[Closed] Llandegla - worth a visit?

The black isn't much longer, just more fun!

You can do a lap of the black in not much over an hour if you crack on

Of course it's worth a trip. As above include the black sections for more fun.

I live near by and would say it's worth a visit just for the all day breakfast!
The trails are also well worth a vist, I haven't been in the last few weeks so don't know what the conditions are like but the drainage is usually pretty good. I think there are some trees down over the trails at the moment but their Facebook only mentioned the blue trail being affected so you should be fine.

Have a good trip!

some of the trails have diversions because of the high winds recently, worth a phonecall before you arrive.

Red/Black open last weekend. Blue also seemed to be open. Wet last weekend, but it's North Wales in December....

Good in all conditions apart from ice.

yes id say

Haven't been for a couple of years now and it has its detractors but if you've never been you'll have a blast. Just understand before you go that it's smooth and jumpy rather than rocky and technical. Used to love it years ago but smooth and jumpy isn't for me these days and it seems to get smoother and jumpier as the years go by, which is obviously what most people want due to its popularity, I can't see myself going back again though.

smooth and jumpy rather than rocky

Ride it on a XC hardtail and that ceases to be an issue..

If I was doing that trip I'd rather detour to Penmachno than Llandegla, and then just continue up the A5 (assuming you have the time to take the scenic route over the dual carriageway)
Personal opinion though either is worth a trip if you haven't done them before

depends on what route you are taking as if on the A5 other options are available.

Its ok if you want a long swoopy BMX track after a long fire road climb

Does it show I dont like trail centres ? 😉

Was tehre on saturday morning. The black is way more fun than the red. They has also done some work on the last section (Julias's Trail?) which seemed to make it faster. Considering the amount of rain the area has had over the last few weeks I thought it was in great shape.

Yeah, it's great fun, a really good afternoon out.

If you're passing and have a couple of hours to kill then it's £4.50 well spent.It's impervious to weather and 3 miles from my door.If was 13 miles I'd probably never ride there again.

The Marin in Betws is also an option (just off the A5). Don't forget Antur Stiniog either as that's only 5 or 6 mile off the A5.

Hijack - is it really busy at weekends in winter?

If you are going to ride anywhere in that neck of the woods at the moment, Llandegla is the place to go. Penmachno, whilst great, will be a sodden mess at the moment and certainly is not a nice place to be if the weather turns mid-ride.

Llandegla is pretty 1-dimensional in absolute terms but it doesn't need to pretend to be what it isn't; it's a trail centre. With a great mix of trails. A great cafe. A superb skills area.

There is plenty of natural riding nearby for us locals that prefer that kind of thing. And it's even possible to link up a ride taking in the best of the natural stuff AND Llandegla.

Spend some time in the skills area and on the freeride, they are both fun. And do the full loop inc. B-Line. It isn't much longer and definitely contains the best parts.

Conditions there at the moment are ok. Its been very wet so expect puddles and mud. Don't think they have any fallen tree issues right now but FB/Twitter are your friend for updates.

Weather looking OK for Friday too.

Strange lack of haters on this thread! 🙂

If you are going to ride anywhere in that neck of the woods at the moment, Llandegla is the place to go. Penmachno, whilst great, will be a sodden mess at the moment and certainly is not a nice place to be if the weather turns mid-ride.

Llandegla is pretty 1-dimensional in absolute terms but it doesn't need to pretend to be what it isn't; it's a trail centre. With a great mix of trails. A great cafe. A superb skills area.

This.

Cheers.
The most sensible route looks like M54 from Brum towards Shrewsbury, then A5 towards Wrexham.
How techy is the black? Is it just a bigger version of smooth and jumpy than the red? Have to remember to keep things mildly sensible as will be on my own and wouldn't fancy an A&E visit on the way to the ferry. 😀
I'll probably have about 2 hours max!

If you can ride the red.You can ride the black (there's plenty of souls who can't ride the blue on the black so you'll be fine).

link up a ride taking in the best of the natural stuff AND Llandegla.

There isn't anything not roll-able on the black. The B-Line has several jumps and stepdowns but again, all are roll-able.

The B-Line is a diversion from the red so it's easily skipped if you are short for time.

EDIT: RoW in some parts, yes. But not everywhere. I know of one particular route accessible from Llandegla that is most definitely not restricted but is most definitely one of the best descents in the area...

Michael,in 2 hours you will have no problems with the Red/Black.
Start off on the red and follow the route. After a while the Black peels off. Follow the black sections and re-join the red towards the end.
Finish off with a brew and a Bap/Breakfast. It will be ace 😀

edit- there is nothing that is really silly, as long as you take it easy and don't go daft.

