Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 41 total)
  • Gisburn – What T…..?
  • kayak23
    Full Member

    I’m ok for tyre-choice so, what TIME to spend there?
    Is there a weekend worth of riding d’you reckon, or should it be split with somewhere else nearby?

    If so, what is totally rad, or indeed sick, nearby?
    Would be travelling up from the MIdlands.
    Cheers.

    clarkpm4242
    Free Member

    One day at Gisburn.

    If you’ve got sick, rad skillz then Lee Quarry Black, downhill and jumps sections should see you right. On the way home, sort of.

    If you can pedal a bit then add in a couple of loops of Cragg Quarry as well.

    grum
    Free Member

    Not sure I’d travel that far to ride Gisburn. No more than half a day there – though you could session the Hope line.

    Settle area of the Dales isn’t too far away and has nice and very scenic trails.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    no way would i travel from the Midlands for either of those two

    unless you want to go to every trail centre i cannot see the point
    You could get to Llandgela [or natural trails] for the same travel time and it is much better

    MartynS
    Full Member

    You’d be done round Guisburn in about half a day..
    Never ridden lee or cragg quarry, but if your coming from the midlands your driving right past the Peak District…
    If your hearts set on Guisburn go do it, but I really didn’t think it was that great….

    flyingmonkeycorps
    Full Member

    Yeah I rode Gisburn the other week, it’s fun but nothing special, I wouldn’t travel far to get there. Took me about two hours to get round (though I was on my own) including the black options, the Hope line and a sit down at a pickernick bench. You could stretch it out to a day sessioning stuff and going at a steady pace, then a day at Lee / Cragg Quarries I guess, though they’re both very session-y too.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    as everyone else, long way to go (and back), just for a few hours bimble round a forest (and/or a quarry). If I was so inclined to drive several hundred miles for a bike ride, I’d carry on up the M6 to the lakes tbh.

    plumber
    Free Member

    I used to live about 40 minutes away and i wouldn’t bother going after the first time

    stumpyjon
    Full Member

    A lot has changed in the last twelve months so plumber’s comments may be out of date. As the others have said 2 to 3 hours for most people. If you like XC I’d combine it with some time in the Dales. If not Lee and Cragg are about 45 minutes away and offer very different riding from Gisburn, lots of natural riding around Rossendale and Calderdale as well.

    kayak23
    Full Member

    Dear me…Some frank reviews here… 🙂

    I think the idea was to check it out for a potential enduro, so just gathering opinion. I’ve been to Lee Quarry, it’s good but I wasn’t overly enamelled with the place, not been to Cragg.

    if your coming from the midlands your driving right past the Peak District…

    As much as I’ve tried to love it, every time I’ve ridden in the Peaks, it strikes me as being a place of massive climbs with relatively uneven rewards. Very short good descent bits, and a high amount of slog.
    Good place for sure, but maybe not the Mecca it’s billed at imho.

    Maybe we’ll look elsewhere than Gisburn. Fancied checking out somewhere new is all.

    flyingmonkeycorps
    Full Member

    I went to Gisburn ‘cos I’m doing the Enduro there in September. I’m intrigued as to how it’ll work, I think it’s going to be very pedally.

    no_eyed_deer
    Free Member

    it strikes me as being a place of massive climbs with relatively uneven rewards

    Er, yeah…. just like how mountain biking used to be 😉

    (Coming from me: as a former Peak-dweller, now turned 95% (Welsh) trail centre rider)

    reggiegasket
    Free Member

    I wasn’t overly enamelled with the place

    😯

    mcnultycop
    Full Member

    I wish Gisburn were closer to me, and it’s probably only 75 minutes or so away. Nice varied riding. I’d get up there more if I had the opportunity.

    portlyone
    Full Member

    Last time I rode Gisburn I noticed lots of fire-road descents and techy ascents. More work has been done on it since then so maybe it’s better.

    stumpyjon
    Full Member

    kayak23, you should come up and make your own decision, the trails are constantly evolving and developing (so comments from people who haven’t been there in a couple of years are way out of date). The Enduro at the end of the month is having a new line created for the event. The local forestry team are very supportive of the trails and have put a significant amount of time into them (as have local volunteers). Judging by the number of people who ride there it’s fairly popular and gaining riders every week.

