It’s a blue trail, yet he shows up on a big enduro sled, EWS shirt on, tailed by folk with full-face lids, DH bikes. It’s not a trail for you, my dear. That’s why they built it.

Should you bring a selection of bikes / kit for riding different level trails then? How very STW!

A well-built blue trail can be good fun regardless of what you are riding / skill level, just in different ways.

It’s a blue trail, yet he shows up on a big enduro sled, EWS shirt on, tailed by folk with full-face lids, DH bikes. It’s not a trail for you, my dear. That’s why they built it.

Its not well built regardless of who it was designed for. Given the high standard of every other trail at Nevis, regardless of grade, it is not up to scratch.

It’s a gondola access only blue trail at a world renowned DH location

FTFY

If you want a blue trail free of fast riders in full face helmets, then you’re in the wrong place.

Have you ridden Top Chief on a Dh bike? If so, you’ll quickly realise it’s not ideal.

I’d rather hear the opinions from families with younger kids and see how they liked/disliked it.

GavinB, I rode it with a view to take my kids and/or teenage nephews. The prospect of them panicking and running off or falling trail into large piles of rocks was a big worry. More than once I spotted places where sight lines are poor even at low speeds.
I would not take inexperienced riders down it, it’s still a high mountain environment and a long long way to get them to safety if the worst happens.

@mtnboarder

I wouldn’t take my kids on it for exactly that reason.

frogstomp
Full Member

Should you bring a selection of bikes / kit for riding different level trails then? How very STW!

There’s no one bike that’s ideal or even good for all the trails at nevis, so, yes you probably should.

There’s no one bike that’s ideal or even good for all the trails at nevis, so, yes you probably should

Oh yes very good, well argued.

He’s right though

Oh yes very good, well argued.

Sorry but I’m not going to discuss such a asinine comment.

I think it’s ok to question the appropriateness of the bikes capabilities and, indeed, the riders skill level if the video is intended to be some sort of review of the trail.

Andrew rides a 130mm trail bike not an enduro bike.

Should have taken a gravel bike then.

(Seriously though, is 130mm of travel considered a minimum now?)

(Seriously 2 – does the gondola take fatbikes?)

Now a fatbike would be fun on there.

My Enduro Sled will be taken down there in a couple of weeks time. I can offer my view from an appropriate, Northwind approved, ride.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Hs6PjV]Loch Rannoch Round Marin Nail Trail 7[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

I may also, for shits and giggles, take the ‘do it all bike’ for a lap. After all, it has gravel tyres on, Perfect.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2k3WfJa]Merlin g2p Gravel bike[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

Now a fatbike would be fun on there.

That’s my thought.

If he had summed things up a bit better than just saying “it’s shit” he might not be getting such a hard time. If you skip to the end just for a review then I think he’s doing the trail builders a disservice. If he’d summed it up by saying “the bottom section is great but the top section needs to bed in and needs some work so you might want to leave it for a bit” then fair enough.

Hope fatbikes do fit in the gondola. Planning a bikepacking loop next summer with this at the end (and Laggan in the middle) and via Comrie on the way up North.

I think it’s ok to question the appropriateness of the bikes capabilities and, indeed, the riders skill level if the video is intended to be some sort of review of the trail.

Top 2% on Top Chief on Strava by the looks of it. Yeah, I know, but it’s a reasonable indicator that he’s not too bad with a bike..

(Seriously though, is 130mm of travel considered a minimum now?)

Who said that? Seriously though, are you assuming he only went there to ride the new blue trail?

What a weird thread this is turning out to be..

Top 2% on Top Chief on Strava by the looks of it. Yeah, I know, but it’s a reasonable indicator that he’s not too bad with a bike..

I rest my case.

I’m not in the top 2%, does that make my opinion more or less valid? Or Poah, or anyone else who has actually ridden it?

Fwiw, I agree with McTrailrider. I have ridden the trail, along with many others of all shades and colours. This is not a shining example of trail building.

I’m not in the top 2%, does that make my opinion more or less valid? Or Poah, or anyone else who has actually ridden it?

STW hive mind – I’m crap on the bike and have a youtube channel therefore my opinion is shit. once the clique have ridden it we will be able to rest easy.

does the gondola take fatbikes?

I’m guessing you’ve never been.

I’m not in the top 2%, does that make my opinion more or less valid?

More valid for me.

Jeez, everybody gets touchy eh. 😆 Everyones entitled to their opinions. Calm doon dears! 😆

Looks like a good climb. Before the gondola opens?