I know of one particular route accessible from Llandegla that is most definitely not restricted but is most definitely one of the best descents in the area...

Sharing is caring.

The black/red is fun and worth a blast but the blues very dull. I'd happily go and do the red/black twice instead though.

Marin is generally pretty good in most weathers too. Don't discount it because of weather. Penmachno has loads of diversions due to fallen trees currently, so probably not worth it till they are cleared. The cafe at Llandegla is brilliant. good burgers and breakfasts. Also a bike shop to nose around quickly. Lots of 'obstacles on the trails' i.e. jumps, drops, north shore style stuff.

It's not my favourite place, but it does have its bonuses.

If I was doing that trip I'd rather detour to Penmachno than Llandegla

AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA 😆 😆

Penmachno is underwater in an arid July; if you go there in December take a kayak.

I went to Penmachno a few months ago for the first time, followed by Llandegla the day after.
Penmachno is better for the more remote feel, but it was not even remotely as fun, i'd rather do Llandegla twice.

My 11 year old daughter did the black at the weekend for the first time so its not too hard, She loved it. Not so keen on the climbs and it was a bit too long for her as the weather was a bit wet.
If you have limited time its a great blast and if you are finding it a bit dull just go faster !!!!

Penmachno? Wet? It's all part of the fun!

Friend went today. We only live 20 mind drive away. Loads of the black was closed due to forestry work he reckoned.

I'd much rather ride degla than Penmachno any day. I'd ride anything over Penmachno. Personally I'd go for the marin.

Some like Llandegla.
Some like Penmachno.
Not so many like both.
Make of that what you will 😉

Pretty much what everyone else says degla is a good fun blast, holds up very well in the wet (unlike puddly penmachno)
Its a bit bmxy (tho the jumps aren't the best designed in placed and can catch people out)

Well worth it and has the best trail centre cafe in the UK imho (especially after bpw's nasty burgers on sunday)

snorkelsucker - Member
There isn't anything not roll-able on the black. The B-Line has several jumps and stepdowns but again, all are roll-able.

The B-Line is a diversion from the red so it's easily skipped if you are short for time.

EDIT: RoW in some parts, yes. But not everywhere. I know of one particular route accessible from Llandegla that is most definitely not restricted but is most definitely one of the best descents in the area...

Is this visible on a map anywhere?

 

Deffo just for the freeride !!! Me and my pals ride dh mainly and the jumps and freeride/wooden sections just ace and the burgers and pork scratchings.... I had to have a double chilli cheese burger bliss.

crashtestmonkey - Member

If I was doing that trip I'd rather detour to Penmachno than Llandegla

AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Penmachno is underwater in an arid July; if you go there in December take a kayak.

It's mountain biking, it's a year round sport, skin doesn't melt if it gets wet, neither will your bike

Flatter than flat.

Duller than dull.

Great cafe.

Friend went today. We only live 20 mind drive away. Loads of the black was closed due to forestry work he reckoned.

Interesting. Not confirmed though? Do you (or anyone else) know if much of the red is closed?

stevomcd - Member
Flatter than flat.

Duller than dull.

I know it's not the hills your used to but flat is a bit harsh!

Love it there for a fun trip with mates, very social fun, fast brain out fun really

Great fun...respect to those who can get round the black in just over an hour...I dont think I'll ever be that fit takes me 25 to get up the initial 3 mile climb!

Do the blacks they're just fast and fun, would call the technical though!

LOL@Flat... wtf... seriously.

It's got tonnes and tonnes of up ...and down... and up.. and down.

15 miles and 2000ft feet is fairly hilly.

Swinley on the other hand is flatter than a flat thing at 13 miles and 500ft!

I love Penmachno but wouldn't recommended it after all the rain and the wind blown trees.

Coed y Brenin would be my choice over Penmachno however...

Llandegla is running really well at the moment.

I included a lap of Llandegla Black and coffee in the cafe on my ride from home (Llangollen) last Sunday and Llandegla was running sweet. So much grip everywhere. You have to like getting wet because there are some big puddles in the open areas. I didn't see any trees down on the Black / Red and there were no diversions on that route.

The new bits on "Final Assault" / Julia's trail (lake to cafe bit on the Red) are a bit motorway for me. Pretty sure there was a sneaky new or re-shaped table in there which was fun.

Just have fun. Llandegla Black is pretty tame for a Black (Coed y Brenin Blacks are much harder than Degla). Once you get the 3 mile climb done (about 30 min) the rest of it is on single track.

