I’ve refused to ride the Beast since it was downgraded to ‘fluffy kitten’

😆

There could’nt be anywhere as technical CYB etc

Seriously CyB isnt that technical. Try taking the Rangers down Snowdon, thats bloody technical. Its not a long trail but its hard work trying to get down without caving your face in.

…and people insist on thinking that the Peak is somehow superior to trail centre riding when its just the same…

Its bi-polar biking. You go up climbs that challange an xc bike then u blast down descents worthy of a dh bike.

Stuff we’ve been doing for years only now you can get a specific bike for it; designed to make the descent part faster and more fun without compromising the climb too much. AKA Allmountainbike.

I always thought of it as anything over 1000ft is classified as a mountain, hence requires an ‘all mountain’ bike to ride it to the required standard.

The Peak District is everything a trail centre will never be, beautiful.

What a place. As such how could I two-time her with a mechanical prosthetic hybrid?

See you in June Glentress 🙂

this exact conversation is why people get into road bikes.

Like roadies aren’t influenced by marketing either, no way, not at all, not me sirree, never in a million years. 🙄

this exact conversation is why people get into road bikes.

These will be the walking advertising hoardings? 😆

Like roadies aren’t influenced by marketing either, no way, not at all, not me sirree, never in a million years. 🙄

Well they are, but there aren’t quite as many silly sub-genres to subscribe to. MTB suffers from the problem that marketing bollocks has confused the shit out of many people just starting who think they NEED a specific type of bike to ride certain places not that it might just be a bit more fun with more or less suspension travel.

Back to the original question

I think that the red trails I road at the 7 stanes were more technical than anything I’ve seen at CYB

The Black sections at Dalbeattie are way harder than anything I’ve seen at a Welsh trail cemtre

I think at LLangella I was ridding double orange dot

One black section at Dalbattie was riding along the flattened edge of a telegraph pole into a 3 foot drop to flat

the section i refer to is not in the vid

The mabie wooden thing looks hard to

no idea if this is more or less all mountain

Define fun. Riding a long travel full bouncer can surely sanitise something that might be a bit more white knuckle on a short travel HT?

IME, the places where a ‘bigger’ bike adds anything are limited, not that it isn’t worth it, because it often is, but full bouncer does not equate to more fun than a HT, necessarily.

Also, the previously mentioned term, over biked, is a valid one. It’s when you’re hauling around too big a bike and the extra fun/capability doesn’t warrant the effort required to pedal it to where you’re going.

NEED a specific type of bike to ride certain places not that it might just be a bit more fun with more or less suspension travel

Its not about the travel duuuuude

And besides good riddance to the grumpy ****, if they cant get over themselves and accept that mountain biking is still a young sport that is evolving then I would rather they were on road bikes than cluttering the trails up.

283 of my fave AM riding spots 😀

TINAS has nailed this thread with this;

If you want to ride uphills and downhills ona 4″ bike that’s fine, if you want to ride uphill sand downhills on a 6″ bike, that’s fine too

A nice bit of clarity amongst the shouting.

maybe, but you say ‘All Mountain’, I say ‘general purpose mountain bike’, which I generally shorten to ‘bike’

I’m now going to have to call my bike GPMB or “gimpyb” for short. 😀

full bouncer does not equate to more fun than a HT

Lets not get into that row too. You can get HT AM bikes as well as FS AM bikes.

And I would rather be over biked than under biked. Over biked might make some things easier (but never boring IME) but being under biked can be dangerous. Granted not as dangerous as being under skilled.

To answer the quetion I would point further North. So Fort Bill, Laggan, Golspie, Balblair and the Red Rock??? Trail on the Black Isle are all way more ‘all mountain’ than any of the Welsh Trail Centres.

Red Rock has taken a few victims I am sure.
All worth the trip!

Back to the original question

If only the original question had been:

Which Trail Centre contains the most technically difficult descent? Possibly with a few big jumps and drop-offs

Which is what I suspect the OP meant to ask, and left the hateful phrase “all-mountain” out of it…

Which Trail Centre contains the most technically difficult descent? Possibly with a few big jumps and drop-offs

That makes things way clearer. It’s obviously Dalbeattie, or maybe Kirroughtree, no wait it’s definitely Gisburn.

The rocky bits of the black route at Laggan Wolftrax are the closest to alpine trails that I’ve come across at a trail centre.

As for All Mountain, I always imagine that it is a bike that is capable of lengthy climbs, tight and technical descending at low speed and stable enough for high speeds on trails that are not groomed for mountain bikes, while still being able to handle the abuse of a bike park and making a trail centre’s swoopy final descent as fast and invigorating as possible.

