….at cwm carn

what should I expect?? is it a hard course?? Is there much difference between the red and the black??

what bike should I take ( choice between 5inch full sus or long travel hardtail)

Will I need armour and full face??

I have watched the vids on cwm down but the rider is so good he makes it look easy, so its difficult to judge.( I will probably avoid the big jumps he did

thanks!

your going to die..

Or not. Probably.

I've not ridden cwm carn dh for a while but the course isn't that hard to roll down slowly. I'd take the full sus as it's fairly rough in places with all the use it gets.

Don't worry about armour if you've not got any but obviously take what you have. If you're nervous wait for the rest of the people from the uplift to head off first then you don't have to worry about people catching you.

thanks simon m :- how bad am i going to die though

a horrible slow death.

dibbs on what's left of your bike

having seen simonm ride he's just moving his concerns on doing an uplift day over to you 🙂

I'd me more concerned about your bike – how are you getting to the top of the hill?

Is it a tractor / trailer overloaded with bikers and bikes clinging on for dear life?

If so, protect your bike in anything you can get hold off – it will get scratched and bashed to f00k!

Pipe lagging seems quite popular on forks…

i went for the first time back in october.

not much to choose between the red and black tbh.
take the full suss
take whatever armour you have

the drop after the road had me, but i was coping smoothly enough on the red side by the end of the day.

bloody great day, cant wait to go back.

EDIT: uplift is minibus and trailer, with bikes hooked through front wheel – if you are worried about it getting scratched on the way up, you will mince down so slowly you might be better spending the money on some patio cleaner and a nice polish for your frame.

RRR – The uplift at cwncarn is a minibus and trailer with all bikes held individually so there shouldn't be any damage. Well apart from the crashing.

Nothing to worry about cwmcarn at all.
Nothing too technical about it, in fact it gets slated on a lot of 'other' forums for being too easy and not maintained well enough, but i've had some great weekends down there.
Don't worry about your bike being damaged either, it's a proper trailer so your bike/forks won't rub on anything.
Take your full face and if you have some armour that too.

Have a good un 😉

First, don't take advice from people who clearly haven't even seen the uplift trailers at Cwmcarn. They are possibly the best uplift trailers anywhere.

All of the course is roll-able or has opt-outs (it's a trail centre after all). If you're cautious, or don't like people riding behind you wanting to get past then wait for the other riders to clear before setting off. Ride the red a couple of times and see how you feel before doing the black.

Body armour always makes you more confident, so wear all you have, and your full-face too, you certainly won't look out of place.

Ride whichever bike goes down hills better, or whichever you prefer to ride. Some people will have full-on DH monsters, some will have XC bikes or long travel hardtails, it's all good so just enjoy it.

thanks all thats put my mind at ease a little.

why would other forums say its too easy. there seemed to be some sizable jumps there.

Hmm, an internet forum where people don't know what they're talking about, surely not?

Simple, if it's easy then you're not going fast enough.

In terms of actual proper DH tracks, its about as easy as it gets. Everything is rollable if you don't fancy it.

Take your FS, its a litle rough in places, will make it easier first time.

You don't need armour or a full face, but if it makes you happier or more confident, go for it.

Oh and if your going to be slow, wait until everyone has gone, you might find yourself stopping at some silly places, and the last thing you want is someone clattering into the back of you if they wern't expecting you to stop where you have.

Have fun – its a gentle introduction into the world of DH.

The uplift service sounds pretty good then – I was only going on my (rather limited )experience of uplifts and bike-gouging.

Tis a great feeling though isn't it – that buzz once everyone's at the top waiting to go.. ace

You'll be fine, most of it isn't much harder than a 'black' xc descent. The jumps have chicken lines. Take a full facer. Most of the times I've ridden the track there has been some xc have a go hero with a mullered face.

yeah I think full-facer is probably pretty important..

right I dont want a mullered face…I will need to buy a full face.

I feel less confident again.

I've done it on a full suss cross country bike.

I'd definitely take a full suss if your not experienced, will make it easier and hence more enjoyable.

Also Full face helmet sounds good.

To be honest if your using the uplift and your a begineer I dont see why you wont put on as much armour as possible.

scu98rkr – Its becasue I own very little armour. only knee pads

"armour as possible."

I've done 3 uplift days with some DH orientated mates who visit wales every now and then. What everyone else has said is bang on, everything is rollable. The only "difficult" bit is the drop over the road but if you don't fancy it you can always turn left at the road for about 200yards and you'll be at the top of the XC descent, which after riding the DH is an absolute hoot flat out 🙂

The black and red join together about a 1/3 of the way down so not a major decision, do the red first.
And yeah, let everyone else go first off the bus.

I've ridden the DH tracks with a xc helmet on plenty of times. TBH if you don't have a full-face and it's something you aren't going to do alot then I wouldn't bother. However, if you want to do start doing more dh then definitely invest in a full-face.

Still got the scar on my cheek from doing it on my XC bike 😛
Luckily now I've learnt to jump a bit.

thanks all…due to my in-experiance though should I change my SPD for flats??

drop is easy. only fall about 3 or 4 ft if you go slow. nice and slopey landing. nothing to go wrong really, just suck it up over the edge, then push leggies forward a bit to soak up landing, save you boosting it all the way down the hill.

whoosh

yes to flats. but thats for always not just for DH.

the top is quite rutted and rocky so if you havent got some grippy shoes you might prefer being firmly clipped in.

uplift sorted

definately armour and full face course itself is fine but its possible to have some nasty offs if you get too cocky!

Pedals wise think about changing if you're used to flats but I wouldn't if you don't normally ride them. Maybe stick the flats and shoes in the car do a run or two and see if you feel you need them.

you might find it hard to do proper flat tables over the hip at the bottom with clips though as the twist of your bottom foot might clip you out…

h

It was our first uplift too, had a cracking day.

Second the full-face and armour, probably big heavy tyres too.

By the time you've got down, the mini-bus is waiting.

You will be absolutely fine, Full face is really a good idea whatever level of DH riding you plan to do, armour is worth wearing if you have it…

CwmDown is probably one of the best uplift services in the UK, proper bike trailers and a couple of comfy transit vans, nothing like as agricultural as some I’ve seen…
You should get plenty of runs in a day.

Take it at your own pace especially the first couple of runs, learn the course at your own speed talk to other riders and watch what they do you can pick up an awful lot, they’re normally very friendly and you should get helpful tips if you get chatting..

The Red and Black runs ain’t that different and everything is either rollable or has a chicken run, your wheels need never leave the ground if you don’t want them to.

Most of all relax and have fun, if you’re not enjoying it then what’s the point?

It’s not half as scary as some of these Marys make out…

thanks all…including sola for that picture :-p

Is it easy to ride the XC downhill from the uplift or is it a bit of a treck?

(Just for a bit of variety and to see what it's like)

Yeah get dropped off at the freeride track (ask driver to stop when you get on) and follow it from there but it's not all downhill though.

OR….

Ride the DH track to the drop (pictured above) and as you get to the drop turn left and you'll pick up the last descent of the XC track which is cool flat out on a DH bike.

Great track – hmmm I want to ride it now after all this mincing.