Newbie downhill advice

thejerv

I've been mountain biking for about 3 years now, I'm happy with trail centre red runs/llandegla black, I've rode snowdon and cadair twice so I feel pretty competent. Now I fancy having a go at riding some downhill, I live in the midlands so stile cop, ribbesford, hopton are all fairly close by, but where would you suggest the best place for me to go, ideally easy/rollable and hopefully not too busy? Also does anyone have any pointers for me?
Cheers
Lee

1mancity2

What bike have you got at the moment?
you say "ideally easy/rollable" not my idea of DH, so what do you mean by that?
As for pointers again very hard without knowing how and what you ride.

thejerv

I've got a Giant Reign, which I would have thought will be up for the job. What I mean by easy/rollable is that I don't want anything to committing at first e.g 6 foot doubles to clear.

Mojo_666

1mancity2 wrote:

What bike have you got at the moment?
you say "ideally easy/rollable" not my idea of DH, so what do you mean by that?
As for pointers again very hard without knowing how and what you ride.

Tabletops rather than gap jumps, drops that can be rolled down rather than having to drop of them, alternate runs that do not involve leaving the ground, I guess he means that kinda stuff.

I would book an uplift day at Cwmcarn, its all roll-able but has good features which as the day goes on you may decide to hit with more speed, but the main thing is 8 runs on a DH track in one day is ideal to figure stuff out rather doing the walk up descent once or twice.

1mancity2

As Mojo says, most Dh runs have a chicked run so you can do that then decide if you want to hit the drops and jumps.

To get used to jumping and the way your bike moves in the air goto a bmx track, you can session jumps and try different speeds etc untill your comfy with it. small tabletops are good to start.

Drops etc start small and work up, try to land slight front wheel first.

Giant Reign is more than capable (I ride one)

thejerv

Can you suggest anywhere in the midlands that fits the bill?

DodgeT

Stile cop is OK for drops / mini downhill runs.
You don't say if you've been or not?

rockmonkeysc

Forest Of Dean would be ideal for a first timer. Just wear a full face helmet & some pads. Most trails have an easy line, just roll down slowly to check out the trail before building speed.
Your Reign will be fine

Blind Danny Johnson

1mancity2 wrote:

Drops etc start small and work up, try to land slight front wheel first.

Front wheel first? Is this what you're supposed to do? I only do small drops and jumps at the moment but defo am building up to hopefully much bigger stuff. I've always tried landing fairly equally weighted between the front and back.

Thanks.

miss notax

I would agree with the comments above - both Cwmcarn and FoD are rollable - although to be honest I still found them very challenging :?

1mancity2

Blind Danny Johnson wrote:

1mancity2 wrote:

Drops etc start small and work up, try to land slight front wheel first.

Front wheel first? Is this what you're supposed to do? I only do small drops and jumps at the moment but defo am building up to hopefully much bigger stuff. I've always tried landing fairly equally weighted between the front and back.

Thanks.

Yeah slight front wheel first so you get steering and grip, level is ok, rear wheel in some instances but mostly front down, not a nose dive mind!!!

thejerv

I've been to Cannock and done Follw the dog and the monkey trail lots of times, but never stile cop. It's only about 35 min away so I'll definatly have to try it. The other DH trail I was looking at is Ribbesford, it's also nly about 35 minutes away for me but I couldn' t find as much information about it.

.blitz

Stile Cop's Red Run is all rollable. If I can do it, anybody can. The Ridge Run is rootier and there are more trees to hit, Walleater is :shock:

The other runs are all graded to give you some idea of what to expect - there's a 20ft double, a 15ft gap jump and a spangly new wallride but it's easy to session different bits until you can string it all together.

Enjoy.

Blind Danny Johnson

1mancity2 wrote:

Blind Danny Johnson wrote:

1mancity2 wrote:

Drops etc start small and work up, try to land slight front wheel first.

Front wheel first? Is this what you're supposed to do? I only do small drops and jumps at the moment but defo am building up to hopefully much bigger stuff. I've always tried landing fairly equally weighted between the front and back.

Thanks.

Yeah slight front wheel first so you get steering and grip, level is ok, rear wheel in some instances but mostly front down, not a nose dive mind!!!

Cool thanks will bear that in mind

The Northern Monkey

Blind Danny Johnson wrote:

1mancity2 wrote:

Blind Danny Johnson wrote:

1mancity2 wrote:

Drops etc start small and work up, try to land slight front wheel first.

