We're off to C-Y-B next weekend, Daughter has a coaching course and I'll just be mincing round the trails lol.
Haven't been there for about 4 years.
Is the cafe permanently closed now?
Guessing toilets & showers are still available.
Is there anywhere on site to get a coffee or anything?
Is the bike shop still open?
Thanks
It’s all closed edit: I am sure I had read that the bike shop was closing and changing to a hire only model , but can’t see that now. So I would check yourself to see if the shop is still open
There are 2 toilets
To Be fair that’s still loads more facilities than when I used to go when there was a small gravel carpark just off the road
Last tine I went was July last year, and all that was open was the bike shop, toilets, and car park. 🙁
Edit: bike shop site still shows it as open and has recent reviews for servicing etc.
We have been this year and the silver door toilets are open and the changing rooms where but you could only access them from the back.
The bike shop was open
Also cameras are supposedly being fixed and the car park price is doubling so go before the end of march
Also cameras are supposedly being fixed and the car park price is doubling so go before the end of march
Oh that’s interesting I thought they were out for good. In future I will be parking elsewhere then!
Also cameras are supposedly being fixed and the car park price is doubling so go before the end of march
It's almost like they specifically WANT to close the place down. No facilities, twice the price for parking! 😳
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/parking-charges-double-two-welsh-33569753
sadly I agree with the statement about closing the place. I appreciate its not heaving but it still busy. I have never been and there is only just me there.
I was surprised the changing rooms where open but the misses loves the heated changing rooms.
Also cameras are supposedly being fixed and the car park price is doubling so go before the end of march
It's almost like they specifically WANT to close the place down. No facilities, twice the price for parking! 😳
The trails are absolutely average as well these days. Took the kids last summer and it just felt like there was far more fire road slogging than any other trail centre and even the descents weren't up to much. Not somewhere I'd make a special trip to anymore which is a shame...
The trails are absolutely average as well these days.
I went a couple of years ago, I wanted a trail centre ride to get used to my new MTB, somewhere I could pedal around knowing it was all rideable and without stopping for gates and dog walkers.
We used to go to the original CyB a fair bit back in the day (when it was the first trail centre) and I had vague memories of that being really enjoyable.
Safe to say I was very underwhelmed by the "new" one (other side of the road), it didn't feel like there was much flow to it at all.
New pricing for parking just released
Coed y Brenin
- First 30 minutes or drop off: Free
- Up to 1 hour: £1
- Up to 2 hours: £3
- Up to 4 hours: £7
- All day: £12
Bwlch Nant yr Arian
- First 30 minutes or drop off: Free
- Up to 1 hour: £1
- Up to 2 hours: £3
- Up to 4 hours: £7
- All day: £12
I love the trails, good old school tech in places and some of the descents on MBR flow really nicely. In a way it's good they are charging for parking; some revenue to justify trail maintenance!
Thanks all.
Will take plenty of snacks.
What's the current parking charges?
currently the cameras aren't fixed
We used to go to the original CyB a fair bit back in the day (when it was the first trail centre) and I had vague memories of that being really enjoyable.
Agreed we used to go before there was a proper car park and i remember the Red Bull and later karrimor being flowy and good. (Apart from the long drag pointless climb and decent)
The trails leading out from the visitor centre are terrible. All the rock slab is just odd.
I don’t live too far away from CyB these days so been back 3 or 4 times. It’s got slightly better as I’ve got more used to it, but not as good as other options
Penmachno On the other hand is leagues ahead. Prefer the Climach x loop too
Penmachno On the other hand is leagues ahead
and the top section after the diversion is always a nice swim
Since the rise of dick heads on e bikes we have not been to a trail centre.
It’s not all e bikes riders it’s the inconsiderate few.
The old cafe on the other side of the road was just great.
the one in the visitor that has just shut was no loss.
some revenue to justify trail maintenance!
Yeah, because that's definitely where they'll spend it...
Thanks all.
As I'm there for 2 days thinking of doing Dragons Back on Saturday and MBR on the Sunday.
It's been a while (6 years probably ....) since I rode it last, but how 'black' is MBR?
but how 'black' is MBR?
