I’m heading to mid wales again soon & want to ride while I’m there, but want to avoid the usual trip to coed y brenin/mach/llandegla etc.
Anyone know of a nice xc ride around Welshpool/Meifod/Guilsfield/Llanfyllin area?

You could head over towards Bala – lots of riding around Llanarmon DC, Llanrhaedr-ym-Mochnant and then there’s the Wayfarer from Llangynog over to Llandrillo.
My aged parents are in the area you’re talking about and we’ve not found many bridleways round there you need to head a bit further west to be able to do much. Limited crossings of the Severn don’t help much either.

Not exactly in that area but with a 1 hr drive you could do worse than consider Elan Valley, or for a wilder experience Beacon Hill area (South of Newtown / Beguildy) which has lots of bridleways but hard route finding!