michaelbiker

Last ride in France. Au revoir!

Col de la Madeleine via Lacets de Montvernier and Col du Chaussy. One of our most epic rides so far.

Nice Curve!

Either will be fine. MTB tires on rigid forks have been tested to be faster than their gravel brethren, but new testing is showing suspension forks with gravel tires are giving similar results. I tend to agree with Guido, it's cheaper and simpler and can still be fast.

I have the aeropack with the thru axle and it’s a very nice piece of kit. I went with the alu version as a carbon version made little sense. It doesn’t touch the frame anywhere and is easy to take off and on (maybe 20 seconds?) if the thru axle is installed.

If you don’t come right Temu is your friend. They have tons of this stuff.

Ride them a bit. Get them a bit dusty, take them in old wheel bags / luggage. Mention you are from Oz and intend returning with them if they ask any questions.

If it's the new RM Element, then the bike is definitely more capable than the older one you had in all of the above ways by a huge margin. Stop "thinking" and enjoy it!

Col Chérel gravel ride to Lake Annecy

Moved onwards to the alps. The riding here is superb. Thought I was in a dream at one point today.

700 000 fans?! Wow. We were near Chalet Reynard it definitely felt like thousands, didn't think it would be that many but it's an absolutely massive, f*king mountain. Definitely one of the most memorable days I've had in a long, long time. Some people reported it took nearly as long to ride down the mountain as up.

Technically yesterday, but we headed up Mont Ventoux to watch the Tour de France. What an experience! Tens of thousands of people lining the route with helicopters buzzing over our heads, a high speed float parade (the caravan) chucking sausages, key rings and hats into the crowds and then 20-30 minutes of riders trickling passed. What an incredible day. IMG_0715.mov

Mont Ventoux next. I enjoyed this from old Rob. This climb is no joke. We’re heading to Chalet Reynard to watch them come passed. Riding the gravel routes to get there…

You say you got them off Amazon. First question that comes to mind: Are they genuine 510s? There’s a lot of fake stuff on Amazon, so just curious.

Col du Chaine to Suzette

More French countryside

I’ll bite. Cycling to me is a hobby. Yes it can be expensive but I love my hobby. I couldn’t care less if others think I’m cool but I have no problem dropping some cash to ride something I want which is fun and new. The new stuff does ride really nicely…Granted I’m lucky enough to have a well paying job, no debt, no kids and the freedom to work from anywhere (I’m currently in France) but those decisions were all mine and intentional. I do however, agree with the sentiment on this thread when it comes to cars, I’d rather spend my money on bikes than my car and I can categorically say I’ve spent more on my bikes than my car in the past 10 years.

Baronnies Loop under Ventoux

BikeInn offers door to door courier for nearly the same price as SAPO. Their service is pretty good but can be slow if they don’t have the item in stock. You will pay duties, VAT and handling fees to the courier. If you have a warranty issue - I had one with a saddle - they do issue refunds or partial refunds without needing to return the item.

Mont Ventoux - The Giant of Provence. Climb on gravel, descend on the road. 2000m of climbing in 30km is no joke but the views were beautiful, not to mention climbing this legend… 😅😅

Have one of their stems on my mtb and it’s really nice and have used their gravel / aero chainrings. They look cool but are noisy and don’t last as long as the SRAM stuff unfortunately but they are cheaper.