I’m not in the top 2%, does that make my opinion more or less valid? Or Poah, or anyone else who has actually ridden it?

I think scotroutes point is that a fast, experienced rider on FS is not really the target audience of a blue route…

I think scotroutes point is that a fast, experienced rider on FS is not really the target audience of a blue route…

Maybe not, but that doesn’t stop them being able to judge the merits or otherwise of a trail. Nobody is trying to argue that its not hard enough.

I had a look on the NR Facebook page. Interestingly it seemed to me that there were more positive comments than negative. Maybe newbies are better equipped to enjoy it than Strava warriors or social media influencers.

Anyone who’s been to the Alps should know that green and blue trails can be of an appropriate difficulty for less experienced/skilled riders and fun for better/quicker riders. Really what I was hoping for with this but really doesn’t sound like that’s happened and it’s a miss opportunity of it hasn’t.

richardthird
Full Member

Hope fatbikes do fit in the gondola.

The gondolas have rings that the saddle drops into, so you can hang fatbikes on the back like anything else. (irony- the only bikes that are really hard to hang off the gondolas, are dh bikes with really slammed saddles, the way mine’s set up it’ll only fit into about 2/3ds of the rings.)

poah
Free Member

Sorry but I’m not going to discuss such a asinine comment.

Yeah, you’re going to post daft memes, refuse to engage at all, and then accuse me of being asinine, nice one.

who are the social media influencers?

Yeah, you’re going to post daft memes, refuse to engage at all, and then accuse me of being asinine, nice one.

you posted asinine nonsense which I replied in kind.

who are the social media influencers?

The people with thousands of subscribers on YouTube, sponsors and Patreon members. I like Mctrail Riders videos but I think he rushed to ride that for the video views and he should have stopped and had a wee think before he called it shit. That’s not constructive criticism and if he’s going to criticise the trail builders he should take a more considered approach.

the clique

😂😂😂

From the guy so desperate to be part of the scene he refers to McTrailRider as Andrew just so we all know he knows him personally

@scotroutes the gondola will take any bike that has a normal seat and long enough seat post , so yes it will take a fatbike. The nose of the seat sticks into the the catch and thats what it is carried by. Loads od wee kids bikes having to have there seat pulled out a bit on saturday to get their bikes on.
I think there are at least 5 videos up of ‘Blue doon’ from various youtubers. Its a bit daft to state that someone shouldn’t be riding or critisizing a trail as they are not the demographic. I think Mctrail rider does actually state the time constraints and only 2 people built the trail . I’ve ridden it and as I posted earlier wasn’t a fan but I dont blame NR for openong and trying to make some money in their final month or so. It does need a lot of work and it will be better by next season , Its a very long pedally green with some very dodgy corners . What it does point out is that the Nevis range does need a red to sit in between the blue and top cheif as they are a world apart .
Also was thinking today It would make an excellent climb to do a winter WC or top cheif run but im guessing thats not the wisest idea. Maybe the Lecht and Glenshee will up their game and make some decent Gondola assisted trails . Before anyone points out I know they have half arsed trails.

From the guy so desperate to be part of the scene he refers to McTrailRider as Andrew just so we all know he knows him personally

what scene? and why would I not refer to someone by their name?

The people with thousands of subscribers on YouTube, sponsors and Patreon members. I like Mctrail Riders videos but I think he rushed to ride that for the video views and he should have stopped and had a wee think before he called it shit. That’s not constructive criticism and if he’s going to criticise the trail builders he should take a more considered approach.

its a youtube video. Get over being so offended by it.

Is there an Ignore function on here?

@poah , you need to chill bud. Seems you go off the deep end at the slightest thing .

I’m not offended by it I just think he forgot about rule #1.

Hopefully nobody gets caught out by this but it is SOLD OUT this weekend, they’ve got restricted numbers due to the DH champs/SDA and all the non-race passes are gone.

Anyway, back to STW nonsense.

poah
Free Member

you posted asinine nonsense which I replied in kind.

I posted a bloody simple and obvious fact based on experience. Honestly, you can’t really disagree with it can you? There’s no one type of bike that’s ideal for all the trails at nevis, so if you want to ride the full range of stuff, it’s smart to take 2 bikes if you can. Always has been, even more so now. Like, literally once I could only take 1 bike due to space, and I spent the whole weekend wishing I’d been able to make the choice.

I honestly don’t know what point you’re even trying to make given that you admit you’re posting nonsense, but I’ve not said anything that’s even slightly controversial or really open to misinterpretation.