A day trying EMTB

Silence for the best part of 4 years, yes, I know... and then just before christmas I find myself itching to take a trip to Cannock and see what all this Electric MTB'ing is about. Personally I've been doing research and am angling towards a Canyon Spectral:On, Focus Sam2 or a Haibike Xduro Nduro (Haibike's naming department really needs to have a word) as I was after something fairly long-travel, 150mm plus. Unfortunately there was nowhere with anything on demo except for Leisure Lakes and I'm not trialing that sort of bike around a flat expanse of water. So a trip to well-known Cannock Chase meant I was stuck on testing a Trek Powerfly FS7. I approached the visit as more of an "insight into EMTB" rather than an out-and-out bike test ride.

We dragged along a pal on his conventional Specialized downhill bike, an early 2000's vintage (probably a Bighit or somesuch) to belittle him and laugh in his puffy red face on the up-hills. This is the mountain bike equivalent of bringing a knife to a gunfight. It isn't so much "beating" your peers as "mashing their face repeatedly into a dung-covered boulder". Still, we laughed.

The Weight

...means bugger all, to be honest, in the EMTB world. Yes, we're talking 24Kg bikes, and for those of us who've been riding all these years the idea of all that weight kind of freaks us out. But in reality, of course, most EMTBs are putting out somewhere between 60 and 80Nm of torque and 250 to 500 watts of pedal assistance from their electric motors, so it should come as no surprise that pedal effort is nothing to worry about. The bike weight came into play just as you'd expect - it feels planted; sure-footed on the downs but it's fair to say you can feel slightly more effort is required to coax it into rapid change of direction... although it was nowhere near as bad as you might expect.

About the only time you'll ever be fussed about the weight penalty, then, is when you have to lift the thing in and out of the car. Or when you drain the battery, if you manage to... and, to be honest, if this happened you might be pleasantly surprised. During the ride, we were climbing a long, steady fireroad over the northern side of Cannock Chase. My daughter and I decided it would be a warming show of comraderie to turn our assistance off, and go up the hill with our friend "old skool". And, you know what, with the gearing available it was totally doable. It honestly felt no different to riding a conventional MTB uphill, albeit a rather heavier one, but we were no more out of breath than our colleague on his manual bike. In fact, maybe less so, but we'll defer that to health reasons rather than any mechanical advantage.

The Boost

So forgive me for saying the rather obvious, but let's just get it out there and said... going up the hills is where it's all about. That's your raison d'etre with an EMTB. The downs are no more compelling than any other bike. On the levels, that assistance is great at taking the edge off but as soon as you hit 15mph you sort of hit a wall on the Bosch CX powered bikes (that these Treks were). Other models using Shimano or Yamaha motors, for example, are reported to not feel as bad as the Bosch system but I can't vouch for that in person - but it is something I am very much bearing in mind for my future purchase. The Bosch system gears down the motor so when it reaches the assistance limit of 15mph and "decouples", it does it rather vicously - it's all or nothing. One minute you're flying like billy-o, then you're without assistance, pedalling a 24Kg bike with fat 27.5+ tyres and driving an internal reduction gear in the motor for no reason whatsoever.

If you're finding yourself doing lots of pedalling at 15+mph then this might be a turn-off but the reality is most trails will either be too technical for that speed, or else you're going downhill enough that it makes no odds. But I couldn't help thinking I had a valid gripe with it - 20mph would be just a slightly more sensible limit, maybe even if it halved the assistance power rather than cutting it off completely. But them's the EU rules, so there it is. Until March 29th, at least. That could just sway me to a hard-brexit.

On the Bosch system, you have 3 basic levels of assist. Eco for maximum battery, Trail for the middle-ground, Turbo for maximum assistance and a "stuff the battery mileage" mentality. Each is a simple trade-off of assistance power versus range. The display unit gives you a constantly-calculated estimate of current range based on your selected mode and the riding profile you've been performing. This model also included an "EMTB" mode which is basically an 'adaptive' mode that varies the assistance between the 3 settings automatically based on your cadence and the torque you're applying to the pedals. Since we were taking an easy day of it we spent most of the fireroads in Eco mode. In my mind, I would say Eco effectively levels the bike to performing like a normal mountain bike - it gives you just enough assistance to negate the drag and weight effects of the bike, but you still work up enough of a sweat.

