Has anyone been to Bike Park Wales yet?
Discussion
As per the title. I'm off to South Wales next weekend and the original plan was to ride Cwmcarn, now for various reasons we're looking at trying the new Bike Park Wales near Merthyr Tydfil.
We're looking for XC trails basically (as opposed to DH/freeride) but with some nice meaty downhill sections.
Anyone been yet?
Looks reasonably promising: http://bikemagic.com/news/video-bikepark-wales-tra...
We're looking for XC trails basically (as opposed to DH/freeride) but with some nice meaty downhill sections.
Anyone been yet?
Looks reasonably promising: http://bikemagic.com/news/video-bikepark-wales-tra...
All you need to know: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Yes, it absolutely stonking, really, really good.
But it's not really XC, it's a 40min climb up a steep XC route (or a 30 min ride up the uplift road with a few short cuts) followed by a combination of options down again. Different feel to normal trail centre stuff, faster (much) wider, and more demanding.
There's an uplift of course, it's booked for weeks in advance at the moment, but it's not 'over sold' like Cwmcarn uplift so there's plenty of scope to get on for a single-trip for £4, you just might have to wait a bit.
But it's not really XC, it's a 40min climb up a steep XC route (or a 30 min ride up the uplift road with a few short cuts) followed by a combination of options down again. Different feel to normal trail centre stuff, faster (much) wider, and more demanding.
There's an uplift of course, it's booked for weeks in advance at the moment, but it's not 'over sold' like Cwmcarn uplift so there's plenty of scope to get on for a single-trip for £4, you just might have to wait a bit.
Cwmcarn will probably be more appropriate! BPW is all up in one go, which will put more 'casual' riders off the bike and pushing. The downs are great, but I'm glad we had the uplift for the day! (We rode up the XC/fire road in the morning to beat the first bus up/warm up)
The blue and red downhills are definitely more trail centre than downhill centre, I guess this is why they've called it a 'bike park'. The blue is almost certainly fastest on a hardtail, the red not far behind. The blacks are HT capable, but a FS starts to make a lot more sense. As for the pro lines, I don't know, I'm not good enough to even bother looking
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Cwmcarn delivers some fun swoopy downhill bits to break up the climbing, so you remember why you're there. Probably a better bet for a mixed group to start with. Make sure you put valuables out of sight through - the car park has a bit of a reputation......
The blue and red downhills are definitely more trail centre than downhill centre, I guess this is why they've called it a 'bike park'. The blue is almost certainly fastest on a hardtail, the red not far behind. The blacks are HT capable, but a FS starts to make a lot more sense. As for the pro lines, I don't know, I'm not good enough to even bother looking
.Cwmcarn delivers some fun swoopy downhill bits to break up the climbing, so you remember why you're there. Probably a better bet for a mixed group to start with. Make sure you put valuables out of sight through - the car park has a bit of a reputation......
I went on saturday and had a blast. Didn't have the uplift booked, rode up the first time and got absolutely knackered - pushed up most of the way the rest of the day.
The downhills more than make up for the pain though - did all red and blue routes and they were all pretty demanding but very rewarding (although I did fall off twice). Didn't try the blacks - they look rather scary, way beyond me.
I was on a 120mm Stumpy FSR and the bike coped perfectly. If I was to try the blacks I think more travel or a proper DH rig would be needed though.
Deffo worth a look, really cool place.
The downhills more than make up for the pain though - did all red and blue routes and they were all pretty demanding but very rewarding (although I did fall off twice). Didn't try the blacks - they look rather scary, way beyond me.
I was on a 120mm Stumpy FSR and the bike coped perfectly. If I was to try the blacks I think more travel or a proper DH rig would be needed though.
Deffo worth a look, really cool place.
I can't remember what fork travel my Sub 5 originally had. It's on 130mm now, but I think it was 110 or 120 when new. At the time it was considered quite a big hit bike. Sounds like it's now about the minimum for some of the new trail centres.
