DubbelBuys Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Dude seriously. You don't need to be a world cup rider to ride there. I am of moderate skill. And I think I'm being very kind to myself. And I have an absolute BLAST over there. Hope my skill is "moderate" enough. Remember it's not only the riding. It's the scenery. The free vertical. The times shared with mates. The beer half way up an Alp at the end of a days riding. The huge distances covered with the aid of ski lifts. It's the 11km roll down from Avoriaz into Morzine after a day in Chatel. The taste of the water in the water troughs. Those tasty little 250ml beers. The trains of riders down Chavannes. Hitting the biggest jump you've ever attempted cos it's built properly and you won't crash. The amazing variety in the bike shops. The burger for lunch at the bottom of Pleney. The soulitide of riding the ski lifts. Your first glimpse of Mont Blanc. The commute trails which are better than the best trails you've ever ridden over here. Spotting a World Champion from the ski lift. And conversely watching Spanish or Japanese tourists ride trails they have no business being on. The watching your heroics or fails from the day from your gopro. The braai at La Sherpa on a Wednesday night. The Mutzig!!! to this paragraph! The whole place is literally custom made for you to have the best time you could possibly have. Yes the trails are steeper than here. Yes there is almost no jeeptrack riding at all. Yes you can go ride Champery if you want. But you don't have to. There's LOADS of AMAZING riding for all skill levels. All the trails are graded by color and quite honestly the most fun is often to be had on the greens and blues (easier trails) With a few cheap mods (bigger brake rotors and a little suspension tweakage) you'll be fine. When you say 'suspension tweakage', do you mean I will be 'good to go' on my Shova with 150mm Revelation up front? & on the brakes topic (very important) would my SLX's be good if I fit 203mm ice tech rotors & ice tech pads? Or would a brake upgrade to some HOPE's be recommended? I'll post up the dates a little later. I need to find them quickly. but in short we've got 5 PDS and 2 Chamonix trips planned for 2015. Regarding clothing / protective gear: Would you say it's better to buy over there because of the variety? (with price being a bit of a downside?)
Super_mil Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Regarding clothing / protective gear: Would you say it's better to buy over there because of the variety? (with price being a bit of a downside?) I would say get it here (import or local) before you leave & use it a fair bit to make sure it works for you. No point buying kit over there only to find out it doesn't quite suite you and wasting a day of riding walking through all the stores trying to decide which kit you want. That said you'll have way more variety to choose from over there, but make sure you get there fairly early in the season as towards the latter portion of the season a lot of the 'normal' sized stuff is out of stock.
Guest Omega Man Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) Regarding clothing / protective gear: Would you say it's better to buy over there because of the variety? (with price being a bit of a downside?) A shova with a 150mm fork is ok. That is pretty much the smallest bike I'd take tho. You will k@k a bit on the steeper and rougher stuff. Maybe fit an offset headset to drop the head angle a bit. You'll harden up your suspension and quicken up your rebound a bit. Look I'm a hope fan but SLX with big rotors are fine. Interestingly the one bike mech over there told me the biggest problem is the new generation of Avid brakes. They don't like being hung up on the ski lift so the guys have to bleed them repeatedly. I can't confirm that tho cos I don't run Avids. As far as kit goes I like to buy a something over there. A lot of it for me has to do with supporting the local businesses. They only have a 3 month window to make money out of Mountain Biking and most of the guys in the shops are the okes building trail once the ski lifts shut down for the season. Last trip I bought an Airoh lid. You just can't get them over here which I must be honest, I like. The pricing is preeeety much the same as you'd get here but there's loads of variety. You WILL NOT get any Troy Lee stuff for cheap tho. That is a guarantee. I would also get a Full Face lid. You aren't hacking up the hill and dying to gain altitude so you can wear something that offers more protection. Using the lift system you can EASILY do 7km of vert in a day. I'm taking a Full Face and my AM lid this year. These are our proposed dates for 2015 22 June - 5 July. Morzine. Trip will take in the Passportes du Soleil All mountain race6 July - 19 July. Morzine & Alp du Huez..Week in Morzine and then a week in Alp du Huez to tackle the Mega20 July - 2 August. Morzine3 August - 16 August. Morzine17 August to 30 August. Morzine 31 August - 13 September. Chamonix Mont Blanc14 September - 27 September. Chamonix Mont Blanc Edited March 4, 2014 by Omega Man
