First time in Morzine

KayakChris

My girlfriend and I are thinking of heading for a week in Morzine in the summer. Any thoughts on whether her hard tail will survive a week of alpine DH and XC? Or is full sus a must?

Cheers,
- Chris.

Dave_P1

If your palnning on riding the DH tracks then full sus is the way to go.
I'm not saying the tracks can't be ridden on a HT, but the whole expierence will be more fun with some suspension.

KayakChris

Thanks Dave, that's about what I guessed. So long as the bike doesn't disintegrate beneath her she should be OK. I guess we could hire if it all goes pete tong.

Dave_P1

Also, if you are taking the HT on the DH runs then make sure it has good brakes.

jamojaw

Having only been once but going again this year, i would say a good starting point would be the vtt way mark routes. You can recce some of the down hill from there. I personally wouldn't fancy the blacks on a hardtail though. The blue runs over in les gets are fun to build a little confidence. The red following the chavvenes lift back down might be a good one to try too. Like the last chap said, make sure you have good brakes, it's quite steep over le pleney side and the bike will soon start its way back down. I cooked my brakes by dragging them on the steep bits i shit myself on. Just enjoy it. Have a safe trip

Kaz_S

I took a hardtail on my 1st Morzine trip, I went back the following year with a full sus!

Stuck to the VVT routes the first year, I think you need to be a very experienced rider to attack the proper steep/rocky/routey DH runs on a hardtail though.

KayakChris

Great stuff thanks all. I'll have a look at the VTT stuff and see what we think.

Cheers,
- Chris.

gregwari

The issue you'll encounter on a hardtail is more one of comfort (and arm pump etc) as the downhill trails go on for so long (15 min descents) and the braking bumps can be a little relentless. 4 of us went out last year on a varying range of bikes (from 150mm full sus bikes down to 120mm hardtails), I was pleased I was on a 140mm full sus as it made for a comfortable day but it made no odds to my mate who rode a 120mm Boardman hardtail - he managed to keep up and enjoyed himself. Things to consider are:
1. As someone above has already said, stick to the many marked trails. Black downhill means black, the green / blue and red were all be doable on a hardtail (just take it steady)
2. Upgrade your disc rotas, I left a 160mm rota on the back and regularly cooked the brake. Go 180mm min, it's a relatively cheap upgrade
3. Tyres are your biggest consideration. We rode the passportes du soleil event, I fitted Conti 2.2 Rubber Queens and they were fine, I'll probably stick a 2.3 Conti Baron up front this time around. Fit the widest tyre you can with a good tread pattern - popular choices were conti rubber queens / barons, Swable Hans Damf or however it's spelt, maxxis high rollers, WTB Bronsons.

If you get out there and you find the hardtail too hard going, you can always hire a bike. Loads of places were hiring everything up to full carbon downhill bikes, popular brands were Kona, Lapierre, GT and the odd Trek and there was loads of choice.

Have a great time, we broke our Alps duck last year, we'll definitely be back this year

kathg

Are you riding a hardtail too? If you are both on the same type of bikes it'll be no problem. However, if you are planning on riding a big full-susser and expect your girlfriend to ride the same tracks as you and enjoy it and not be totally put off, then unless she's a much better rider than you, you are taking the piss!!
Just think about it a bit... the riding in the Alps is way, way different to UK xc... I'm presuming you are hoping to continue your relationship after this holiday??? If so, hire an appropriate bike when you get there or ride the same xc oriented tracks together. Ok, ok, semi-rant over... have fun!

tomstickland

I rode various trails on my hardtail over several seasons. I put 2.5 tyres on with downhill tubes in to avoid pinch flats. It all seemed to work. I'm much more into full suspension nowadays though.

bluechair84

As Greg says, the biggest problem with the DH runs isn't the route itself, its all rollable apart from some of the very steep and tight stuff over at Chatel, and a few of the doubles around Les Gets. The problem is the surface. I was there a few years ago and they were cut up like old washboards and you are rattled to bits coming into berms. It's horrible. two years ago I went on a 150mm trail bike, with 2.5s, last year I took a 170mm Enduro (To Alpe D'Huez which suffers the same problems, but less pronounced), and this year I'll be taking a 200mm DH machine! I would take good measure of the VTT stuff and plan on doing very little of the DH runs.

miss notax

kathg speaks the truth