I'll basically do anything I can roll - hopefully getting a bit of air along the way - but I draw the line at anything that requires you to clear gaps. And some of the other people in our groups definitely would.
Can anyone who has been answer a question about that video please?
Are the trails in the vid bits of each track including the Black Runs? Some sections of it near the end of the film look like pure rocks and difficult to tell where the trail goes. It could be a combo of the camera angle/my lack of skillz etc....
Are the trails in the vid bits of each track including the Black Runs? Some sections of it near the end of the film look like pure rocks and difficult to tell where the trail goes. It could be a combo of the camera angle/my lack of skillz etc....
Done Cwmcarn quite a few times, although not for a few years admittedly. The last time we went was just after they'd opened the new bike park bit at the top of the hill. We tended to do most of the 'up' on the trail and then nip onto the fire road for the last bit of the ascent before rejoining the main trail.
We have some people who've never properly been mountain biking before and some people who've done quite a lot but are now rather unfit (me) so it's unlikely we'll fly through the XC trail and be left twiddling our thumbs.
That said... Is there a straightforward way to ride up the forest drive or something and then just do the last few miles of the Twrch trail again if we do have some time to kill?
Also, does anyone know of anywhere apart from PS Cycles [booked up] and BPW [presumably not keen on us taking bikes off-site] where we could hire bikes for Cwmcarn if necessary? After four weeks mine still hasn't come back from its fork rebuild and I'm getting a bit twitchy. We leave on Friday.
We have some people who've never properly been mountain biking before and some people who've done quite a lot but are now rather unfit (me) so it's unlikely we'll fly through the XC trail and be left twiddling our thumbs.
That said... Is there a straightforward way to ride up the forest drive or something and then just do the last few miles of the Twrch trail again if we do have some time to kill?
Also, does anyone know of anywhere apart from PS Cycles [booked up] and BPW [presumably not keen on us taking bikes off-site] where we could hire bikes for Cwmcarn if necessary? After four weeks mine still hasn't come back from its fork rebuild and I'm getting a bit twitchy. We leave on Friday.
markcurtains said:
Can anyone who has been answer a question about that video please?
Are the trails in the vid bits of each track including the Black Runs? Some sections of it near the end of the film look like pure rocks and difficult to tell where the trail goes. It could be a combo of the camera angle/my lack of skillz etc....
If you look here you can correspond the trail names with their grades. Lots of the trails on the vids are black graded which are pretty tough going, probably past my ability level, certainly past my current confidence level. They shouldn't be confused with trail-centre grades, I'll happily rattle down the Black bits of Afan and Llandegla all day. Are the trails in the vid bits of each track including the Black Runs? Some sections of it near the end of the film look like pure rocks and difficult to tell where the trail goes. It could be a combo of the camera angle/my lack of skillz etc....
http://www.bikeparkwales.com/trails
P-Jay said:
If you look here you can correspond the trail names with their grades. Lots of the trails on the vids are black graded which are pretty tough going, probably past my ability level, certainly past my current confidence level. They shouldn't be confused with trail-centre grades, I'll happily rattle down the Black bits of Afan and Llandegla all day.
http://www.bikeparkwales.com/trails
Thanks - yeah, it was a copule of the black runs in the vid that scared me. Rocky!http://www.bikeparkwales.com/trails
Edited by markcurtains on Wednesday 18th September 01:10
Chris71 said:
We went to Cwmcarn in the end, but met up with some local riders who'd done both. They were convinced Bike Park Wales was easier - uphill and down.
Really? Well it's easier up, the climb at CC is pretty hard, especially the section that runs along side the river near the bottom. In regards to the descents though, there's obviously one route down CC (on the XC anyway) and dozens at BPW, the Blues are really smooth compared to CC's rocky bits, but faster, Red & Black trails though, completely different game IMO. Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff