[Closed] Best bike for Trans Provence 2013?

I failed by a few minutes - gutted - but intended on using this

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7078/7289837698_c7d93371e1.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7078/7289837698_c7d93371e1.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7289837698/ ]Bike.monument[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/67749037@N02/ ]boltonjon[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://www.trans-provence.com/2013entrantlist.shtml ]2013 Entry list.[/url]

A few 'names' entered in this I see: Steve Peat, Tracey Moseley, Guy Martin, to name but three.

6000ft a day sounds pretty brutal on an Alpine 160. You'd probably be alright if it's mainly fire road though, much better to be riding a bike you're used to when pushing hard on the descents. Still, you'd have a lot more energy for the flats/ uphill bits on something lighter. No point being knackered for the bit you're going top be timed on!

generallevi - Member

What do you reckon would be the best bike to try and be competitive?

One of the ones with a former world champion on I reckon.

Decided not to try and enter as tbh I'm not even certain I could complete it never mind really race it... But I'd just have used my Hemlock. 31lbs, sensible tyres, 2 chainrings, a dropper post, tough enough to not act up through the week, and handling to save my arris while riding blind on amazing looking trails.

And I [i]really [/i]mean it about the 2 chainrings.

I'm guessing at least drop the 1x10 🙂
Unless you plan to buy a new bike then stick with it maybe drop back to the RP23 no issues with mine for the mega week.
Perhaps a Fox 36 would drop a bit more from the front.
Dropping that weight would allow for a beefing up on the tyres perhaps.

Aren't most of the big boys riding 160 bikes. I believe one of the top 3 from last year ran a 180 Lyrik. Alpine should be fine. I think all the Orange boys use them. Depending on your fitness a granny ring might help but it seems that 1x10 is pretty popular for reliability

I would say you have the perfect bike... are you really looking to compete?

If you are worried about the climbing then go 36 floats and RP23, if you wanna enjoy the downs then stick with what you have and focus on enjoying.

Whatever happens you will need a double and good tyres.... and train hard then taper properly, during the actual event personnal management and nutrition will have more bearing than a couple of pounds of bike weight.

Top respect for entering by the way... I am going to have a go at getting on a similar event but am bloody nervous about coming up short.

A carbon enduro 1x11 or 2x9or10 would probably be my perfect bike, 36 floats up front, crossmax sx wheelset tubeless, reverb etc.

the climbs are as brutal as the descents....with manycarry a bike bits so here you may want substitute your coil set up fir air to save a couple of pounds. maybe use a 32/33 tooth up front and a tubeless set up. i live and ride in the area and swear by dual pleak imoy maxxis tubelessed up to mavic sx. i sometimes use the crossmark up back for better rolling resistance. oh and enjoy the event...

Fair play for getting an entry. Be great just to ride it and I'm wistfully looking at the guided trips...still spaces for next year, hmmm 😕

nuke - Member
Fair play for getting an entry. Be great just to ride it and I'm wistfully looking at the guided trips...still spaces for next year, hmmm

My neighbour is doing the guided trip... he's very much looking forward to it.

Boltonjon, a few minutes? The entire entry went in 1 second. 😀

Your bike sounds very nice, losing 4lbs off it might give you more hassle than its worth unless your tyres weigh a ton.

You will probably get more out of working on your fitness and doing some big days in the hills where you concentrate on speed over the ground, kit and nutrition. At the end of the day you are trying to make yourself faster, that means trying what work for other people and seeing what works for you.

Keep whatever bike you already have and get fit. The biggest advantage you can possibly have is arriving at the top of the special stages fresh enough to do yourself justice on the downs. +/- 40mm suspension won't make the slightest difference unless you are competing in the top 10.

Thanks for all the messages so far! Really varied responses with so many different ways forward. I'll start by looking at some of the points brought up.

A couple of people have commented on the competitive side of things and the way I look at it is like this: There is a high possibility that we will never get another chance to compete in this race again in our lifetime. If you look through the start list almost all of the racers are different from last year with the exeption of a few pros. Taking that into account I see no reason why we shouldn't do everything we can to smash the phys and get the perfect bike set up to allow us the best possible chance of doing well.

