Megavalanche - Nomad v. 316 Spicy

notax

I have entered the 2012 Mega with Miss Notax and was intending to use my Orange 5 (150mm Rockshox, Formula The Ones, Crossmax SX etc...) but am now considering a different secondhand bike and wondering how the above compare? I've already got a Santa Cruz Blur and Heckler so the Nomad is a front runner, but the Spicy seems to have great reviews and there seem to be more available. Any thoughts?

supersonic

Try and get a test if you can - these have very different suspension systems.

lawman

Jeez if you two spent as much time training as you did asking what to take to the mega on here you'd win the bloody thing

What exactly is wrong with the 5? it hardly seems like you'll be under biked, and I'd much rather go with a bike I'm comfortable with and know inside out rather than take a bike with 10mm extra travel I've had little experience of. Bythe sounds of it, your five is a pretty well specced bike for the mega, and the extra 10mm of travel and little difference in geometry is just gonna mean lugging a coupla extra pounds around for a bike you'll use a few times a year at most. I know n+1and all, but in this case I'd say stick with what you have.

notax

Thanks...ironically Miss Notax has just bought me a n+1 T shirt I'm sure that she's been driving you all mad with her questions. She has definately become a bike bore and is threatening to have more bikes than me, which can't be right :P

Would be good to have a go on a Nomad and a Spicy somewhere challenging but unlikely to happen, so I guess I'll have to take a chance or stick with Orange. What got me questioning using it was a recent uplift day at the Cwm Carn DH, where the bike felt a bit out of its depth to me (but there again I'm no DH expert) I was using all the travel front and rear and it got me thinking about a different option...

supersonic

If you are bottoming out regularly then try adding more air pressure ie less sag.

Stevo_666

Notax wrote:

What got me questioning using it was a recent uplift day at the Cwm Carn DH, where the bike felt a bit out of its depth to me (but there again I'm no DH expert) I was using all the travel front and rear and it got me thinking about a different option...

Just got back from an uplift day at Cwmcarn today - my Spicy is quite at home on the DH track despite my slightly cack DH skills. Should handle Mega type stuff OK.

styxd

Your 5 will be perfect. The track isnt hard, its just long and tiring. You arent going to win it. A new bike will be pointless. If you want to place better in the event, spend your money on coaching not a new bike.

Squarepants

styxd wrote:

The track isnt hard

have you seen it :?

On a side note Notax are you the frequenter of a certain germanic manufacturer of motor vehicular transport used for rallying?

styxd

I rode it on my hardtail, although this was about 3 years ago. Maybe its changed, I dont know.

miss notax

Squarepants wrote:

styxd wrote:

The track isnt hard

have you seen it :?

On a side note Notax are you the frequenter of a certain germanic manufacturer of motor vehicular transport used for rallying?

Yes - he is / we are

Have we been spotted....?!

Thewaylander

To be honest if i was buying for DH duties having ridden both i'd choose neither.

They both ride like bigger XC bikes than burlier Dh bikes. Have a look at 160 Giants, Mondraker and a few others. they'd just feel like slightlier versions of your 5 than a mini DH machine to play on.

That was why i chose my draker rather than feeling like a capable XC bike it felt far more like a mini DH bike you could pedal which is what i think your after mate. Since N+1 is the correct formulae and this is a perfect excuse.

Stevo_666

Thewaylander wrote:

To be honest if i was buying for DH duties having ridden both i'd choose neither.

If it was just DH use then it's a no brainer, but isn't the Mega a mixture of downs and pedally bits which is why a lot of people choose 160mm bikes to do it on rather than using full-on DH rigs?

Squarepants

miss notax wrote:

Yes - he is / we are

Have we been spotted....?!

of sorts, I was on the BMW Rallying forum where my best man is building a 318is / 328 stage car and noticed Notax, thought it was a coincidence if two with the same nick..

