Hey,

heading to Afan this evening, but just found out the cafe and bike shop have gone 😥

Very sad news as I’ve been going there for over ten years and enjoyed the facilities at the end of the ride.

Gather BPW has not helped things….

I just wondered if there are any locals or people that know if they are still going to develop the place for biking? They should just do an uplift service for the lazy bones 😉

So…. anyway…. Are the trails ok or are they being left to ruin?

Cheers

If you mean the cafe and bike shop at Glyncorrwg that recently closed, they have been reopened under new management.

The trails are running fine, we were there last weekend.

It’s definitely a lot quieter than it was a few years back though, like you say BPW has probably been a big factor in that.

No, it was pretty ill for a bit, but got better – new shop, new cafe (Cafe is much better, not been in the shop yet). Trails great. have fun

Trails are still great. That’s what you ought to go there for really, not a café or shop.

The cafe at the old Afan Centre also appears to be under new management, and the bacon & egg rolls were very good too.

Was there at the weekend. Both cafes great, trails excellent, bike shop in the original centre was good, the shop that replaced Skyline cycles at Glyncorrwyg looks a bit sparse.

There is some new stuff happening:

The bike park is going great and is well used (just above the final descent of the wall at Bryn Betws)

The Wall final descent now has an alternative black run which is a steep enduro style trail.

I wasn’t there but apparently the Rhyslin carpark was full of ebikes riding the masts last week.

the shop that replaced Skyline cycles at Glyncorrwyg looks a bit sparse

To be fair the shop needs to be sparse… If you can;t forget it or break it you probably won’t buy it from them. Too much stock and you’re sitting on dead money.

… and setting yourself up for uninvited visitors as happened repeatedly at Wood’n’Wheels in Hamsterley.

Afan Adventure Resort

Looks like the Afan area might be getting a serious cash injection…

you actually have to pedal uphill at Afan, some people don’t enjoy that hence the popularity of BPW not far away. Afan is great though

Hope not as going in the spring for first time in 3-4 years. Does anyone know what the deal is with the old (skyline?) route that came out when the masts went in? I’ve heard people mention the “masts” as though there’s a route there again?

re this resort development I wonder how close to the trails that is and if they’ll put any development in…more likely just to develop their own family friendly stuff within the resort boundary I’d imagine.

Is Afan dead?

Afan/Glycorrwyg is nowhere near dead.

Some 100 miles of marked trails, an extended network beyond that for anyone that is willing to look, including some brilliant technical as well as far reaching out there loops.

A good cafe at one end and a very good cafe at the other, 2 bike shops that’ll get you out of trouble should you need them.

Superb local digs from old school b and b to some plush propose made for bikers cottages.

Cracking local pubs in The Refresh and The Colliers, locals always friendly.

It’s not Afan that’s dead, it’s the sense of adventure in some people’s minds that’s dying…. imho there is a bang for buck mindset in many now that kinda misses the point to some degree.

Support A fan and places like it, they are bloody amazing and need to be cherished.

Right, time to climb down off my soap box and put the kettle on.

Pedlad, Skyline route is still out there, you might need to think on your feet to box round the odd bit but the route generally remains.

The Masts that people mention is not on Skyline and is a very different animal to Skyline.

pedlad – Member
Hope not as going in the spring for first time in 3-4 years. Does anyone know what the deal is with the old (skyline?) route that came out when the masts went in? I’ve heard people mention the “masts” as though there’s a route there again?

Skyline seems to have been rebranded ‘Skyline Loop’ and it’s an addtional 23km loop off the back of Blade. TBH, I rode it once years ago, it’s not for me – it’s very long and almost featureless bar the last descent. Some will love it though.

‘Masts’ is an unofficial trail further south down the valley and heads off away from the centre trails, it’s not easy to ride in winter but not hard to find with a bit of a pointer to the start.

Afan/Glycorrwyg is nowhere near dead.

Some 100 miles of marked trails, an extended network beyond that for anyone that is willing to look, including some brilliant technical as well as far reaching out there loops.

A good cafe at one end and a very good cafe at the other, 2 bike shops that’ll get you out of trouble should you need them.

Superb local digs from old school b and b to some plush propose made for bikers cottages.

Cracking local pubs in The Refresh and The Colliers, locals always friendly.

It’s not Afan that’s dead, it’s the sense of adventure in some people’s minds that’s dying…. imho there is a bang for buck mindset in many now that kinda misses the point to some degree.

Support Afan and places like it, they are bloody amazing and need to be cherished.

Agreed! I like Afan and it’s good to see that Glyncorrwg is still going

I love Afan, in fact I’m going tomorrow. What I don’t love though is the weather…

Good to hear the local scene is thriving, I follow a few people from down that way on Insta and it looks like there are some cracking off-piste trails.

It’s not Afan that’s dead, it’s the sense of adventure in some people’s minds that’s dying…. imho there is a bang for buck mindset in many now that kinda misses the point to some degree.

I have no evidence for this, but I wonder if part of the dwndling numbers at the trail centre is down to people being more adventurous and heading out into the hills or riding handbuilt trails in the woods?

and Cwmcarn also appears to be thriving. The car park was pretty much completely full the other weekend.

From FB it appears the cafe at Glyncorwg is making a really genuine effort to reinvent itself.

What I’ve seen so far looks good. Lots of community style stuff & events.

I really hope they can make it stick & wish them nothing but the best.

Went to Afan late last year, it was very quiet. The cafe at Glyncorwg was good, but also very quiet. Hard to see how they can make it viable in that location, but they are having a good go.

and Cwmcarn also appears to be thriving

Closer to civilisation.

ber
Went to Afan late last year, it was very quiet. The cafe at Glyncorwg was good, but also very quiet. Hard to see how they can make it viable in that location, but they are having a good go

It seems to be picking up of late, as is the original centre and as someone said above Cwmcarn.

