Hi, I’m hoping to sneak in a couple of trips away this year with my bike but have been wondering where I should try and go. Part of the equation for picking somewhere to go is will I enjoy it in my hardtail, as the full sis is looking s little long in the tooth and I’m not sure I’d want to do any sort of climbing on it these days. So, do people have any recommendations for places where hardtails are the preferred way to get about, places where you really wouldn’t want to ride one or just general encouragement to tell me to take it anywhere that looks good regardless of how much I’ll get shaken about.

For reference I’m not one for massive air but do like to be pointing down whenever possible and I’m happy to get both my wheels off the ground if it doesn’t get too far away. And the bike is a 29er chameleon with a 130mm fork up front.

bpw blues

Kirroughtree

Cannock is fine on a hardtail, or just hire something from Swinnertons if you so desire.

Comrie, Drumlanrig and Mabie.

Forest of Dean blue definitely, the red is a bit more challenging, but still lots of fun on a modern HT. Some of the orange trails I didn’t have any problem with on a HT, but others were a big problem.

Brechfa. Not ridden there for a few years, and never on a hardtail, but suspect a modern HT would cope well there.

None of the trail centres require a FS to get around, or have features that can only be ridden on one.

Some are ‘smoother’ than others if you’re looking for a more comfortable ride, eg Llandegla vs Coed Y Brenin, but it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. Just pick the one you fancy riding.

Nant y arian

Kirroughtree and Drumlanrig are both great fun on a hardtail. Kirroughtree is basically lashings of flow plus rocks, whereas Drumlanrig is lashings of flow plus roots.

However, they might fall down on your pointing down criteria. Don’t get me wrong: you’ll be pointing down often, but not for huge sustained stretches of time, as both are very undulating.

Cafall is/was a blast on a hardtail. It’s closed at the moment 🙁

I have yet to find a Trail Centre that isn’t fine on a hardtail to be honest.

I like the North Wales trailes centres best.

I’ve never had a susser. I haven’t been to many trail centres but the ones I have were fine on a hardtail (BPW, Cannock, Swinley)

I went round Dragons Back at Coed y Brenin on my rigid Mk1 Solaris. I wasn’t quick but I had lots of fun. Some front suspension would have helped my hands but I didn’t die!

EDIT – I’m not a particularly skilled rider either!

And that’s no way to talk about one’s sister!

Dunno if it’s a deliberate policy, lack of funding or just inaction. But does anyone else thing trail centers have got significantly rougher over the past decade?

I remember riding GT ~2011 ish and Magic Mushroom has in my memory 1 braking point just before some roots on a flat corner. I rode it again last Autumn and it was actually really tough to stay upright and keep any speed due to the slippery roots and general ‘braking bumps’. Ditto Cannock,
ditto Swinley (those are the only three I can remember riding more than a handful of times over the years).

Passive deterioration of the trails or deliberately letting them get roughed up as even at the entry level there are good FS bikes these days. Riding a hardtail is a deliberate choice rather than the old mantra of “you can get a better HT at any sensible price point”? With stuff like the Bossnut it’s hard to find hardtails that spec for <£1k!

Brechfa and Cwm Rhyadder are at the smooth/fast end of the spectrum from memory.

I’ve taken my HT 100m up front XC race bike to most of the trail centres in the UK, and I wouldnt say it was out of its depth at any of them. Whinlatter was a really good & rewarding centre (although blooody miles away from everything), with an epic last decent that is awesome fun. Cwmcarn is excellent on a HT when both sides are open, even BPW reds arent too scary if you pick your line and hold your nerve.
Just go and ride, there are always folks on hardtails ripping around, much like folks on big bouncy full sussers mincing about.

Just go and ride, there are always folks on hardtails ripping around, much like folks on big bouncy full sussers mincing about.

Ha! HT riders are gods, FS riders are mincers! what utter horseshit. And Whinlatter ain’t miles form anywhere, it’s right next to some of the best biking in the country.

Llandegla is top fun on a HT and every route is rideable. I’ve done all the runs at some point and if I can manage it anyone can.

Recently did Windhill & A417 on the hardtail. All the trails are ride able on the HT (other than Pro Line at Windhill, unless you have serious talent). Had an absolute blast at both, despite winter slop. Windhill runs pretty slow in the wet, so some of the red/black jumps are trickier when you don’t carry the same speed as in summer.

As above, I think any UK Trail centres will be fine on a hardtail. I used to only ride an XC 100mm forked bike, with old school, twitchy geometry.

I still have a hardtail (26in) and ride it at trail centres and locally; I think the bigger difference is in the more modern geometry (it is a last gen Bfe) which makes it easier to take on the difficult (or more difficult for me) trail features and more confident on steep stuff. I took it to the Alps in September and it was a good laugh (I was hardly doing Whistler sized jumps though).

I have a full susser as well, which I have taken to BPW. I rode with a group of mixed riders and the fastest two people in the group were both on hardtails.

None of the trail centres require a FS to get around, or have features that can only be ridden on one.