Not at all. But like all the stuff there it doesn’t necessarily flow, so you think it’s flowing and then there will be a random slam your brakes on or some stupid man made rock element
On a very minimal benchmarking exercise those parking charges are the same as the car park in Reading town centre, so not actually that bad as parking charges go. The issue is the loss of all the facilities. That said, I'd rather pay £7 and ride my bike for 4 hours than spend an equivalent time at the shops. Not all members of the public will agree with that though and will no doubt vote with their feet
I’ve no issue paying for parking if the money is going back into the trails. It won’t though if it’s a council pay and display
On a very minimal benchmarking exercise those parking charges are the same as the car park in Reading town centre, so not actually that bad as parking charges go. The issue is the loss of all the facilities.
I'd pay that money if there was a cafe, possibly a bike shop (not essential but a nice-to-have) and some acceptable changing rooms / toilets. Doesn't have to be fancy, I'm not looking for a spa-quality facility but somewhere out of the rain and not in public view to towel down afterwards kind of thing.
I'm sure that there'll be a few folk self-sufficient enough in terms of food etc for that not to matter but without any of that, you're effectively closing it off for many people.
My eldest niece loves riding with me at Dalby in part because she raids the cafe afterwards. If that was not an option I suspect her enthusiasm levels would be a fair bit lower!
I'd pay that money if there was a cafe, possibly a bike shop (not essential but a nice-to-have) and some acceptable changing rooms / toilets.
Agreed. You can bring your own food and drink in. I'm sure plenty of folk did already and do at other sites. The lack of a toilet would be pretty terminal for most, especially families.
We used to go to the original CyB a fair bit back in the day (when it was the first trail centre) and I had vague memories of that being really enjoyable.
It was really enjoyable.
Because it was generally consistent interesting cycling at a fairly constant level of difficulty with no navigation, gates, ramblers obnoxious farmers etc. And it was amazingly weatherproof.
At a time when the alternatives were exceedingly thin on the ground. Loads of bridleways which were a mix of too easy and too hard, huge expanses of bog. No downhill centres, shit access in Scotland etc etc. Huge amounts of tarmac to get any distance on an MTB etc
So CyB really stood out as being amazing
Safe to say I was very underwhelmed by the "new" one (other side of the road), it didn't feel like there was much flow to it at all.
There never was much flow to it. Flow didn't exist as a concept back then*. I hate to break it to you but actually a huge percentage of the riding is exactly the same. Loads of bits from the Old Karrimor have just been tagged onto the Red Bull or form the basis of the Dragons back.
Agreed we used to go before there was a proper car park
Really. Are you sure? I very much doubt they built the Red Bull and Karrimor but forgot to build a carpark. Certainly there was a carpark when we first went there.
and i remember the Red Bull and later karrimor being flowy and good. (Apart from the long drag pointless climb and decent)
Hmmm. As above, my understanding is that almost all the original trails are still there. And they are just as unflowy as they were 30 years ago. It's just that all the alternatives have got much better. ( And info more freely available)
The trails leading out from the visitor centre are terrible. All the rock slab is just odd.
It is a bit weird isn't it. And certainly not flowy. I think its basically built like that as a squirrel catcher.
I love the trails, good old school tech in places
Minus gets it. Early CyB wasn't really about flow, it was about getting around something which was quite technical and engaging on the bikes that were available at the time. I recall the first time I did the Red Bull with no dabs and being well chuffed. Doing that was actually quite tricky.
But with new bikes that technical challenge has diminished hugely and all you're left with on a modern bike on the Red Bull is a stop start bumpy twisty....
* Or at least it wasn't as all consuming as it is nowadays
forgot to build a carpark
Not there wasn’t a carpark, but it was just gravel, fairly small.
For some reason i remember it being on the opposite side of the road (could be wrong)
I think it has changed over the years . My un scientific reasoning is that I used to travel there from Bradford. Now Bradford trails haven’t changed in the last 50 yrs, still some very nice XC type rides.
I’ve had my modern ebike 18 months or so. Going back to CyB I didn’t really recall much of it and it was a bit dull / weird. I remembered a final decent at CyB that was flowy and long, the current one is truly awful and would not have been fun on an old hardtail. The Bradford trails were still fun as i remember them just with 160mm of travel they were slightly easier.