Uplift Service

One moment of hilarity did come from the use of Turbo mode in conjunction with the GYMB uplift method (Grab Your Mate's Backpack). At one point during the day, and while hoiking it up a long, steady fireroad to the top of some trails, we did discover that enabling Turbo mode and having your mate "grab on" did make for a rather rapid, fun ascent of said hill. The sheer ludicrous nature of pedalling uphill at 15mph dragging another fully-grown male on an overweight old downhill bike really appealed to my childish side. Bonkers and utterly brilliant. Probably safe to say it wouldn't do your battery range any good though.

The Nadgery Bits

When you get onto the trails, the EMTB approach doesn't disappoint. As said above, these standard Powerfly FS7's don't have as much travel as I would have personally liked - they are 130mm front and rear and I suspect were a bit over-gassed for my weight so felt stiffer than I'd typically be after, but ignoring that fact they performed as you would expect over the twisties. In fact they reminded me a little of my old Trek Liquid 55 in terms of feel. On an undulating trail that assistance just helps you keep it up to speed with little burst of pedal effort, but it certainly doesn't feel like it's doing all the work for you.

The big take-away for me was that it allowed me to session a trail quickly, one blast after another. Because you keep those energy levels up, it's a relatively trivial task to loop back round to the start of a trail and hit it again without the need to stop and catch your breath.

It's not cheating

The common misconception with e-bikes is that they're "cheating". Of course, in reality, unless you're in a competition with non-e bikes, what is there to cheat yourself out of? On my conventional rides, your entire day out was a balanced equation that took into account key factors - fun, time and energy levels. Maybe some might include calorie burn if fitness is their driving factor, but for me, it's not; I'm there to have fun, nothing more than that.

For me, the reality of conventional mountain biking was that time and my physical levels of energy always limited the amount of fun I could fit into a given day. With an EMTB, the effort you exert (particularly on the climbs) is reduced - I'd guess by a factor of something between 2 and 3. Previously a full day's riding at Cannock would see me get two loops of Follow the Dog in at a comfortable pace, with a break in the middle of course. By the end of that I would be feeling it the next day. Two loops on an EMTB would feel like half the work - in the brief visit I had for this ride (about 6 miles over 3 hours - yeah, we had manual friends with us remember!) we were fresh as a daisy at the end of it.

That last point really is what it's all about, for me. Ask anyone in the know about EMTBs and they'll say the same thing - rather than do half the effort, why not do twice as much riding? It is abundantly clear to me that an e-bike allows me to maximise the amount of fun you get out of a fixed period of time riding - at the end, you'll have exhausted the same amount of physical effort to do twice (maybe even three times) as much riding in the same amount of time. And that means twice as much fun.

What are you cheating yourself out of? The only way that argument works for me is if you're purely doing cycling for physical training, but I warrant that's hardly the profile of the large majority of mountain bikers.

Summit 65 - Sept 14 2014

R2 plus Nick and I did this a couple of years ago. From memory it is a pretty nice ride but tough on the SS and took about 9 hours to do the long route. Dozer said he might be up for it - anyone else? http://www.roughrideguide.co.uk/mtbike/2014/01/summit-65-chilterns-challenge/

Do you think we are too old for this sort of thing?

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cycling/cyclist-has-second-thoughts-at-the-top-of-a-narrow-mountain-passage-9264413.html

October date for diaries

As a lot of you cant make the weekend at the end of May, how about penciling in a weekend now, for October.

Fri 3th - Sun 5th Oct?? (ooops)

Venue tbc, suggestions welcome.

It would be nice to get a decent size group to go.

PS Confirmed for May weekend:
Dozer, Sicknote, Les, Darren & R2

Anyone for South Wales in May?

Just to let you know the Westoning/Luton crew will be heading over to south Wales Fri 23/5 - Sun 25/5 (we will be heading out early Fri morning). Les is in charge, so all I know is we will be doing Bike Park Wales (uplift not available) and Afan.

We will be staying in the castle hotel Merthyr Tydfil (Mrs Les does work for one of the other chains with a hotel there, so I assume we have been banned from staying at that one??). It is the bank holiday weekend! so the drive back Sunday should be good and we get a day to chill.


Cheers... Dozer, Les, Darren & Sicknote

Jacobs Ladder

A few weeks back the Notts contingent took a sunny drive over to Derbyshire to see what Jacobs Ladder is like when the weather is good.

It's been 7 years since we last rode it (time flies) and the hills are still as steep as we remembered.  The Chapel Gate climb out of Edale has been resurfaced and the deep ruts replaced with a slippery scree.  T'was at this point that my pal found his rear gear cable was hanging on by a thread and that he'd lost his lowest gears - doh, your going to need them.

