Hey
First trip abroad biking in September and really looking forward to it. Need to be fully prepared so looking for suggestions on how to make the most of it. Here’s what we’ve thought of and arranged :
Airport transfers, hotel, uplifts, trail guide, Evoc bike bags, spare rear hanger mech, converted to tubeless, knee and elbow pads
?
Cheers
Full face helmet
Spare brake pads
Spare spokes
Shock pump
Make sure brakes are freshly bled
Make sure the brakes are good and not a brand/model known to overheat, xc brakes will not be up to it.
It can absolutley tip it down in the afternoon. Waterproofs.
spare tyre, Spare valves, sidewall patch kit, camelbak, decent sun cream, gloves, spare gloves, tools to build bike on arrival, cableties and padding to pack bike up on return, proper insurance (dogtag perhaps), EHIC Card, possibly extra tubeless jizz, packing checklist, shades, goggles, not a full face as well as full face? Italian electrical adapter. Frame spacers (though I think evoc bags come with them).
Proper tyres, non of these snakeskin tracing paper thin rubbish.
Parts are pricey. I crashed more in a week there than I thought possible. Still wince at paying 55 euros for a shimano rotor after I bent it.
Brake pads.
I took a half helmet never used it, wont bother with it this year. fullface only.
Depends how much uplift you've got booked as to full face or not or both. I tend to just use half lid. There are some great pedally trails where half lid may be better or full on steep downhill trails where full face is preferable.
Great advice and appreciated....cheers
Spare Mech Hanger every time, i have mine zip tied under the saddle now so its always there.
I actually took a normal helmet and a full face, didnt wear the full face, and we rode all the EWS stuff.
Make sure you do the Karma trail, quality long descent
I will clarify when I say a fullface I mean a vented one, a fox proframe in this instance. A normal ff would be pretty unpleasant, but then so would faceplanting into rock with a half helmet.
Not sure what terrain you normally ride but for uplift days I'd stick a DH casing tyre on the back. Might leave it on there even when pedalling to be honest. There are lots of sharp rocks in Finale that'll tear trail type casings to shreds.
Definitely make sure they’re decent tyres. I rode maxxis exo last year but normally take full dh tyres, they were fine but they were brand new.
I suppose your kit is limited flying, id always rather drive for that reason. If your not doing the whole time guided then a bit of research and a garmin goes a long way. My first trip was not time limited so we explored but wasted a few days on trails that were not so good or easy to find.
Take your biggest smile... for me it’s probably my favourite place to ride in Europe. It’s got everything.
Agree with ND on doing your homework on which trails to ride. Lots of GPX files floating around online but bear in mind that the trails evolve and, in some cases, fall into disrepair. I usually tell people to use guides when they go. I figure if you're spending a load of money on a holiday and only have limited time then you don't want to spend that time lost or on a trail which was good 2 years ago but is rubbish now.