    Given the number of comments above about riding the Lakes / Peaks / Dales I think you’d have got a less than positive response asking about any trail centre to be honest.

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    Junkyard You could get to Llandgela … for the same travel time and it is much better

    .

    Umm

    Got to strongly disagree. I think Gisburn is infinitely superior. Although, it all boils down to what sort of riding you like, natch. If you like technical rocky difficult to ride routes that take a few attempts to get then Gisburn is the place. If you like generaly smooth jumping then Llandegla is the place.
    Yesterday at Gisburn there were stacks of people pushing their bikes along the harder bits. My guess is that, similar to many of the posters here, they won’t be back. But if you like your biking to be technically challenging then it’s great. Bear in mind that by technical I mean, pedally, gnadgery, slow, rockhoppy sections both along and uphill and occasionally down. I’m not referring to technical as in difficult downhill with big dropoffs etc.

    grum
    Free Member

    I like Gisburn and the recent new stuff has made it a lot better. Still wouldn’t drive more than an hour to get there though.

    flyingmonkeycorps
    Full Member

    Would agree with Stumpyjon and Thegeneralist. And Grum.

    There’s some lovely singletrack in the woods there, that’s the highlight for me – the “feature” bits (Hully Gully, the Slab) are fun but not, in my opinion, what make the place good. There’s also some fun trialsy sections on some of the climbs which add a bit of interest.

    Stumpyjon, do you have any more info about the enduro?

    Ecky-Thump
    Free Member

    Worth a visit if you’re in the area.

    If you’re coming up this way and want to make a weekend of it, why not do a day around Hebden Bridge and a half day at Gisburn?

    stumpyjon
    Full Member
    plumber
    Free Member

    admittedly its been a while since I went so it may be much much better

    plum

    stumpyjon
    Full Member

    Since Christmas over 3km of new singletrack has been opened, removing two major fire road descents on the lower loop. Plus the new car park, skills area and café have opened. Volunteers are building a new section (uphill admittedly) to remove more fireroad on the lower loop linking two existing sections of singletrack to give a 3km length pretty much uninterrupted.

    flyingmonkeycorps
    Full Member

    Cheers Stumpyjon, I’ve actually seen that (already entered!) just wondering if there was any course information yet. Guess it’s maybe a bit early.

    flyingmonkeycorps
    Full Member

    Also, I don’t remember any fireroad descent, certainly not of any note.

    johnellison
    Free Member

    Never liked Gisburn from day 1, and still don’t. Mind you, I haven’t found a trail centre in England that I like yet anyway. The Scottish and Welsh centres are far superior.

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    I was invited by a family (mate) friend to give Gis a go earlier this year, I took my 29SSRigid and flew around much to mates annoyance. I went expecting mahooosive variation on a forest theme only to find its similar to what I ride down south, enjoyable of course, mighty enjoyable but…. but well a bit samey.

    Didn’t bother going to Lee Q even though its close, we went to the pub instead, despite having a few hours in the afternoon left over 😆

    Would I go again? Yeah, it’s alllriiiiight 😀

    acidchunks
    Full Member

    The trail builders at Gisburn have done a tremendously good job when you consider the lack of elevation. There’s a great mix of technical ups and downs as well as some very interesting features you probably won’t find anywhere else. Definitely worth a visit if you’re heading up this way!

    Having ridden it both with and without a dropper its definitely the kind of trail where you’ll really feel the benefit of one.

