As Llandegla is less than 2 hours away, is it worth the trip ?
How does it compare to the other Welsh Trail Centres ?
If you fancy a blast there go for it.
Don;t go expecting rocks n' roots all over the shop though as it's surfaced/semi-surfaced tracks. lots of jumpy bits inc doubles, table tops, some shore and a nice bit of drop shore if you got the minerals.
2 hour drive from where?
It's only worth a visit if you ride at least a 6in full sus.
It's the toughest, longest and steepest of them all. Only real hardcore riders, who never drop any litter can get round without a support crew of 10 tracksuit clad Sherpa’s. Init bruv.
Two hours from near Huddersfield, sounds like we'll stick to Dalby for occasional Trail Centre visits 🙂
It's bloody dreadful, dull as dishwater. Don't go unless you are desperate.
Well worth a visit. It's great [b]fun.[/b]
It is fun. Simple, fast, flowing and non-technical. Only 3 sections of wooden bits, one loggy bog bridge, one large jump/drop and one tiny (3ft long) jump in the middle of the black section. Black section is really a blue-bordering red due to the tiring uphills lol. I often do a 1.5 hour blast to get there, but then I dont really consider driving for an hour to get to a biking spot as anything abnormal.
I reckon it's amazing personally, probably my second favourite trail centre after Brechfa. It is quite a smooth surface but try and ride it flat out off the brakes and it becomes pretty sketchy. There are loads of doubles in the trail if you're looking for them (just pairs of rollers that can be done with some oomph).
It all depends what you expect from trails really. it has a very different feel from Dalby but as mentioned above it's great fun. Surely it's worth one trip to find out if you like it? If nothing else the cafe is very nice so that will make a trip worthwhile.
Yes, the Cafe is worth the 2 hour drive IMO.
Thanks for the comments, we might well give it a go, just might have to survive with less than the 6 in travel recommended above 😉
i enjoyed it when i went
A worthy stop-off especially if you're passing by anyway - do the way-marked route twice and you'll be happy enough.
It is less than 2 hours from Leeds so is probably less than a 2hour drive from Hudds! and it is good fast fun!
As a few people above have said it's a great place to go for some off road fun. The trails get harder the faster you go so if you think it's boring you weren't going fast enough.
There's usually loads of macho willy waving on here suggesting you can get round in 10 mins on a unicycle with one eye shut while carrying a tea tray but go try it for yourself.
This is true, the faster you go the more likely hood there is of scaring yourself/crashing.
If you do come off there's rather alot of trees in close proximity to the trail, so it can hurt alot.
Or you could do what I did on Saturday, mistime a jump and land front wheel forst into a drainage ditch that runs under the black run, didn't really hurt that much.
It's smooth so speed is the biggest danger oh yeah, that and hitting a tree when speed overcomes ability!! you just have to look at the amount of ambulances that turn up there to ferry injured parties away.
It's not a techy rock fest, but it's not designed to be
Yes - you will like it.
Llandegla is great! Good fun all round, not mega-techy, but good all the same.
"It's only worth a visit if you ride at least a 6in full sus." Nah, any riding is good riding... I've ridden at Llandegla on a few different bikes and it's always good...
My 2 Cents submitted.
Rob. 😉
It requires little in the way of fitness or skill; its rideable on virtually any decent mtb, be it rigid/ht/fs; & its rideable in virtually any weather.
And its always a laugh.
Nobody is saying its the most technically demanding hard core trail there is, but as usual the mere mention of the name will have a few "officianados" casting scorn...
If you've never been before then I'd say definatley go. Better than Dalby IMO but you'll have to do it twice to make the drive worth it (does have a good cafe though). Its also less then 2 hours from huddersfield, more like 1 hour 30 mins.
I asked this on another thread but didn't get an answer so I'll try here
can you get in earlier than the 9:30 gates opening?
I've got a chance of a couple of before work blasts but 9:30 is way too late
There's a bridleway running through the forest, so you could enter via there at anytime. Right of way n' all that.
However, I think riding out of opening hours is frowned upon(especially night riding)and other than public rights of way, the rest of the forest is privately owned, so really - what they say goes.
Wouldn't want to jeopardize the trails!
it's fun, is there any more reason to go than that?
.....you could always push a pram around, assuming it has 6" travel and your'e wearing full on armour/full face helmet 🙂
They've closed down due to an inferiority complex...hope you are all happy now!
Joking!..its fun for a blast,Uplink you can park on the road to ride out of hours, lots do for evening rides as carpark gets locked at 6 ish
Just go with an open mind ...good approach to life I say!
Uplink - as mentioned above many people do park on the road early/late to ride when the car park is closed but it is causing the place big problems with NIMBY's etc and may jeapordise any future planning applications for more trails etc. Part of the original planning consent related to use only within certain hours etc and various locals are picking up on this hence the problems.
as you can see from the posts here there is a lot of love and hate for the place and on balance I think its worth a trip to see for yourself.
I've done it on rigid SS and on a full sus and either way if you push hard it can be demanding physically. People are right in that its not big and techie like some of the trail centres but I've been riding 20 years and i still think its good fun and worth a look. Go do it and make up yer own mind.
As for riding there when its closed, plenty of peeps park in the layby outside on a night time and go for a sneaky ride by hopping over the fence. I think they prefer you not to officially but turn a blind eye in reality. Just dont block the road and be polite to the natives.
Its worth doing as a part of a loop on even better riding out on the moors above llangollen.
I used to ride in there many years ago, there were lots of trails in the woods a nd outside, however last tiem i went to llandegla it was like entering a theme park, better on aschool day i would think.
