Viewing 32 posts - 1 through 32 (of 32 total)
  • Coed-y-Brenin and The peak district
  • maurizio
    Free Member

    Hiya all, a bit of a varied thread here but i’m hoping the collective wisdom of STW will see it in their hearts to help me out

    Having spent a week mountain biking in coed-y-brenin (amazing!) I’m wondering how it compares to the Peak District (as i’m off their for uni). Not the blase ‘ones as trail centre and one isnt’ crap – but are the peaks significantly steeper? Do you suffer from trail feedback more?

    My motive for asking is this – i rode in Coed with a 26″ rigid ss (my only bike) and loved every minute of it. Sure it was tough but carrying the supplies for my group (who rode hardtails) i rode everything, including the stuff they didnt, and was faster than them and some posers on full susses (ofc they might all have been rubbish 😆 ). However at some points i felt for sure that keeping traction going fast was nigh on impossible and a bit of squidge would have been appreciated, plus after 3/4 solid days of riding arm pump and general fatigue were getting to me (ofc this has to do with fitness as well!). I’m not planning on changing from ss but would be curious on hearing opinions as to whether to get some front squish or not?

    endurogangster
    Free Member

    Depends where you ride, the peaks varies massively, so you could choose routes that suit your bike, I wouldn’t fancy riding a few of the descents on a rigid, tho no doubt some jive turkey will be along in a bit to tell you they smoked some downhillers on their rigid singlespeed and you don’t need anything else!

    Everything at coed y Brenin is designed to be rideable obviously not the case in the peaks and you will be off and walking up and down to start with.

    Hope that helps

    banks
    Free Member

    You could ride almost all of the roads in the peaks here on your rigid ss 😀

    As for mtb 140/150/160mm HT/FS big ass tyres, rims etc reign supreme over here – there’s all sorts from cling on and hope, to fast and flowy, to cavedale.

    If you take your rigid ss down cavedale please film it

    forzafkawi
    Free Member

    If you take your rigid ss down cavedale please film it

    LOL!

    I ride rigid SS and 140mm full suss. I would ride the former at CyB but not in the Peaks. Much too rocky there. There are routes of course that you could take to avoid the worst of it but what’s the point?

    smell_it
    Free Member

    That uni has got it’s work cut out.

    crundi
    Free Member

    Is CyB a good place to ride, might be over there soon. I prefer Glentress/inners type of trail rather than say Kirroughtree, which I found too stop start technical. How does CyB compare to these?

    creamegg
    Free Member

    Nothing particularly technical in CyB, but not as smooth as say the red in glentress.

    acidchunks
    Full Member

    Blow your student loan on a shiny new fs and live on beans/toast/rice

    maurizio
    Free Member

    *there happy now smell_it 😆

    Thabk you very much for the replys, thats just what I was after! edurogangsters comment on cyb being ‘designed’ rideable makes a shed load of sense.

    Banks- its going to be my bike until i’ve gauged what I need/like so when I do this descent of which you speak I will film it and post it on here? 🙂

    Forzafkawi- bang on, I want to ride it all!

    crundi
    Free Member

    Okay thanks. Any trails I should search out or avoid, I’m only around for a day or two.

    maurizio
    Free Member

    Crundi- it was great fun, nothing scary just fun. Depending on your fitness doing the longer routes all in one go I found pretty challenging.

    Acidchunks- fs=too much maintenance/extra problems/less bragging rights for a student

    banks
    Free Member

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnN2ASlkP3A – this guy/girl has got some of the best go pro videos of the peaks going. Probably could ride most places on a rigid but what’s the point

    crundi
    Free Member

    (Sorry to hijack thread)

    maurizio
    Free Member

    Start of mbr until bugsy. Plus the begining of the end and follow the end of the beast. I also the Taru Du trail descents pins and needles/flightpath and snap, crackle and pop.

    crundi
    Free Member

    Lovely. Thanks.

    maurizio
    Free Member

    Its alright, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! 🙂 after bugsy if you take the bridge across the river you can actually stop and have a lovely swim by the waterfall!

    Banks- thanks for the link, i’d already watched a couple of that persons videos, doable but I think your right…

    Can anyone comment on gradients/climbing my current ratio is 2, does the peak district contain ascents that would make me happy to see those of cyb again or is it much of the same?

    fizzicist
    Free Member

    Assuming you’re off to Sheffield, you’ll be fine on your ss for a lot of the trails around the south west of the city – there’s loads of single track and moorland easily ridden from Eccy road area.

    However, once you get out to hope, you will need gears and suspension.

    I usually rode my Soul most places and also have a 575 which came alive in the Peaks proper.

    Great place to live, and student life there looked awesome.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    Given you’ll be in Sheffield it would be a crime not to make the most of the Peak District and IMO that will require gears and suspension. I’ve ridden FS and HT there and whilst it’s faster downhill on the FS and a bit easier overall you can happily ride it all with a HT. There are a few technical climbs which I think would be nearly impossible on a SS, they are hard enough in a very low gear.

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    Maurizio – before you shell out for something boingy with weierdy geardy stuff try riding your rigid SS round here, you’ll be surprised just what you can get up and down. We have ridden most of it on a rigid bike back in the late 80s (because we had no suspension) so any claims that you must have x amount of travel is just bollocks, you just ride things differently.

    Having ridden rigid, HT & full suss, all with lots of gears and also with just the one, I am back on a rigid SS 32:16. There are some climbs I have not cleaned and the downhills are more like a trials ride than a ball out hoonfest, but that’s what makes riding the same trails more interesting – the challenge.

    So before you consign yourself to eternal penury, bring your SS bike with you, drop me a pm when you get here and we’ll take you out for a ride (we ride evenings because of work and kids but that’s also good because most folks have gone home by then). You may not be as fast down the really rough stuff as the full face, body armour brigade but I can assure you you can descend Cavedale on a rigid SS and live to tell the tale.

    😀

    robdob
    Free Member

    +1

    If you’re fit enough to ride a SS in north Wales you’ll get on ok in the Dark Peak. Might be some pushing involved but I reckon you’d be fine.

    Suspension? Pah. You don’t need it. Yes if you have it its great but don’t let it put you off. I rode it 24 years ago on a fully rigid bike and had loads of fun, and the Retrobike guys do a yearly ride there (part of national series) mostly on rigid bikes and its perfectly ok. Sometimes it’s the routes you choose – you can go for smoother trails or challenge yourself with the beast or Cavedale and see if you can pick a way down and don’t dab!

    Me on my 1992 GT Tequesta coming down from Hollins Cross:

    On this bike:

    Loads of fun!

    robdob
    Free Member

    (Admittedly that wasn’t very rocky there but it’s the only shot of me that I have! It was rockier further up. In fact that shows that its not all mega rocky)

    😉

    tazzymtb
    Full Member

    Damn it….I’ve been doing it wrong all these years…I shall sell my rigid singlespeeds and go back to gears and full suss…oh no…hang on….bollox to that my jones rides better than orange 5 ever did. Dark peak is fine on a ss if you are strong enough. ..if you aren’t you soon will be. I’ve also seen some very skilled riders riding fixie over the rocky bits of dark peak so maybe the boing boys need to learn how to ride rather than be a passenger?

    ChrisF
    Free Member

    Serious answer – avoiding all the ‘must-have’ ‘can’t do’ type nonsense in some of the other posts. I live in the Peaks, and have been riding mostly SS there for the last errm… 10 years or so. Not for any reason other than I like riding SS.

    The Peak is great for SS, most of the climbs are rideable, those few that aren’t will have most geared riders walking. All the descents are rideable on a rigid, if you are good enough. I’m not, so I occasionally have to walk bits, but in reality much of the Peak is not super technical, just rocky and rubbley, and you soon adapt. You’ll have to work a bit harder than you would on a more sensible bike, and you might be a bit more beaten up after a long ride.

    Give it a go. You’ll probably love it. If you don’t, get some suspension.

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    I live in the Peaks, and have been riding mostly SS there for the last errm… 10 years or so. Not for any reason other than I like riding SS.

    Well I’ve lived here over 20 years, ner ne ner ner – waves willy at ChrisF 😉 😀

    cadairviewlodge
    Free Member

    One of the great things about Coed y Brenin is that there are so many other places to ride reasonably close by.
    Within 30 minutes there’s Antur Stiniog,Penmachno,Gwydr Marin Trails at Betws y Coed. Within an hour’s drive there Mach 1, 2 and 3 at Machynlleth, Climax at Machynlleth, Nant Arian and Llandegla. Plus lots of recognised wild riding too including Snowdon.
    Something for everybody I would think.

    ChrisF
    Free Member

    Well I’ve lived here over 20 years, ner ne ner ner – waves willy at ChrisF

    Waves back – 😆

    simon1975
    Full Member

    This thread, coupled with the fine weather, makes me want to go out and ride Cavedale right now. Surely it must be dry for once?

    By the way, it’s not about the bike… Just get out there and enjoy! It sounds like you’ve got the right attitude, OP 🙂

    Stevie-P
    Free Member

    i rode in Coed with a 26″ rigid ss

    Good effort!

    franki
    Free Member

    I’ve ridden CYB and the Dark Peak rigid SS several times.
    I do it because I like riding rigid SS. Others may not. 😉

    Don’t forget – there were folks (including me) riding rigid there long before Rockshox and Manitou forks started appearing on bikes. Suspension may be your bag, but it’s never been essential.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    It’d be rideable on SS, here used to be a mixed bag in the Uni XC group, everything from a 7″ Kona Stinky to a CX bike, and the usual mix of student bikes hanging by a thread of gaffa tape. The justifiably popular bikes were 5″ travel hardtails, minimal maintnance and just enough squish to keep going quickly. If you’re strong/light enough SS might be fine. Rigid just doesn’t look much fun in the Peak though.

    My 2p would be save up and buy something nice-but-cheep like a (maybe carbon)456. You’re only at uni once, and if you’re not doing a degree leading to a Sheffield based job you may have to move out afterwards, better to make the most of it!

    maurizio
    Free Member

    ChrisF and Franki- fellow partners in crime 😀 Notice i ignored all the ‘you need gears comments’ hehe. Each to their own.

    rogerthecat – thats a very kind offer, i think i’ll take you up on it! And then use my new found descending skills to impress all friends I’m sure to make.. 😆

    I’m going with my bike as it is for the first term odd, then base the situation from there – going to enjoy it anyway 😀 i reckons tubeless would be cheaper than suspension at the moment* . I had a go on a friends hardtail today, couldnt adjust at all to the front end sinking when i hit something 😯

    *in case i get flamed, i’m just kidding

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    maurizio – You’d be very welcome, hopefully heading over to Cavedale tomorrow so if I don’t respond we will probably all be dead through lack of bounce!!

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