The decent past the Cairn Circles is fast and technical and best of all goes on for ages, as do all the DH's on this ride - along with the ups :-(  The next climb is okay if you're fit (we aren't) and the decent to Coldwell Clough is a belter.

I remember the final climb up to JL being an okay grassy climb but it's now a tight, fenced in track with lots of water ruts and loose boulders.  We'll be pushing this then.

The drop down Jacobs Ladder (riding it the correct direction!) is still as challenging, fun and to be taken with great care is places.  The route wasn't awash with walkers either, they get steps down the side of the ladder anyhoo.

Posse: Farqui (5Spot), Roger (FSR)
Weather: bloomin marvelous (too hot)
Mechanicals: nil

Glentress

Hey bloggers, long time no post. Found myself visiting family in Peebles at the tail end of this week so it wouldn't be right to go all the way up there and not check out Glentress, part of the 7 Stanes network of trails (of which I've now ticked off 4). This review takes a bit of an alternative look, though, because I was accompanied by my daughter of 6 years old and an adult rider unaccustomed to serious off-road MTB. On top of this, my absence from the trails for far too long has meant my fitness isn't what it should be (although I was pleansantly surprised to find it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be), so we ventured on nothing more than blues, a green and a brief section of red.

So, what faces you at Glentress?

The visitor centre down at the base of the forest provides a small but excellent shop providing many a demo bike and juicy offers, plus the usual cafe and £3-all-day parking. It's all very new (less than 2 years old I believe) and excellent quality; very classy looking.

You can drive to the middle of the trails and park in Buzzard's Nest too, if you prefer (or have a friend who can uplift you there to save the climb). Less facilities here (just 3 portaloos) but it's more central to the trails. However, if you plan on enjoying the final run of the trails down the hill to the base, you'll be faced with a fair climb back up to your car.

We had cycled in from Peebles so had already covered just under 2km, so while the adults were capable of cycling up to Buzzard's Nest, it was a bit beyond a 6 year old... muggins ended up pushing two bikes instead, so if you can get a lift up for kids it will save their legs for the important stuff.

We took the little'un to the skills loop just down from Buzzard's Nest, where she practised her log run balance and handling of yumps and berms. This is an excellent little area where your kids can build their confidence up for what faces them on the trails; there are some small graded loops that show them what to expect if they want to trek out to one of the proper trails. Daughter fully confident, we ventured off to the green loop on the west edge of Glentress ("Roundhouse"). This is a lovely, short and easy green loop then any newly-found MTBer will have no problem traversing. My daughter managed it with no falls, no dabs but just one minor stop on the initial climb where she failed to anticipate a climb and lost momentum. Nothing dangerous and it teaches her the art of conserving momentum!

We then took an unmarked fireroad exit out of the park to the west and back to Peebles via Janet's Brae, and called it a day for day 1.

Returning the next day, this time with a car in tow full of family, we revisited the green loop with daughter. With confidence from the previous day, she enjoyed the trail even more and she couldn't resist a play in the skills area once more. But then it was time for the adults to break off for an afternoon and sample something a little more challenging.

As said before, we were taking things easy on this visit so I'm afraid I can't do the place full justice - we only sampled the blue route really. We started from post 11 at Buzzard's Nest, a short fireroad hack takes you to post 13 where we followed the blue/red east, climbing up a number of switchbacks. The climb burnt my withered legs a little and by the time we reached post 15 I was feeling the lack of saddle time. Another pretty boring climb up to post 24, then fireroad climb to 17, meant so far I wasn't "feeling it" much.

Here we split from the red, following the blue fireroad route over to post 43 and the start of Betty Blue. Unfortunately, Betty was in some state of disrepair and the makeshift trail that bled away all our gained height didn't really do much for me. We soon find ourselves back on fireroad, heading back west to post 16 again. In hindsight, I can't really recommend this section of blue much until Betty's fixed - the red is probably a better bet (Spooky Wood).

We're staying off reds for the sake of my 'fresh' riding buddy, so Hit Squad Hill takes a miss as we fireroad it round, past Pie Run and rejoining the red/black at Magic Mushroom. This takes us back across to post 57, then a 200yd fireroad stretch south-west to post 31 and the top of the final return descent back to base. Falla Brae is a short, fast and flowing run with a few small options for air-time, then we split at post 32 and take "Good Game" down the side of the hill and past the Go Ape activities. "Good Game" is fun - it's childs play, fast and flowing with neat little jumps (all offering you the option of an easy bail-out for the 'green' ones amongst you) and it's a nice unwind towards the end of the route - no effort, all fun.

"The Admiral" - the final blue section - is of a similar vein but over just as you get into it. A short fireroad drop back down to the main car park and it's the end of day two.

Verdict? Marvellous - typical quality you'd expect if you've ridden any of the other 7 Stanes sites. The blue route is pretty mild and more fun is to be had at the lower sectio below Buzzard's Nest - the effort for the upper section doesn't seem to offer much by way of reward. I think the red route is really one to look into for a better level of reward but unfortunately I wasn't able to venture along it this time, let alone the black. The greens on offer are perfect intros for kids or newbies; nothing intimidating and very enjoyable.

The trails do offer a good selection of fireroads and cross-overs so it's actually very easy to tailor your route to something more along your needs (ie. shorten the black, or tie together a number of different routes). Facilites are excellent and it definately gets my thumbs up. I will return!

Watlington Ride August

Anyone around for a Watlington ride in August. I'm available for the first three weekends in August and happy to plan a route. I suggest a good meeting point is Watlington town centre. The car park is right next to a nice pub for post ride debriefing....

R2

The Lakes- Exploring the North

To be honest I have been intrigued by the idea of riding in the Lake District for years and perhaps a bit apprehensive having walked there in the past. It is also 4 hours away!

Last year I finally managed a day riding in the South Lakes around Ambleside with a combination of trail centre and natural riding. The 'natural' riding was one of the best days I have had on the bike despite wind and rain, so I finally 'got' the appeal.

I have since been reading the "Lake District Mountain Biking" Book form Vertebrate Publishing and had suggested North lakes could be an option for a weekend away. Out of the blue the chance to do a 'recce' came up this month sharing the trip with a walking buddy and so I found myself in Keswick youth hostel for a couple of days exploring.

There were a number of options for routes. My first idea was to try the Winlatter Trail Centre and then try a natural route. There were two obvious choices - The Borrowdale Bash, (just featured in Singletrack mag), and  a Skiddaw loop. With some advice from the STW Forum I decided to do the two natural trails with Whinlatter as a bad weather back up.

The plan for Saturday was the Skiddaw route as it was over 30 miles, but the morning brought rain and low cloud, so reluctantly I gave up this idea and headed for Whinlatter.

There were a few hardy mountain bikers there, but I passed many more road cyclists on the way up - I guess Winlatter is one of the 'passes' that people try to do in a day, there are a number of road challenges in the Lakes. The rain was still coming down heavily, but I set off on the blue trail for a 'warm up'. This was quite a testing trail, more so with the rain. Maybe it was the weather, but way marking did not seem that good and with a closed section diversion I found myself going around in circles! So, I set off again, on the red this time. The terrain is challenging and steep and I found one of the climbs to be the steepest I have come across in a trail centre. Once again I lost the trail and ended up back at the car park. The mistake I made at this point was to stop because I very soon felt chilled. With the rain still pouring down I decided to call it a day. From what I saw I would like to try this centre again, in better weather. Cafe seemed good, there is a bike shop, but parking was a massive £6.90.

After killing a few hours in the town the rain finally stopped and with some fresh kit on I set off to do part of the Skiddaw loop by Threlkeld and up to Lonscale Fell. Heading up the bridleway from Threlkeld soon reminded me what attracts people to the Lakes - the scenery was fanatastic and very soon a sense of remoteness set in. Lonscale Fell is well know for some tricky rocks and narrow hillside trail. It did not disappoint and I took it very carefully being on my own. Most is ride-able if you are brave, though maybe easier when dry. After Lonscale you meet the Skiddaw summit trail and from this point there is a fantastic downhill for about 2 miles! Ended the day with a big grin and back to the hostel for a shower, beer and good grub!
Sunday Morning was better, so off to tour Derwent water. Locals had given me some 'extra' off road bits to try, but as there was still much wetness I gave these a miss and headed up the road to Watendlath - a climb that proved less difficult than predicted. Once again scenery, views and remoteness were features of the route. The tiny hamlet of Watendlath does have a tearooms though!

