Afan - what's it like ? Where to stay ?

tobh

So. Many apologies for probably posting yet another topic re a trail centre.

But... we're going Afan in June. We rode Coed last year. And I am keen to find out what others think of Afan..

Me and my mates all ride hardtails and although had a great time at Coed and Langdegla thought that maybe at Coed we would have been better sorted on full suss bikes (we did the Tarw and one of the shorter routes). It was real rocky, and coming from Essex where our regular riding is at Thetford, Epping and Danbury, we found the rocks a bit.... rocky..

Ok. So, some specific questions -

1) how rocky is Afan when compared to Coed ?

2) how hard is the Skyline ? I'm not fussed about the climbs and distance;how technical is it ? How does it compare to the Tarw at Coed ?

3) what's the best trail for intermediate riders such as us ? We're not the full face helmet and body armour types.

4) And can anyone recommend somewhere to stay ?

5) Bike Radar need to have a dedicated Forum on trail centres...

Your thoughts please.

T

explosifpete

how do matey,

I went to afan last year, well very close at Glyncorrwg where the skyline starts from.
We went up for the day but my friends camped at the trail centre and said it was good.
But the area is full of scumbags so lock your bike in your car at night and ask at the centre for the best pubs to go to.
The skyline was good, you should do it in about 3 hours if you don't stop, it is tech in places but nothing to bad.
There is a black section after the first climb and that is quite serious and left one of my buddies with a swelbow and a cracked helmet so if your not sure give that one a miss.

I would recomend the skyline as the best ride for a xc type rider like us but whites and the wall are both good.
I'm planning on going up in the summer so let me know and i could meet you there.

pete

8673sharp

If your staying for the weekend or a couple days youd be able to do a couple of routes there. Ive been and done the wall, skyline ande penhydd (i think thats how its spelt!) Done them on a Scott reflex 20, which is a pretty bogstandard entry level bike and had not to many dramas. Although the climb on the Wall ( i think can be a tad uninspiring but it makes up for it at the end.
The Cafe and campsite are at Glyncorrwg. The cafe is really good. Never stayed at the campsite.
Definitely worth the journey.

andrewjoseph

If you are staying in the area for a few days, I'd recommend doing penhydd first, it will give you a taste of the rest of the area. (depending on when you come down, there may be logging and penhydd may be closed).

Do the wall next, it will prepare you for whites level/skyline.

Skyline itself is ~45km, lots of fireroad, lots of climbing and the last descent is quite rocky, you may well wish you has full suss by that time.

Depending on your fitness, the full skyline will take 3-4 hours plus (takes me 5 hrs with a few stops).

There are a few places to stay, but be aware that the Glyncorrwg site in NOT the Afan Forest Centre, they are a few miles apart.

Penhydd and The wall start at Afan Forest Centre, Whites and Skyline start at Glyncorrwg Centre.

physiosteve

Hey Chaps,
I went to Afan in October and did Skyline on a hardtail. Theres a few steps on the long down hill at the end but all manageable on a hardtail and you don't need much skill, I couldn't really manual at that stage just rolled down the steps...! Absolutely loved the trail though. The climb at the beginning is long and has a few steps in too where u need to get on the gas to clean them. Don't be put off by first couple of hundred metres where ud need to be pretty handy to clean those, after that it eases. Every single track named section after that is brilliant in my view and flows really well. yeah there are some long fire rd climbs but just drop a gear and spin if youre reasonably fit u can do a 5:00- 5:30 fine.

Where as I did the Tarw @ Coed Y Brenin on a hardtail and hated it, thought it was a big of shit didnt flow at all but I'm sure it was cuz I wasn't good enough to tackle t at speed and this was harder on a hardtail

petercarm

Managed to get dragged around Afan this last weekend. Did Skyline on Saturday and then White's Level, The Wall and Penhydd all rolled into a massive W2 that took 7 hours at a fairly hardcore pace.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend Skyline over the other individual trails even for a hardtail. With Skyline you get a lot more distance for the amount of reward. If you want a long cross country ride with fantastic views, then Skyline is worth it. Otherwise the W trails and Penhydd give you much more bang for your buck in pure enjoyable challenges. The final descent of Skyline is a fair bruiser as well.

It is easy to dodge around the Black Run and Energy sections on White's Level to avoid the rockiest bits. The rest of it is a mixture of smooth and not so smooth - nothing drastic but this is mountain biking. White's Level was designed with hardtail riding in mind.

There is not much to call between the three trails. Penhydd has the fabulous Sidewinder section with Hidden Valley and Dead Sheep Gulley not being far behind in the enjoyment stakes; the Argoed section is probably the most rocky. The Zig Zag descent of The Wall is fabulously flowing. The climbing section on The Wall is easier than White's perhaps with some gorgeous forested sections in between the fire trail bits.. White's Level ends up with Goodwood and Dark Side - Dark Side has a few rocky steps that can catch you out if you're not used to that sort of terrain but the general flow of the trail is well worth it - Windy Point kicks off the descending and it doesn't really let up.

Just reviewing the helmet cam footage now.

gurjdulai

Skyline is ok, but as has been mentioned before, a lot of work for the downhill you get.

With regards to somwhere to stay, whenever we go we stop at The Green Lantern in Cimla which is about 5 minutes (drive) away from the Afan Forest Park Visitor Centre. It costs about £50 or £60 a room, have a shed for the bikes plus they do awesome steaks at the restaurant there. If you're brave enough, you can get a taxi into Neath for the evening too.

canada16

I did the black run W2.

It was brutal in places as the roots and boulders dont make easy climbing.

It was wet as well.

Managed though, and only done cwmcarn twice so quite and acchievment for me

Thetimelord

We've stayed a couple of times at T-bones (see ad in MBUK) and it is great. 10 Mins from the Afan trail centres and has a bike wash and lockup. The restaurant on site harks back to the days when they used to fill you plate to bursting. My mate order Ribs and got half a pig!

For those of you who are like us and getting a old or just like a hot shower after W2 or Skyline. This is the place.

As for the trails we love the Penhydd, its fast and you can do it 1 and a half hours.

We ofter do the Gorlech Trail at Brechfa Forest in the morning and head to the Penhydd in the afternoon.

Nickelarse

Interesting question as I was wondering the exact same thing. I did Coedy in November last year (cold n very wet!!) on my Orange 5. In honesty I think the centre was quite groomed and almost wished I had taken my Stumpy HT. Although the 5 smoothed it all out I know it would have been fine on the HT.

I've been checking out vids on You Tube and from what I can see on most Afan appears even smoother than Coedy (don't quote me though!) I'm seriously thinking of taking the Stumpy this time to save a bit of effort on the long climbs everyone keeps mentioning on Skyline.

I'm struggling a bit with where to stay too as there is 11 of us and it's a job finding somewhere big enough, cheap enough and close enough.

Richard2118

I have done Afan at least 15 times , from day trips out of Surrey to the whole weekend.
always on a full sus and for the last 2 years a 32lb 6 inch trave bike, but a few of my mates do the same on super light hard tails.

In terms of rock only the black run,whites and some of skyline has them , however all of this is rollable and suitable for all types of bike ( although i would suggest easier and more fluid the faster they are taken, plus my full sus just sucks it all up) I would say all the trails are super although the wall and penhydd have less rock and a more XC feel where as the others have a few more options to go light, but are still XC based but more hardcore only if you wish.

Skyline is good but for me a bit pointless as there is just 2 much fireroad, i would do skyline but take the first short cut this then for me is a great ride , this gives you all of the best bits and the fantastic final descent . if you are out in the morning you can then lunch at the centre and then do say whites in the Pm or one of the others at the afan forest centre

You could then do the same on the second day and do whichever of the other 2 trails you have not done in a day. I would also suggest that you always plan to have lunch at Glyncorrwg centre as it is far superior to the afan forest centre, cheap and the food is good ( if it says large on anything it is!!!)

We stayed in a BB called Bryn tegg ( or some spelling like this ) in a village down the road called Cymer, very nice and good pub up the road. plus you can ride straight onto the wall trail ( although driving is all good if you want to mix up which trail centre you do each day and then head for lunch at glyncorrwg)

Hope this helps