Ae

birchy

Is it just me or is Ae a bag of sh*t compared to gt and inners, did not enjoy my self one bit apart from the last 2 sections.
For me (and my mates) there was no real flow and when there was it was damped by seriously rocky and not fast rolling rocks .

bungalistic

Only ever ridden it once, and all I remember is how bloody hard it was on a small hardtail, the chain came off far too many times due to the rocky surface shaking me and the bikes to bits.

I quite regularely go to Ae but only to 'play' on last section which is good fun, though not as good as Inners which is great.

trailpuppet

I am in the liking all trails group

But if I had to single out 1 trail that does`nt rock my boat it is Inners. The good bits are spoilt by that soddin big climb at the start which knackers my back and I cannot get the flow going after I get up onto the Minch.

Took a guy from work(froml down Teeside way)and he rated Ae as the best days biking he`d ever done. So suits some and not others.

Little bit of history.

Ae suffers from a lack of resources(£££). The cash dried up due to the 7Stanes Euro project funding coming to an end when Ae needed it most. Some serious repair work was needed at Mabie over that winter causing at least a 6mth delay. A fair bit of the trail has not been built. There should have been a magic black route but as already stated the cash dried up and there will be no more I am led to believe. There are a lot more stories that could be told but thats basically why Ae is probably the roughest and toughest trail along with Dalbeattie..

But I like it.

BigRedR

I agree - Ae sucks!!!

Far too rocky and bumpy, and next to no reward for a long, tedious, painfull, bumpy, annoying, frustrating, boring, cr@ppy climb. Wont be going back in a hurry..............

bungalistic

trailpuppet - I agree the start to Inners throws you in at the deep end as far as gruelling climbs go, but I thought it was well worth it.

Ae just seems gruelling, though as mentioned before the last bit of Ae line is amazing. I've heard before about lack of funds, which is a shame as with a bit more work it could be a much better trail, though i'm sure many would disagree that changing it too much would ruin it's unique character.

trailpuppet

mmmmmmmmmm Must just be me and a few others that enjoy "grueling" trails. Just to make it a bit harder I sometimes bike out & back adding 14mls or so. If I take the scenic route via the wind farm/turbines then it can be much longer.

Agree re Inners & GT for that matter that when you get to the top it is mucho fun descending. But I am more of an XC type of guy as opposed to DH so pedally types of trail suit me better.

Spoilt for choice I am

Northwind

I like the way Innerleithen and GT get most of the climbing out in one burst, personally... And it's quite varied climbing as well. Lots of climbs and falls are hard to pace yourself for unless you know the trails I reckon, I either burn out or end up saving myself for a climb that never comes. But that last part of the climb up to the summit at innerleithen, with those loose square edged, fist sized stones for a surface, it could almost have been built to slow you down and rob you of momentum, especially on a hardtail. I'd like to take a steamroller up it and squash it all flat

hoponbaby

i've got to agree i found ae really harsh and didnt enjoy it although the last section is awesome..just not worth the effort to get there..only been once this year that was in may the previous time before that was july 08 up until then i would have given ae a massive thumbs up..there use to be a good variation in terrain with my favourite part being the edge but oh my god they have totally ruined it!!! they have whacked all the tree's down making it totally open..would be hard work in windy conditions..
overall i think ae is rough and featureless..to many wide exposed sections with hard fire road climbs afterwards..
one of my mates has just got back into mntn biking and was keen to try ae but after all the stories he's read he's gona stick with mabie and dalbeattie..

birchy

Seems to me then that we were not the only one's hopeing for the end to come about 9 miles in then
We ride alot on the north york moors and are used to hard long pulls etc but we didn't expected to find harder more featureless ones at a man made trail centre.
As for the minch moor climb i dont mind it infact we get up fairly easily in the middle ring and just flicking between the top few gears on the back, then all the way back down is pure nector 8)

bungalistic

Northwind I remember stone steps and awkwards bits on the first climb at Inners, but don't remember it being that hard just before the summit, I was riding a hardtail also, it's possible I was just in a good climbing/biking mood and it didn't bother me.

I didn't find the GT DH parts as fun or as flowy as the Inners DH, in fact I didn't rate GT that much compared to others, but I probably just need to ride it again, not all centres float my boat first time around.

I might try ride Ae again this weekend, see what it is like. I remember lots of sections that would be great fun if it weren't for fist sized rocks that make you feel like you were riding a jackhammer.

Northwind

bungalistic wrote:

Northwind I remember stone steps and awkwards bits on the first climb at Inners, but don't remember it being that hard just before the summit, I was riding a hardtail also, it's possible I was just in a good climbing/biking mood and it didn't bother me.

I didn't find the GT DH parts as fun or as flowy as the Inners DH, in fact I didn't rate GT that much compared to others, but I probably just need to ride it again, not all centres float my boat first time around.

Oh, I loved the steps, that's my type of riding right down to the ground, it's the stone surfaced switchbacks- I think it's the final part of the climb? Easy to ride, no technical challenge but it just stopped me getting any pace- it felt like I had cogs for wheels.

GT's feel's very different though, and also it's a good bit easier... But if you're on the red, you can throw in the black sections just before Magic Mushroom for a bit of extra challenge, Double X, the Wormhole and the Bitch, for a laugh. Spices things up a lot.

counterculture

i quite like Ae, apart from the spectacular headplant, sustained on a silly stepdown about 1/3 round, resulting in a broken helmet and battered shoulder, last time

i found the climbs alright, nothing to worry about, mountain biking isnt all about going downhills, i like the roughness although its a shame they levelled so many trees on the trail, takes away from places like when you go round the top of the glen.

not as fun as GT or Inners but by no means inferior

homers_double

You're all a bunch of lightweights, Ae is fuc*ing awesome.

So what, there are rocks.

So what, there is a climb.

So what, the trails aren't as groomed, flat and "swoopey" as you want them to be.

When I rode Ae my first thoughts were "jeseus, thats what proper mountain biking is all about"

Here's a review I did for one of the best online MTB sites around:-

on 1222418607:

Here it is in the carpark posing for a typical tourist shot next to a signpost.



The trail was pretty grrr, and had plenty of tricky rock garden type things to keep it interested.



Its not all about descending though, and there were some short steep climbs.



But when somebody said North Shore, Heckler assumed it was like Blackpool and there would be icecream....



After that disappointment Heckler rested a wee while and munched on a Mule Bar.



Then towards the end of the trail Heckler found the downhill sections.



And quite enjoyed being thrown off this rock lip type drop to tranny thing.



In essence Heckler really liked Ae forest and will be going back at some point. He's lucky really because on the Monday previous, he'd been for a ride around Llandegla and was able to compare the two.

Llandegla in comparison is very sanitized, not to say it doesn't flow well but Ae is built on rock instead of dirt. One forum member once said "anything more than a hardtail at Llandela is overkill" whereas you'll be more than happy you bought that 6" trail bike if you rode "Ae Line".

In essence you lot need to man the fu*k up!

bungalistic

homers double wrote:

In essence you lot need to man the fu*k up!

You need to calm the f**k down ha ha

I intend to do this route again except i'll be more manly than you and do it on a hardtail not on some cushioned bike.

:P

anto164

magnus

bungalistic wrote:

homers double wrote:

In essence you lot need to man the fu*k up!

You need to calm the f**k down ha ha

I intend to do this route again except i'll be more manly than you and do it on a hardtail not on some cushioned bike.

:P

Eh? You just complained about riding it on a hardtail?

Mike Deere

Anyone who wants to complain about purpose built trail centres being "a bag of sh*t" needs to seriously get a grip on reality. Be thankful they exist at all! Ten years ago nothing like this existed and now there are tens and tens up and down the country. Hundreds of people nationwide put it a MASSIVE amount of time and effort to build these trails in ALL sorts of weather conditions. They endure hell to provide people like us with places to ride and enjoy ourselves. If you're gonna criticise them, then I strongly suggest you try trailbuilding for yourself over a year long period.

Bringing the full sus / hardtail debate into it is completely irrelevant too. Trails like Ae are always going to be more challenging on a hardtail, but in my experience are a lot more fun and enjoyable on a full sus as you can ride them properly. This is coming from a hardtail rider that does all the climbs at Afan on singlespeed.

As for lack of flow, try going faster. Almost all trail centre descents flow better and better the faster you go.

And for the record, Ae was awesome when I went a few years ago.

mike1-2

I've never been :-(

birchy

Dont mind rocks & i dont mind hills, i ride big routes on the moors all the time and that comes with all the rides but Ae just didnt come up to what you'd expect after riding the the other 7 stanes.
Anyway bought MBUK last week for the fiirst time in while since first posting this and it seems they had the same feelings as most of the people who posted on here that ended with the comment 'what it could be -as evidenced by the well designed first half- is a long xc classic, but right now and until someone takes it in hand, the the Ae line is just another ride.'
plus i know trail building is not easy as having dalby on my doorstep as well, i have thrown a hand in there a few times.

Matt

I'd just like to echo the 'you guys are pussies' thing. But that's got nothing to do with this thread, just my general sentiments.

Steelybabes

UH DH

Here's an idea:

If you lot don't like it, you can get off your arses and help us to build the damn trails, instead of hiding behind your computer screens and whinging about how shit it is.

busta gonad

There does seem to be a few that are overly critical about some trail centres, AE seems to recieve quite a lot of flak, having never ridden there i can't comment.

Mabie was slated by some southern shandy drinking $%*** a few months back in the mags, i have since ridden there a few times and it is ace...the same for Newcastleton gets a regular slagging, it's a great family center...it just goes to show the complete diversity in opinion, a lot of the griping is totally unfounded.

The moral is don't listen to the naysayers, they are quite often just plain wrong, go for a ride and make up your own mind!

Dangerous Dave

If you don't like 'bumpy' then stick to the road.

bungalistic

magnus wrote:

Eh? You just complained about riding it on a hardtail?

It was a year ago, it was a small jump style bike I had just bought to start getting into biking. Due to the surface of Ae the chain came off a lot, which really didn't help the experience. I would like to do it again now that my skill is higher and that my bike is more suited

I ride the stanes all of the time (probably too much) my favourite is still Mabie, nice easy route as a warm up followed by great bacon sarnies and a play on the mini 4X. I do like Ae, I go a lot but tend to just ride the last section and the 'Shredder' trail.

Dirtydog11

it was damped by seriously rocky and not fast rolling rocks .

:shock:

Sounds good to me. Try Llandegla, its probably more up your street!

BigRedR

UH DH wrote:

Here's an idea:

If you lot don't like it, you can get off your arses and help us to build the damn trails, instead of hiding behind your computer screens and whinging about how shoot it is.

Shouldnt you be hiring some lady-boys for ten dollars or so..................

bungalistic

We had the air ambulance up at Ae on Saturday for a guy who had fell off near the lower part of the Ae line, just before all the jumps, was pretty impressive watching it come in. Hope he is ok and heals well.

We rode the Ae line and shredder for a few hours after that and it was as always great fun.

Kiffer

Have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of Ae, it's ok, but I think that there are better trails in the area. Having said that, the cafe's quite good!

Personally I prefer either Drumlanrig, or Dalbeatite, but that's just me.....