I knew the descent to Rosthwaite was challenging, but it was certainly more technical and rocky than expected (and wet!). So was ultra-cautious and walked anything that I felt unsure about. It reinforced the message from the previous day that the Lakes is not really a place to ride on your own and on this basis missed out the Castle Crag descent, said to be even more tricky!
Despite the weather I had a great time. Keswick or Ambleside are good bases for rides and as long as you accept that you may have to push and carry at times the riding is top class! Got to go back and do these two properly in better weather! Also tempted to do Skiddaw summit as it offers the longest downhill run in England.



Anyone for Cannock Sun 28/4

Hi Everyone,
after a very muddy winter we are back off road again and fancy a sneaky Sunday ride, somewhere other than Beds. To keep things simple we are heading off for just a day to Cannock on Sunday 28th April, should be there for around 10:30.

Let us know if anyone else is interested in joining us.

Looks like some sections of the Monkey trail and Follow The Dog may be closed, but I am sure there will be enough to keep us going for the day?

Cheers.... Dozer, Darren, Sicknote and Les.

2012 Alps WhiteRoom MTB trail Video

Alps! 2012 from Nick Jones on Vimeo.

Here is a great Video taken by Nick Jones from the 2012 'WhiteRoom Chalet' Alps MTB trip detailed in a previous post.

R2

MTBing trips for 2013

MTBing TRIP IDEAS FOR 2013

After the success of our recent Bloggers outing to Coed-Y-Brenin I volunteered to pen a few suggestions for next year and if the response is favourable I'm happy to organise. The concept is simple... agree and schedule two MTB Blogger MTB trips. I assume we will target the first in Spring 2013 and the second in Autumn 2013.

Fortunately Uphiller provided me with some great location ideas and as a result I'm proposing the following two destinations for consideration:

1) The Lake District:

Proposed Accommodation: TBC Keswick

Riding: Whinlatter Trail Centre + natural route/routes to be planned and proposed by Uphiller

Whinlatter trail map

Comments: I've gone with this suggestion for two reasons, Whinlatter looks very interesting and claims 15k of single track. For the natural routes here are Uphiller's comments 'The natural route was a whole different kettle of fish – despite being wet and windy and on my own I have not enjoyed a ride so much for ages – I now ‘get’ the Lakes and can’t wait to go back. Hard to explain, but a mix of the scenery, variety of trails and challenge. There were also plenty of possible refreshment stops.' 

2) North Wales - Betws-Y-Coed and Coed-Y-Brenin

Proposed accommodation: TBC Betws-Y-Coed

Riding: Penmachno Trail, Marin Trail with option to re-visit The Beast at Coed-Y Brenin on the way home 

Comments: I think we all enjoyed North Wales and The Beast. Riding two new trails is a great excuse to go back!

Please post your comments and give me feedback on the suggested riding, best time of year, preferred accommodation or any other riding location preferences that you may have. If we get enough support for an alternative location I will add it to the list. 

R2 

Anyone for Coed-y-Brenin

Hi everyone,
Les, Darren, Sicknote and myself are planning a sneaky weekend in Wales 20-21st Oct. I think Farqui will be joining us as well

We will probably do a very early Saturday morning start and get there around 10.00.

I think we will be camping at:
http://www.caegwynfarm.co.uk/contact.htm

they also do B&B. Their bunk house is already booked out :-(

I know Farqui has stayed up the road at :
 http://www.oldmillfarmhouse.co.uk/

Let me know if you are interested.... Dozer

Devinci Dixon

Well, my Canyon Nerve XC was 5 years old in April and from its original incarnation of 100mm front and 115 rear travel it had gradually been transformed into a 130mm front travel bike with wider bars, shorter stem and resulting geometry. It has served me well but it was very apparent in Spain (two years ago) that the low XC BB height was very prone to rock and pedal strikes and that the resulting changes had actually rendered the bike slightly too small for me and lacking a little stability. In addition to this the frame had taken a few hits and was looking quite 'tired'. The final impetus for change was the pending Alps trip booked late last year. The Canyon was still delivering lots of fun on my local XC circuits but I new I really needed something more capable of dealing with the terrain I'd find in the alps. More to the point, something that would help me and my limited riding skills deal with the
alps.

My choice was determined by a number of factors:

1) Budget. Whilst I planned to use as many parts as possible from the Canyon and re-cycle the Canyon frame, fork and wheels on ebay I had a very specific budget to stick within. This immediately ruled out a fair number of the premium and better known brands.

2) I really wanted to test ride my new frame before buying it. That included testing riding one that was the right size because I was aware that my sizing often fell between a small and medium frame.

3) I wanted a bike that I could use for local XC trail bashing And at Aston Hill as well as more hard core alps riding on the few occasions that I'm lucky to get access to such riding.