Nofearnofun Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 A shova with a 150mm fork is ok. That is pretty much the smallest bike I'd take tho. You will k@k a bit on the steeper and rougher stuff. Maybe fit an offset headset to drop the head angle a bit. You'll harden up your suspension and quicken up your rebound a bit. Look I'm a hope fan but SLX with big rotors are fine. Interestingly the one bike mech over there told me the biggest problem is the new generation of Avid brakes. They don't like being hung up on the ski lift so the guys have to bleed them repeatedly. I can't confirm that tho cos I don't run Avids. As far as kit goes I like to buy a something over there. A lot of it for me has to do with supporting the local businesses. They only have a 3 month window to make money out of Mountain Biking and most of the guys in the shops are the okes building trail once the ski lifts shut down for the season. Last trip I bought an Airoh lid. You just can't get them over here which I must be honest, I like. The pricing is preeeety much the same as you'd get here but there's loads of variety. You WILL NOT get any Troy Lee stuff for cheap tho. That is a guarantee. I would also get a Full Face lid. You aren't hacking up the hill and dying to gain altitude so you can wear something that offers more protection. Using the lift system you can EASILY do 7km of vert in a day. I'm taking a Full Face and my AM lid this year. These are our proposed dates for 2015 22 June - 5 July. Morzine. Trip will take in the Passportes du Soleil All mountain race6 July - 19 July. Morzine & Alp du Huez..Week in Morzine and then a week in Alp du Huez to tackle the Mega20 July - 2 August. Morzine3 August - 16 August. Morzine17 August to 30 August. Morzine 31 August - 13 September. Chamonix Mont Blanc14 September - 27 September. Chamonix Mont Blanc Any chance you might have space for one more at your accomodation for this year?
Guest Omega Man Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Any chance you might have space for one more at your accomodation for this year? Sorry fella. The chalet is fully booked. I've had to turn away 3 stragglers yesterday and one this morning.
Nofearnofun Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Sorry fella. The chalet is fully booked. I've had to turn away 3 stragglers yesterday and one this morning. Next year is probably a better idea anyway
Guest Omega Man Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Next year is probably a better idea anyway Yeah. Check out the dates.
hayleyearth Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Sorry fella. The chalet is fully booked. I've had to turn away 3 stragglers yesterday and one this morning. I have space in my room in the chalet (obviously for the time I will be there)..There will be an interviewing process to go through though
NicoBoshoff Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 sa-alpine-addiction.co.za/datingservices hayleyearth 1
Nofearnofun Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 I have space in my room in the chalet (obviously for the time I will be there)..There will be an interviewing process to go through though I have obviously failed, no interview needed.
Guest Omega Man Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 I have space in my room in the chalet (obviously for the time I will be there)..There will be an interviewing process to go through though There's gonna be about 6000 poms applying for the position in the resort. Hahaha.
NicoBoshoff Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 All this innuendo and it's on page ?? of the thread
Guest Omega Man Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 All this innuendo and it's on page ?? of the thread PERV!
Guest Omega Man Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) I just have to repost this. I've added a few bits. Remember it's not only the riding. It's the scenery. The free vertical. The times shared with mates. The beer half way up an Alp at the end of a days riding. The huge distances covered with the aid of ski lifts. It's the 11km roll down from Avoriaz into Morzine after a day in Chatel. The taste of the water in the water troughs. Those tasty little 250ml beers. The trains of riders down Chavannes. Hitting the biggest jump you've ever attempted cos it's built properly and you won't crash. The amazing variety in the bike shops. The burger for lunch at the bottom of Pleney. The soulitide of riding the ski lifts. Your first glimpse of Mont Blanc. The commute trails which are better than the best trails you've ever ridden over here. Spotting a World Champion from the ski lift. And conversely watching Spanish or Japanese tourists ride trails they have no business being on. It's crossing the border into Switzerland. Posing for that pic at the top of Pleney on your first morning. It's laughing at your mates lift fails. It's jumping into the airbag. It's the 12km roll from Mosettes down into Morgins. It's dropping into an "off piste" trail and absolutely sh!tting yourself cos it's so steep. It's rolling into the Chatel town and literally being breathless at how beautiful it is. The watching your heroics or fails from the day from your gopro. The braai at La Sherpa on a Wednesday night. The Mutzig!!! Edited March 4, 2014 by Omega Man
Guest Omega Man Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) http://www.pinkbike.com/video/343116/ Edited March 8, 2014 by Omega Man
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