As for All Mountain, I always imagine that it is a bike that is capable of lengthy climbs, tight and technical descending at low speed and stable enough for high speeds on trails that are not groomed for mountain bikes, while still being able to handle the abuse of a bike park and making a trail centre’s swoopy final descent as fast and invigorating as possible.

So a Bike that goes up, a bike that goes along, a bike that goes down, a bike that handles well at slow speed, and a bike that handles well at high speed all rolled into one?

sounds like a ‘gimpyb’ to me!

Sospel is a pretty good all mountain trail centre. A bit far for the weekend though.

The distinction is important, apparently you can now get “All Mountain Shorts” and “All Mountain Helmets” – I certainly wouldnt want to be caught on a 900ft hill wearing my AM Baggies….

I’m going to Dartmoor this weekend, it’s over 1000ft in places with big rocks, but I might ride a HT with shin pads and shorts above the knees – I’m fully prepared for death.

I’m not sure what you mean but if you mean what I think you mean then I’d say Golspie.

You ride up a hill then back down it and an ‘AM’ bike is probably the best weapon.

If a mountain is bigger than a hill, then do I need a downhill bike for <1000ft, and all mountain for >=1000ft?

‘AM’ bike is probably the best weapon.

House!

If a mountain is bigger than a hill, then do I need a downhill bike for <1000ft, and all mountain for >=1000ft?

I detect that you’re being sarcastic but I actually agree…

I think AM basically means it’s big, bouncy and tough but still light/geared enough to permit peddling/carrying it up big fat mountains.

I certainly wouldn’t want to carry most DH bikes 3000+ft up a soggy mountain but I’m happy carrying my Five AM.

There’s a limit to how far it’s worth pushing/carrying a DH bike.

Not sure what FR is all aboot. Jumps and that? Not sure. None of it really matters though eh? It’s just playing on bikes 😀

Didn’t Cannondale try to trademark the term ‘All Mountain’ a good few years back? Or was it ‘Freeride?’

Cannondale are now all about the Over-Mountain sector. What a bunch of idjuts.

agentdagnamit – Member
The distinction is important, apparently you can now get “All Mountain Shorts” and “All Mountain Helmets” – I certainly wouldnt want to be caught on a 900ft hill wearing my AM Baggies….

I’m going to Dartmoor this weekend, it’s over 1000ft in places with big rocks, but I might ride a HT with shin pads and shorts above the knees – I’m fully prepared for death.

Why would you even need a MTB at all if your not riding a mountain.

Roger Over Over out?

So what does Over Mountain consist of? Riding up a hill, and back down again? Or do you have to ride up a specific side, and back down the other? Or does coming down the same way you go up count?

If a mountain is bigger than a hill, then do I need a downhill bike for <1000ft, and all mountain for >=1000ft?

What with Surrey being 30ft shy of being a mountain region, no wonder the bikers round there are so confused.

I did read up on what freeride actually means, and I concluded it was like downhill but without the conviction. I.e. similar obstacles and technical difficulty but more about sessioning stuff rather than all out speed.

Whether this is true or not I don’t know, just my view.

but I actually agree…

Good points actually. It is normal to see DH bikes being pushed up hill rather than ridden which is what a lighter bike with wider gear ratios allows.

I_Ache – Member

Why would you even need a MTB at all if your not riding a mountain.

That’s what 29ers are for….

*runs off*

I think Over Mountain is just Cannondale trying to be clever. Silly term.

Trail centres to me is what mountain biking is all about!You can ride up and down,whereas au-natural can be somewhat unrideable going up!

the sense of being in the wilderness adds to the excitement of a trail centre thoroughly lovely then theres the technical features wow!AM!

To me, the label “freeride” is kind of like big bmx stuff – trails full of jumps, drops, wallrides etc. Bike park riding like Whistlers Black Velvet, Crank It Up etc. (ie the best kind of riding).

gingerss – disagree with you with freeride.

You’re right about DH being all about speed. With that comes riding the “correct” lines and getting down the hill as effectively (i say boring) as possible. There are generally some obstacles to separate the men from the boys to spice things up. Generally serious mindset.

Freeride is about getting down the hill in the most fun way possible and often includes silly line choices which can get you down the hill more slowly. Obstacles are far bigger and more technical than DH riding. A DH track will be riding over rough stuff with the odd drop and gap. A freeride track will be all about the drops and gaps. The freeride mindset is generally far more chilled too.

I would say you certainly need more “je ne sais quoi” to be a good freerider. I agree with _tom_, freeride is generally just getting awesome on a bike.

OP – Just go ride some DH tracks. Make a loop out of them. A trail centre is always going to a canal path with “features”.

Golspie is a bit like a mountain, and has a bit of everything, I’d go there.

So of you were to have a DH event and a freeride event on the same course, you’d judge DH on time and freeride on points for flamboyance?