4) My Canyon weighed in at around 28lb and I wanted my new bike to be of a similar weight.

After lots of research I chose the Banshee/Mythic Spitfire as the bike I'd like to try. I contacted Freeborn, the Mythic UK agent to enquire about a test ride and I mailed the UK designer (Keith Scott) to ask some questions.

It was a this point that things became a little tricky. Freeborn were very reluctant to talk to

me about the bike... odd for a business with exclusive rights to sell it? A little more digging on the internet and questions to both the designer and Freeborn helped me determine that the Spitfire had been suffering from some serious QC issues associated with the suspension bushing and resulting in a very high returns rate for frame replacement. In many cases Freeborn had been replacing the frame with an alternative...the Devinci Dixon.

Freeborn finally confirmed that they would no longer be selling 'bikes with suspension bushing' and the QC issues killed my interest in the Spitfire. Out of curiosity I undertook a little research on the Devinci Dixon.

A few favourable reviews later and with a better understanding of the DW Pivot suspension design + a video explanation by DW himself, I decided to give it a test ride.

My 1/2 day with Freeborn was very productive. The service I received from Jo and Michael at Freeborn was very good. The bike test was essentially an accompanied ride with Jo. We drove to the North Downs and preceded to ride relatively steep and rooty single track. Although the weather was wet and muddy, a few hours riding was more then enough to convince me that the Dixon had a lot to offer. In simple terms these were my key observations:

a) The suspension delivered lots of rear wheel traction ... far more then I expected.

b) The rear suspension was very plush. It just seemed endless and soaked up what ever was throw at it. For me, it was very confidence inspiring especially on gnarly terrain that I would have previously 'clenched' on.

c) Although very plush, the bike seemed to climb very well

d) The test bike was surprisingly light (about 26.5lb)

e) I generally felt much more confident and faster on anything downhill.

Not long after... I took the plunge: Final spec as follows:

1) Devinci Dixon Frame 2011 145mm rear travel FOX RP23 - Aluminium size Medium. New from Freeborn. Frame weight with headset & seatpost collar 7.0lb

2) Fox Float RLT 150mm Travel Taper/15mm. New from Freeborn.weight 3.9lb

3) Stan ZTR Crest on Hope Evo hubs. Front 15mm bolt thru/Rear 142mm bolt thru. New from Freeborn weight 3.5lb

4) Specialized Purgatory tyres, replaced with Maxxis High Roller DH for the Alps.

5) Sram Xo rear mech medium cage and X9 shifters. SRAM front mech 2x9 speed. Taken from my Canyon

6) XT Chainset 22/36 with Raceface bash guard. Cassette XT 11-34. Taken from my Canyon

7) Formula Oro brakes. Taken from my Canyon. Weight incl disks 2.2lb

8) Easton Haven Bars. New from Freeborn

9) Easton Haven post. New from Freeborn

10) Crank Bros Candy pedals Taken from my Canyon , replaced with Crank Bros Mallet for the Alps

11) SDG Bel Air Ti Saddle Taken from my Canyon

12) Stem Thomson 70mm Taken from my Canyon

Weight: with Purgatory Tyres and Crank Bros Candy: 28.5lb

Weight with Maxxis DH Dual Ply High Roller and Crank Bros Mallet: 31lb

I've now had the bike a good few months and more significantly it accompanied me to the Alps... I thought I'd wait and scribe my review after I'd really tested the bike in the Alps.

Feedback so far:

Cons:

1)From the reviews that I've read there were a few potential issues identified. The first was the relatively high BB height. I have the bike set on the slackest geometry position and the BB height is 347mm. Firstly, it's crossed my mind that a higher BB height might effect the bikes switchback performance. However, I really think I need to put that down to poor technique on my part. When i do get it right the bike is very responsive and the rear end really whips round.In addition to this, I had enough glancing pedal strikes in the Alps to quickly conclude that I really wouldn't want a much lower BB.

2) Secondly it was suggested that the bike was not so good at retaining chains. As a precaution I took a Blackspire Stinger with me to the Alps. I never needed it and the chain was fine for the duriation of the trip. I've sent it back to CRC for a refund.

3) I've noticed on aggressive terrain that occasionally the bike blows through its rear travel and drops the shock sag o ring onto the bushing. I spoke to Freeborn about this and they plan to send me a Fox air volume spacer kit (FOC) which has the effect of adding more progressive compression to the shock. However, this is fine tuning and I really don't see it as a big deal. Fox are currently out of stock.