Yes I think we all know rose tinted glasses make things slightly better but i genuinely think CyB has been made worse over the years as they have tried to make it more modern bike friendly
Just to add, we went last mid summer and it was stupidly overgrown, especially that last descent so I guess the overall numbers of people using it have plummeted. The place is dead - hopefully this might lead to an explosion in ace off-piste bits being built.
Toilets, changing rooms, showers, bike shop and the ebike charging stations all still open 10-4 I believe.
I too used to go to CyB back in the mid 90's quite a lot. early start, big breakfast at one of the cafes in Dollgellau, head up to the then tiny car park adjacent to do an 8 point turning manoeuvrer to ensure you didn't block anyone in, but could still get out!. karrimoor in the morning, doorstep toast and beans from the cafe then back out for the redbull.
the trails flowed because I was fitter. riding a 22lb cannondale hardtail with 70mm suspension on the front and legs that just kept pushing through the rolling, sometimes quite technical traverse was a thrill. I returned early 2000's with the Glasgow MTB club and the trails were just as good, and the midway cafe was still open. I was still fit and riding a Mk1 Soul. it worked very well.
My last visit was around 2008. I was slightly less fit, but also the trails had moved properly over to the new centre then. it was a soulless cafe. even the original cafe at Afan in the 90's had more life in it. The carpark was busy, but the cafe seemed a bit dead. there was no enthusiasm from the staff about the trails, they could have easily been serving food in a school cafeteria.
Trails still rode well though. not as flowy as before, but neither was I. However I don't think mentally I've progressed from that type of XC trail.
MTB changed from then on. the advent of lighter, longer travel bikes meant people were bored by the old trails (back in the mid 00's when there were lots of threads on a version of here claiming glentress tech was easy. yes is is on your 150mm travel spesh enduro, on my 100mm hardtail, still a bit of a challenge). I don't think that's changed, although bikes have got much heavier, longer travel, so slugging it round an xc loop is much less appealing for those having to justify their most recent purchase, so winchnplummet has risen. I don't think skill levels have necessarily increased, I think bike capabilities has increased.
Anyway, back to the topic, I'd kept thinking about a revisit to CyB, but I'd definitely need scran somewhere nearby. good that there are still toilets there.
I think I'd struggle not to get emotional if I were to see it in such a shit state though. we've been through a lot!
I love the place. It's a once a year multi day trip for me due to distance.
Unless it has drastically changed since last easter, if you can't find flow you're either not as fit as you think you are or not as good as you think you are.
I'm including myself here, there's a few bits where I get stalled or lose the rhythm, but I can work out what I was meant to do even if I couldn't do it on demand or think quick enough.
Thanks all.
Had a trawl back through STRAVA and the last time I actually went was October.....
2018!!!
And I rode MBR lol
Unless it has drastically changed since last easter, if you can't find flow you're either not as fit as you think you are or not as good as you think you are.
There is no flow at all on that first bit of red/black trail from the centre no matter how hard you look. Last couple of times I've not even bothered with it and just had a zip along the blue to the first road instead. I get that maybe its not meant to have flow and be more of a qualifier but its just not fun. TBF the rest of the reds/blacks or whatever they are, the descents are ok apart from Beginning Of The End which as above, feels like it would have been a bit of a test in the olden days when I rode CyB on a 130mm hardtail but when you're hitting those rock slab ditch things at full chat these days you're constantly having to scrub speed.
There are highlights though - think its Caine and/or Abel despite being quite short feel proper (or they did last time I rode them!) old skool natural type descents. No 4ft wide gravel trail, proper singletrack. The descent down to the old halfway cafe too is pretty good in a natural type of way (RIP halfway cafe). And the Addams Family are pretty good in places too...
As I mentioned above though, there just seems to be a ridiculous amount of fire-road inbetween the ok bits and thats not including the big fire-road climb/fire-road descent halfway around which I doubt anyone has done for 20 years!
With the visitor centre and the money that was ploughed into that, its a shame that some investment can't be made into the trail network to bring them up to modern day trail centre standards and throw in some more descent focused lines etc too to satisfy the cool kids etc.