So I’m a pretty confident rider, have experience with big drops and gap jumps on a hardtail. So I want to go to the forest of dean some time really soon, can I do the DH trails there on a hardtail? or is that just a recipe for disaster?

As for the hardtail I ride, it has a 150mm fork and 180mm rotors. Can my bike handle the terrain and or should I avoid certain trails? From the videos I have seen, it looks like it would be fine. But there just videos.. Has anyone ridden a hardtail on the bigger trails? I don;t want to just be stuck with red and lame blue. lol.

Apart from the obvious roots and a bit of rocks, I guess I should be fine since I’ve hit bigger jumps than what I see in some videos at FOD.

So is it a good idea? Or should I just wait till I get £1500 and buy a wicked Comp from YT industries?

No problem at all, some might even say that’s the perfect bike for FoD DH runs 8)

Have taken my 456-evo there on an uplift day without any problems, its running 140mm forks and 180mm rotors front and rear, it was great fun actually….waiting until the new year to try Antur on the hardtail though!

Yeah I used to ride my trailstar there all the time on the same stuff as I ride my fs on now. Tbh I do prefer the full sus but a hardtail is fine there. The end of the vederers trail is certainly better on a HT!

What the FOD black runs like for initially “going slower” and learning? Are the jumps / gaps initially rollable/gently flyable for us novices? (would like to book an uplift there in spring)

I don’t think there are any gaps or drops you have to commit to, they all have chicken lines afaik.

A bit of information here

Taken from FoDMTB site.

Deviant – did all the runs at Antur inc both blacks on my Pig complete with spd’s. No problems.

Cool, looking forward to that then.

Yeah you’ll love it! Everything is rollable first run anyway

Just so you know, the blue there is far from lame too, the final descent is flowy and really fun

Oh I forgot to ask, do I need a DH helmet and goggles? I heard somewhere that the Uplift has rules about helmets.. I ride with an All Mountain helmet and goggles. Would that be allowed?

Full face mandatory for the blacks.