Pros:

1)Without doubt the rear suspension works very well. My confidence has improved significantly and the bike just soaks up the trail.

2) Does the DW Pivot eliminate brake jack?? All I can say is that no mater what or how I rode the bike in the Alps, the rear suspension seemed to be doing its thing very well. There is no doubt that I used my brakes a lot. However, it was sensory and trail overload and I'm not a good enough rider to be certain especially under such testing conditions.

3) The Geometry of the bike is a big improvement over the Canyon. So much better downhill and with so few compromises uphill.

4) The frame is very robust compared to my XC Canyon and seems to have stood up very well to crash damage (more so then me!). Its noteworthy that Devinci claim to xray every frame as part of their QC process and they claim to provide a lifetime guarantee for the frame. The frame is also finished to a very high quality.

5) The Fox Float has performed fantastically well. Very easy to set up and very predictable to use.

Conclusion: Is it a good bike?? Well, its much better then I am a rider! That's all it needs to be to keep me very happy. There is no doubt its responsible for me riding a lot faster and with a lot more confidence. Right now I'm loving it.

R2

WhiteRoom Chalet MTB 2012

Previous posts reveal that Paul and I had chosen an alternative Alps trip .... Not too far from the posse in Meribel but arranged with the WhiteRoom Chalet providing a fully guided MTB holiday experience. Here is a brief summary of our 'adventures' during the first week of July 2012:

We arrived at the WhiteRoom Chalet around 7pm on Saturday June 30th and were immediately introduced to the other guests who split into three separate groups.

Jon, Laurence and his brother Nick, Piers and Louise, Daz and Jon. The groups age profile ranged from 20's thru to late 40's. Geographically the group was drawn from across the UK including the South/South West, London and the home counties, South Yorkshire and the North East.

Our hosts for the week were Stevo and Iona, guides and founders of the WhiteRoom and accompanied by Yvan a local French guide. Last but far from least, the Chalet catering team James and Mel who delivered fantastic breakfast, afternoon cakes and a 3 course evening dinner for the duration of our stay.

Day 1 (Sunday)

Our first days riding was to start with a van uplift to the upper slopes of Saint Foy. From here the group split into two. The more accomplished riders rode with Yvan and the remainder of the group followed at a slower pace accompanied by Stevo. This riding format was to be the theme for the remainder of the week.

We were immediately introduced to great forest single track, fast, flowing with roots,rocks and switchbacks.

We rode trail after trail until we reached the valley bottom at

Bourge-Saint-Maurice. From here we used the funicular and cable cars to work our way up to Les Arcs. The afternoon was a

continuation from the morning with more forest single track riding

Weather: Warm, cloudy and a little mid afternoon rain. Generally dry and fast riding conditions

Incident of the day: My front somersault (incl bike) having messed up trail rock!

Day 2 (Monday)

Heavy and persistent rain greeted us on day two. As a result Stevo decided that we should ride locally. We drove to the top of Saint Foy and set off on now familiar but very wet forest descents.

By now we had adopted a group riding order to ensure that we generally rode in order of speed. As we set off I followed Paul over a very steep but straight initial descent made harder

by two troublesome rocks in the middle of the trail. We negotiated these safely and as we reached the bottom and prepared for the next corner Paul caught his front wheel and fell. Unfortunately, what looked like a relatively minor crash resulted in a broken left clavical, Doh!

Game over for Paul and we spent the rest of the day at the hospital waiting for a diagnosis and treatment plan. I'm told the days riding was very good with lots more flowing forest single track

Weather: Wet turning to very wet!

Incident of the Day: Paul's broken Clavical!!

Paul under the knife for some Clavical plate and screws to be inserted!!

Day 3: (Tuesday)

The weather outlook was very good. Stevo decided to take the full group for their first full on back country ride. We started the day at Tignes bike park for a warm up on some of the man made trails (The riding was free courtesy of sponsorship by Canyon Bikes).

From here we set about traversing the valley side in a general descent before we were uplifted again.

The afternoon ride in

particular was Epic! We initially had a van uplift to enable us to once again traverse a high mountain pass. As the photo's reveal the riding and views were simply stunning!

Thanks

to Stevo 'selling' us the final uphill climb of the day... I think he said it was

just a 15min ride to the top.... it was a

tough climb with an

even tougher bike carry to the top.

However, all was forgiven as this allowed us to access some of the best trails I've ever ridden!!

