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I'm looking into a riding holiday in the alps later in the year, so I would like your opinion. Should I hire a bike out there or buy a 2nd one hand to take with me and sell on return. If so any recommendations. I ride a 140mm travel Lapierre and will be keeping this but can't justify owning 2 bikes permanently. Cheers
What's wrong with taking the Lapierre? What kind of riding will you be doing out there?
I used my 140mm in Meribel last year and it was great.
Rented a DH bike for a day just to see the difference, and couldn't wait to get back on mine.
Ride what you've got?
Unless you intend to progress to 20ft jumps to flat in the week I'd bet you get more from it on your current bike than a DH bike. My Pitch gets used everywhere from Dalby to the SRAM test track in Spain and only has 10mm more travel. Just get some supertacky tyres, a full face helmet and some5 armour if its going to be using the chairlifts.
I take my Prophet with 140mm forks and DH tyres on my Alps trips and find it a great bike for the trails I normally ride there as well as the odd DH run. I've yet to take it beyond it's own capabilities so never felt the need to get something bigger.
Possibly been miss informed, but I was under the impresion the lifts trash frames and the length of runs and amount of bumps and jumps compared to what I'm used to was a killer on more of a x c bike.
I would prefer to take my own as it's potential is far beyond mine!
Never had a scratch on my bike from the lifts (and touch wood won't again this year). The potential lengths of the descents you'll go on will be tiring on [i]any[/i] bike.
Thats Settled. If the trip goes ahead my trusted zesty will be coming along 😉
I'd agree with monkeysfeet, upping your rotor size for the trip is a good idea.
I did the PdS last year on a 120mm travel bike. My only advice would be to make sure your brakes are working fine, take plenty of spare pads, if you don't run tubeless, maybe use DH tubes and run tyres with a strong sidewall, also a dropper seatpost can be a god-send. If you have space take a few spares (tyres, mech hanger etc) as shops out there are expensive.
You may not be as quick as the longer travel bikes, but no less fun!
bring your own bike. hire bikes are fully raped usually
Just started using tubless & ive got a dropper post on there so new discs & it's ready to go. Iv been using superstar sintered pads and just ordered another 4 sets, are they the right kind of pads to be using. They've been fine for my local rides & trail centres but don't know what to expect.
I have been told about the spares shops prices so will definitely take what spares I can.
Yeah I bet the hire bikes have seen some action!
Organic pads are probably best (more power, better insulating), but take loads, I run new pads each day, that way I've a stash of bedded in pads for when I get back to the UK. It may also rain which will favour sintered.
Any pads will be fine if you have bigger discs IME.
If you have cash to splash then you might want to consider getting a bigger fork such as a Fox 36 or Lyrik.
Not so much for the extra travel (though 160mm on a Zesty feels good on DH tracks, I have tried it) as for the extra stiffness and comfort. A secondhand Lyrik Coil U-Turn could be ideal, allowing you to set the height exactly where you want.
I have got away with Single ply in the alps and I have had failures in both single & dual ply. Take some tyre boots and repair kits. The rocks opened up the side wall on both types if you are unlucky. If you are going to change the tyre for the trip then fit a wider higher volume tyre than you run at home.
As has been said take pads with you as you will use a fair few. Our group varied from a set a day to 2 sets for the week. We had a mix of Hecklers with Pikes, Comencal 55? and Giant reign. The Giant was quickest down but the rest were not far behind.
Have fun 😉