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Hello all,
Just found out ill be spending an entire year in England working (and living, riding), just wondering what is the riding scene like down in Brighton? Is there anything in the region? if so what does it have to offer. I will definitely be doing some trips to the north, wales, lakes and peaks District and possibly france but what will the local regions surrounding Brighton be like?
I looked into Stanmer Park and have heard about that their are trails up near Cranleigh (Leith Hill / Holmbury Hill / Pitch Hill and Winterfold) - where my girlfriend landed a job at a school, but more interested i what the local area will be like.
Also what style of mountain bikes are guys in surrey riding? I am most likely going to bring my 140mm #enduro/allmountain/mountainbike steed, but are there any reasons why i should reconsider?
Is there cyclocross/xc/enduro/downhill/gate racing?
Basically what is the scene like there?
Cheers,
Ham
Not a massive ammount of downhill, best way to judge is goto youtube and search for the following;
- Steyning downhill
- friston forest trails
- wild park trails
theres a lot of varied riding around here....
Much better riding up in Surrey..
140mm is perfect. hope you like cheese straws
Better bring your singlespeed hipster fixie for the Brighton scene.
The riding in and around Brighton is excellent!
Stanmer park (Brighton) lots of well maintained singletrack.
Wild Park (Brighton) a steep hill with a few good lines.
South Downs (Brighton and beyond) Open hills with hidden secrets near Brighton.
Friston Forest (30 min from Brighton) like Stanmer park, lots of well maintained singletrack and some DH lines.
Steyning (15mim from Brighton) DH lines, joining in on dig days is encouraged.
Surrey Hills (60min from Brighton) Simply a great place to ride.
Most of this you will struggle to find on your own, best of you hook up with some locals or ride with a club.
Look on brightonmtb.org forum for rides - they do twice weekly Stanmer and Downs rides from the uni But also Friston, Tilgate and regular trips further afield.
Bikes range from rigid singlespeeds to 160mm fs on most rides.
Best thing about Brighton and Hove is that it's tricky to live more than about 10 minutes ride from an offroad route up to the Downs.
Much better riding up in Surrey..140mm is perfect. hope you like cheese straws
Different riding in Surrey, but there's plenty round Brighton too. I'd say 140mm is overkill for either - it'll depend on what sort of riding you enjoy.
Cyclocross/XC race scene is pretty active, although you'll generally be driving a little way for either, DH/Enduro less so, the hills aren't big enough! There's some stuff in and around QECP in Petersfield.
Another, unrelated, thing to consider - house prices are bloody expensive in Cranleigh or Brighton, and they're not actually [i]that [/i]close, a daily commute between the two would be a grind - traffic in Brighton is crap.
@hammm - the riding is great in the area, in fact it's fantastic.
I love riding in Wales and the Peak but when living in Surrey with the Surrey Hills on my doorstep I was in Nirvana ! There are lots of STW-ers on here you can link up with for riding in South Downs and in the Surrey Hills (around Peaslake). Shop rides (plug above for my LBS Nirvana Cycles), MTB group rides, discovering stuff on your own.
Brighton's great, my eldest daughter lives there. Lots to do all year round especially if you are a cyclist/outdoor person. Have fun, you will love it.
Re bikes, you see everything in Surrey Hills from 120m XC to 160m+ DH and freeride bikes (most of the freeride trails and big jumps etc are fairly well hidden 😉 ). A 140m enduro style bike is perfect. I mix my riding between my BFe and Covert, I like the fact the HT makes the trails a little trickier to ride and I don't do much so much jumping now after a few crashes.
ah so choice guys!
Yeh I'm keen to get over there now. Will definitely bring over the 140mm bike now i have heard this - it might be overkill but I'm only bringing one bike over and it has to do everything if i travel up north/wales/Lake District/Peak district etc. Ill just pump up the suspension for the xc stuff and choose tires accordingly.
@njee20 - im not concerned about the housing prices at all, my work is paying for the rent as well as my girlfriends. We won't be living together.
Cheers
Hammm
@njee20 - im not concerned about the housing prices at all, my work is paying for the rent as well as my girlfriends. We won't be living together.
Aah, sorted! I grew up in Cranleigh, but we've moved down into Sussex, as no way in hell we could afford to live there!
Surrey Hills riding is great though, whilst I enjoy visiting Wales etc, I prefer the variety afforded by the local riding!
10 posts and no one has mentioned:
There's a certain kind of scene in Brighton, it does involve riding, not necessarily of bicycles. 😉
*tumbleweed*
Is there [s]cyclocross[/s]/[s]xc[/s]/enduro/downhill/gate racing?
Enduro-
QECP Day & Night Enduro in May
QECP Trail Collective Enduro in July
DH-
Gravity project, 5 race series in Hampshire (GP1, GP2 ,Rogate & QECP)
PORC, 5 race series in Kent
Bull Track, 3 race Series in East Sussex
And both Tidworth and Aston Hill both have races but are a bit of a drive.
XC & CX-
Not sure apart from the Brighton big dog & the Southern XC series.
@hamm, I love the riding in Wales and Dark Peak but I strongly suspect if you search around you'll find more than enough between the North and South Downs to mean you'll only make an occasional trip away.
If you look on the STW trails section you'll find some loops which pass by the areas with the singletrack and people can show you where to look. It's mostly somewhat unofficial so there aren't any signs as such.