Good to know though Could talk more bout rallying but I won't hijack the thread

Thewaylander

Stevo 666 wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

To be honest if i was buying for DH duties having ridden both i'd choose neither.

If it was just DH use then it's a no brainer, but isn't the Mega a mixture of downs and pedally bits which is why a lot of people choose 160mm bikes to do it on rather than using full-on DH rigs?

Yarp but he has lots of those and this is purely an N+1 excuse so he needs summat different obviously :P

Stevo_666

Thewaylander wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

To be honest if i was buying for DH duties having ridden both i'd choose neither.

If it was just DH use then it's a no brainer, but isn't the Mega a mixture of downs and pedally bits which is why a lot of people choose 160mm bikes to do it on rather than using full-on DH rigs?

Yarp but he has lots of those and this is purely an N+1 excuse so he needs summat different obviously :P

Fair point, he's got a gap to fill in his bike collection - bit like me

Thewaylander

Stevo 666 wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

To be honest if i was buying for DH duties having ridden both i'd choose neither.

If it was just DH use then it's a no brainer, but isn't the Mega a mixture of downs and pedally bits which is why a lot of people choose 160mm bikes to do it on rather than using full-on DH rigs?

Yarp but he has lots of those and this is purely an N+1 excuse so he needs summat different obviously :P

Fair point, he's got a gap to fill in his bike collection - bit like me

Also the difference in feel for DH duties between the different 160 bikes is huge. I liked the spicy and it was a better all round pedalling bike than my draker, but in terms of pure DH ability when it got really steep it was a no brainer the draker won by a country mile, opposite when trails turned up or were less steep.

Stevo_666

Thewaylander wrote:

Also the difference in feel for DH duties between the different 160 bikes is huge. I liked the spicy and it was a better all round pedalling bike than my draker, but in terms of pure DH ability when it got really steep it was a no brainer the draker won by a country mile, opposite when trails turned up or were less steep.

Never tried the Dune but it's hard for me to see how they could feel hugely different unless one was set up very differently suspension-wise from the other. Both have similar geo (like 67 deg HA) and both have similar suspension hardware - Fox 36 forks and Fox air shocks.

Anyhow, we're hijacking Notax's thread so PM me if you want...

rockmonkeysc

I bought the perfect Megavalanche bike last year ready for the Megavalanche, A Giant Reign X, spent a heap of cash turning it in to a hardcore all mountain weapon & now I can't go.
I can't think of any better bike & a few mates who are Megavalanche regulars ride Reign X's because they pedal extremely well & the 170mm rear travel & coil shock give you a slightly easier time and the shock doesn't overheat like air shocks can.
I am selling it now to fund a new DH race bike. PM me if you are interested. One careful lady owner etc.

Squarepants

styxd wrote:

I rode it on my hardtail, although this was about 3 years ago. Maybe its changed, I dont know.

:shock: fair do's if you've ridden it you'd know far better than me. The start does not look like something I'd want to be riding on a HT though. hats off to you..

There you are Notax, buy a Hardrock disc

styxd

The start does not look like something I'd want to be riding on a HT though. hats off to you..

You mean the glacier? Its best jsut to slide down that on your arse.

notax

Thanks for all the comments, I agree that neither the Nomad or Spicy are going to be much different to my Orange 5 but I've never been into full on DH (and I'm too old and fragile to start now ) The riding I most enjoy is very technical cross country especially in the Alps - and I've done that on a Santa Cruz Superlight with 100mm SIDs! The best bet may be to use my 5 afterall and blow the cash I would have spent on my other hobby - which as you now know is tarmac rallying. You'll be pleased to hear that Miss Notax is not only a bike bore, but able to design a website and is still sometimes my co driver... more info on the website she designed www.team-notax.co.uk

delcol

do it on the heckler,, the heckler with a 160mm fork would fine...

i used to ride my heckler in whistler even in the bike park,, it was at home on big mountain terrain..

notax

Ironically agreed to sell it to a friend last night as it was built to do virtually the same job as my Orange. Now only two mountain bikes - my Blur with 140mm Fox and my Orange which is built into more of an AM bike - albeit with only 150mm of travel. Space for another bike now, but maybe not the need...

delcol

lol i in the same boat as you,, i got a shhhhhhh scott road bike,, chromag hard tail (160mm) and the sant cruz btucher f/s 160mm/150mm i sold my dh/park bike a few month ago thinking i would not be using it for a while as i thought i would not be going to whistler this year, then i get a super deal come my way and am now going back to whistler,, but i have no park bike.. i looking for a cheapish bike to replace my demo.. cant really afford it as i still unemployed (made redundant last year) but i have a space in my collection and a killer urge for another big hitting bike..

my choice would be go for the nomad,, i still sceptical on the lapierres seen to many snap/crack.. and then the new ones seem to have alot of trouble with the press fit bbs..
if you can afford it and want it then go for it you can never have enough bikes.. only fellow bikers know this though..

you orange should be fine in the mega i know people who have raced it on 5's before...

Hob Nob

I raced it last year on an Orange 5. It was fine. Neither the qualifier or the race track are hard.

Ironically, i'm doing it this year on a Nomad (albeit a carbon, as I got a bad case of weightweenieitis).

notax

Good to hear that the 5 should be ok. I am getting conflicting reports about how difficult the Mega is, when i was at the Cwm Carn DH with Miss Notax a few weeks ago a full on DHer was saying he found it properly scary, whilst other people imply its a walk in the park

paul.skibum

From what I have seen of the Mega course its not hugely technical - alpine singletrack for the most part - certainly ride-able on a hardtail. I think scary probably relates to mass starts - I hate having too many riders too close to me - definitly couldnt deal with being in a pelaton on road so off road can go hang!

Sell your mate the orange and keep the Heckler - Santa Cruz beats Orange in pretty much any game of Top Trumps.

notax

Bit late for that! I was very reluctant to let the Heckler go, but decision is made. I have to say I haven't seen anything that looks particularly scary on the Mega clips I've seen, my biggest concern is being taken out, deliberately or otherwise, by someone else. Very confident on most stuff I've found in the Alps. but never tried a mass start DH before :shock:

Hob Nob

It's not hard - really!

From someone who races DH, i'd class it right up the tame end of the scale. In both the qualifier and the main race there is nothing you can't roll - there are a couple of steep rocky rollers, but as long as you don't hit them flat out & blind, then they are fine. Plus there is always an alternative easier route.

The challenge comes from the race aspect of it & how competitive you are. The start is probably the worst bit, because other than the first row, it's really a free for all with the entries and resulting grid spaces - all it takes is a wobbler or two in the second row to go down in the first corner & it's carnage. However, saying that, there is no point in worrying about the other people, there is nothing you can really do will affect the outcome of being taken out or not - just aim for the gaps!

The pack from what I saw, seemed to sort itself out by the top of the DMC lift, which is the end of big open fireroad section. If you want to do well, be out the front by that point, as it turns into a more DH orientated track & you won't be able to overtake big bunches of people.

If you're not going balls out, but still want a respectable result, stop and look around the northshore area for optional routes. If you're not up the front of the pack by there it's pretty much gauranteed one idiot will stop on it & cause a huge traffic jam - time to get off and run with the bike, rather than stand there like a lemming!

It's certainly not scary though - although the old heart certainly gets going on quali/race day, adrenalin rocks!

miss notax

Hob Nob wrote:

It's not hard - really!

From someone who races DH, i'd class it right up the tame end of the scale.

You seem this is the sort of comment that scares the crap out of me (no offence - I know it's a helpful comment!!!)

I do not race DH so your 'tame end of the scale' is likely to be on par with my 'off the end of the scale and sobbing in the corner' :shock:

I shall take it as it come though, what the hell, it'll be an experience 8) 8)