What kind of trails surfaces do you like/dislike the most?

JayKingFunk

So far this summer I've ridden at Coed-y-Brenin, Afan, Dalby and Sherwood Pines.

Just posting this to see what other peoples thoughts are about surface types.

Personally I can't stand really rocky sections for more than 2 or 3 mins at a time!

There was loads at Afan on 'The Wall' route on the decent and in quite a few places at Dalby. I mean, I do like a bit of rocky technical stuff but when it goes on for ages down a decent it just rattles the hell out of me!

I ride hardtail and know to absorb this type of thing with my arms and legs etc. but still, I just find it kills the 'flow' a bit if it lasts ages!

Went round the new red route at Sherwood most recently and it was brilliant! Loads of single track with very few rocks and stones in it, plus it was dry so plenty of super fast dusty hard mud to roll across. Ended up playing on the jump park and having a go at some of the orange extreme sections and did the red route a second time when we got back to the car park!

Does anyone else feel this way about stones and rocks on single track?!

Cheers, J

The Northern Monkey

more technical the better... rocks, roots, drain holes, tight track etc are fun

Flat and straight can get bnoring and tedious.

bomberesque

Sand. can't abide sand
and axle deep mud I can manage without
and that surface they put down on horse trails (actually, that's mostly sand)

the rest are all good IMO

I get your point about rocky trails, but not all trails are flowing (at least not all natural ones) so it's just a part of the ride. it is tiring to ride rocky and very rooty sections but the stronger you get the more you will be able to shoot through these sections leaving your mates in your dust moaning that they're getting rattled to sh!t while you sail on unconcerned!

.blitz

JayKingFunk wrote:

What kind of trails surfaces do you like/dislike the most?

The ones that collapse when you ride over them because the feckin rabbits have undermined them

joec1

yea i agree about the rocks... i love the challenge, but get bored if the whole path is the same for miles.....

pastasauce

LOVE - hard fast dry surfaces

HATE - winter CLAY !

llamafarmer

Fireroad!

joshtp

i agree that overly long sections of overly rocky stuff can get boring, although its also rubbish without any rocks so..... im not really a fan of mega squelchy mud, or soft sand, i really like the surface at Brechfa, its good in all wheather has plenty of grip, and just rides really well, but is a bit shord on rocks and roots, so in that respect Afan in better.

MacAndCheese

Riding on the Southdowns there's a lot of chalk, which was great at the weekend, as it was dry and very, very fast (great!) but get it wet and it can be lethally slippery - same with clay.

don't mind the odd rocky or rooty section.

The worst thing was when someone laid fresh gravel on a track I use regularly. I came flying round the corner expecting nice, firm, hard-packed dry mud and hit what felt like a load of marbles! the front wheel wiped and the fresh sharp gravel made a mess of my knee and elbow - not good.

VWsurfbum

love = hardpack singletrack.
Hate = off camber muddy roots!
Hate = loose fast downhill fire trails! (always feels as though my bikes going to fly from underme with no warning)

angrymeerkat

More obstructions please. Sherwood is far too sanitised now; it's all very well having swoopy, smooth singletrack... but for the whole 13 miles? Pretty uninspiring.

Dry sand is pretty much the only surface I really dislike.

ccc

bomberesque wrote:

Sand. can't abide sand

Same. Hate the stuff and there's loads of it round here. At the end of the Thetford red and black routes (well all of them actually) heading back to High Lodge there's a 2-300m stretch of sand that always really p*sses me off.

Hate deep gravel as well for the same reasons. Loads of it on the MoD land round here.

Kiblams

The surface at Sherwood is nice to ride, but the lack of hills and technical sections does make it a tad boring. A better example of where this kind of surface is put to better use is at Llandegla when you are zig-zagging down the wooded hillsides.

The embedded pebbles that you find all over Follow the dog can be very annoying when you are just trying to pedal to gain speed or climb, but the man made stuff like the boardwalks and that section of rock slabs is a nice change. I find the sandy bit at Cannock is suprisingly easy to ride considering that most of it is up hill. :?

Not a fan of winter clay; coats the bike/rider, clogs up tyre treads and is hellishly slippy to corner fast on.

The single most hated surface that I have ridden is the log boardwalk at Llandegla... what a waste of time and effort.

paul.skibum

I hate tarmac descents - just dont get on with them at all.

Also dislike sand and very fast loose surfaced wide fireroads/double track like found a lot in alps.

Daz555

Deep mud.
Off-camber wet roots and rocks.

KonaKurt

I confess to having two pet fears when riding... sand and flint.

I don't ride near coastal areas so much these days, but when I did I hated coming across patches of sand that may have blown onto coastal paths. A little bit of sand in the transmission can do quite a bit of damage as it grinds away, especially to chain links.

Most of all, I hate flint and flintstones, which usually has sharp edges... a nightmare for blowouts..! I swear by checking a trail over carefully for any sharp flint before riding it, due to a bad experiance I had being stranded on Salisbury Plain with 2 blowouts and no tubes!

Beware of flint, it's no fun riding over it..!

KK.

pte1643

ccc wrote:

Same. Hate the stuff and there's loads of it round here. At the end of the Thetford red and black routes (well all of them actually) heading back to High Lodge there's a 2-300m stretch of sand that always really p*sses me off.

Yeah, know what you mean... And it's uphill too.

Dunno what's worse that stretch, or the bit on the Beast where there's a sand trap right at the top of one of the crests.

supersonic

I love loose rocky surfaces.

I hate sand.

wordnumb

supersonic wrote:

I love loose rocky surfaces.
I hate sand.

Agree. And then there's ice and snow, which I have a love / hate relationship with.

JayKingFunk

I too dislike clay, its almost impossible to ride if you have to go over it slow or fall off on it!!

There was a really nice section at Dalby that I went down, very steep sharp zig zags through trees. The surface was very rooty and full of drop offs. It was scary as hell because if you came off there was sheer drops onto branches at the height of the berms!!

BoardinBob

Cant say I have ridden any trails in Scotland that had sand on them. :? Is it common down south?

GHill

At the moment I really hate very loose dusty trails (somewhat foreign to the UK). Traction? What traction? Can't turn, can't stop, can't climb.

ccc

pte1643 wrote:

ccc wrote:

Same. Hate the stuff and there's loads of it round here. At the end of the Thetford red and black routes (well all of them actually) heading back to High Lodge there's a 2-300m stretch of sand that always really p*sses me off.

Yeah, know what you mean... And it's uphill too.

Dunno what's worse that stretch, or the bit on the Beast where there's a sand trap right at the top of one of the crests.

haha, i know the one. Always catches me out :roll:

That last stretch though. It's like someone put it there right at the finish when you're absolutely shattered just try and really get to you.

BoardinBob wrote:

Cant say I have ridden any trails in Scotland that had sand on them. :? Is it common down south?

There's quite a bit round this way (East Anglia). Quite a few sandy bombholes/descents where I ride where your front wheel is sliding all over the place and you're just fighting to keep the bike upright.

I'm looking forward to doing some proper snow riding this winter to see which is worse...

Hercule Q

my fave is a slightly damp sandy rocky soil

hate dry sandy trails with small gravely rocks on top, its like riding on marbles (like how the common is at the mo cos it hasnt rained since august)

Nik_B

That Northshore(?) stuff.....wooden logs covered with anti grip chicken wire.

projectsome

rocks, they play havoc on my HT.

ride_whenever

hate: deep wet clay...

like: anything dry, don't even mind deep sand tbh.

RealMan

Love that pine needle covered surface you get in wooded areas, that's great. Love anything with rocks, roots, trees, stumps - the more technical, the better.

Sand is never going to be a favourite for anyone, but decent sized tyres and low pressures and you leave people behind, so that can make it not quite as bad.

Same for ruts, getting really good at riding them, so can leave people behind on those as well.

Mud and wet leaves is never fun, just seems to clog everything up.

For climbing, the more technical, steep, and longer, the better. Unless its so ridiculous its unrideable.

Really do hate it when tractors or other big vehicles have been crossing a trail where its muddy, and leaving huge ruts that you have to ride perpendicularly - that's not usually very fun.

lawman

i love loamy soil, its great for grip and you can slide the bike about abit for some fun, rocks are great as long as they are dry, but im not to fussed if they are wet, tyres i have are great for it. roots are fantastic!!!! sand is fun but slow, but my worst terrain type is loose gravelly stuff, im not bad at it, im just al ittle cautious, but i really hate hard ground with those stupid little stones in, like you find at cannock chase, very little grip.

guilliano

I have to say I loved the surface all the way through Whites Level and the Penhydd trail (so varied) when I went there. I also love the dirt sections all round Wendover woods, but the chalky bits when wet are a nightmare, as are the flat sections round Ashridge after a few days of rain as they just end up as bogs.

I'm happy with technical ups or downs. I'd much rather that than a long fireroad or sandy slog (sandy slogs galore around Woburn, and they are always straight climbs)

colt

but i really hate hard ground with those stupid little stones in, like you find at cannock chase, very little grip.
+1, Always expecting to wash out on any fast corners, especially when its damp :evil: