Is the Forest of Dean downhill OK for a first go at proper downhilling?
Normally ride trail centres and local stuff so I wouldn’t want to rush out and buy a full face helmet and pyjamas!

yea yea yea easy just take yer brakes off

simples

check out youtube, lots of vid’s to give you an idea of what to expect.

Will do, nice one.

Far from being ‘OK for beginners’ it’s actually probably the best DH venue for beginners. The trails are all relatively easy, but still challenging enough if ridden fast to be hugely enjoyable. There’s a distinct lack of ‘ego’ on the uplift as well. There’s something about FOD that just makes everyone chill the **** out.

You’ll really enjoy it.

I would consider myself a “beginner, or a “neverlikelytogetmuchbetterer” and I love the FOD. I’ll have to show you my fave foto of me now, taken in the top section of corkscrew.

And this is near the bottom of sheep skull.

im doing the mini dh race at FOD in a few weeks – never been there before but vids looked good! Not raced dh for ten years or more either!! should be a laugh and as above course doesnt appear too extreme…

Yeah the tracks are easy but watch out for magnetic trees!

Sheep Skull is one of my favourite tracks anywhere, so addictive trying to stay off the brakes over all those little jumps.

Yeah I love it, the pic above is the last one between the two trees before it goes out into the open. Great track.

Am I OK to do it on my bog standard Orange 5 and normal trail riding gear?

yup did it on mine and i am no DH rider 🙂

FOD was my first proper downhill experience and I loved it, so I would say yes it’s fine for beginners. As has been said there’s no “ego” on the uplift (which is an awesome service) and all the tracks are fun for all skill levels.

toys19 I love that jump at the top of corkscrew 😀 Effortless. Sheepskull is awesome as well.

I reckon, there are lots of full body armour types there (like me) but its wear what ya brung!

Nice one, thanks all 🙂

can only echo the words of others here. perfect tracks for a beginner downhiller. tracks are ideal for all abilities I think.
Am yet to ride the bottom half of sheepskull brakeless (from 2nd fireroad down) but god its great that track.

orange 5 is an ideal bike i think. so many riders on 7-10″ when i don’t think you need more than 5.

I done a whole days uplift on my Trailstar w/Pike cos I’m well ‘ard, even the driver said I was hardcore so it must be true 😆 Shame that day ended with my arm not quite in its socket.

I really want to do another FOD uplift now – getting a BFe put together in the next few weeks so could do some kind of xmas forum ride if enough are up for it?!

The fountain inn lodge website has a map of the trails with a few video links; that might be worth investigating.

I’ve only just lost my DH cherry and the FOD DH trails are the only ones I’ve ridden. Easy to enjoy for a newbie, I rode them on my 5″ XC/trail bike and I didn’t come to an awful death as a result.

The whole idea of them being “downhills” is a touch OTT. They are in the fact that they slope down but not in the mainstream sense. They were our normal trails on fully rigid bikes in many cases. New carvings excepted of course, but they are no harder. Nice and fun although might I suggest a nice knobbly front tyre at the moment. Currently the fruit cake is better than the chocolate although this may change on a weekly basis.
Be aware that the mini down hills, whilst giving a sense of competitiveness are absolutely terrible value for money. Several minutes of riding that you can achieve by your self in a 10 minute session. Nice for the kiddies though. Have fun .

Be aware that the mini down hills, whilst giving a sense of competitiveness are absolutely terrible value for money. Several minutes of riding that you can achieve by your self in a 10 minute session. Nice for the kiddies though

Must be the reason Steve Peat a DH world champion used them as a testing ground to select his latest Steve Peat Syndicate member then. What an ego stroking crock of shit you posted.