- This topic has 33 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by ChrisI.
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Bike Park Wales
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asturaFree Member
Havent been here before, would like to give it a go this weekend. Is the uplift a must!?! I dont normally bother and am quite happy to push but looking at some youtube vids the descents look pretty long,, any info greatly appreciated
wigglesFree MemberThe ride up is pretty boring but you can just do half way down then back up etc. If I can do it twice as a fat bastard on the hottest day of the year, then anyone can.
You might be able to grab an uplift or two in the morning or end of the day when it is quieter.
asturaFree MemberId rather do that then pay the uplift just to get a fell of whats around
weeksyFull MemberIt’s not a ‘must’… but really, you’re depriving yourself of a lot by not doing it..
It’s not supposed to be an XC day out…
asturaFree MemberLooking at the site the uplift is fully booked anyway, how long does it take to get to the top generally?
dbukdbukFree MemberDepends what your idea of fun is. I really didn’t like BPW. the amount of time riding seemed way out of proportion to the amount of time waiting for a van or sitting in a van. The runs are pretty short and it only takes about 10 mins max to get from top to bottom.
passtherizlaFree MemberIt’s shit anyway.(I may be biased as I broke my fingers and bike here).. Better going revo or antur. Especially revo.
The uplift is a joke anyway at BPW.
passtherizlaFree MemberRevolution bike park and is kind of by Wrexham and antur stiniog bike park which is in blanau Ffestiniog.
mulv1976Free MemberBpw isn’t ‘shit’ and the uplift isn’t a ‘joke’ 🙄 It’s well worth a visit even if you don’t do the uplift. They have worked hard on the drainage and I bet it’s flying now it’s dry. The first time I went was very wet and without uplift – managed four runs and the climb takes about 30 mins. Second time was with uplift and managed 8 runs. We enjoyed it. The black runs are the best but the others are all good too 🙂
grumFree MemberBpw isn’t ‘shit’ and the uplift isn’t a ‘joke’
Yup – ridiculous comments IMO.
bombjackFree MemberThe climb isn’t that bad, took me under 40 mins to go from the visitors centre to the top and then back on the blues. Don’t listen to the naysayers, its a top place and you’ll have a blast even if its raining (I managed sun at the top, snow in the woods (!)and rain at the cafe all in 1 decent)
GolfChickFree MemberWe’ve been twice without an uplift and once with. Wont go again without an uplift. Managed four push ups/cycle ups and managed to go 8 times comfortably with use of uplift and I’d never do it again without an uplift!
inigomontoyaFree MemberWent at the weekend, had an awesome day. Very glad that I bought an uplift pass off a chap with an injured wrist, a few of my mates were riding up, don’t think they could really make the most of the descents after riding up.
jamesftsFree MemberAs mentioned above – if you want to ride a proper uplift go to Antur Stiniog/Revolution/LLangollen/any of the Pearce Cycles uplifts etc. There are some great venues with amazing tracks (that you don’t need a full on dh bike to ride).
If you want to ride a (fairly dull) trail centre with a shuttle service then BPW is your place.
weeksyFull MemberCurious as to what makes the other ‘uplifts’ ‘proper’ that BPW’s doesn’t have.
Hob-NobFree MemberIts a lot better with the uplift, but its not essential. We got 11 or 12 full runs in on the uplift, if you’re there in the queue when it starts and don’t hang around.
Riding up isn’t the worst bit is the first 5-10 mins, its fairly steep until you hit the fireroad. If you motor up, you can do it about 20 mins, which is about as quick as the uplift, including queuing/loading etc. Difference is, I couldn’t do that all day.
We tended to do half laps when riding up, to break it up a bit.
As mentioned above – if you want to ride a proper uplift go to Antur Stiniog/Revolution/LLangollen/any of the Pearce Cycles uplifts etc. There are some great venues with amazing tracks (that you don’t need a full on dh bike to ride).
If you want to ride a (fairly dull) trail centre with a shuttle service then BPW is your place.
Completely different market. You’ve suggested DH race venues (albeit what BPW used to be be, years ago).
I’d love to see 95% of the riders at BPW ride Llangollen on trail bikes.
jamesftsFree Member“Proper” tracks.
Antur is a similar place, graded, open, man-made, rocky tracks but blows BPW out of the water.
BPW is *currently* a selection of very similar trail centre’y descents. If thats what you’re looking for then great, if you’re after anything more technical then look elsewhere.
patriotproFree MemberIt’s not a ‘must’… but really, you’re depriving yourself of a lot by not doing it..
Basically this – just pay the £30 it’s worth every penny. I think we got 13/14 runs in when we went as opposed to the few you will get in if you cycle the climb.
We were never waiting for than a couple of mins for the bus either.
tonyg2003Full MemberIf you push uphill then it’s a damn long way back up without an uplift. 25mins from the bottom is a fairly quick pace and if you are pushing the steep parts it will probably be double that. I’d get the uplift and ride up when you feel like it.
ash01Free MemberAll depends what you want out of BPW.
For me, its a compact XC zone where I pedal up the Beast of Burden and head down the various trails which are excellent fun, Vicious Valley being my favourite.
5 loops and i’m outta there and i’ve had a great time.
But if you are travelling from far away, then get the uplift to ensure you get all of the trails done as they are excellent.
Each to their own and all that!
