! After a few days of bouncing around and not used that type of riding, my kidneys took a serious hammering and had to take a day off then buy a kidney belt. Riding until you piss blood is a term a don’t use often!