This

There is nothing I can ride on my full sus that I can’t ride on a hardtail or even my rigid krampus. Only thing for me is how long I am out riding the rough stuff for before getting a sore back, the full sus wins in that case. Everybody is different though.

I think there’s a confusion between “get round” and actually being fun though.

I’d bet a Pork Pie that I, or anyone else even half competent on a bike could “get round” just about any track anywhere on a HT. That doesn’t mean mincing down a WC DH track over 20 minutes is necessarily fun though.

Trying to ride a constantly rough track that saps your speed on a HT (as opposed to a smooth track with rough bits you can pinball through) isn’t always fun whereas it may well be on a FS which carries it’s speed over the rough surface.

As for “features”. Unless the surface is rough, a jump/drop doesn’t really benefit from suspension, just look at BMX’s, tiny wheels and no suspension. ‘I could ride A-line at Whistler on a HT’ would for example be less of a brag (IMO) than ‘I rode Cavedale at 10/10ths on a HT without taking the chicken lines on the grass’.

All of the trail centres I’ve ridden have been fine on a hardtail other than Ae and Afan. Although Y Wal at Afan was ok. Penhydd was horrible.

Kirroughtree, mabie and Drumlanrig are ace, Dalbeattie isn’t too bad either.

Cannock is my local, that’s fine on a hardtail too, cardinham woods in Cornwall is fun too if you’re in the area too, but I wouldn’t make a special journey.

Llandegla is top fun on a HT and every route is rideable. I’ve done all the runs at some point and if I can manage it anyone can.

Llandegla black was great fun on my 130mm Trailstar, lots of good flowy stuff and none of the features were too daunting. Even my mate mate it round mincing along on his Five. 😉

Cannock is good fun on a Hard Tail – find myself taking it more than the FS.

I think they’re all fine – heck, you get people riding the DH trails at Inners (me included in winter) on hardtails, and big mountains. Laggan is actually pretty good on one – it’s the most technical of the trail centres, but because the biggest techy features are all slow speed relatively nadgery stuff (on the trail centre scale of things), it’s actually well suited to them.

Years ago I had a lot more fun on my 456 SS at Gawton & Tavi compared to the Spec Enduro.
I ended up putting that back in the car.

Well done usin a hardtail. Nothing like a good hardtail for building skills.

Dont know where you are based but if Brexit allows it what about a trip to Ireland. Start in the North at somewhere like Rostrevor, then down to either Dublin or Wicklow before ending up in cork/limerick at ballyhoura. Depending on where you live/ferries you could even go to Ireland via Wales and stop off at BPW for an extended trip.

The Peak District or the Lake District…they’re both good centres for trails.

Just favourite trail centre – Laggan and Comrie.

They are not comfortable though…

Drumlanrig, then over the road and up into the Lowther Hills for non-trail centre exploring

Hamsterley’s a good laugh, as is Chopwell. Choppers isn’t worth the trip on its own though.

er… All of them

Haven’t ever seen a trail centre section that isn’t immense fun for ripping around on a hardtail.

29er tho? yeeew. no! 😉

Ha! HT riders are gods, FS riders are mincers! what utter horseshit.

Overreaction AND missing the point. 10 points to that man!

I’m definitely of the , everywhere is fine on a hardtails, camp! That’s all I’ve ever really ridden and love coed y brenin.
I have recently been working around most in my gravel bike and living it but penhyyd at afan sucks on a rigid, zero fun. Reckon it would be a laugh with front bounce though.
Small centres that rule on hardtail or rigid
Haldon forest park
Cwm Rhayader
Cwm carn

Did Snowdon on a 90’s MTB in the day – crap brakes, no suspension… didn’t die. TBH the main issue now is having half decent brakes. I got the FS because I have a knackered back, but any hardtail will do all trial centres – it’s you that’s the limiting factor – I’m the limiting factor on my trail bike. My mates do Llandegla on their HT’s and one is much faster than me downhill (he’s a nutter though and skilled).

penhyyd at afan sucks on a rigid, zero fun. Reckon it would be a laugh with front bounce though

Nah, it’s horrible. There’s one or two bits that are ok (and one of them is part of blue scar) the rest is a fire road slog then far too rough. I think you’d be better off with something with huge travel.

The marked stuff a glentress is a riot to ride with a hard tail, I used to regularly ride it with my bird zero before it got stolen….

BPW on a hardtail is hard work unless you only want to ride the blues and easier/more flowy reds. The blacks are awful on a hardtail.

Wind Hill is different – the blue and Emperu (red jump line) are OK on a hardtail. Pass the Duchy – the techie red – is OK on a hardtail but much more enjoyable on a full sus bike. The blacks – Feed Em, Rootiful South and Ark At Ee have some reasonable sized features on them – I wouldn’t fancy doing the big jump at the end of the harder Ark At Ee line on a hardtail, for example.

This said, I know people who regularly ride the whole Pro Line on their DJ bikes.

As an aside, only Emperu and the blue run slow in the winter – all the blacks run pretty fast as they’re fairly steep and drain well.

JP