Discussion
Anyone done the adult race, or entered their kids into the children's race?
I’m tempted to do it myself, want to use my hardtail Yeti Ultimate and get the original Manitou forks serviced to benefit from the full 1 inch of travel.
Fortunately it has Magura hydraulic rim brakes which should be powerful enough but will need to run downhill tyres and tubes.
I’m not looking to be competitive but just have a laugh.
How technical is it? Ie big jumps or drop offs? Videos online don’t give much of an idea on this.
Fitness levels? Not currently been riding much but did do a 110 mile ride in the Alps 10 years ago climbing 4 alps including Alp D’huez as part of a road race
I’m tempted to do it myself, want to use my hardtail Yeti Ultimate and get the original Manitou forks serviced to benefit from the full 1 inch of travel.
Fortunately it has Magura hydraulic rim brakes which should be powerful enough but will need to run downhill tyres and tubes.
I’m not looking to be competitive but just have a laugh.
How technical is it? Ie big jumps or drop offs? Videos online don’t give much of an idea on this.
Fitness levels? Not currently been riding much but did do a 110 mile ride in the Alps 10 years ago climbing 4 alps including Alp D’huez as part of a road race
Blake Samson has a full POV run below, might give you a decent idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLYBr7EVDQ8
He was a broken man after doing it on a Hardtail and recommended not doing it on one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLYBr7EVDQ8
He was a broken man after doing it on a Hardtail and recommended not doing it on one.
I spent ages talking to Cy from Cotic about it at Bespoked one year, I said I had a BFe (Reynolds 651/853 hard tail and 140mm Rebas), he said I was extremely brave... after much umming and ahhhing, I didn’t bother.
Once you’re off the glacier, it’s hellish and your body will just take such a beating with no travel at all (in reality 1” elastomer is nothing at all), your arms and legs will be taking all the shocks for well over half an hour.
I honestly don’t think an old hard tail with 20 year old forks will make it to the finish, something will break, most likely the forks will fail early on and the geometry of your bike is all wrong for the event, you’ll be pitched too high and too far forwards. You won’t qualify for the main event and to be honest, be more of a liability.
You’ll be the only one with rim brakes and parts are very narrow, people coming past WILL come past, it’s a race after all. If you can’t move off line or correct your line quick enough, you’ll be in all sorts of trouble. Riding the sections in the GMBN video linked below from 12:00 onwards on a rigid bike will be horrible and dangerous, fast forward to 21:00....
I want to say good luck but it’s just a bad idea and it’s not going to be safe.
Once you’re off the glacier, it’s hellish and your body will just take such a beating with no travel at all (in reality 1” elastomer is nothing at all), your arms and legs will be taking all the shocks for well over half an hour.
I honestly don’t think an old hard tail with 20 year old forks will make it to the finish, something will break, most likely the forks will fail early on and the geometry of your bike is all wrong for the event, you’ll be pitched too high and too far forwards. You won’t qualify for the main event and to be honest, be more of a liability.
You’ll be the only one with rim brakes and parts are very narrow, people coming past WILL come past, it’s a race after all. If you can’t move off line or correct your line quick enough, you’ll be in all sorts of trouble. Riding the sections in the GMBN video linked below from 12:00 onwards on a rigid bike will be horrible and dangerous, fast forward to 21:00....
I want to say good luck but it’s just a bad idea and it’s not going to be safe.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 16th February 13:03
CheesecakeRunner said:
pablo said:
I I honestly don’t think an old hard tail with 20 year old forks will make it to the finish, something will break, most likely the forks will fail early on and the geometry of your bike is all wrong for the event, you’ll be pitched too high and too far forwards.
One wonders how everyone coped racing the event in the 90s....It’s like saying because a 90s F1 car was good enough for 90s F1, it could be raced in F1 now without acknowledging technology has moved on 25 years.......
