Mega-aftermath

Day 31 – 15th July 2008

A great day in 2 Alpes again today – 26 degrees in the resort, clear blue skies – good trails – it doesn’t get much better that this.
Aches and pains today – left shoulder (ex-broken collar bone) – both hands, mainly left thumb (I think I damaged this is the Glentress crash too) – went riding without ibruprofen today – guess that was a bad idea!
Did my first black of 2Alpes, winds down next to the blue down to the Thuit lift – nice drops and slightly muddy – the blue on the other hand has about 20 switchbacks, this is more direct ;)

A word about the bike:

Current incarnation of the Alps steed is this:
SC Medium Gangreen Nomad – PUSH’d rear DHX5 shock (450lbs spring) – 165mm travel
RS Coil Totems (180mm travel) Moto V2 brakes – 203mm vented rotors
50mm Thompson stem
Funn Fat Boy bars
Gravity Dropper seatpost
RaceFace Atlas Cranks
20mm Chris King (black) + Mavic EX823 + UST 2.5 Super Tacky Minion front wheel
Hope ProII (silver) + Mavic EX823 + UST 2.5 60a HighRoller rear wheel
Weight : 39.5lbs
That’s probably 3 pounds lighter than the VP-Free in similar guise – the VP-Free also has diabolus cranks – heavy duty baby. But, I haven’t missed the extra travel the VP-free provides – I think this is because I ride the bike on the fork, weight far forward and feet down, that’s the way, fast and loose baby!I have no bad word to say about the brakes – these are Barnoldswicks finest. The lever travel is always the same, the feel and biting point absolutely consistent. They weight (and cost) a freakin ton – but boy is it worth it. They also never seem to need new pads. The ultimate Alps brake bar none. Buy some, say dasnut sent you.
SC say the geometry isn’t as good with an 180mm fork, but it is warrantied – I saw SC got it wrong – this bike is hardcore heavy metal – because it’s a medium its pretty short – you tend to ride it over the more than capable fork mostly, dropping off the back in the steep stuff – the totems makes some lovely squishy sounds – and most importantly – this thing flies in the air – for a 40lbs pig it gets airborne at the slightest kick – sir, with this nomad you are spoiling us….

VP-Free frame now for sale – not to be replaced with blingasmic Session 88, because I think the nomad is as big as I need to go. Next year, nomad + 140mm trail bike (If Lapierre sell me a Zesty cheap they will get lots of adverts via this blog, oh yes!) – is a sure fire winningest formula.
The Zesty comes in at 27lbs in standard format – of course those white fox 32s are going on eBay to be replaced with something reliable like PUSH’d air Pikes, and the wheels with something suitable for the terrain – but that adds up to a saving of around 10lbs on the Nomad – means quicker uphills – riding or pushing – and also quicker pedally bits – there are plenty on the Mega. All for only a loss of 40mm on the front and 25mm on the back travel wise, and a degree or so of head angle. Gotta be worth a few minutes in anyones book :) see you next year for that!

Started some Mountain of Hell training - lovely trails here rather than the brutal stuff at ADH - might just be familiarity......