Now, we do not have illusions of grandeur here, definitely not! We know that the top boys are still going to be at the top but there seems to be a gap from around 7th to 18th that ends up seeing quite a few amateurs thanking those final standings. I see no reason why we can't fight for those spots, however that becomes hard if the bike you are sporting weighs 5-6 lbs more than another equally fit guy or girl with a similar skillset. This is what I really want to avoid.

I raced this year at Mountain Mayhem and lap for lap managed to take a fair bit of time out of Guy Martin who in my opinion is a great rider, so that sort of thing encourages me to try and be competitive in this one also, or surely I should have just booked the Holiday varient of this race?

My missus races Elite level XC and is pretty handy in the Alpine Enviroment also so I know she will want to do as well as possible. I saw how frustrated she used to get coming up through the ranks when she started out on a battered old Giant Anthem and was fighting it out with girls on 19 lbs super bikes. This time however we both have a chance to create a level playing field.

To the guy who mentioned the other Orange boys will be on their Alpines, that has not been the case in recent years. Joe and Hannah Barnes and even Rowan Sorrell have chosen to go with their Fives for this race over other bikes. Unfortunately I don't have this option at present but if it makes for a better climber then it's one that could be explored.

The guys who seem to be making life easier for themselves are sporting Carbon 150/160mm bikes, not too slack 67 degrees, built up at around 27-28lbs and 2 x 10 to get that granny ring to stop the legs from burning on the silly steep stuff. I would be happy to go down this route but cannot justify two rigs of such similar set up and cost! If I consider this then the Alpine may have to go, regardless of how good it is in most situations.

Bolton Jon, Really sorry you did not get in mate. It must have been mental at 1200 hrs with all those fastest mouse fingers. We literally had the form gone as the clock hit 12 and we got an email saying that it had sold out before it got 1200.01 secs! Hopefully mate you will be all over it next year and that Liteville will be ripping up the trails,

All the best,
Lee.

uselesshippy - i'm 24th on the reserve list - so i was about the 80th person to submit my entry

Here's hoping to lots of drop outs

I'm very tempted to do the guided event

Hope you're going to *blog* this thread... i hate blogs.. but i rekon i could happily read a thread about how the build goes and then how you do with it,.

Wouldn't know where to start with a blog mate! How hard can it be though? I'll defo look into it if you think people may be interested. Like a journey from bare frame in a garage to last place on day 7..... 🙂

I’d look at a light 140mm bike with a 150/160 fox 34.

Have you read the stw article and watched the video's?

well mostly in here we like MTBs.... we like mountains.... and we like pushing our limits.... you're obviously above my personal limits so would be cool to read more.

I just like looking at pictures of bikes. 🙂

Weeksy I think you have gotten me a touch mixed up mate. I am just a guy with a decent level of fitness and 15 years of riding experience who has decided to enter an event that is slightly out of the 'normal'.

That does not mean I'm any better or worse than anyone else.... Just have a missus who can be very persuasive when it comes to our racing calendar! 🙂 If she didn't push me you would find me smashing run after run in Morzine or Champery this summer, not walking for hours with my bike on my back.....

I wish I was a good enough rider to do this (and enjoy it!) I'd be looking at something like a Specialized Enduro or Ibis Mojo HD (with a headset angle reducer), air shock, big but fast tubeless tyres (Rubber Queen 2.2 BC UST), and two chainrings (even though I'd run 1x10 in more normal situations). However, with an air shock with decent low speed compression damping (pro-pedal) can you get the Alpine to climb decently? Otherwise it's an awful lot of money to spend on a bike that isn't any better than the Orange on most of the timed stages!

Chief Groove,

We have been on the Alpines for 2 years now and I think we have got them to a point where they at the best they can be based on weight/performance balance. We bought them as ex hire bikes after a season in Morzine and they were in the lightweight air guise at that time. I remember when we first got them back and thinking this does not climb as good as my old five by a long-shot. I can't put my finger on it but something was astray. Maybe the slack head angle or the raised pivot point but things had become a slog.

