If you come out of the carpark and turn left and ride up the road about 300 yards where the treeline stops there's a DH of sorts running down the hill.
I see lots of people doing that and it really puzzles me. The trail they're turning onto is the Descent Line. There's a lovely gentle (by Stainburn standards) climb from the car park on purpose built trail i.e. the Red Loop. Get to the top of that and you can either go back down the red to the car park (with a choice of two lines; bermed or skinny) by following the trail round to the right at its high point or go left and you're there where the DL trail starts almost at the road.
I guess the road ride is a touch easier (especially on a "big" bike) but the traffic / drivers are a bit mental and the alternative just seems much more fun. Hey ho.
Stainburn was built to be rideable on a HT, there are no purpose built DH trails. Saying that there have always been people that come, ride and seem to have fun on "big" bikes. Some of the trails blur the line a little but FC's official stance is no DH tracks. Yes, we've tried to talk to them about it. No we haven't got anywhere. No, there's too much else to be sorted to bother going back on that issue for the foreseeable future.
But saying that a wise man knows there are a few good, steep dirt tracks to be had in the woods. I'm not postingthem up here though 😉
The plonkers that keep riding through the badger sett on Norwood side and carving a trail there though are doing themselves no favours. So long as it doesn't come back on or jeopardise anything SingletrAction is doing then that's one thing. We've told FC it's nothing to do with us and TBH support them in their efforts to curtail it. Disturbance to a protected species is pretty daft and a surefire way to alienate a land manager.
My gut feeling (and I know it's been discussed elsewhere on the forum before) is that "big" bikes probably cause greater erosion but TBH as long as a few of the riders come back and help on the digs then that's just the life of a trail for you. I can never tell who rides what as we're all too busy with shovels 😉
Given the place is designed to be ridden up as well as down then I think "big" bikes are getting a poor return out of what is, really, a pretty small wood / set of trails. Being able to ride the Boulder Trail in something close to "one go" is something I'm still working on. But again, each to their own 😎
The Pyjama suits are just WRONG though 😉