Great weather, unbelievable views and absolutely fantastic single track. What a day!

Weather: Sun and broken cloud!

Incidents of the day: Jon (Barnsley) over the bars into a river crossing. Very Wet!

Yvan snapping his rear triangle into two pieces on the first downhill of the day (crap French bike lol) Stevo gave him an Orange Alpine 160 to ride for the rest of the day.

Day 4: (Wednesday) Day off. Lazy day with a little bit of White Water rafting thrown

in for good measure. However, Jon, Laurence & Nick used their day off to find some suitably technical rock sections to ride.....

Day 5: (Thursday)

Stevo suggested another Epic day for our group while Yvan's group (Laurence, Nick & Jon) would continue to find supper technical challenging riding somewhere else... After Tuesday's success the group response was very enthusiastic!

We set of in the van and drove for an hour until was had passed through Bourge-Saint-Maurice and quite some distance along the valley. We then proceeded to drive up the mountain side, switch back after switchback, until we reached an altitude of around 1800 metres. It was at this point that Steve indicated that we had a 'short' ride and carry to the top of the peak at 2300 metres.

Well over an hour later having pedaled, pushed and finally carried our bikes along a narrow ridgeline we reached the summit. We were greeted by a fantastic view of single track descending from the very top

and far into the distance.

Our task was to spend the next 3 - 4 hours descending to the valley bottom, initially following the ridgeline in open country side and eventually entering the forest for a now familiar pine needle, rock and switch back decent. Another fantastic day!

Weather: initially damp to wet drying quickly for a sunny afternoon descent

Incident of the day: The very stylish Piers crashing (very rare occurrence!) for apparently no reason at all!

Day 6: (Friday)

For the final day the whole group headed off for some Italian riding at La Thuile. Initially we took a high mountain pass down into the resort and then accessed the chairlift system to enable us to ride some of the steepest terrain of the week. Mostly natural trails with a little bit of man

made intervention. Unfortunately I managed to pull/strain a stomach muscle on the first descent of the day and had to spend the rest of my time in the village soaking up the sun and eating Italian ice cream. Such a shame!

Weather: Warm sunshine

Incident of the day: spilling cherry ice cream on my shorts!

General Thanks:

Firstly, Thanks Paul for supporting me on this one. I feel especially guilty as you spent most of the week in hospital. At least it gives us a good excuse to go back!

Thanks to the Chalet posse for being such a decent group all blessed with an appropriate sense of humour!

Thanks to the WhiteRoom for providing an excellent MTB experience

Finally, a big thanks to Nick, Piers and Jon for contributing such great photo's!

Mechanicals...

For my bike:

Formula Oro brake levers popped out on both side due to crash... really must buy a decent set of brakes!

Rear mech cable ferrel split due to crash...thanks Daz for the new cable!

For the Rest of the Chalet:

Daz's front brake (Hope Mono) dumping fluid from master cyclinder..... thanks to Paul for providing a bike for spares!

Louise's Formula K18 front brake master cyclinder dying on the last day.... I managed to lend her my K24 while I finished my ice cream.

Jon required the use of Paul's front wheel and 2.2 Rubber Queen to assist with grip...thanks to Paul for providing a bike for spares!

Jon, Nick and Laurence hammered their bikes to the point of failure every day. Their bikes were testament to what a Mountain bike will take before it dies. They managed to survive with a small amount of help from the rest of the chalet helping to replace and bodge such items as cables, cable outers, burred crankset splines, broken rear mechs, broken front brakes, worn suspension bushes and countless pinch flats. Needless to say all three of them were great riders!

Notes to self:

1a) I must practice my switchback technique! If I can master steep tight switchback turns my riding in the Alps will benefit significantly. Nearly all of my falls and incidents were associated with poor switchback technique

1) I must get a decent set of brakes! When I do fall off the Oro's nearly always break. The lever pulls the piston out of the master cylinder. I'm told that New brakes avoid this issue by using a cam activation system on the lever.

2) A dropper seat post would make a huge difference in the Alps. By the end of the week a few of us were just fed up with constantly raising and lowering our saddles.

3) I'm so pleased I took advice on tyres. My DH 2.35 Dual Ply Maxxis High Roller supper tacky (front) and 60a (back) were the perfect choice.

4) Going tubeless worked very well...no turning back now.

5) My new frame and forks worked very well and were only limited by the rider sat on top! Bike Blog review coming soon......

6) I'd love to go again!!

R2

Here is a link to see a selection of photos full size:

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