Since changing most of the parts out they are now better climbers and more importantly are fast in places that they used to slow up, like undulating terrain, e.g Laggan Black. They seem even better with the CCDB on there for climbing also. They still seem to need a lot of pedalling to get them up the hills though where my mates Mojo HD just transfers your power really well.

You make a good point about buying something that has little if no advantage on the way down. I would go as far as saying that if a Heli dropped you off at the stage start point then I am convinced that you would have the best 160mm bike on the planet for the Trans Provence, but how much will you have to pay in the legs and lungs to get it to the start of each stage?

For me i'd think of it differently...

What are your strengths ? play to your strengths and choose the bike that suits your strengths, or even eliminates your weaknesses. If you climb like a mountain goat, can you go slightly more DH on the bike as you'll have an advantage... etc etc.

Congrats on your entry, I applied, straight away and didn't even get a look in, not sure if i'm annoyed or relived right now!

Bike wise you can get Carbon S-works enduro's for about £2K secondhand now, or a remedy 9.8 for around £1.5K both on the 27/28lb mark with droppers and 2x10 gearing.

Fitness wise, no matter how fit you are, speak to PRO RIDE GUIDES - Joe Rafferty was the 3rd fastest amateur this year and by doing a prolonged FOF course with him will pay you back.

And one more thing - Good Luck you Lucky Bugger! 😀

Cheers gibbon! I think a lot of it may have come down to the quality of the write up as well as speed of application. We did sit down and spent ages getting our paragraphs right in the way that they wanted it 'a description of your riding of big mountain adventures'

In the last few years we have ridden crazy natural lines above Lake Garda and Mt Baldo with descents of up to 4-6 hrs, proper back country AM in Canada literally hours from anywhere and epics in NZ. I think they seemed to like what we had been upto and it must have read a lot different to the usual '10 days in Verbier' which is what my riding may have only consisted of 7-8 yrs ago.

Joe is a friend of ours from the RAF so I will be tapping him up in the new year for a plan to get stuck into. It is his fault that I ended up applying for this event as he sold it to me while we were away on an expedition last year in Germany. A week climbing in the mountains provided a lot of time for bike talk..... 😉

Cheers for the bike info also, if I remember rightly Steve Jones from Dirt used an S Works last year and did really well on it, 9th place I think!

It sounds like you are well placed to be 'competative' so maybe a change of bike is in order.

Being active in the secondhand frame/parts market means you could probably sell what you have and build something 'racey' for the event then go back the other way afterwards... all for very little loss.

It would be good to hear what you decide and how you are training.

i did it in 2011. My bike wasnt suitable and a little undergunned. But I still had a fab week, hard but great fun, bar the broken ribs. ;o)

If I did it again I'd be looking for something with a minumum 120mm travel front and back and a fairly slack head angle but nice light XC weight. Make sure it can take chunky tyres and fit dual ply versions. Theres a lot of talk about 29 versus 26 but in my head its horses for courses, there are times a 29 would be nice but some of the descents are well techie and a smaller 26 would work.

It is a hard event, there is lots of climbing... no sorry there is LOTS of climbing and you will be spending some of the day walking up, not riding up. There is probably a few times you'll walk down as well.

Enjoy.

Tubes bring lots lots of tubes.
Oh and the best bike is a commencemal meta AM.

Interesting that Nadine is doing it. She has the advantage of being local, but not sure she's up to anka's or tracey's standard.

I want to do it just to spend the day riding with Guy Martin then chatting to him about racing in the evenings.

Mb Nut, Lots of good info there about making a change. You may be right and I think it could be done for very little money changing hands either way. My eye has been taken by the £799 frame price of the Titus El Guapo with CCDB air! I cannot believe that they can get this bike out the door for that price, I really can't, even with On Ones buying power. I reckon this would build up about 28 lbs with my parts and with the borrowed Specialized 4 bar set up may be a demon at climbing. It's got to be worth my consideration at that price....

