Alpine singletrack

fielonator

Howdy folks,

I'm off to France in a few weeks for a singletrack weekend riding around Samoens/Giffre Valley. I ride an '09 kona hei hei at home and it's awesome, I haven't riden anything yet that it couldn't cope with including the black and red routes at Brechfa last year.

I'm new to alpine riding though and can't make up my mind whether I should take my trusty kona and risk breaking it or hire something out there. I'm sure we won't be doing any downhill runs but the tour company have recommended bikes with more travel front and rear and a long list of spares that I don't have.

So, in short, willI enjoy riding my bike or will it prove a bit lightweight for the alpine terrain? Any advice would be great, cheers.

chrischris1315

Go on what ever feels most comfortable to you.
However I would find out how much hiring a bike will cost and how much the spares will cost, that will be a good start.
After all if you do take your bike and you take the spares and don't break anything then you come home with spares that can be used in the future.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

Chris

fielonator

I think it'll be around £50 from the guide's stock and they say they're kona dawgs. They won't say which one though and how old they are.

I'm doing the trip through ridethealps.com, anyone done the same trip before? Or stayed in the same area, are there plenty of bike shops?

shx8000

OWe did les gets and morzine a few years back. Ended up doing DH stuff on a carbon hatdtail with 80mm travel. It was ok, but obviously I had to ride slower. My rotors weren't up to the job either. Too small so had total brake fade on some of the faster descents.
Spares were very expensive out there as well

MountainMonster

It does depend on really what trails you ride. Normally out in the decent size of mountains around us within an hour drive, and one guy always comes on his 100mm xc hardtail. We are always riding 160mm bikes at minimum, fullys, but he always has exactly the same size smile at the end of it.

He may be slower, but he still has an amazing time, and we have no problem waiting a minute or 2 for him to catch up on certain trails. End of the day everyone has a great time, so what is the problem?

fielonator

All good info, cheers. I think I'll be ok on my little kona, I'm not going to be flying down anything steep whatever I'm riding. I hadn't thought about the rotors overheating though. What sort of size were you using shx8000?

I'm gonna try a 100mm fork from another bike to see what that feels like on there too. Any thoughts on tyres? Would I benefit from more meaty ones than my xc fire pro's?

paul.skibum

I have ridden some trails around Samoens/Morillon previously - they are great flowing singletrack and if you have someone to take you to the trail heads it will be great. I rode them on a Patriot which was built as more of a downhill bike but most people were on lighter rides including a hardtail with 100mm travel.

It shouldnt matter what you are on as long as it is in good nick and brakes, wheels and suspension are up to the hits.

The area there doesnt have a great number of bike shops and if you are going in May it is a little early season for bike riding even with the poor winter the area has had. So be prepared for colder weather and rain!

fielonator

Dammit! I haven't started to check the weather yet, I was hoping it'd be warm. Better get the base layers back out of the loft then. We don't head out till the end of may so fingers crossed.

paul.skibum

End of May could be OK but the weather can be very changeable (all year to be honest) so pack with that in mind. I have been in the Alps in summer in 5cm of snow but then I have been at the top of a mountain in 30 degree heat - usually within a couple of days of each other!

fielonator

All set. Got some nice big tyres, stripped some spare parts from an old bike and now looking for a good but cheap bag to pack it all in.

Can't wait now, this may be the start of something. The missus hopes it isn't.