hi guys anyone been to do the trails at brechfa? how technical does it get and what the climbs like, its a choice of beefy 6 inch freeride bike or my xc racer! whatdya reckon?

Red – climbs about red level & decents are ace – not that much harder than the Afan trails.
Black – climbs a little harder with a long one in the middle & berms galore, steep in places but not that technical (tabletops are rollable)
We manage the 22 mile combined red & black in about 3.75 hours on 4-5 inch XC bikes – usually not very busy.

Either bike will get around fine, although you might enjoy the DH sections more on the bigger bike but you may be cursing while pedalling it up and around the hills.

Red is more suited to the XC bike I’d say and IMO it is more fun, but the Black has more technical sections (both up and down) and is still a great trail.

Raven trail on a rigid 29er SS late last year so I’m guessing either of your bikes will do. Go with the XC one personally.

Not gnarly in the sense it’s rooty and rocky. Loads of bermed switchbacks and tabletops. Doesn’t need a big bike IMO.

Red – climbs about red level & decents are ace – not that much harder than the Afan trails.

I think that the afan trails are more challenging than the brechfa red. It’s all smooth, whereas at least afan has some slightly rocky bits.

Agree with the above. Brechfa has a lot of “flow” about it, especially the end of the green loop (Which is a “must ride” section, if you ask me! Don’t be put off by the beginner tag, ridden at speed it’s awesome!)

Doesn’t needs lots of travel, but will be vastly more fun with wide bars, relaxed geometry and an upright riding position. Take the big bike.

Love Brechfa, my favourite trail centre trail (out of the ones I’ve ridden anyhoo), as CFH says, tons of “flow”, really well designed and laid out 🙂

Oh, and I rode an Enduro SL (perfectly suited to it) when I was there, wife was on a Yeti ASR… both were fine 🙂

slack head angle will help on the end of the black!! (Did it on a 456 with 160mm forks)
i laughed a lot!

Oh, and I rode an Enduro SL (perfectly suited to it)

It’s what I shall be riding it on this weekend as well…. 8)

Personally I was hungover and tired when we did Brechfa, and I found the climbs pretty knackering, so I’d say take the XC, but like I said, it was a bit of an off day for me 😉

They’re all quite smooth so ideal for a HT. The Black has some big, fast corners and sharp plummets so I can see the argument about slackness. My favourite bits are the final part of the red which has lots of twists and turns, and the whole blue trail which can be ridden eye-wateringly fast.

Slight hijack, sorry, if you link the red and black together is it better to start from Brechfa or Abergorlech ? Thanks