stainburn

adun1408

Anyone got any info on stainburn, i'm thinking of goingthere at the weekend.

Airienteer

Techincal! If your can't manage a standard black route I wouldn't really consider it. There is the red route and descent line (which are both pretty short) but apart from that it is all black and above offerings. The Boulder Trail on the lower side of the road is awesome, with some great northshore sections but often described as double black and considered one of the most technical trails. On the higher side of the road there is a more natural black route with gold options (just higher than black) but I don't know what condition it is in after felling last autumn.

adun1408

I do the black route at glentress once a month, this sounds as though it might be a bit harder.

Airienteer

You'll be fine then. It might be a challenge but nothing you can't cope with.

B.A.Nana

go there not expecting the usual trail centre recipe, it's short and brutal and best ridden with friends for encouragement. Unfortunately it's got worn alot around the major obsticals from numpties who aren't prepared to ride the obsticals. So, look out for the correct lines which will generally be rocky and the most difficult .

Andy B

The black @ GT is only a black due to it's length, in technicality it's more of a red route than a black.

The black route at Stainburn is a black route due to it's technicality.

stumpyjon

It's one of the weaknesses of the trail grading system, a lot of long trails are classed as black because of their length. At the opposite end of the scale most of the stuff at Lee Quarry is graded red although a lot of people will think of them technically being closer to black than red (the new bermed section is very similar to the black loop on White's level at Afan) but as the whole lot only comes in at around 5km it's red.

B.A.Nana

I think that's a failure on the FCs part, they manage trees, but have suddenly decided that they know a whole lot about MTBing. To not understand or appreciate the distinct difference between technical difficulty and difficulties surrounding a long distance ride and so just lumping it all together in one grade kind of makes it obvious that they really shouldn't be making these decisions. The IMBA or some other MTB body should be doing this, not tree managers. And to make matters worse they are maybe spreading this bad practice to none FC places like Lee Quarry (or Stumpyjon is a bit rubbish on a bike ! ).

lovelybones

Two of my friends visited here two weeks ago and described it as 'W**K' !! They also bumped into two other guys looking a little baffled and in their own words 'Is that it?!!'

I was suposed to be going with them but I'm glad I didnt now. But don't let that put you off...... :?

stumpyjon

^^ Lee Quarry or Stainburn?

B.A.Nana wrote:

(or Stumpyjon is a bit rubbish on a bike ! ).

Very real possibility (but I do have all the gear and that's what counts ).

B.A.Nana

Alot of people don't like Stainburn because they go there expecting the usual trail centre, with miles of easy xc riding. However, there are alot who rave about it because it's their sort of riding and it's somewhat unique. Stainburn is in a very small forest area. If you built a fast flowing trail it would all be over in 15 minutes hence the reason why it was built the way it was. Stainburn is only worth going to if you like sessioning difficult obsticals and like playing on rocks, log rides and skinnies, then there is plenty to keep you occupied. If you are only into XC and have no desire to impove your skills or challenge yourself, if you miss out all the obsticals (for whatever reason that you may or may not be willing to admit ) then you are going to be dissappointed.

lovelybones

stumpyjon wrote:

^^ Lee Quarry or Stainburn?

B.A.Nana wrote:

(or Stumpyjon is a bit rubbish on a bike ! ).

Very real possibility (but I do have all the gear and that's what counts ).

Stainburn......

But that said I do appreciate the fact that this place is run by volunteers

B.A.Nana

Yep, Stainburn has had very little funding, so almost everything is hand built, which also has a bearing on what can be achieved, including maintenance of existing trails. However, they have had a certain free reign on difficulty and as a result it is considered the most difficult FC MTB centre in the UK. People who are not into pushing their comfort zone will not enjoy.

Father Faff

It's not really my cup of tea though it is worth at least one visit to see if you like it or not. Certainly very technical and intense and a bit of body armour wouldn't go amiss if you are not confident on hard blacks. There are some easier trails round and about in the woods North of the road though not great if its been wet.

B.A.Nana

Unfortunately most of the trails across the road have been lost in the recent FC thinning and clear felling. There is still some surviving trail around the summit trig point, but most of the natural lines lower down have been destroyed. The good news is that FC have given permission for SingletrAction to go back and reclaim trails and there are plans to improve and expand. However, limited FC support, resources and funding means that it's likely to be a slow process

Bikerbaboon

lovelybones wrote:

stumpyjon wrote:

^^ Lee Quarry or Stainburn?

B.A.Nana wrote:

(or Stumpyjon is a bit rubbish on a bike ! ).

Very real possibility (but I do have all the gear and that's what counts ).

Stainburn......

But that said I do appreciate the fact that this place is run by volunteers

I dont think the fact its done by volunteers has any bairing on hte quality of the trail.
they have no room to work with limited inclines.
So they have made a skills playground.
If you turn up to Stainburn blits round it and say is that it you are a better rider than most.
the way that on the desent line you hae a big 4' high rock that you can use as a fast launch drop or a slow rolling drop shows the depth and way the trail has been bult.
The edges of the black are getting warn and its not from numptys its from people giveing it a go and failing. Again if you can turn up and one shot all of the sections then wow move over steve peat.
Cracking place to ride but its Not XC

B.A.Nana

The edges of the black are getting warn and its not from numptys its from people giveing it a go and failing.

Mmmmm, I suggest you come to a dig day and stand and watch people for a while. Stainburn is a victim of the many positive reviews it's had in the mags. But the negetive effect is that many more people are turning up expecting a standard FC trail centre easy XC loop type trail and walking most of it and/or riding the lines of least resistance that have developed (not the intended trail) because it's too technical for them. The fact of the matter is that many people are not 'giving it a go', They are just riding/walking around the original features. Even the little jumps now have massive avoiding tyre trails around either side where people have avoided the simplest of technical features. I'm not complaining, but it's become a victim of it's own success within the general trail centre popularity. The unfortunate bit is that the limited resources are playing catch up all the time, so we struggle to focus on new trail building.

bungalistic

I was at Stainburn only recently, only ever rode it once before a few year ago on a unicycle (just played on the north shore) but I enjoyed it. The routes are all quite short which is great if you just want a quick blast or somewhere to just session for as many hours as you have.

The black loop is very techy and not for most riders but I enjoyed the challenge, the red seemed to be a lot of uphill but is a nice little trail to warm up with. The little downhill track is quite fun too, that rock drop is really nice and some sections are very technical and help hone your skills.

I don't think I would travel all the way there just to ride it but if i'm in the area for any reason it's a great little place for a fun session with friends.

adun1408

Thanks for all the replies, does'nt look like were going now. My mate has just dropped out, Going to try and get there in next couple of weeks.

thefosterkid

Well then people... the key thing here really is that it is ALL done by the Singletraction crew who are all local volunteers. To my knowledge Ell, Knacker and the guys have graded it themselves.

True to form the area is split into three main sections.

1: There is a decent (if short... sorry guys but it is a bit short) which is in the process of being extended by a third. It should take a good rider about 2 minutes. The best part of this DH is the rock drop off (with nicely technical chicken run).

2: The next area is the black/north shore technical playground. Both of which run out of the car park on the south side of the car park. They have graded it double black which at points is very true.

3: Lastly there is the red XC loop which is currently only 30/40% rideable (well maybe not even that) due to the FC felling tree's. When it's all up and running though this is a great technical thrash around. There are some awesome lines over some granly rocks (these are still rideable).

I ride mainly XC and trail centres as I still ride hardtail and just about all of the stuff at Stainburn is properly rideable even clipped in. If your after a Dalby Forest/Whinlatter/North Face full on XC trail centre experience with a long time in the saddle then this is probably not for you. But if your looking for a challenge and some 'play time' to hone your skills or sh*t your pants then come on down to Stainburn. Not forgetting that you can do Stainburn and Ilkley Moor/Malham/Grassington/Fewston or Kilnsey Crag (any combination of these) in a day and get an awesome XC and some proper fun.

hobbo31

The best thing to do if traveling is link Stainburn up with Swinsty and over Sug Marsh, then you mix the technical part with some distance and hills