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Piste bashing in June - DH style

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Well, the Zee cranks arrived back from Highpath Engineering this weekend - milled from 165 to 140 for the boy - and the final few components are now being bolted on the 24 inch wheel full DH rig - COMMENCAL Supreme24 - which will soon be in the Alps.

This...but with Fox up front, handbuilt wheels on Hope, etc etc etc ... and a lot of POC body armour.

https://vimeo.com/103987084

And the place in the vid is exactly where the bike will live - Crans Montana CH - Valais, Switzerland. Ignore the 'Andorra - Bike Park' logo at the start of the video - Commencal are based in Andorra, but these two youngsters are the Coubes brothers - you can see the now-defunct Pas de Loup chair top station at Crans Montana in the background.

I sedately will be following on an Orange Alpine 6
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
When I was in BSM hospital with my leg in about 30 pieces, there was a lovely Welsh nurse who worked there.

She said one day, "You'll be fine Pete, you should see the DH mountain bikers we get in in the the summer. They have so many broken bones we don't know where to start."

I'm tempted to do a couple of Greens out in Val d'Isere in July but since her comment, it does scary me a little.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@bar shaker, the greens are pretty much pavements, although the berms are nicely built. Except for the very last bit into La Daille, which is awesome and never a green in a million years.
ski holidays
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
bar shaker wrote:
When I was in BSM hospital with my leg in about 30 pieces, there was a lovely Welsh nurse who worked there.

She said one day, "You'll be fine Pete, you should see the DH mountain bikers we get in in the the summer. They have so many broken bones we don't know where to start."

I'm tempted to do a couple of Greens out in Val d'Isere in July but since her comment, it does scary me a little.

I have a Paramedic friend who says most of the serious injuries they get in from "The Countryside" are from MTB riders
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:

Well, the Zee cranks arrived back from Highpath Engineering this weekend - milled from 165 to 140 for the boy - and the final few components are now being bolted on the 24 inch wheel full DH rig - COMMENCAL Supreme24 - which will soon be in the Alps.

This...but with Fox up front, handbuilt wheels on Hope, etc etc etc ... and a lot of POC body armour.


Am I alone in not having the slightest clue what most of those words/phrases mean? I have heard of POC, but that's about it! I'm beginning to think this post wasn't even about skiing! Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
@foxtrotzulu, you're not alone, and I'm a long term mountainbiker!
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
stevomcd wrote:
@bar shaker, the greens are pretty much pavements, although the berms are nicely built. Except for the very last bit into La Daille, which is awesome and never a green in a million years.


Thanks Steve. That's the home run, so will try that.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@foxtrotzulu,

search
Google Translate
select language: mountain biking
translate to: English

Zee cranks - things which make the bike go along by turning them with your feet. Made by Shimano in Japan.
Milled - put on a big machine which makes a hell of a racket and takes metal off the cranks, sprays fluid everywhere, after you've programmed the thing properly
165 - One hundred and sixty five millimetres - the length of MD540 Zee cranks
24inch wheel - 24inch wheel
DH - downhill
rig - (slang) pedal cycle
Fox up front - suspension forks made in America
wheels - wheels
Hope - hubs made in Barnoldswick, England
POC - Piece of Cake (genuinely)

Small note - all skiing language is entirely clear to all, including non-skiers, with no ambiguity at all:

Bindings
ABS
Zardoz
DIN
base angle
forward pressure
Camber

As in 'Jeesh...I saw in the gondola that the canister on my ABS expired and I had to schlep to the dealer to a re-charge. I discussed my DINs for deep and steep and he said that my forward pressure was badly set, and sorted that. I wanted to reset my edges but I decided to wait until the next stone-grind and reckoned I could miss a hot wax and just stick some Zardoz on...'.

All clear now?
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 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@valais2, Indeed, but for a while I had mistakenly assumed that I was on a skiing website in a forum labelled The Piste and that DH might apply to Downhill SKIING. Silly me! Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@foxtrotzulu, ....I'll just take my tongue out of my cheek - I suppose I could justify the post because we use the same pistes in the summer as we do in winter, but in I decided to post just to try to wake everyone up ... there's SO little activity on SH after April....thank god for the chiens du randonees


Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Wed 7-06-17 23:20; edited 2 times in total
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
stevomcd wrote:
@bar shaker. Except for the very last bit into La Daille, which is awesome and never a green in a million years.


Just like the piste marking then snowHead
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@valais2,
But there is a mountain bike thread http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=129320 where we could have asked you why you changed the x-fusion fork, standard cranks, and wheelset (not a criticism, just wondering)
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@stuarth, ...ah should have posted there, then. Oops.

Good question. Managed to get a new bare frame from Commencal for peanuts, with all the fun of building it up. Total build to top spec will come out at around 1100 gbp, including a spare wheelset - DMR on Hopes. This is a much higher spec bike than the from-the-shop model, at 2190 from ChainR. I've put 140mm fox floats on it - 32mm stantions - nice air fork which is highly tunable to a child's weight. A Monarch on the rear, not as progressive as a coil over, but more tunable to weight.

The job today was the fun job of getting the gear cable through the frame. This requires the patience of a saint, the fingers of a piano-playing robot, and the ability to imagine whatthef is happening to the cable outer inside the twisty-turny chain stays. But all done now, having pulled out the tiny wire they put in the frame when they make it, and used a thicker gauge of wire coiled around the outer to yank it through. Tomorrow's job - ordering the suspension bushes from Plush.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

A Monarch on the rear, not as progressive as a coil over, but more tunable to weight

Air shocks are more progressive (rising rate) than coil (linear).

Bike spec sounds great though! A big part of MTBing is the tech geekery and I much prefer to build up my own bikes part by part.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@leggyblonde, sheeeeet you are of course right - lazy lazy use of vocab by me.

air = ramping up = progressive.
coil = linear = consistent resistance = not progressive.

Other bits

E13 chain device
XT rear mech med with clutch
Easton Havoc 35mm bars and 50mm stem
11-36 rear - not going too mad on the big ring sizing it's DH not Enduro
32 front - superstar clingring
SLX brakes - why pay more (?) with heat sink pads
Zee 10 sp shifter
BB103 (bb93 86) press in bearing - Token - couldn't get the ceramic ones, went in fine but weird shushing noise when rotated quickly - odd
Superstar zs44 zs56 semi integrated headset - rivals Hope but half the price
Hope 180 floating disc at front, no name 180 floater at rear - something from a box in the workshop
Ancient but light X Lite seat pin with nice layback - no dropper since can't get anything small enough
24 tyres have been a nightmare...so huge and heavy Halo 2.6 Ception DH tyres, so heavy, but very nice, with excellent retention beads
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
one reason to pay more than for slx is that xtr have better modulation.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@stuarth, hmmmm....you're making me feel guilty now. I know that there's virtually no difference between SLX and XT except a bit of weight, but XTR is indeed a lot better in performance I understand ... no direct experience on my part since I use Hope stoppers on my DH - but XTR are FOUR times more expensive than SLX over here. For an 11 year old I wondered if the difference would be that important....convince me? I can always shove the SLX in the parts bin....
ski holidays
 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
XTR levers are also made of cheese. From experience, 11 year olds tend to be a bit casual with bikes too and so I'd be wary.

I love my finned SLX on floating hope rotors
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
@leggyblonde, right....that's what a lot of the reviews said (and I did read them a lot before going SLX) - basically the reviews said 'new XT just as good as XTR, apart from bling factor'. Then the XT-SLX reviews said 'SLX just as good as XT'. So....SLX is it then. SLX finned on Hope floating....
ski holidays
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
not in my experience.
My bike came with XT brakes, a bit too on-off for my liking, swapped them for Hope M4s which are great.
My sons bike has XTRs (shop had some knocking around that i got a good deal on), they are very good too. Again wanted them for better modulation and adjustability not better power - he's only 9!. They have survived pretty well so far Madeye-Smiley


Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Thu 8-06-17 15:14; edited 1 time in total
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
@stuarth, drat....will bleed the SLX tonight and see how they are. Can compare them to my Hopes. Well I just cannot possibly have your 9 year old with better brakes (if they modulate better then that is a very good thing for tiny hands) than my 11 year old! Grrrr....will need to hunt for XTRs.....
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@stuarth, ...and what's this about Vancouver? That's really annoying! We live in Cambridge, the most irritating part of the world re XC and DH. We have to schlep to the South Downs to do anything vaguely decent.....
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@valais2,
I moved here from Cambridge - the first bike trip out on the North Shore was well, shall we say an eye opener!
Went from the flatness of Thetford Forest to this...







Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Thu 8-06-17 15:46; edited 1 time in total
ski holidays
 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
(and the photos don't do justice to the size/narliness of those features)
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@stuarth, yikes! Looks post-apocalyptic.....
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Again my poor photography!
Mt Seymour was heavily logged a long time back, hence the spacing, logs, and smallish trees (compared to old growth).
It is actually a very beautiful place - Will try and find a more scenic picture...
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