Sign up to Singletrack Premier

Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine

  • Home
  • News
  • MagArchive
  • Forums
  • Reviews
  • Trail Guide
  • Blogs
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
  • Advanced Search
  • Overview
  • Bike Forum
  • Chat Forum
  • For Sale
  • Wanted
  • Forum Help
  • Classified Rules

Bike Forum

Trail Centres

  • 88 posts & 44 voices | Started 12 months ago by monkeychild | Latest reply from graham1975

Tags:

  • 6" in the rear
  • alot of mlehworlders on here today
  • another pointless tag
  • but I am special
  • Go go power rangers
  • grum doesn't need to lighten up
  • grum needs to lighten up a bit
  • he just thinks you're a bit of a tool
  • I'M SPECIAL
  • Look at me look at me
  • maybe a nice long ride would lighten him up a bit
  • monkeys love puppies
  • my mom told me
  • push for wunhundered
  • sofa mincer grum
  • stormtroopers of grump
  • this is all your fault monkeyboy
  • tragic niche whores
  • Trailmincers love 6"
  • trailmincers wound up by tags
Pages: « Previous123
  1. molgrips - Member

    They are often (but not always) boring if you ride them slowly. They only get really fun when you go really fast. I ride Cwmcarn a lot and I always try to beat my time. I know it really well now which leads to silly speeds and major grin factor.

    If you find them dull, get a move on!

    This applies to ups and downs. The first climb at Afan can be boring but it makes a good personal time trial if you focus on doing it as fast as possible.

    I don't normally say this but +1 kaesae

    Posted 12 months ago #
  2. Mental Mickey - Member

    My local 'natural' loops are in and out the woods, my local trail centre goes erm.....in and out the woods, a little bit of man made boardwalk & rock feature type stuff is the only difference.

    Posted 12 months ago #
  3. kaesae - Member

    molgrips, it's good too see you on the ball and right for once

    Posted 12 months ago #
  4. molgrips - Member

    Bugroff, I say the same thing every time this comes up

    Posted 12 months ago #
  5. kaesae - Member

    A likely story sunshine.
    That's what they all say!

    Posted 12 months ago #
  6. Scienceofficer - Member

    I had cause to ride afan 3 times a week for about 6 weeks a couple of summers ago. I got bored surprisingly quickly and I realised theres a lack of line choice.

    I guess it depends on what you get from your riding. I'm a pretty average rider and can do trail centres at a decent speed, but even then I found I missed the act of computing my own line choices - this is clearly part of the reward for me - I knew I preferred au natural trail riding, but it took a while for me to understand why.

    For a long time, I've found the actual trail surfaces pretty dull too, although, a trip to Afan earlier this year showed me that they've started to wear in pretty nicely, and the technical climb at Cwmcarn was brilliant!

    I'm quite happy to go to trail centres a few times a year - I have a soft sport for CyB especially, but sessioning the same man made trail week after week is not for me - theres simply not enough variety.

    Posted 12 months ago #
  7. backhander - Member

    It's about perspective isn't it?
    If you live in the wilds of scotland, the lakes or snowdon you're not going to appreciate TCs as much as those who live in a major city in england.
    The man made argument is a bit daft though, trail builders can make some brilliant stuff be it in your local woods or a forest (most of the trails I rode in BC were man made). My most disappointing rides have all been exploration rides which have consisted of flat bridleways running through fields and/or including lots of road sections.
    There was a great article in Dirt a month or so back which pretty much summed up trail centres, written by a brit who had lived in BC for a few years.

    Posted 12 months ago #
  8. kaesae - Member

    There is so much to learn about riding, extra g braking or cornering , the apex of a corner and different techniques for dealing with them. Or even cutties.

    Then you have braking, peddle stroke, cock pitt familiarity and manipulations, there are so many techniques to learn and if you can master.

    I doubt that I will ever get bored even just riding my local bing is a great oppertunity for me, there is always more to learn and more skills to be developed, if all your doing is the same stuff over and over, yes it will get dull.

    It all comes down to attitude and getting the most out of your saddle time!!!

    Posted 12 months ago #
  9. stevious - Member

    I don't do trail centres because I won't let the man tell me where to go with his little arrows. You can't tame me. I'm a rebel.