Front wheel first? Is this what you're supposed to do? I only do small drops and jumps at the moment but defo am building up to hopefully much bigger stuff. I've always tried landing fairly equally weighted between the front and back.

Thanks.

Yeah slight front wheel first so you get steering and grip, level is ok, rear wheel in some instances but mostly front down, not a nose dive mind!!!

Cool thanks will bear that in mind

For drops (to a transition) you should be landing either both wheels at the same time or rear wheel very slightly 1st.

If you land from wheel 1st and get it wrong you'll be over the bars.

Forest of Dean is a good place to start, went there for the 1st time a few weeks ago and its much easier to ride than CC and you can push up and session different parts.

1mancity2

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Blind Danny Johnson wrote:

1mancity2 wrote:

Blind Danny Johnson wrote:

1mancity2 wrote:

Drops etc start small and work up, try to land slight front wheel first.

Front wheel first? Is this what you're supposed to do? I only do small drops and jumps at the moment but defo am building up to hopefully much bigger stuff. I've always tried landing fairly equally weighted between the front and back.

Thanks.

Yeah slight front wheel first so you get steering and grip, level is ok, rear wheel in some instances but mostly front down, not a nose dive mind!!!

Cool thanks will bear that in mind

For drops (to a transition) you should be landing either both wheels at the same time or rear wheel very slightly 1st.

If you land from wheel 1st and get it wrong you'll be over the bars.Forest of Dean is a good place to start, went there for the 1st time a few weeks ago and its much easier to ride than CC and you can push up and session different parts.

Bens right hear, especially a steep transition,(should have mentioned it were I said rear wheel in some instances) but for landing ramps and transitions like that front wheel slight or both together as Ben says.

Northwind

The Northern Monkey wrote:

If you land from wheel 1st and get it wrong you'll be over the bars.

See also: Landing rear wheel first and getting it wrong

funkywigster

get yourself over Ribbs mate http://www.moredirt.co.uk/trail/United-Kingdom_West-Midlands/Ribbesford-Downhill-Trails/227/ whatever level your at it's good fun

nwmlarge

check out southerndownhill or the northern equivalent for tips on places to ride etc

bluechair84

You say not too busy, but DH lads will always give you loads of advice and will hang around while you hit something for the first time to make sure you don't skewer yourself with your bars. Busy is better really! Safety in numbers you know. They'll hang around once you've set off rather than chase you down too.

As for Stile Cop, there's loads of technical stuff, much of it's roll-able, but you can come across drops or jumps that can't be rolled (for beginners at least) and do take you by surprise (the Baloboa run for instance). It's a great place, but walk sections first to get a good look.

Stevo_666

thejerv wrote:

I've been mountain biking for about 3 years now, I'm happy with trail centre red runs/llandegla black, I've rode snowdon and cadair twice so I feel pretty competent. Now I fancy having a go at riding some downhill, I live in the midlands so stile cop, ribbesford, hopton are all fairly close by, but where would you suggest the best place for me to go, ideally easy/rollable and hopefully not too busy? Also does anyone have any pointers for me?
Cheers
Lee

Cwmcarn has already been mentioned: also Forest of Dean is good for DH newbies. Both have uplifts and runs that are rollable while you're getting your DH legs. If you want not too busy, just go on a weekday.

thejerv

I went to Ribbesford this morning for a few hours, managed 7 runs on Oldskool. I really enjoyed it and felt confident, each run was faster than the last. I'll definatly be back.

nico65

hello,

i'm going to France this summer, does anyobe know a good spot there (in brittany, west coast) ?

thank you in advance

dirty face

Stile Cop is awesome and lots of the regulars are very friendly and can give good advice. In my experience the same goes for FoD. No matter who you speak to everyone is approachable. When I first got into DH I thought the regulars would 'shun' me and laugh in a sort of 'who the hell is this guy' manner. But I found quite the opposite and leart a lot from those guys.
Anyway, both those locations are good for learning but Stile Cop is a bit more extreme in places. Just take it easy and DON'T RIDE ALONE until you are confident (but even then you should always ride with someone else). Additionally, riding with someone better than you can help you to improve massively.

bluechair84

nico65 wrote:

hello,

i'm going to France this summer, does anyobe know a good spot there (in brittany, west coast) ?

thank you in advance

Probably best starting a new thread with your question in the title, a description of the kind of riding you want to do (DH, XC, 4x etc), your fitness and your riding skill.