    When you go down the whelpstone try not to stop at the bottom…brakes off all the way down, scrub off a bit of speed then hit the jump and keep going 🙂

    flyingmonkeycorps
    Full Member

    Yeah! I know what you mean about the Whelpstone, I forgot to look at what was after it, tried to crank for an extra bit of speed into the jump only to discover I was in the granny and nearly jumped right off the trail 😳

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    Leisurely full day, half day at a push. It’s a XC circuit with a few black features, so, unless you want to do lots of runs on the Hope Line, not going to take you more than about 2 hours or just over.

    As others have said, if you get there early, finish by lunch, head up towards Settle and combine it with a short route in the Dales nearby, and that’s a quality day.

    robj20
    Free Member

    I hated it the first time i went because it is very pedally, i think it requires a higher fitness level to enjoy.

    The second time i went i enjoyed it much more being fitter. Some bits i still hate, namely the rocky slow uphill bits, but there are plenty of bits i like especially the new bits.

    I say ignore every single comment you have read and go and find out for yourself.

    I wouldn’t plan on more than half a day though.
    I can spend longer at Lee Quarry its great for sessioning.

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    Some bits i still hate, namely the rocky slow uphill bits

    Vive la difference.
    I love the rocky uphill bits. It’s so rare to find anything challenging* on an Trail centre south of the border. They’re great.

    * jumps aside

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    Some bits i still hate, namely the rocky slow uphill bits,

    TOP TIP : Dont go near an actual mountain

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    I reckon Gisburns ok. Rocky? I wouldn’t say it was that rocky, its just not smooth.

    If your going to drive from the Midlands, maybe a blast round on a Friday evening before heading up to the Lakes.

    rickt
    Free Member

    I say go and give it blast… It’s s day out and if you did not like it…. You know for next week 🙂

    bttb
    Free Member

    I run a T129S and I god damn love Gisburn…. I go regularly , but being only 30 miles its not too far for 3-4hrs in the saddle.

    Has some nice runs , check youtube out for a good idea on the type of riding.

    For me I love it especially since they have built the Hub Area and put in a few more reds.

    rsl1
    Free Member

    I really enjoyed it at easter. For those complaining about the climbs – I found it a nice change to have some difficult climbs, when a lot of places have so many fireroad slogs. I would agree that its probably only a half day, though 2 loops isn’t out of the question. You could make Stainburn into a halfway stop to make it up to a days riding, then maybe a full day in the dales the next day?
    As a comparison midlands means Cannock is probably your local trail centre – I prefer Gisburn by a long shot.

    vondally
    Free Member

    I live 10 miles away (round trip of 20) and been riding Gisburn for 20 years, it has some loverly bits and all credit to the volunteers, as above I like the climby bits as some are really excellent. Hully Gully and whelpstone done and not my personal fav, homebake with the bad step and the new chicken run are wonderful, hope is fun and do able swoopy is cool and the blue is silly grin inducing.

    Lots for riders to do and better than llangeda.

    What I dislike is the van driving idiots speeding to get there with no respect for cyclists,

    would I drive from the midlands no but I would rather ride in the lakes or yorkshite dales but it is a good day out

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Given the number of comments above about riding the Lakes / Peaks / Dales I think you’d have got a less than positive response asking about any trail centre to be honest.

    Re my Lakes comment, I’m certainly not anti trail centre, I was one of the original volunteers at Gisburn. I just don’t think it’s worth a 7 hr round trip.

    Dales_rider
    Free Member

    Its better than a lot of the other trail centres mentioned, its good for an Enduro I know as I once spent 12 hours going around it on my own.
    Fast lads could do it in an hour throw in a couuple of climbs back up to do Hully Gully (you will) a couple of times throgh the skinnies add in 1/2 per an hour person getting up the bottle to ride the slab. Actualy clean it up the black then go do it all again if you are honest about how well you rode it. Check your times on Strava and realise you are slow go back next day and try and improve after sampling some of the brews at local hosteleries, then you’ll want to come back again. By then there will be new stuf, as unlike some trail centres its evolving

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 41 total)

The topic ‘Gisburn – What T…..?’ is closed to new replies.