    Posted 12 months ago #
  10. vinnyeh - Member

    I got bored surprisingly quickly and I realised theres a lack of line choice.

    not much different to singletrack then..

    Posted 12 months ago #
  11. Scienceofficer - Member

    Do you know what extra g braking or cornering is

    No, but even a google search doesn't come up with anything. Are they terms you invented to sound RAD?

    I'd be delighted if you'd elaborate. Maybe I do these things but I'm unaware of the gnarl-core terminology.

    Vinney, I take your point, but the variety of single track is limited, its the same, stoney base, in the trees, or in clearfell. Theres a greater variability, even within singletrack, on natural stuff and thats my preference.

    Posted 12 months ago #
  12. The Southern Yeti - Member

    I love riding trail centres, they're where I do most of my riding. More than happy to come and show you up on your local bit of hardcore trail though...

    Posted 12 months ago #
  13. Mental Mickey - Member

    vinnyeh - Member
    I got bored surprisingly quickly and I realised theres a lack of line choice.
    not much different to singletrack then..

    You've hit the nail on the head, a very rosey tinted picture is being painted in a misty eyed romantic fashion....that somehow, a natural piece of singletrack offers a lot more line choice than the very same thing in an area where you are 'told in which direction to go' by a few little arrows here and there.

    Laughable.

    Posted 12 months ago #
  14. kaesae - Member

    Exactly, especially when the little arrows help you avoid hitting other riders and bikes at speed

    Posted 12 months ago #
  15. scruff - Member

    Since Cannock Chase got a trail centre style setup the amount of local riders has multiplied by a million, as riding bikes is good then more folk riding bikes is good.

    I dont ride them myself though, I'm above the tourists in moral and skill quotas.

    Posted 12 months ago #
  16. molgrips - Member

    More than happy to come and show you up on your local bit of hardcore trail though

    Yeti, you should come to Wales, we have these things called rocks to make it interesting

    Posted 12 months ago #
  17. The Southern Yeti - Member

    Molly... I will! I met a man, who knows a man, who knows you in the real world.

    I rode Y Das the other week.. that was pretty rocky.

    Posted 12 months ago #
  18. graham1975 - Member

    I certainatly would'nt go to Wales ridding ever again to be honest, I live in West Yorkshire and i would much rather travel a little further to the 7stanes trails in Scotland, i hate the long borious trails in Wales, nothing of any intrest to me if i was being honest. Scotland everytime for me im afraid.
    I love the trail centres because THEY ARE marked and you can just get on with ridding and keep it flowing, rather than stopping all the time to look at a bloody map.

    Posted 12 months ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Pages: « Previous123

Reply

You must log in to post.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Don't miss…

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Blogs
  • 2013 Commencal Part 1: Meta SL
  • Shimano Singletrack Classic Weekender: Downhill and Timing
  • It's the weekend
  • SRAM XX1
  • Fresh Goods Friday 168
  • Shimano Singletrack Classic Weekender Rider Profile: Singular Sam
  • Maxxis High Roller 2
  • Nukeproof/DT Swiss 29in custom wheel build
  • Cannondale Jekyll 3
  • Bionicon C-Guide V2
  • Review: Charge Bikes Sponge Grips
  • Review: Whyte 146 S
  • Diary of a Megavalanche Virgin Part 3: Win some, lose some...
  • County Contrast
  • Diary of a Megavalanche Virgin Part 2: Skills Time
  • Green's Gravity Enduro: An introduction
  • Diary of a Megavalanche Virgin Part 1: A hill in Wales
  • New Year - New Bike!

Advertisement

Advertisement

road.cc cycling website

Advertisement

Singletrack Magazine
  • Log In

Skip to top


Forgotten your password?

Not got an account?

Register now!

  • Singletrack

  • Magazine Stockists
  • Publication Dates
  • Premier Club
  • Contact Us
  • it’s not easy being green
  • Website & Forums

  • Forum Overview
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Classified Rules
  • Forum Help
  • Website Help
  • Exits

  • road.cc
  • ST on Twitter
  • ST on Facebook
  • ST on Vimeo
  • News Feeds
Issue 73