Folks, We have just launched a new UK MTB Trail directory for most of the main MTB centres and bases over at IBIKERide. We are now looking to drive reviews to help folks that visit get the real lowdown on what a trail is like to ride. We are offering a small incentive to encourage folk to contribute their trail experiences and write a review. i.e. if you write a review you could win £50 if pulled out of the prize draw. Basically the more trails you review the more chance you have of winning. We are still adding trails so if you spot any gaps please let us know. Thanks

Competition and the Trail Directory can be found here at IBIKERide

You sure this is new?

I’m sure someone was on here a few months back trying to promote This or a very similar “Trail reviewing” site…

Looks a bit Mickey Mouse TBH…

There are loads of these things that pop up then disappear or stagnate just like the stw one

What is your usp?

We launched the end of Dec into Beta with a handful of trails and have been filling the trail directory since then. We only started promoting it this week though but have been in dialogue with each trail group as we have completed each trail listing methodically one by one to to get their input on accuracy etc so it is possible you have come across it when local Facebook groups may have posted to their fans. . We now have 134 of the main UK trails centres and basis listed (still more to go of course).

There are other good trail directory services out there of course. Ours is planning to be run and owned by the individual trail communities (i.e. they can claim and own the listings). We are trialing this with a couple of trail communities already (this would be the USP as it keeps it current).

Core to being dynamic also is it being based on recent rider reviews (hence the promotion).

Hey Dan,

Just checked out the site, great idea. Will be using it in future for some new ideas to visit.
You even have my local area Danbury!!!! Think you are the only person.
Added a couple of reviews for you.

I read the title and expected to see discussions about the M4 to Afan 🙂

Just taken a look.

1 You need an option to have ‘all’, rather than see only 5 per page.
2 ‘Map-View’, rather slow – a lot happening behind the scenes?

Sorry I felt the need to poke about your site a bit. Interesting that your oldest Review entry is for Hamsterley, dated July 18, 2007…

So honestly just how many re-launches and “Beta” sites have you really had in the last 5 years then?

126 review entries in 5 years, and no more location data sorting categories than “England / Wales / Scotland”?
I mean Really?? a regional or map based search function would make sense for a UK-wide trail directory…
Of course people have shared trail location maps all over Google maps for a while now.

The Review element is good, and the fact that you added fields for trail types, facilities, distances etc is nice but Most of the information could be gathered by a trained chimp with access to a search engine…

Clubs tend to maintain their own website and / or a facebook profile these days, you really think they’re going to want to maintain a yet another profile page on your “newly established” web page too?

Basically I could have lashed something like your site together and I’m an Imbecile!!!

Nice idea (I think a fair few people have probably had it before) but you are probably several years too late now…

FYI Northern Ireland is part of the UK too!

We have Trailbadger which does the same sort of thing.

Cookeaa thanks for your feedback. You are right the site launched 5 years ago and was a community blog site for skills, trails, kit reviews, blogs and many, many other things. We did a lot of things and none of them very well as a result. In Nov of this year we had a small mixed bag of reviews (most of them mine across kit, trails, bike, skills and so forth).

In Dec we totally re-platformed, re-designed, and re focused the site into a new trail directory and put the effort into working with local trail communities to build the directory up which we have done and now we are driving reviews. Of the 130 trails well over half were written in the last three months and all 130 have been significantly edited and updated working with the local trial communities (no small task). Most were just random inconsistent blogs since then.

I think some trail owners will and others wont take on ownership. It will be a mix. Whats more important is they are the ultimate owners and we keep a regular dialogue of the changes with us so it can be updated.

The main challenge for any directory is keeping it up to date.

Generally I have always found info about the whole of the UK trails to be very fragmented. The MTB Wales site seems to start doing a good job, then you click Breacon and you are taken to another site and if you go for Radnorshire you are shunted off to a site with crap maps on.

Extra info I would like to see with the trail info is stuff like how close the nearest train station is, local bike friendly b&b’s/camp sites, that sort of stuff that helps you plan a trip to a trail not just let you know the trail exists.

Reviews are all very well but like any thread on here asking about a trail you have a range of responses from “it is great” to “it is crap”, which makes them essentially meaningless.

but have been in dialogue with each trail group

who? our local site has forestry trails and ‘off-piste’ trails. who are you dealing with? forgive me if i don’t give up the trails i’ve built with others for the chance of scoring 50 quid, only so some dickheads can rock up and trash everything in 5hit weather. well TBF, i suppose better i get the chance to win 50 quid than some cock get the glory on strava i suppose…. 😕

Sorry but been done to death.

Its easier to just use google.