As it has been said before it is good for a blast round and ride it fast and it is a lot more fun,it does get very busy at weekends so ride in the week or get there early,also add the mast route on to it as it is a great descent down and come back over the planks of doom.
I cant imagine anyone riding anywhere slowly on purpose and thinking afterwards "I should have ridden that faster, it would have been far more fun". Personally I cant ride it fast enough to make it exciting, thats down to my fitness.
Thanks for the info
If I do go I'll try to park well away from the entrance/neighbours
It looks like there's a pub further down the road - I'll try around there maybe
2 hours from Huddersfield? You can get to Betws y Coed/Penmachno from here in that time. Why not have a look at Stainburn and/or Lee Quarry first, they're a lot closer?
Llandegla is one of my favourite trails - It's different from the likes of Dalby as it's less technical, but it begs to be ridden fast, which can make it very sketchy in places. There are lots of opportunities to get some fairly serious air if you're up for it. As for suitable bikes, I've ridden it quite a few times on a rigid singlespeed and on a 5" full bouncer. Both were good fun, the full bouncer was waaaayyyy faster, so probably had that bit more grin factor. Well worth a visit, and the cafe is ace!
One word
Total rubbish
Great fun. 2 laps as fast as you can is a good ride. Enjoyed it first time, so I'm going again 18 April. Each to their own I suppose, but can't understand those slagging it off. I enjoy Follow The Dog, and Llandegla is a bit more than that.
i had my first visit on Sunday. It is fun,which for me,is enough. I do prefer Penmachno,though.
Great fun. 2 laps as fast as you can is a good ride.
I'm lucky if I get round it once without keeling over.
Car park opens at 9, depending on who gets there first. At the mo on a couple of days the gates open a lot earlier due to the RSPB guys having access to go see the Grouse do their mating dance, so we are looking at about 7:30-8am.
Oh and open late on a Weds night, bbq season soon to start.
It's starting to sound fun ! A couple of laps with a cafe stop in between 🙂
Sanity Assasin - I have been to Stainburn and will be going again soon and hopefully will also try Lee Quarry soon as well. Certainly parts of Stainburn are beyond my skill level and I suspect Lee Quarry may be the same 😯
I prefer Penmachno too, but like Llandegla plenty - so do it on the way there. Ride it sat, B&B at Betwys y Coed, ride Penmachno Sunday - works out very niceley.
🙂
[i]One word
Total rubbish [/i]
Somebody isn't very good at counting!
Love itfor a fun blast! Not the most technical of trails but can be a great laugh, can always add a second loop if you want some more distance. As many other people have said quite smooth but speed and jumps can add the excitement. Great for all levels of riders as you can mix and match black, red and blue bits, just get a trail map before you leave. Great cafe but getting very busy at weekends now.
Hell Yes!!!!!and the girls are nice to look at too.....No Brainer!
nor at telling the truth.. .:)
Llandegla is a good ride which always gives a grin especially in the winter when real natural trails are knee deep in sheep poo and everything becomes hike a bike.. it's a good cert in any weather other than snow .. when the place closes... The riding is fun and safe at speed, there is no great rock fest but that's local geology not the trail designers fault. You could take on a ride to the nearby Clwydians, one of the national mtb riding gems with details on www.ridetheclwyds.com starting in Cilcain with a few good downhills. You could also trip over to Llangollen and over to Glyn Ceriog and suffer some severe climbing but find the Lawnt for the rock ride from hell.
Alright Robin, its Dave from 'alifax.
Llandegla is ok if you're passing but I personally wouldn't drive from here just to do it. The times I've ridden it is on the way there/way back from a weekend in Betws-y-Coed etc and for thats its ok. Don't think its much more than a nice break in a journey. Oh, and the black is nothing like a black route. Nothing (literally nothing) technical about it. Its less technical than a red trail at other centres... Its fun when ridden at warp speed though but theres only 10 minutes fun riding - the rest is fire-road.
If you fancy riding it then I think I've got a good route which starts in Llangollen and heads over the tops, into Llandegla for the 'good' stuff which is basically just the singletrack bit at the far side of the forest from the car park and then heads back.
Dalby, IMHO, is MUCH better. In fact I'd go as far as saying Grizedale is better.
RobinL I come from Hudds. Whereabouts do you live? 🙂
Which School did you go to? (makes gang sign)
Lllandegla is great if you live circa 1hr away or as a trail centre roadshow. Not if you have Dalby closer, thats a different and longer experience IMO.
Plus you have the Peaks, Wharncliffe first. If its an itch (and agree) must be scratched- its worth doing in a camping 2/3day weekend NOT on its own.
I live in Manchester but would prefer Hebden for a 'local' or the Lakes.
Id agree with Davey Boy, its pretty dull and the black route is really easy, you could do it on a bmx. Certain parts of the black are good fun since they flow quite nicely but theres far too much of it that feels like your riding around Centre Parks forest village
I'd also agree that Grizedale is better, at least it feels like your out in the wilds a bit and doing 'properish' mtbing.
Went there yesterday for a pre work blast
It's very short - took me about 1¼ hours to do all the red & black, so you'd need to go round 3 times to make a day of it
The black bits are great fun & very fast
The long fire road climb at the start is boring
I found myself losing interest on most of the red
I didn't have time to try the café but it looked nice
All in all not a bad sneaky pre-work ride [it's good to get paid to ride 😉 ] - if I was to go back, I'd have to look at looping back to the black bits a bit easier than following the markers back round
The official line is that the only access to the forest that is permissive is Offa's Dyke path, all other bits are private land so out of hours when the centre is shut you are trespassing....