Friend went today. We only live 20 mind drive away. Loads of the black was closed due to forestry work he reckoned.
Interesting. Not confirmed though? Do you (or anyone else) know if much of the red is closed?

Was there last night and only about 50yards of the red was closed for repairs everything else was open and running well in these mild conditions.

It's a fun, popular, successful trail centre.
🙂
It's rideable by and has trails suited to pretty much everyone, sic or not.

Yes, it's got a boring climb, but haven't they all?

I love Penmachno too, BTW, my favourite trail centre.
Both fun, but very different.

Penmachno is my favourite too. But ride it at this time of year? With the amount of rain we've had recently? Not a chance! I've done that once, with the snow on the tops melting, and running down the trails like ice-cold rivers.

I have never been as wet and cold on a bike in my life. Couldn't feel my feet or hands after a few miles. Horrible.

Llandegla is like an oversize BMX track. But surely that a good thing, right? Do the black, then have a brew and a bacon butty when your done, and laugh at the Audi drivers riding their spotless carbon Santa Cruz round and round and round and round and round and round the car park, while looking moody in their new Oakleys and matching flouro enduro gear 😀

Interesting. Not confirmed though? Do you (or anyone else) know if much of the red is closed?

At the top the first bit is closed.
once you get down across, the middle third of the red, by the jump section, is closed. the black goes the other way through it.
the old red is still avaialable...

Do the black, then have a brew and a bacon butty when your done, and laugh at the Audi drivers riding their spotless carbon Santa Cruz round and round and round and round and round and round the car park, while looking moody in their new Oakleys and matching flouro enduro gear

Haha nice 😆 😆 .

I went to Penmachno a few months ago for the first time, followed by Llandegla the day after.
Penmachno is better for the more remote feel, but it was not even remotely as fun, i'd rather do Llandegla twice.

I agree - rode Panmacho for the first time this year and didn't enjoy it. I was surprised at how much I didn't enjoy it given the love it gets from many.

'Degla is OK. It does seem to hold up well in the wet which is a plus point at this time fo year. The skills area is good to muck around on for a while. The black sections are pretty good but don't last that long - the red back to the cafe feels like a bit of a slog.

I'd rather ride CYB than either personally, but if you'r near it's worth a visit.

Penmachno is an acquired taste.

First time I rode there I wasn't blown away but now having been quite a few times, and raced there, it's pretty good! Think I've only ever done the full loop once or twice and I'd much rather do just the first loop a couple of times. There is actually a way of getting all the best bits in and its only a short-ish loop. Basically the loop used at the Welsh Enduro Series.

The extension loop at Penmancho seemed pretty dull / pointless when I did it.

I may give it another whirl.

Cheers.
I've decided to go via Llandegla and do one of the loops there, still not sure how much of each loop is closed, mixed views on that here! Hopefully the people in the bike shop there will know, if there is one.

Fast flowy jumpy stuff is fun the odd time! Might get old very quickly if its all you had though.
I can't compare it to the blacks at CYB as not been there in 15 years, I know Afan and Cwmcarn and Brechfa well though... and Mach. Not much hard on either of those, apart from one of the downhill lines in Cwmcarn going off the Cafall somewhere, tricky when it was covered in wet leaves anyway.

Trail info on the web site: http://www.coedllandegla.com/

(Also a map! 🙂 )

Bike shop/cafe also has trail info on their faceache, ****ter and web site: http://www.oneplanetadventure.com/

Flatter than flat.

Duller than dull.

Rode it today on a '99 HardRock with V-brakes and found it pretty fun. I wonder if you're overbiked?

Surprised by the lack of love for Penmachno. It's so old it almost feels like a natural trail - replete with diluvian puddles! Nice flow to it, feels like you gain elevation without having to pedal much. Physically demanding but much nicer gaining altitude than at 'Degla.

Well I had a great time doing the red / black loop at Llandegla. Great fun fast flowy trails, and that fade away north shore section! 🙂 🙂

We went to Llandegla today, it was great. There was a short section of red closed, and the long-term diversion still in place, but the B-line is open. Rose most of it with my forks accidentally locked out!
Really enjoyed myself.

Glad you guys had fun at Llandegla 🙂 Fun is what it's about. Llandegla is fun and particularly holds up well through winter.

Went on Saturday and thought that it was holding up well considering the amount of rain we've had - it was certainly better than Cannock which is currently more in a canoe than on a bike.

Some like Llandegla.
Some like Penmachno.
Not so many like both.
Make of that what you will

Drove up to Penmachno a couple of months back and did Llandegla on the way up. Chalk and cheese but both still fun.

A fair few parts of Penmachno were hub deep in water even back then, dread to think what it's like now.