Darrell has really been hitting the social media marketing hard for Cwmdown now the ‘good’ DH track is back fully open and is starting to offer mid-week uplifts again – I don’t think it’ll ever be back to it’s 2 big trailers 5 days a week peak with BPW up the road, but it’s nice to see it growing again – I might even stop being a pussy and have a few runs again!

I don’t know if the shine is wearing off BPW a bit now, or there’s more riders about, hopefully the latter, either way it’s nice to see a full car park in winter at CC, used to have a great buzz about the place in summer.

Closer to civilisation

Well, they do say do say Risca is the Welsh Mesopotamia.

The main problem Afan will always face is journey time/distance from the Severn Bridge, once those of us that dwell in Ingerlund have paid for admission to Gods country, Afan is still another ~40+mins further to drive than BPW.

Sadly BPW (and Cwmcarn) are always going to score more traffic with or without uplifts thanks to geography…

I like Afan, but you have to admit for “Gnarr on Demand” BPW probably has them licked, Laaahndarners are impatient at the best of times.

Of course if there were proper hills in SE England, South Wales would be knackers for Trail-centre funding I reckon.

I don’t know if the shine is wearing off BPW a bit now, or there’s more riders about, hopefully the latter, either way it’s nice to see a full car park in winter at CC, used to have a great buzz about the place in summer.

For me BPW trips have lost a little of that shine / excitement. Still a good day out but newness has certainly worn off for me.

Winter is the only time we really go to Cwmcarn, when the prefered riding is a bit sloppy. The uplift is certainly an attraction but that can’t account for that many spaces in the carpark. Maybe it’s all the e-bikers.

Mbnut – Member
Afan/Glycorrwyg is nowhere near dead.

It’s not Afan that’s dead, it’s the sense of adventure in some people’s minds that’s dying…. imho there is a bang for buck mindset in many now that kinda misses the point to some degree.

This, in spades. Afan offers a big day out of riding, not the rinse and repeat of BPW (nowt wrong with either) however, it relies on a greater level of fitness and that’s something being forgotten by too many of today’s bikers.

I love Afan but every time I go there it hammers down with rain (which I don’t mind) and I set a little mental reminder to fit mudhuggers front and rear before my next trip.

Which I then completely forget to do.

Glad the top cafe has reopened, I much prefer parking up that end and doing W2 and Penhyd with a stop at the bottom cafe before ending with a scoff-fest back at the top cafe. Like others have said, BPW is good but I do like a good pedal.

Need to plan another trip /wanders off muttering about there being something he was supposed to do…/

Everything is cyclic in the MTB world. Everyone’s been off going to BPW, or NZ, or Madeira, or somewhere else and forgotten to ride round trip trails in their own country for a while. I think its starting to come back on its up-cycle though, I see more invites in my FB feed to do stuff like that than I have for sometime, so its a shame the shop and cafe couldn’t hold on a bit longer, I think its got a few years left in it yet. That said, please god someone spend some money on the Glyncorrwyg centre, its literally falling apart.

Yes rain plus that fine grit at afan is pretty miserable – half our group ended up with no brake pad material 3/4 round our ride last time 😐

It’s not Afan that’s dead, it’s the sense of adventure in some people’s minds that’s dying…. imho there is a bang for buck mindset in many now that kinda misses the point to some degree.

Its not long since everyone bemoaned the disappearing of the sense of adventure as people flocked to trail centres like Afan for a quick hit as they offered more bang for the buck.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. (or something like that).

I’ve always had great fun at Afan,fantastic and expansive network of challenging and weatherproof trails-what’s not to like .
After 3 days of riding my hardtail there and elsewhere on my last visit-it was me that was dead 😀 certainly not Afan.
I’ll hopefully be back there soon,and it certainly wont be Bike Park Wales that will prevent us from riding Afan as we will be doing both plus more.

Its not long since everyone bemoaned the disappearing of the sense of adventure as people flocked to trail centres like Afan for a quick hit

barely 5 months in fact!
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/do-you-like-trail-centres

Like many of the above comments I go a few times a year despite being a ‘soft southerner’ and love the pedal up and down and all weather / rain dependability – it just feels like a proper ride when I am there.

For me, personal choice, I don’t want the rinse and repeat uplift I like to earn the down and love the way my bike cycles up the stream that some trails become in heavy rain.

Last time I went car park was dead, coffee shop dead, bike shop dead and I am really pleased to see it coming back to life.

I don’t think it died, I think people got distracted / lazy and now that sheen has gone they’re coming back.

James

It’s not dead it’s been resting.

(Another soft southerner fan)

Must be on my biking to do list this year. Haven’t been since the once or twice yearly university friends and other random work mates of them trips stopped about ten years ago along with the drafty chalets we used to rent nearby

Some 100 miles of marked trails, an extended network beyond that for anyone that is willing to look, including some brilliant technical as well as far reaching out there loops.

This.

Some great stuff in the area. Very different to BPW but much better imo.

Was there in September and it was as awesome as ever, even though the cafe and shop at Glyncorrwg were closed, which was a disappointment. The caf further down the valley at Cynonville was open tough and the trails there were great too.

FWIW the couple who run the Queens B&B in Glyncorrwg said that Afan is now managed by the same people as BPW.

Not been for a few years but last time we were there I remember the local getting territorial about the car park and blocking cars in all over the place.

Went 4-5 times in 2017 and still love it. Not been yet this year but won’t be long until I do. It’s great!

couple who run the Queens B&B in Glyncorrwg said that Afan is now managed by the same people as BPW.

The Queens B&B in Glyncorrwg has unfortunately been sold. Been going there since they opened but the last few years they were relying on the turbine workers rather than bikers. Very sad!