[Closed] Llandegla becoming even more featureless

Similar 'upgrade' to False Teeth at CyB. A bit sterile but great fun...

Yes sterile. Makes it sound like an Health and Safety officers wet dream. I'm worried Seamus and Paddy will be there next year with a wagon load of tarmac. As its local I guess I'll keep going there for a spin anyway.

DULL for me.

Wait until the top section repairs and new red sections open (I would'nt hold your breath tho....glacial time scale)...the cx bike will see a lot of use!
Long story short "some people" ,not casting dispersions, love that shizzle and at the end of the day they are thr target audience,not "us".

trail centre is boring shite shocker!

How about riding some actual hills and trails for a change, if it's local why the **** don't you go and ride on the clywds?

Y.A.W.N....

see, it's that dull that even posting about it has made rorsach sleepy

yep get out on some non trail centre lark.

Yeah Clwyds are great, but I was wandering why a mountain biking trail centre are hell bent on filling every pot hole and rut, removing features and smoothing the trail out. A previous poster has summed it up I guess, in that it is evolving for a different market.

problem is too much traffic on trails centres means they need to use material that will cope with hundreds of bikes each day in all weathers

if you don't like it ride natural

evolving for a different market.

you could be right, a while ago trail centres where getting rocker to cope/sell/market the need for a 6" travel bike in the UK. Now the trend seems to be moving towards newbies so they want a fluffier ride. I guess as a commercial enterprise you have to chase the biggest proffit margin/market.

I get to ride with a lot of new riders and I have to say Llangegla comes up a lot in conversation. As a package it really does seem to suit those who perhaps haven't been around bikes that long. As Tazzy says there's plenty of other stuff to ride if it doesn't float your boat.

I did some instructing for the FC a couple of years ago. At the time they were saying how they were going to focus more on green/blue type trails as that's what the majority of visitors rode. The years prior had seen those who shouted the loudest getting heard ... which was us lot, wanting more extreme stuff. They'd also realised the black type trails cost more to build and maintain.

*Yes, I know Llandegla is owned by Till hill not FC.

wahey! another Llandegla thread. If you don't like it, don't ride it. If you insist on riding it and find it boring, try going faster.

Or ride it on a road bike...

Smooth trails or not, it's good for a sly midweek ride when the crowds are elsewhere and an hours drive from my door.

I have been many times over the years and still go back, not on weekends though!!

I don't recall asking for advice on where or how to ride. But I'll bear that in mind if I ever suffer from memory loss. Thanks.

"They'd also realised the black type trails cost more to build and maintain".
Very true.The funding for trails rarely contains any contingency for repair work-and its is much harder getting grants to cover the cost of repairing an existing trail.Therefore they are built in the most sustainable (and economical) way possible...its just that it means they are pretty dull to ride for the more "proficient" amongst us.
The demographic of mtb'ing is shifting...the IT bod,3 series driving,late 30's,padded to the eyeballs,2.5k bike owning,'rad' wannabe is being usurped (as they did to the ronhill wearing,map carrying,atb riding brigade before)by the casual non enthusiast 'bike' rider.It is these riders that trail centres,funded by and large by public money, are mandated to cater for.

I must apologise. My last post appeared ungrateful. I'm not. Surely the reason for having a grading system is to cater for a variety of abilities, not just beginners. And big **** off rocks don't need much maintenance.

Despite their being "grades" the nature of grading means it operates on a spectrum. There'll be an easy end, and harder end. I think Llandegla fills the easy end of the spectrum grade wise. That doesn't mean it's shit, it just means that the grades are soft.

And to be fair, that log bit was utter bobbins.....

You are in a minority group (people who can ride) and as such will be poorly catered for (this applies for most things in life).As such you will have to try a bit harder and go further afield to find what you are looking for....just one of those things.
You want decent food,don't go to mcdonalds.
Or....buy a cx bike ;o)

I quite like the place as a place to nip out for a quick training ride now and then. Ok it's not the most technical of riding but, as mentioned above, the sheer volume of people and variety of skills levels dictates the technicality of the routes unfortunately. It's still a buzz if you ride it quick enough. As for the wooden board-walk section - I'm glad to see the back of it! No fun and a pain in the backside (and most other parts of your body!).

If you want something more technical, there's loads of natural riding in the area and Penmachno isn't that much further to drive.

jeez, it's riding bikes though aint it 🙂

I would interpret the grading system as a means to assess the levels of trails at a particular centre against one another rather than to compare red or black runs at different centres anyway.

I'm not saying its shit. Anywhere to ride is a bonus. Its just frustrating to see the potential for excellent singletrack in that forest gradually diluted into ok trails. And yes, although for me a welcome point of interest of that trail, in the grand scheme of things the log bit wasn't that great.

If it bores you, ride somewhere else. If I ride a trail that I think is shite. I don't go back every weekend to ride it again and then complain on a forum. I

RIP Pink Heifer...

Also lost to sanitisation.

the old unofficial heffer 🙂

its (sort of) there if you look 😉

Talking to an old boy at the top of the last climb of the old CyB Red Bull:

[b][i]Back in the day there used to be singletrack as far as the eye could see, now it's just all groomed doubletrack.[/i][/b]

Rorschach, just ride it faster you big gaylord.

Oh yay another thread whining about Llandegla containing lots of typical STW snobbery. 🙄

Yes sterile. Makes it sound like an Health and Safety officers wet dream

I'm not quite sure how putting in more jumps is supposed to be a Health and Safety officer's wet dream.

Going next weekend with laddo and a mate who is just getting into riding, ride-eat-ride pub after. sorted.

Interesting....
I'm going with some mates next Saturday (1st visit for me). I shall keep an open mind, but I know I'll enjoy it coz I love riding my bike 😀

walleater-what the hell would you know about riding fast,you spend you're days riding at 3.1mph on 2ft wide pieces of wood then getting a lift back to the top!Shore riding charlatan!!!! 😉

simple
if you don't like it, don't ride it
if you find it too easy, ride it faster

Personally I thought the new Paralel Universe black section was loads of fun, the rock section was immense on a racey hardtail and the whole trail begged to be riden flat out

I dont like jumps so i find it a challenge to do Llandegla every now and then, its a quick adreniline fix
If I want some 'proper' mountain biking I'll save my £3whatever car parking and not head to a forest but ride my local Peak District instead (although that is getting sterile too, as they repair paths and cater for walkers. Damn inconvienience!)
Trail centres serve a particular purpose - an all weather, cater for all convienient loop. To this end they need maintenance and filling in occasionally. They are not all meant to be a full on gnar fest If you want that the clue is in the title of the sport its not called "forest" biking is it?

I like it.

Good on the CX too...

Just ride it on a road bike,smooth enough...

never seen the point of full suss for trail centres anyway,

Just ride it on a road bike

Yes, that will be great for the jumps won't it.

I agree full suss isn't necessary but then some people don't have millions of different bikes for every occasion.

Was there today and it rammed, had to park on a forest road miles away from the centre. Can see why they would armour the trails like they do it would help if people could ride properly some of the braking bumps before the berms are hideous! Lots of weekend warriors on their 3k 6in travel skill compensators, not stw readers then.
I like the place it makes for a decent winter refuge when the natural stuff in the area is getting really cut up. Lets face it if you don't like it go somewhere else, if you think you can do better go for it. Such are the joys of living in a democracy.

I used to ride in those woods well before the trail centre opened as well as the moors outside it.

I do miss mud alley....great fun always about a foot of mud on a steep 1km run...... ahhh those were the days...circa 1995!!!