Best UK Trail Centre?

Unknown · June 2007

I have a couple of days "free" at the end of October and fancied trying one of the U.K. Trail Centres - B&B overnight Sunday + Monday - ride Monday + Tuesday. Can anyone recommend any particular Trail Centre that has it all - in particular nice flowy singletrack - not too technical as I'll be on a HT.

Cheers!

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Unknown · June 2007

I've only been to a limited few so far, but Glentress stands out as by far and away the best so far. The red route is absolutely ideal for a hardtail with lots of nice singletrack sections and Spooky Wood is truly ace and flows very nicely.

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Paulie W · June 2007

Coed-y-Brenin, Afan Argoed, Llandegla - only kidding, lest Hamish descends on this thread with his Wels-trail-hating ways!!

Has to be Glentress with Innerleithen just round the corner - great flowing red route and the black route is certainly doable on a HT and not that technical.

saz · June 2007

Certainly if you've never been to Glentress you wont be disappointed. The red route is brilliant fun, but the black route is totally different ( definately doable on an HT, I've done it with my fork locked!![:I][:0]) and Inners is 5 mins up the road. Also Glentress is IDEAL for weekdays. Its much quieter and the cafe is brilliant to sit outside in the sun.

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Paulie W · June 2007

I managed the same feat of riding the second half of GT with forks locked out - I was so relieved at the end, when I realised what I'd done, to discover that I really wasn't as bad a rider as the previous hour or so had suggested!

Mind you I must be pretty stupid since I've managed the same thing at least twice since!

househusbandwmb · June 2007

Kirroughtree is probably the best trail centre in Scotland - can't believe you never mentioned it Saz! Can also recommend The Stables Guest House nearby. Kirroughtree has much more quality singletrack than Glentress or Innerleithen, and most of the Welsh trail centres from what I've been told.

"...not too technical as I'll be on a HT..." - WTF??? Sorry, but that is truly sad..! There is nothing at any trail centre that cannot be done on a hardtail, halo. Perhaps a full-sus bike will make things a bit more comfortable, but it's you, not the bike.

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saz · June 2007

Agree about KT Andy, but GT has better cake.

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streako · June 2007

Kirroughtree has probably the best singletrack in the country, and is certainly do-able on most hardtails. There are technical bits but they can be avoided if you arent comfortable.

For the second day I would suggest Dalbeattie, which is like a smaller version of Kirroughtree, or Mabie, which has more open trails and more climbing/descending.

Glentress and Inners would be a good couple of days riding for anyone, and are close together.

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Unknown · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by househusband
"...not too technical as I'll be on a HT..." - WTF??? Sorry, but that is truly sad..! There is nothing at any trail centre that cannot be done on a hardtail, halo. Perhaps a full-sus bike will make things a bit more comfortable, but it's you, not the bike.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Before you posted that did you not consider that not everybody will be as technically competent and confident as you obviously are!

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househusbandwmb · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by halo

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by househusband
"...not too technical as I'll be on a HT..." - WTF??? Sorry, but that is truly sad..! There is nothing at any trail centre that cannot be done on a hardtail, halo. Perhaps a full-sus bike will make things a bit more comfortable, but it's you, not the bike.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Before you posted that did you not consider that not everybody will be as technically competent and confident as you obviously are!

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<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Never claimed to be; but then I know enough about mountain biking to know that going from a hardtail to full-suspension is NOT going to suddenly make you technically competent and confident; that's the point I was trying to make. Like I said - it's you and not the bike.

Before YOU posted, did you ever consider that?! [;)]

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Paulie W · June 2007

Now, now, boys, play nicely.

Surely a FS does give you more confidence than a HT: it certainly did in my case. Everything I've done on a HT I've done faster on my full susser. I can certainly see a scenario where there would be stuff I would happily do on a full-susser which I would baulk at on a HT.

Andy B · June 2007

A F/S may give you more confidence, but it doesn't make you a better rider, if you can't do something on a H/T you probably won't do it on a F/S.

I have friends who have only been into MTBing for a year or two, they ride H/T's and have varying skills, but still manage to do black runs at GT, Dalby... (maybe a little slower D/H than a F/S, but they still manage fine!)

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saz · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by halo
Before you posted that did you not consider that not everybody will be as technically competent and confident as you obviously are!

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

eek! Halo before you posted that "May 11th" pic on your flickr page, did you ever consider that some people eat their lunch in front of their PCs????[xx(]

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househusbandwmb · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Paulie W

Surely a FS does give you more confidence than a HT...
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Confidence, but not competence - there is a difference - and more so with 'technical' sections of track.

Halo - sorry, didn't mean my original comment to be taken to sound at all personal. It was not by any means a dig at your riding abilities, just commenting that a full-sus bike will not improve technical competence - and nor will a hardtail limit what you can and can't do. Yup, it'll improve confidence and comfort but not necessarily your competence - and allow you get away with doing things faster.

I've had a full-suspension bike before and going back to a hardtail has been the best move I've made; my off-road riding abilities have come on leaps and bounds - and thats been the real confidence booster for me.

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Unknown · June 2007

Probably a few crossed wires going on here! - "lost in translation" springs to mind!!
Anyhow - it is a confidence thing at present - hence the belief that I would find anything in the Black technical arena a little daunting at the moment, hence my request for some nice pleasent singletrack riding without 3 foot boulder fields and drop-offs to negotiate - maybe this time next year [;)]

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Unknown · June 2007

Andy, you've been spending too much time on STW again. [:D]

For a couple of days, either Glentress/Innerleithen, Kirroughtree/Mabie/Drumlanrig/Dalbeattie, or head up north for Learnie/Golspie. All depends on how much driving you want to do.

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stuartlangwilson · June 2007

Learnie/Golspie would be my favourite of the scottish trail centers. Best ridden with confidence HT or FS [:)]

GT/inners is a lot easier to get to and is so good, and importantly GT has good coffee and cake. The breakfast pies from the bakers in Innerleithen are pretty interesting, as are the drop offs.

Kirroughtree and Drumlanrig are both fantastic trails, if you want tight flowy singletrack drumlanrig is the one for you.

I'm not as keen on Mabie (all the best bits are at the start) and Dalbeattie, which has been improved since i last visited.

Best UK Trail Centre?

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