Just bear in mind there’s a qualifying race a day or two beforehand, and if you don’t qualify in the fastest 60% or so you don’t get into one of the three mass start proper races. If you fail to qualify they let you trundle down in your own time later in the day, which I don’t think would be a problem on an old hardtail, even if it wouldn’t be that comfortable. It’s not really ‘doing’ it though.
Steve7777 said:
Just bear in mind there’s a qualifying race a day or two beforehand, and if you don’t qualify in the fastest 60% or so you don’t get into one of the three mass start proper races. If you fail to qualify they let you trundle down in your own time later in the day, which I don’t think would be a problem on an old hardtail, even if it wouldn’t be that comfortable. It’s not really ‘doing’ it though.
In all seriousness, I think this is what I need to consider. I’m the first to put my hand up and say that I’m not expecting to be competitive. I’m early 40s with little recent downhill experience and most of my bikes have been hardtails with the exception of one Yeti ASR and that was short travel for xc.As someone else mentioned, it surely isn’t impossible to ride down it on a hardtail, but I suppose if you fail to qualify then ending up doing a leisurely ride with the others will kot be the same as competing in the race.
I suspect there will be a number of retro bikes and I know there are awards for the oldest bike this year.
I think it is a case of taking it seriously and getting a proper full susser or taking it easy but missing out on the competitive spirit.
Has anyone here done it, and if so, what is the range of quality of the competitors? Are they substantially all serious riders or are there a large number of entrants going there for a laugh and an experience (like me)?
Fat hippo said:
kingb said:
This is a wind up right?
Not a wind up, a question out of curiosity and whether it is feasible.Might be (and sounds like it would be) a bit silly to do this on a hardtail.
Will probably have to look for a proper full suspension bike.
I wouldnt try Megavalanche on one though, thats a bridge too far
Edited by emicen on Tuesday 16th February 23:20
I've done 5 Megavalanche's.
There's 6 male adult races,
Main event
Ebikes
Challengers
Amatures
Affinity 1 and 2 non mass races( usually combined spanner race)
Did 2013 at 40 on a year 2000 Santa Cruz bullet. Punctured loads, bike was far too heavy and I lost all braking by the time I got into the woods. Brakes are everything.
A heavy bike is terrible as there are ups too. I qualified for the spanner race.
2014 I did on a similar age Turner RFX, way better but I dislocated my shoulder twice in qualifying so couldn't race.. it was the year of horrific mud so I wasn't gutted.
2015 I used a modern bike (Bird Aeris) , punctured lots, qualified near the back of the challengers.
2016 same bike tubeless, qualified for a front row start in the challengers. Briefly in the leading pack on the glacier , didn't make the corner at the bottom of the ski slope start.
Got in a bit of traffic catching the ladies. Burnt out my brakes crashed a lot.
2017. Had a hangover when I got there, bike was fine I wasn't fit enough. Mid pack challengers qually, thought I was going to have a heart attack on the snow. Proper struggled in the altitude, did the alpe road climb the following day though.
In summary, to enjoy it you need to be fit and the machinery does matter. Yes you can do it on old kit but you'll be walking a lot and probably won't make one of the 3 mass starts. There's also a chance old kit will fail in a nasty way.
There's plenty of mixed ability, it's doable on a Hardtail but might become a bit of a slog, especially if you have to walk down carrying two halves of fatigued broken old bike.
If you do use old kit, the person in front of you will have modern brakes, it's quite scary when, they panic brake and you can't stop, with your old brakes.
There's 6 male adult races,
Main event
Ebikes
Challengers
Amatures
Affinity 1 and 2 non mass races( usually combined spanner race)
Did 2013 at 40 on a year 2000 Santa Cruz bullet. Punctured loads, bike was far too heavy and I lost all braking by the time I got into the woods. Brakes are everything.
A heavy bike is terrible as there are ups too. I qualified for the spanner race.
2014 I did on a similar age Turner RFX, way better but I dislocated my shoulder twice in qualifying so couldn't race.. it was the year of horrific mud so I wasn't gutted.
