MBR's best places to live

There are 6* (proper?) mountains in England, of which only 2 are accessible on a bike. They are all in Cumbria.

*4 of them are kind of the same peak so maybe only count as one.

No Chichester..?

It’s not the best place to mountain bike, it’s the best city to live in if you’re a mtb

I get that, but still, why Bristol? Honest question, ‘cos I’m in ‘Nam (so not that far away) and I wouldn’t have put Bristol in the top five. Am I missing something?

i like how they missed any place between Leeds and Edinburgh, but included London.

Snuck in at number 10…

wasn’t even aware we were a proper city.. 😆

I’m guessing becuase it’s a fairly wealthy city and has lots of access to good riding spots:

Bristol trails – 15 mins ride away
Mendip – 25 mins drive
CwmCarn – 40 mins drive
FOD – 50 mins drive
Cotswolds – 50 mins drive
Quantock – 60 mins drive
Malvern – 60 mins drive
Brecon – 90 mins drive
Afan – 100 mins drive

Ednburgh – wealthy city with a high quality of life and high employment at high wages and far more riding than bristol

Pentlands – 20 mins ride a hundred of miles of legal trails
Corstorphine hill – 10 mins ride away

Masses more riding within an hours ride from

Glentress – 40 mins drive
Innerleithan 40 mins drive

Highland riding starts an hours drive away Dunkeld and so on

Stirling less than an hours drive – dumyat, Ben Cleugh etc

No doubt its some decent riding around bristol but no way can it compare especially for what you can ride to from the city in a short time

Hmm, I’m still not convinced 😕

Still think I’d rather be somewhere in the North West, with access to Peaks, Pennines, Lakes and North Wales all within the same kind of driving times.

Quantocks and FOD are fab though, not tried the Mendips yet.

oh good, the ‘my city is better than your city’ has started.

Can’t believe they left Leicester off their list!

I really hope you’re joking, I’ve never lived anywhere with less going for it.

I believe MBR are based around Bristol, also there is seemingly a politically correct spread of locations.

If it was regions rather than cities then clearly Yorkshire would be number 1 😉

Bristol is fairly close to Swindon and therefore the trails out the back of the Nationwide.

bosh!

Is Brighton a city?

London as a good city to be a MTBer. Made me laugh!.

Bristol has some from the door riding and the Quantocks not far away and Dartmoor not much further.

That’ll be accessed by driving past Exeter then. 😉

I believe MBR are based around Bristol,

MBR are based in Croydon and do most of their riding in the Surrey Hills, daahhhling.

I quite like the Bath/Bristol area but anyone that thinks it’s remotely in the same league as Edinburgh for a mountain biker is certifiable.

Having London anywhere on that list is also a joke – London has many wonderful qualities but a great location for a mountain biker wouldn’t be on the list.

Bristol trails – 15 mins ride away
Mendip – 25 mins drive
CwmCarn – 40 mins drive
FOD – 50 mins drive
Cotswolds – 50 mins drive
Quantock – 60 mins drive
Malvern – 60 mins drive
Brecon – 90 mins drive
Afan – 100 mins drive

Afan 100 mins? Are you riding there? 😀
Not mentioned dertmoor, exmoor, longleat.
The main thing is you can ride this stuff (and get to it) all year round.

Well I’m half an hour from no.5 and 40 mins from no.3, I’m happy where I am, in ‘the biggest town in Europe'(if not the world!) We could’ve been a city but we don’t what that! And I don’t have to drive anywhere to get to some great trails with proper hills!

You know what, i get to do a trail every morning on the way to work. I live in Bristol. Thats all that matters to me. Many thanks, kind regards, stay safe, well done, take care, use the green cross code and NEVER run with scissors.

Bristols a great place with good riding – I simply think that Sheffield and Edinburgh are duking it out for first and Bristol third.

Having London anywhere on that list is also a joke – London has many wonderful qualities but a great location for a mountain biker wouldn’t be on the list.

@epicsteve

no complaints from me about living in London – fantastic transport connections in every direction

we have Surrey Hills (965ft on Pitch Hill), Woburn Sands, Aston Hills, Swinley Forest, Wisley, Chicksands, PORC (we also used to have Esher Shore before it closed) and other riding locations all within an hour of London by train

plus stacks of dirt jump trails accessible by train just ouside London, if you know the builders, and London has over 35 skateparks if like me you enjoy riding DJs and Skatepark in addition to mountain biking

and quick, easy access to all the Welsh trail centres and FOD by car

Gatwick and Heathrow quickly accessible by train, with great air connections to some of the world’s best riding in Europe and Canada

in the past season, we flew from Gatwick after breakfast and were riding the excellent Winterberg Bike Park in Germany before lunchtime!

and 10 minutes ride up the road from my house in NW London, I have 1200 acres of steep woodland with dozens of excellent XC trails including a 3 minute descent off one side and a 6 minute descent off the other side

no problems from me?

london above manchester, absolute joke… be edinburgh for me if you include why the city is actually like as well…

esher shore – Only the last bit about the place you ride to in 10 mins is local to you, every other place you talk about is planes/trains/automobiles.

Tells a story.

including a 3 minute descent off one side and a 6 minute descent off the other side

Wow – huge long runs

esher shore – Member
we have Surrey Hills (965ft on Pitch Hill), Woburn Sands, Aston Hills, Swinley Forest, Wisley, Chicksands, PORC (we also used to have Esher Shore before it closed) and other riding locations all within an hour of London by train

and thats the 8th best set of locations, god help us all…

Wells is the best city in England because its the smallest and at the foot of the Mendips and nearer the Quantocks, Dartmoor and Exmoor than Brizzle

Bristol will concede victory to Edinburgh. Drawn with Sheffield though 😉

if you ask me edinburgh is probably the best place to live full stop.

i’ll have to stay in middlesbrough (not a city) ‘cos i’ll struggle to earn a good living outside of the local industry. edinburgh would be very attractive though.

A controversial MTBR review? Whatever next.

buzz-lightyear – Member

Bristol will concede victory to Edinburgh. Drawn with Sheffield though

You have to say positive and negatives with each city really.

TJ,

There’s no mountain biking anywhere near Edinburgh, nor indeed anywhere in Scotland except for that famous Glentress place. Please stick to the party lines, we don’t need the sort of person that decides where to live based on MBR’s top 10 cluttering up the country.

no complaints from me about living in London – fantastic transport connections in every direction

So basically the best thing about MTB in London is the other places you can go to MTB, including a small hill in Surrey?

I’m sure it’s Ok, and probably ever so good in so many other ways, but better than Manchester and Exeter for mountain biking???

Poly – I had got them believing me there for a minute :-0

Is this not the exact same article they printed about 2 years ago? Realy value for money with MBR…

Actually I agree with poly. There’s nothing of interest north of Watford, just mud* and poor people.

*This actually feels true at the moment.

Gordon Bennett, the Pentlands look niice. Only ever been up the holland bit and that was a mud fest.. Hmmmm..

What no Swansea – afan, brechfa, brecon beacons, black mountain etc.

Holland bit? Hillend..

Swansea also has The Potters Wheel and (had, not sure if it is still closed) The Swansea Jack, two of the best pubs in all of South Wales. Try going in there in a pair of slightly too small lycra shorts.

I live in the South and yes I am very jealous of people living in Edinburgh, Exeter, Bristol or anywhere else apart from the over crowded South East.