Ash!!
grumFree MemberAntur is a similar place, graded, open, man-made, rocky tracks but blows BPW out of the water.
Antur is great but there are a lot more tracks at BPW, and they seemed longer to me. Revolution Bike Park was cool but covered in mud when I went (and it was a dry day) – much steeper and more natural/rooty but not as much fun IMO.
What on earth is wrong with lots of trail centre type descents – trail centres are fun no? Or is this about waving your e-penis?
passtherizlaFree MemberWaiting forever to get uplifted at BPW is what makes it a joke. Better riding and better uplift at antur stiniog and revolution. Gotta love opinions.
jaffejofferFree Memberive not been to BPW but done Antur a few times. folk i know who have ridden both say that Antur is superior has a far more efficient uplift service.
That Revolution is a new one on me tho. might have to check that out very soon.
grumFree MemberSomeone up there said they managed 14 runs – how did they do that then if the uplift is so slow?
stilltortoiseFree MemberOnly been once but loved it. I’m not afraid of climbing, but having done a short (quite steep!) section of the climb I was glad I wasn’t doing it all day. It’s not an interesting climb.
The uplift was fully booked when I went but me and my two mates had no issues getting “pay as you go” rides back to the top. It was a foul, foggy and wet weekend though, so not much queuing.
We stuck to blues and reds because we had loads of fun on them. As someone said above, they are “trail centre” descents rather than full-on downhill tracks, but maybe the black and pro lines are closer to what a downhiller would be looking for. That said, I’m not going to pretend there was no room for improvement with my riding of the blues and reds; I can always ride harder and faster and until I’m the fastest one from top to bottom I know I’ve not ticked them off properly.
Hob-NobFree MemberOdd, I’ve done a couple of uplifted days there now, and don’t recall waiting for more than 5 minutes a time. Queue’s have been minimal. This has been at weekends too.
Maybe it was worse when they first opened, as it was perminantly rammed with people, and they were working out how to stagger the busses. There is normally a few spaces to PAYG throughout the day too if you don’t book on.
The trails are mainly trail centre style, some of which you can ride flat out, typical Sorrel style, you can make some pretty decent sized jumps on even the blues by doubling up the rollers, hitting the (not so subtle) stepdowns built into the trail, etc.
The blacks are near on decent downhill tracks, Enter the Dragon is near enough the old Gethin Dragon DH race track, with a few big jumps up top, Dai Hard is also fairly good fun.
They are currently planning a number of extra Black and red trails, over the next few months, so we were told.
dbukdbukFree MemberSome people will say BPW is great and some will say otherwise. I’m in the otherwise camp. For me it was disappointing – not what I’m looking for in a day out on my bike, mainly because there was not enough time actually on the bike compared to waiting for a bus or sitting in a bus.
Just had a great weekend in Afan riding up and down hills and on the bike for an hour or two at a time. That’s more my kind of thing.
Opinions will vary. Best just give it a try and make your own mind up.
Hob-NobFree MemberSome people will say BPW is great and some will say otherwise. I’m in the otherwise camp. For me it was disappointing – not what I’m looking for in a day out on my bike, mainly because there was not enough time actually on the bike compared to waiting for a bus or sitting in a bus.
This is a fair point, it’s opened up uplifted riding to a much bigger audience – as a result people have much different expectations.
As someone who raced a lot of DH, and as a result, suffered some seriously sh*t uplifts the BPW uplift by comparison, is quick, efficient and damage free.
BagstardFree MemberI remember the old Gethin uplifts, trailers falling apart, falling into ditches… then the march through a bog to the top of the run!
Uplifts these days are so much better.timnwildFull MemberI loved BPW – we were there on a Friday, so three vans (as opposed to 4 on weekends, I was told) and never felt I had to wait too long. I’ve been to Antur as well – which I loved – but I think BPW has much more riding on offer.
But I wouldn’t bother if you can’t get the uplift – even the most hardy rider’s going to lose their sense of humour climbing up more than once or twice, IMHO.
TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTRFull MemberWell, our group loved it (even on one of the nastiest days of the year) and have booked a second trip. We never waited more than a few minutes for the uplift and personally I wouldn’t go if I didn’t have an uplift.
That said, although some of the negative comments are a bit OTT IMO, there isn’t anything that you would describe as a Black DH run, with the exception of a couple of ‘features’ – the gap jumps are beyond my skill level anyway, so roll them.
Just for the record, we usually ride the Peak and have done Fort Bill DH. We also enjoy the likes of Llandegla too!
BPW is a good fun day out, but it’s never going to be ‘gnar’ enough for some riding gods. Would definitely like to try Antur as well though.
ChrisIFull MemberI’ve only been once and it was during the opening weekend, so pretty sure it was during the slowest uplift turn around the place has had. It wasnt quick, but we managed 6 runs with at least an hour for lunch and we arrived an hour after it opened and left about an hour before it closed, so probably closer to half a day really. It wasnt super efficient but it was certainly quicker than I could have ridden up.
Trials I would say were pretty good. For the missus they were brill, being able to hit fairly tame (for their grade) red/blue trails non-stop was good practice for her. For me, it was a bit too much of the now very obvious Sorrel style of BMX-esque trails on the reds. Saying that it was the second day, so they’ve probably nicely worn in now and aren’t as smooth as they started!
Looking forward to having another bash at them in June when we’ve booked another uplift day 😀
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