2015 I used a modern bike (Bird Aeris) , punctured lots, qualified near the back of the challengers.
2016 same bike tubeless, qualified for a front row start in the challengers. Briefly in the leading pack on the glacier , didn't make the corner at the bottom of the ski slope start.
Got in a bit of traffic catching the ladies. Burnt out my brakes crashed a lot.
2017. Had a hangover when I got there, bike was fine I wasn't fit enough. Mid pack challengers qually, thought I was going to have a heart attack on the snow. Proper struggled in the altitude, did the alpe road climb the following day though.
In summary, to enjoy it you need to be fit and the machinery does matter. Yes you can do it on old kit but you'll be walking a lot and probably won't make one of the 3 mass starts. There's also a chance old kit will fail in a nasty way.
There's plenty of mixed ability, it's doable on a Hardtail but might become a bit of a slog, especially if you have to walk down carrying two halves of fatigued broken old bike.
If you do use old kit, the person in front of you will have modern brakes, it's quite scary when, they panic brake and you can't stop, with your old brakes.
Edited by james0 on Tuesday 16th February 22:59
Edited by james0 on Tuesday 16th February 23:00
Edited by james0 on Tuesday 16th February 23:22
I think it's always been that event that is seen at the most hardcore thing the average Weekend Warrior will want to complete in. I think like most MTBers, I've thought about it a couple of times, but really, at 43 with a list of injuries as long as my arm and BMI these days that suggests Sir might prefer a salad for lunch, I think I'll give it a miss, frankly I detest racing anyway. I've raced a few DH races and a couple of Enduros and the stress of competition kills the fun of it.
I've never really got an idea of how hardcore it really is, I've been told by some it's relatively easy if you take your time, it's technical but not impossible, but it's the distance that gets you. At 20km and 2600m vertical, it's about 5 times the length of Terry's Belly in BPW (their longest trail) whilst being about 40% steeper at the same time. Not to mention, just looking at some of the videos, the going is a whole lot rougher than the dead-smooth Terry's.
If people who've actually raced it think it's possible by the OP then, who am I to disagree, but IMO if you have to ask the questions the OP is asking, then you're not ready, even forgetting about the old-school hardtail that "fortunately" has hydraulic rim brakes "which should be powerful enough" when anyone who's ever even ridden a Blue Graded trail in Morzine knows they'll be near useless.
Personally I've signed up to Passportes this year, Covid willing. I rode it about 8-9 years ago, it's probably more doable on a HT, but even on a 160mm bike it was tough on the body. At least we'll have dropper posts and mega-range drivetrains now. It's 80km, lift assisted and seen as a bit of a scenic tour by the organisers, despite it being more technical in parts than some of the Enduros I raced 10 years ago at Afan.
I've never really got an idea of how hardcore it really is, I've been told by some it's relatively easy if you take your time, it's technical but not impossible, but it's the distance that gets you. At 20km and 2600m vertical, it's about 5 times the length of Terry's Belly in BPW (their longest trail) whilst being about 40% steeper at the same time. Not to mention, just looking at some of the videos, the going is a whole lot rougher than the dead-smooth Terry's.
If people who've actually raced it think it's possible by the OP then, who am I to disagree, but IMO if you have to ask the questions the OP is asking, then you're not ready, even forgetting about the old-school hardtail that "fortunately" has hydraulic rim brakes "which should be powerful enough" when anyone who's ever even ridden a Blue Graded trail in Morzine knows they'll be near useless.
Personally I've signed up to Passportes this year, Covid willing. I rode it about 8-9 years ago, it's probably more doable on a HT, but even on a 160mm bike it was tough on the body. At least we'll have dropper posts and mega-range drivetrains now. It's 80km, lift assisted and seen as a bit of a scenic tour by the organisers, despite it being more technical in parts than some of the Enduros I raced 10 years ago at Afan.
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff