Just about to set off to ride mabie red. I can’t work out which bike to take, 120 Soul or 150/140 bouncer. To give it some context I happily rode Penmachno on the soul, but rode Kirroughtree yesterday on the susser. My standard is “old fat knacker with a sore hip who found Kirry challenging in places” . So, help me stop dithering…..

Perfect for a HT.

Definitely take 1, make sure it has 2 wheels and at least 2 tyres too.

Which one is nearest the door?

120 soul, the 150 would be ridiculous for Mabie.

Soul the bouncer is overkill for mabie but wills till be fun either way

Either will be fine but for me it’d be the soul, no doubt at all. Made for it really. Mabie is lovely btw.

seosamh77 – Member – Quote
120 soul, the 150 would be ridiculous for Mabie.

bungalistic – Member – Quote
Soul the bouncer is overkill for mabie but wills till be fun either way

One mans overkill is anothers fun, either will be as much fun if you put the effort in.

Is mabie as rocky as Kirry?

not as rocky, but that might be due to the fact it’s not as long, ridden it on HT’s and 150/60 FS both fun and fine, neither a problem.

Ride the HT if you want to tell everyone how much betterer you are than those riding FS or ride the FS if you want some bounce and are comfortable in your FSness. It is truly fine on either.

I like Mabie, it has a nice flow and for a trail centre feels quite natural (the crazy new berms excepted!)

Its not that rough and there isn’t really a drop worthy of the name on the main route, so take your Soul.

The off-piste stuff I’d take the full-suser for, if it’s the waymarked trails then the Soul would be my choice.

Apologies for the slight hijack but how hardcore is Dark Side? Going to Kirri in a couple of weeks but thinking I might get a short blat at Mabie in but I’ve only got a Rockrider 9.1 FS. Don’t want to bend it 😕

Been a few years since I rode it, but the Darkside is just a wee bit tricky. Not so much in terms of big hits (possible exception of the gap jump), just lots of skinny, awkward North Shore. Likely to smart a bit if you fall.

The red is good fun and isn’t too long if you’re pushed for time.

I wouldn’t worry about bending your bike on the darkside, more ruining your ankles when you abandon ship on one of the skinnies into some heather with hidden rocks and tree stumps.

If you’re going with mates, make sure you’re at the back of the group so you can laugh at watch out for the others

I’m going solo. Might give darkside a miss then, the wife will be right grumpy if I break my legs on a family holiday, I’m still not sure how I managed to wangle taking my bike with me!

Why not scrap Mabie & ride Ae?

Far better IMO

Why not scrap Mabie & ride Ae?

Far better IMO

A controversial opinion in this parish I think you’ll find. 🙂

To be fair I’ve ridden Ae a good bit more than Mabie as I have to drive past the former to get to the latter.

Ae is longer, more technical, rougher but also has a lot more fireroad.

Mabie is shorter and less technical but flows a lot better as there is less fireroad.

So bear that in mind.

I probably prefer Mabie but its an hour more in the car (30 mins each way)

Ride Ae if you want to spend a lot of time pedalling for little reward, not saying Ae doesn’t have good bits but i’m not a fan of the trail as a whole.

Ride Mabie if you like a more varied (and shorter) trail that also has some hidden extras if you know where to look. Cafe should be open if you’re here during the day too.

Rode Ae a couple of years ago. I was a 100mm Cube XC bike and got beaten to shit. 😀

Here now. I’m gonna ride the Soul,thanks everyone!

120.

stu1972 – Member

Why not scrap Mabie & ride Ae?

Far better IMO

Lie down on the couch…

Though, Mabie’s short enough to add a second ride, I did ae and mabie ina day despite not being that fit at the time but Mabie and Drumlanring are a great match.

What does everyone have against Ae? I’ve heard loads of bad things about it but I loved it…

Do the locals regularly turn the wayposts the wrong way round or something? 😉

Dark side is shut by the way

pottsathome – Member
Dark side is shut by the way

Any idea how long for? Are they logging at the moment?

Ride whichever you fancied.

I’ll be heading up there in an hour or so on my Five and within our group there will be a 165mm travel bike, a 29er, a Rocket and a Transition Bandit. It’ll be fun on whatever you take, just different.

nickdavies – Member
What does everyone have against Ae? I’ve heard loads of bad things about it but I loved it…
Do the locals regularly turn the wayposts the wrong way round or something?

You would think that when you arrive at the Omega Man “descent”….. then climb for the next mile

Ae is just very “meh”. It starts quite well then just gets gradually worse. As mentioned above, you just don’t really seem to get anything in return for your efforts. Drumlanrig, Dalbeattie and Kirroughtree are all very pedally too, but all seem to do it a lot better

Well, the bike choice was spot on, the Soul was great. However, it absolutely arsed it down from start to finish, and we were drenched through jackets. It made the rocks and roots very, err, interesting, and there were several occasions where we were descending through mud and running water, wondering when the brakes were going to bother slowing us down.

Only criticism of the trail is that it is very pedally, with few sustained descents. However, those big ****-off berms were a riot, with all the little tabletops mixed in, great fun!

You had to pedal?! Demand a refund!.

Ridiculous. 😀

Only criticism of the trail is that it is very pedally, with few sustained descents

Did you notice the lack of big hills to cycle up 💡