what type of mountain biking do you do

Shotsaway

MountainMonster wrote:

I just enjoy riding.

I don't have any thing like a trail centre here in Austria. TBH I don't even know what it is when someone says a trail centre. I just ride.

Trail centres are purpose mountain bike areas. The trails are graded by difficultly (I bit like all ski resorts). They may also have cafes/mountain bike shops/hire and demo facilities.

Austria is an ideal place for trail centre (You may even already ride at trail centres and just not know it?)

For more information on trail centres see the link below (Welsh Trail Centres)

http://mbwales.com/en/content/cms/centres/centres.aspx

CycloRos

thanks for clearing up what a trail centre actually is, now this thread starts to make sense

Anonymous

CycloRos wrote:

thanks for clearing up what a trail centre actually is, now this thread starts to make sense

It does get vague at times. People often call somewhere like the Marin Trail, or the Penmachno trail, a trail "centre" - whereas I'd disagree. There are no facilities there, apart form a cleared, gravelled bit of land to park your car.

CycloRos

yeehaamcgee wrote:

BOYDIE wrote:

Lets face it riding's just riding

Very true.

if it were then wouldn't we all be riding exactly the same type of bike? they'd be no need for the miriad of companies producing new bikes every year, and we'd all have to find something else to talk about!

I ride mainly what's categorised as "trail" but that doesn't mean trail centres. In my experience trail centres are good when you're short on time and want an instant quick mountain biking fix, but you can't beat heading out into the wilds for the day with only a vague scribbled guide, a compass and an old OS map.

CycloRos

interesting point yeeha (and two of my favourite trails incidentally), but they are both purpose built mountain bike trails which are graded so I'd say they're trail centres.

Anonymous

Cycloros, it's the companies that create the niche pigeon-holes though.
Your average "trail" or "all mountain" bike is a do-anything bike, arguably the modern form of just "mountain bike".
Then you have your specialist needs either way, towards XC, or DH.
And then you have people like you who say that "you can't beat heading out into the wilds for the day".
I beg to differ, but it's each to their own. We all enjoy essentially the same thing. Nothing is inherently "better" than anything else. What and where we ride is influenced so heavily by where we live.

paul.skibum

Where ever I go in the UK I always try to consider whether there is somewhere to ride nearby and if there is I take my bike if I am going to have time to ride it. If I go somewhere there is some good riding to be had and I dont have time I am sad.

Whether the good riding is the Lakes, the Moors, the South Downs, Afan, Coed-y-Brenin or Thetford its irrelevant one of my two bikes will be worth taking.

My general week to week riding is map based bridleway hunting in the Chilterns or Swinley (the quick no thinking fix). I guess you call it XC.

Anonymous

CycloRos wrote:

interesting point yeeha (and two of my favourite trails incidentally), but they are both purpose built mountain bike trails which are graded so I'd say they're trail centres.

It's true that they are purposely made, or in some cases purpose-enhanced for mountain biking, but most of the trails that people call "natural" were once created by people, for other uses. Miners getting to work, or routes from one place to another, for example.

There is no "centre" at Penmachno, the Marin trail, or, in fact, Innerleithen. They are just trails.
There's a lot of purpose made footpaths and bridleways around, like "Lon Eifion" locally. That doesn't make it a "bridleway centre"

CycloRos

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Cycloros, it's the companies that create the niche pigeon-holes though.

I agree to a certain degree but if there wasn't the consumer demand for a particular type of bike then it wouldn't exist

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Your average "trail" or "all mountain" bike is a do-anything bike, arguably the modern form of just "mountain bike".

absolutely.

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Then you have your specialist needs either way, towards XC, or DH.

which is my point, riding isn't just riding as soon as you choose to specialise in a particular discipline

yeehaamcgee wrote:

We all enjoy essentially the same thing. Nothing is inherently "better" than anything else....

absolutely, but debating the subtle differences is what makes it interesting

Anonymous

The subtle differences do make it interesting, indeed. But i still contest that outside of racing, nobody really needs, and few people really want (truth be told, although the childish urge to BUY SHINY THING is there all the same ) either a fully featherweight XC machine, or a full on DH machine.
What the vast majority of folk need is a variance of all-mountain bikes. Some people prefer lightness over strength, other people the opposite. All of which are subtly differing takes on the same concept.
That concept being to just ride bicycles in silly places where they shouldn't really be

CycloRos

yeehaamcgee wrote:

They are just trails.
There's a lot of purpose made footpaths and bridleways around, like "Lon Eifion" locally. That doesn't make it a "bridleway centre"

well no, cos that would be just stoopid! They are all like you say just trails but if its purpose built for mountain biking then I tend to think of it as a trail centre, the facilities side doesn't really come into (mainly cos I own a campervan so the facilities come with me)

supersonic

I ride general sorta XC stuff, and general f*cking about.

