Someone said it’s fireroad climbs and fireroad descents.
Anyone been recently?

We’re going to Antur Stiniog on the Saturday and planning Penmachno for the Sunday.

Is the Marin Trail worth riding on the Friday?

personally i like it, final decent riding well at the moment, lots will complain about the fire roads, its a pretty old man made trail so its not as good as some newer ones.

where you staying? CYB is probably closer to Stiniog than the Marin…

Ride it, you may like it, you may not, it’s all about the experience.

Fwiw – I like it.

I enjoy Marin Trail, the final descent is a cracker.

As Patriot says, throw it in the mix and see what bubbles up.

I like it lots.

Ridden on a Blue Pig Mk1 with Pike U-Turns.

I also managed to do it twice in 2 days, AFTER crashing on Snowden and getting the end of the handlebars in my leg so damn hard it took a month for the swelling to go down [and 2 weeks to be able to crouch without falling over in pain].

I’m not saying I’m hard, I’m saying the climbs aren’t so bad and it’s fun

🙂

lovely old school riding, climbs are easy peasy and it’s just a lovely little soul ride, not mega tech or gnar or rad, just one of those places that makes you smile.

fixie cx bike is a bit challenging on it though.

I loved it… Sure it’s harder work than it should be maybe, it feels its age- one of those trails that feels like you go up more than down. But it has some brilliant views and locations (a wee bit of heaven on earth by the lake) and more importantly, some absolutely perfect singletrack. Not to mention that it’s all beautifully worn in and part of the background.

Final descents from when the trail crosses itself at the top of the initial fire road climb. Rinse and repeat!

Love it as a classic, if I was going for my first visit I’d probably be a bit disappointed comparing it to the more modern trails but it’s still fun and it looked like there were a lot of repairs going on so it’s probably getting better again

It does have a few short technical descents which are fun, there is also some single track. The majority of it is fire ascent, consider it a social climb.

Would recommend the Marin final descent as we did this after a day at antur stiniog last weekend. Sure was quite a laugh! Your love antur stiniog the runs are great! 🙂

I’ve a real soft spot for the Marin, Tazzy and Northwind said it better than me.

Final descent makes me grin like a loon everytime.

It’s great.

Has some lovely little sections in it (the rocky bit at the top is a cracker) and it’s part of our history.

Ride it as a pilgrimage, you’ll love it.

I like it.
It’s oldskool ridin innit.

Anyone that moans about having to climb a bit is a lazy fatknacker. 😉

Thanks guys, sounds like it’s worth a go. It was just the rumour of fireroad descending which worried me.

We’re staying in Penmachno so it’s the nearest trail, after Penmachno itself.

Can’t wait for Antur. *EXCITED*

I did it for the first time a couple of weekends ago on holiday. TBH I was a little disappointed but it’s a classic and if you’ve got the chance then do it. Plenty of stunning views and the final descent is lots of fun! Make sure and follow only the little white markers with MARIN on them, I took a wrong turn beside an old mine works up on a hill, (Hafna?) keep it on your left and carry on up the fire road and round the locked gate.

Jealous as about Antur, I did the family option at the slate caverns next door and spent the whole day jealously eyeing the trails. There was a lot of armour on display though, folks dressed like armadillos! Is it really that rough?

There was a lot of armour on display though, folks dressed like armadillos! Is it really that rough?

Not been but generally if your not pedalling up why not, on top of that hitting the floor at speed hurts and anyone can hit the floor no matter how good they are.

People tend to whinge about the Marin because of the initial climb out of the car park. It’s approx a 15-20 climb on fire road but then you are rewarded to a lovely bit of singletrack.

It’s the nature of the terrain there that gives it some of the fire road climbs but at the end of every climb there is a singletrack section.

If you don’t like fire road climbs you will have forgotten all about them after completing the last decent to the carpark.

If you are up here, dont pass it by otherwise you will never know. I’ve done it hundreds of times and never tire of it.

There has been some trail maint and they have tamed some of the more technical or washed away sections but it’s still good.

chico66 – Member

There was a lot of armour on display though, folks dressed like armadillos! Is it really that rough?

There’s basically nothing to land on that isn’t either a boulder the size of a fridge, or a heap of arrowhead slate chips. And you spend a lot of the time going quick. Daft not to wear it if you have it really when you’ve got an uplift.

Having said that I’d be happy enough in an open face and kneepads even on y du… But then I didn’t do the wall thing or the biggest jumps.

Rode it a few times, first climb is a killer. rest is ok.

In June last year me and a mate rode the Marin in the morning then both Pen loops in afternoon. Was tiring but the weather was good.

Ride it quite a bit, really like it. Not to say it doesn’t have it’s issues, couple of changes and it could be great.

It’s pretty rough in places, but I enjoy that. Mate broke his hand there last time out, a few weeks ago.

I really like it, ridden it many times over the years. Was one of the first trail centers in Wales and pretty cutting edge in its day. Still a lovely trail with great views.