7Stanes

prophet_1000

Ok which 7Stanes trail/s is/are best? I have only one or maybe possible two days riding so will not be able to do all eight trails and wanted advise from locals and people who have ridden any of the trails.

Please give examples of what the trail has to offer (jumps, berms, wood work, rocks, drops etc) and how much!

Any advise is welcome even if somebody else has already plugged one of the trails as I want to know how many people like that trail and what different people thought of it themselves.


Thanks in advance

Mytchett Mike

Did 7Stanes last weekend for the first time with mates who have been before

Drumlanrig black (rooty & rocky - didn't flow well imho - too up and down)
Glentress black (hills are hard work, Britney Spears is great fun, long ride)
Innerleithen black (uphill very hard work and very bleak/exposed at the top but worth it for the down, especially Cadon Bank)
Kiroughtree black/red (Black Craig - just do it, it's the biz!)
Mabie red (good one to finish on as it is not too long - the Dark Side is mental and a hard walk)

I was suprised at how much I could do, but did walk parts - usually the odd rock garden - I did it at my own pace and did most of the chicken runs around the big stuff, however, I had a brilliant 5 days and would highly recommend it.

Mike

Joe_Hill

What type of riding do you want? purely DH or more of a cross country?
either way Glentress is a must, its full of burms and plenty of jumps, Kiroughtree is also exellent, you should also look at Keilder water MTB track, its not one of the 7stains but it is an exellent route i would rate it as one of the best, and its only 20mins from my house! get in you Beauty!!!

prophet_1000

I would say 'Trail' to Trail centre'ish I ride a 140mm travel 'All Mountain' (allegedly) bike but enjoy getting air and berms, drops and the like.

Defo Not DH or big freeride stuff, I'm way too old (scared) for that kind of thing and don't have the bike for that kind of riding either.

I like to ride:

Coed y Brenin, Beast, tarw etc
Marin Trail
Llandegla
Cannock Chase etc etc etc so you get the idea of the kind of riding I like to do.

Cheers for the replies already, keep em coming guys

Many thanks

Paul

schmako

GT/Inners is where I'm at most. Patriot for inners (and the GT jumps) and club roost for GT. Only ever done Ae DH which was nuts and the Dark Side which was also nuts!

neil_sheehan2000

I've ridden most of the 7 Stanes (Not Newcastleton or Gentrool, as I've heard they're pretty tame; not Kirroughtree, as it's a bugger to get to from Glasgow).

Glentress is definitely a must-see- it's like a bike themepark. I would recommend going up on the blue/ red route, doing the spooky wood descent a couple of times, going back to the top and folowing the black route down again (this might make sense if you check the map on the website).

For your other day, Innerleithen/Traquair is just down the road from Glentress, and while it finishes on a proper DH course, it's one of the tamer DH routes there and quite manageable if you're not bombing it down the hill. Great technical singletrack before that too.

Or, if you're riding over the weekend then Ae is well worth going to. Omega Man is the brilliant bit but only open on weekends.

I've heard brilliant things about Kirroughtree too but, as I said, it's a bit out of the way.

So, I would recommend Glentress and Traquair for convenience and greatness.

prophet_1000

Brilliant!! looks like Gletress, Ae and Inner/Traq are gonna be the ones unless somebody else can persuade me otherwise!

keep them coming guys!

Thanks again so far.

Also Cheap cheap accommodation in or around the area that cater for bikers (storage etc) ?

Paul

Mytchett Mike

We stayed at Drochil Castle http://www.drochilcastle.co.uk/ - definitely recommend it when we did Glentress etc

For the record, we stayed at the breakpad http://www.thebreakpad.com/ in Castle Douglas and would recommend that too

Have fun

Mike

ivancarlos

I've ridden all of the 7stanes, except Newcastleton which is a bit out of the way and quite short by all accounts. No quite sure what you would be looking for. I ride a hardtail xc bike so my views will differ from someone on a full susser looking to develop their freeride skills so I have tried to group them together by area.

That said you can't go wrong with Glentress for an all round experience ( I prefer the red trail though). Innerleithen which lies about 10 minutes along the road is a hard slog to the top but transforms to a fast downhill blast with plenty of features which ends in the descent of Cadon bank which really is the dogs.

Kirroughtree is one of my personal faves. It begins on a red route, continuing into a black route and ending in red. It really flows and provides a good challenge although the McMoab is too much for a hardtail. Nearby is Glentrool which is a large 36mile circuit but doesn't have any singletrack. It is a nice day out with plenty of views though.

Near Dumfries is Ae, again very enjoyable; Mabie, fast flowing singletrack; and Dalbeattie, which I don't like much - it as a bit of a one trick pony and I can't do the trick - nice views over the solway firth though. Drumlanrig is also worth a mention. It is technical stuff and much more natural than the 7stanes so beware of the roots when its wet.

ivancarlos

More info here :-


http://www.mountain-bike-scotland.com/m ... topic&t=11


http://www.mountain-bike-scotland.com/m ... opic&t=790

prophet_1000

Cheers guys I have more than enough to go at now, but don't be afraid to post more advise! the more the better eh?

Chaka Ping

Don't miss Kirroughtree out because it's further away than the others.

It's the best trail centre I've ridden, and highly recommended if you like challenging singletrack.

I can't wait to go back there next month!

kyle2brown

For one day I would go to Glentress. Its the mutts nuts. There are baby downhills. The red run is brilliant. The bit at the very top of the red (its called Spooky Woods) is a lot of fun with good berms (the kind that go all the way round the corner, rather than stop halfway) and fun jumps. You can do that bit serveral times.

There is a whole heap of North Shore thats on the black run, but you can access from the red.

There is something for everyone

Johnclimber

1st Kiroughtree black/red
2nd Innerleithan
3rd Glentress red
4th Glentress black

innerhaven

Lots of info on accommodation here:

http://www.visittweedvalley.co.uk/accom ... index.html

Cheers,

Andy
www.innerhaven.co.uk

prophet_1000

Cheers again guys

dirtbiker100

this past weekend i did innerleithen, glentress and mabie kona darkside. last year i did mabie, ae, dalbeattie, kirroughtree, glentress and innerleithen.

definietly get to glentress and do the red up and then follow it down and if you fancy a decent ride back down try the shortcut through to ewok village and head down from there. might be a bit technical though. innerleithen xc trail for sure. thats a definite in my books.
Ae is a good choice for sure. i'd say kirroughtree as its amazing but it is out on its own a bit. if you can make it there go for it.
i wasn't impressed too much with mabie as i prefer a big climb up and a bid decent down (hence loved inners) dalbeattie was a great track too but not as great as the others. I'd say that if any of these trails were further apart from each other around the UK each one would be very well travelled to.

neil_sheehan2000

With regards to places to stay, I've stayed at the Glentress Hotel and would recommend it to anyone: 30 quid a night (I think), a shed for the bikes, and the guy who runs it used to be the head chef at the Peebles Hydro- he cooks very nice food.

p.s."Ivancarlos: Dalbeattie... I don't like much - it as a bit of a one trick pony and I can't do the trick." I can do the trick, and I still felt cheated at the end of the day

innerhaven

re places to stay if you're riding at inners or glentress - there's a lot of choice on www.visittweedvalley.co.uk