MacAndCheese

I ride pretty much whatever I have the opportunity to ride, I do local rides (south downs), Trail centres (mostly Surrey Hills), XC races, session jumps and drops, all-day epics or 45minute blasts. Sometimes I know exactly where I 'm going, sometimes I just get the map out and go explore.

MacAndCheese

supersonic wrote:

and general f*cking about.

and lots of this too!

Anonymous

CycloRos wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

They are just trails.
There's a lot of purpose made footpaths and bridleways around, like "Lon Eifion" locally. That doesn't make it a "bridleway centre"

well no, cos that would be just stoopid! They are all like you say just trails but if its purpose built for mountain biking then I tend to think of it as a trail centre, the facilities side doesn't really come into (mainly cos I own a campervan so the facilities come with me)

What about purpose built footpaths? Are these "walking centres" or "outwards bounds centres"?
There are such places, but not each purpose made, or purpose maintained foot or trekking path is one.

DCR00

i ride the trans pennine trail mostly, going to and from work

have been to Delemere, and itching to go to Llandegla

Anonymous

BOYDIE wrote:

I ride cross country mostly,lets face it most riding is just cross country,i.e just getting out riding any where,everywhere trail centres, local loops etc.

Problem is, some people have very different ideas about what XC is.

Go with some who say they have a great XC loop and end up on bridleways, fire roads and tow paths. Go with others and you're practically doing suicidal downhill on XC bikes.

This is why I don't like these definitions. I used to think logically I ride across country, hence XC, but then people think I'm into XC racing, endurance and timed climbs and start talking to me about the weight of the bike.

So I just ride trails and I'm a mountain biker. That's it. Oh, and I don't do lycra or roads :P

slowslowslow

I am lucky to have a good trail centre very close to mae at Canock, and enjoy nipping up there when I can. also like Brennin, Penmachno etc.

But also love to get out into the hills. Malvern,Peaks, and most of all the long Mynd-just love Minton Batch.

Each to their own if you ask me, as long as you are out and about and enjoying it why bother labbeling or scoring one over the other.

Apparently the path on Cut Gate was built by an ex mountain biker. does that make Fairholmes a trail centre?

cloudynights

i think it boils down to how and what you want to get out of mountain biking, and how it i makes you feel when youve finished a outing we all get kicks from doing different stuff and i think we get a bike more suited to what we like to ride, either xc, dh, forest, i like to come home knowing my hearts had a bloody good workout and my legs feel tired and im still in one piece for work next day so for me i want a light xc bike, i dont race but i do push myself till it hurts thats my kick, tried riding trail centres or forest and its just not my thing but i have friends who love it, owning mountain bikes is fantastic, gets you from from AtoB over whatever terrain you want natural or man made, how many people stop and watch a mountain biker flying down some rock garden or trail centre and think wow that looks good, better than being a walker with your walking stick and flask of tea anyday

RUSSY

Ride anywere that ends at a pub

njee20

If it's not at a jump spot, and you're not getting a lift to the top of the hill, it's XC. I find it very odd people who talk about 'trails' and 'XC' as 2 different things.

I just ride my bike! Sometimes with a race number on, often not, road, off road, fast, slow, whatever! I tend to avoid things that involve vast amounts of air, because a) I'm no good at jumping and b) my bike's not set up for it, but otherwise it's all just riding. It doesn't stop being XC because it's got steep or there's a few drops/jumps in there!

Trail centres (mostly Surrey Hills)

The Surrey Hills aren't a trail centre!

Anonymous

njee20 wrote:

The Surrey Hills aren't a trail centre!

QFT

It's far better than a trail centre

njee20

Agreed!

shieldsy94

i ride downhill, 4x and jumps. If i rode xc on my bike i'd have my knees near my collar bone all the time

Governor_Knoc

Tight, rooty and rocky technical riding is all you will find over here. I live in North Carolina, USA. If you are ever over here to ride, then you have to ride Tsali. Hands down the best trail, which is located in Bryson City, NC.

Northwind

njee20 wrote:

If it's not at a jump spot, and you're not getting a lift to the top of the hill, it's XC

What if you push to the top of the hill? Or, what if you go to nevis range and do the Nevis Red XC route?

Anonymous

Northwind wrote:

njee20 wrote:

If it's not at a jump spot, and you're not getting a lift to the top of the hill, it's XC

What if you push to the top of the hill? Or, what if you go to nevis range and do the Nevis Red XC route?

Erm, then you'd be riding an XC trail.
Engage brain, THEN type.

Northwind

You get a lift to the top of Nevis Red. Take your own advice?

Father Faff

I have an All-Mountain Meta 5 which is pretty good at most things that get in it's way but I do have to say I find trail centres usually end in a big heap as they seem to encourage you to do things you never would out on the "natural" trails. So I tend to prefer natural trails as they usually hurt less.

Anonymous

Northwind wrote:

You get a lift to the top of Nevis Red. Take your own advice?

Nevis red XC route - the clue is in the name