Ti Pin, I really admire your honesty! If you don't mind me asking what bike were your riding?

All the best,

Lee.

generallevi - I'm old school and the bike is very rare and not something you can buy anymore. ;o) I still have it, ride it and love it, but TP needed way more bike than I was packing! Plus its pilot (AKA me) needed a few more skills and expertise going downwards! I left them at home.

How Old School? 😉 are we talking Raleigh Activator II or Pro Flex Beast or a bit more modern like a Marin b17? 😉

[url=[IMG] [/IMG]]come on Lee, you know it makes sense....

Andy,
I take this as a deliberate highjack attempt and one that could potentially see me parting with a lot of hard earned.....

However, it is a lovely bike you have there mate and one that I struggled to keep up with at Inners! Not sure how much of that was down to its jockey though 😉

One of our guides here is 19th on the reserve list and really cheesed not to have got in. Still she's got the Cape Epic to look forward to in March, so can't complain too much!

I've just got more thrashing around Tenerife to look forward to 😕

Good luck and enjoy it, what ever the outcome its a weeks worth of great riding in great company I reckon.

Congratulations on getting an entry, lighten the alpine up or get a five with 150/60 up front,1x10 with a 32 should be ok, less chance of dropping the chain,good tyres aswell it's very rocky in that area so puncture risk is high
As for riding with Guy,I've been out riding with him a few times sound bloke mad as a hatter and fit but he ain't no downhiller I wouldn't have thought he'll be challenging the top positions

My missus races Elite level XC and is pretty handy in the Alpine Enviroment also so I know she will want to do as well as possible

WEll call me whatever name you want but this race isn't your typical alpine for brits environnement. Trails are raw, hard, exposed. Nowhere like the trails you gets in resorts. I am just saying that so you know what you are going to get. The 06 is usually more than what most people bargain for.

Juan,

Wouldn't call you anything mate! Any constructive advice is taken on board. I think the reason we got the places is because if I'm honest we don't fall into the typical Brits abroad alpine type, if there is such a thing? We ride on all sorts of Alpine tracks, in many different places. The 661 to Torbole high above Garda is one of the crazier trails we have done and Fay held her own against many fellas on bikes with much more travel. I hope trails like this will have stood us in good stead for what will be coming up but you can only give it your best shot.

Nothing really constructive to add, just wanted to say "Good effort" for getting the places. I guess you've already seen most of the published stuff, but by chance I was reading Adam Craig's writeup on his blog last night ; [url= http://www.adamcraig.net/trans-provence-2012-the-best-riding-of-your-life/ ]http://www.adamcraig.net/trans-provence-2012-the-best-riding-of-your-life/[/url]

Oh and I think Juan is down in South East France somewhere? Juan, do you think the Transvesubienne would be good training for Levi and his missus?

Oh and I think Juan is down in South East France somewhere? Juan, do you think the Transvesubienne would be good training for Levi and his missus?

Maybe, however the transvésubienne is not a "fun" race. It's just one of those race you do to flatter your ego and say you've finished it. Big number, very difficult trails but no fun at all. The TV is very demanding as a one day effort, someone average will finish it in about 10-12 hours. I think doing one of the various enduros, or XMB arounud will be more in the spirit. None of the days of the TP are as hard ad the TV, however you're riding seven days, but if you're a good rider ride frequently and most importantly you can ride mostly 4-6 hours and 1300- 1800 rides you should have no problem finishing any of them.
And that is without even considering the hardware.

That's sort of funny - I ride mostly xc stuff around Montpellier and don't descend that well, so I was thinking that for me the TV would be a much more achievable thing to do than the enduro races like the TP (where I'd surely die either from skidding off a switchback or from being ridden off the trail by eveyone else overtaking me...)

Timb34, just read that piece by Adam Craig, really informative, honest write up. There seems to be some fun in their also, just a little at least.... 🙂

Mate, I don't care what you say...you've got your peepers on an IBIS Mojo HD (remember that beauty on the wall at Llandegla??? 😀 & the comment of, 'If I get in that Trans Provence event...I'm having that!')

Just saying, just saying....

Woolymonster, if you remember also around the time I was taking a lot of Morphine for this sinus infection so I cannot be held responsible for my actions.....

😉

Woolymonster, if you remember also around the time I was taking a lot of Morphine for this sinus infection so I cannot be held responsible for my actions.....

would have thought it's an ideal opportunity to try out a few bikes (Mojo, S-Works - all those listed above) and then pick up the best one for you second-hand. Ride it like mad on some similar trails beforehand, and if it's better than your current bike, train and use that - then when you're back, have both for a few months and sell the one you don't use. Shouldn't cost much at all, esp compared to the opportunity you have..... Same goes for your wife's bike too.....

general, I took my xc fs bike, 100mm fork and 5 inch travel capability rear, it usually gets about 3 to 4 inches. The bike is a ti full sus bike with lovers and haters alike. I took my old friend the ibis BowTi, it has very xc head angles and was fine until things got steep steep. I also took a cold that gradually through the week got worse and then broke a couple of ribs, but still loved it and finished despite being toold by the doc to miss a day. I fitted the biggest dual ply tyres I could and a dropper post but i admit it wasnt the right bike for the job... I needed more travel and a slightly slacker head angle. The bike only weighs circa 24lbs so that was never a problem. I'd quite fancy lock out if i did it again for some of the link sections. I think a Scott Spark 120mm with a angleset would have been perfect or a Cannondale Jekyll.

When you find the cracks in your Alpine 160 you'll know it's time to change 🙄

If you look at the video footage from 2012 (day 5 I think) you will see some of the carbon frame chain stay fractures! light bike but didn't make the grade under the unrelenting conditions.

I did a guided trip... most people were on 140mm bikes. My wife & I were both on Turner 5spots with zoke 55s and Fox 36s. They were perfect.. but I am a Turner fan

Ash had a couple of Nukeproof Megas with 170 Lyriks and 1x10. In fact there were quite a few 1x10s. I rode one of Ash's Megas up a few of the stages no problem. If you're strong enough to compete then you'd do just fine on 1x10 (I on the other hand would need to build up some strength).

My take on the TP - First of all you have to make sure that you are fit enough for the 7 longs days of intense riding both up and down. Sure you may be fast down hill but that won't mean anything if you nothing left in the tanks on day 4.

Once you've got your fitness up there then make sure your tech skills are up for it.

catvet - what bike was it that cracked?

Would love to do this event, but nowhere near fit enough.

Did the hope valley mtb challenge earlier this year (~30 miles and 5000 feet climbing), finished it, but couldnt have done it again the next day and then repeat for 5 more days, so doubt I could finish the TP.

Julians
Not sure what bike but definitely saw cracked chain stay, would have to back and look through the video footage!!

Julians
Day five 2012 videos at TP WEB SITE at 3.06 mins in
Regards
Catvet

Has anyone competed on a 29er yet or do the switchbacks cancel that option out?

Also Cube Stereo 650b ? A light compromise for the race?

That's sort of funny - I ride mostly xc stuff around Montpellier and don't descend that well, so I was thinking that for me the TV would be a much more achievable thing to do than the enduro races like the TP (where I'd surely die either from skidding off a switchback or from being ridden off the trail by eveyone else overtaking me...)

Honestly I think the TV is harder. You have time gates. Nothing stops you to catch your breath on the top of a hill at the TP. Plus there is only 70 of you so you can pootle at your own pace at the back of the race.

I took part in TP 2010. All I can say is whatever bike you choose, however much it weighs, practise carrying it up the steepest , longest hill/mountain you know. Cycle back down turn round and repeat ad infinitum.

Ooh and enjoy it. It is fabulous albeit a tad tiring.

Chainline phil completed it on a 29er. A rigid, fat-fronted Jones if I recall correctly