I’m off there on Sunday and am told it is lots of smooth, swoopy singletrack and a few jumps etc. I was wondering just how jumpy it is (or it can be if you ride fast enough) and also how big/bad the climbs are?

This is also related to the dilemma I have as to whether to take my little bike (great for throwing around, jumping off things but too small to climb on properly) or my normal bike (great for climbs and singletrack but for some reason I can’t jump it for toffee).

Your thoughts please.

It’s pretty jumpy – not many big ones but lots of little ones everywhere on the black sections (not really black at all).

There’s one reasonable climb at the start then a couple of little ones.

Its rubbish. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar or muppit.

Bit like a long bmx track with no real climbing. Little hardtail will be fine i reckon.

Its rubbish. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar or muppit.

What a brilliantly helpful and worthwhile comment.

switch back climbs are a bastard

lunge
Kinda depends how far you’re traveling from I guess. I live very local and think it’s ace.

You’ll be fine on a small bike. The first climb is just a long(ish) drag which isn’t very steep, after that the climbs are just short switchback sections which again aren’t very steep and very easy from a technical point of view.

Last time I was there a couple of months back they were building quite a few new trails and what looked like a 4x track. Anyone know if these are finished and open?

Saying it has ‘no real climbing’ is a bit misleading – the first climb isn’t that long or steep, but it does exist!

Last time I was there a couple of months back they were building quite a few new trails and what looked like a 4x track. Anyone know if these are finished and open?

It wasn’t open last Saturday…

All the jumps are rollable. I would describe Llandegla to be a bit like a BMX track on steroids. The fire road climb at the beginning can be a bit of a chore but it is quite good fun in a brainless sort of way ie nothing to taxing or scary just lots of well surfaced swoopy singletrack.

I think Llangegla is a hoot – the faster you go the better it is. God knowks why some people don’t like it. Café is great too, and the folk that run it are very friendly.

Skills Loop and Pump Track are WIP. Other sections have opened up alongside where the Red and Black split, above JJ Jumps and by the Tin Hut before Not Shore.

Paul

Park at the Ponderosa Cafe and come in over the boardwalk, the cafe is then 3/4 of the way round, you finish with a nice easy spin back up to the masts above horseshoe pass and then a screaming descent back to the Ponderosa.

Ponderosa to
Llandegla MTB trails

Or you could bear right just before the first mast (coming from the Ponderosa) to do the great singletrack down to the road, turn left for a few 100m and do all the boardwalk in…
Paul

Llangdegla, like a BMX track on ‘roids? Did we go to the same place??? It’s flat dull and boring and has a mini jumps all over the place and a few badly made (IMHO) bigger jumps that have lousy take offs and transitions. I have no idea what bike you should take but take one you like to ride fast on pretty wide easy singletrack with speedbumps. And the hill at the start is quite long.

Anyone getting the idea I didn’t think much of the place?

Now Laggan Wolftracks Blue (or is it orange now?) there’s a BMX track on ‘roids.

BMX track sounds about right just not as jumpy, maybe rollercoaster-ish fast and flowy not that tech but the speed it induces means if you come off/have a tree interface you’ll hurt yourself which could explain the propensity for pads and monster travel DH bikes. Little hardtail is perfect for the job altho those braking bumps* that are appearing can shake you up a bit.

Dunno what laggan is like in comparison but at llandegla a bit of climbing gets you onto the singletrack then a cpl of pedal storkes to get up to speed and you can pump the ground and berms to keep it all the way to the bottom. Climb, repeat…

*Braking bumps! WTF? I hardly touch the brakes most of the way round (and I’m rubbish) some people need to let go of the safety levers

Park at the Ponderosa Cafe and come in over the boardwalk, the cafe is then 3/4 of the way round, you finish with a nice easy spin back up to the masts above horseshoe pass and then a screaming descent back to the Ponderosa.

Nick – is the descent back from the mast to Ponderosa down the same track you come up, or is there a better singletrack alternative?

IIRC if you take the road from the mast to Ponderosa after 200-300 metres or so there’s a sharpish right turn. If you leave the road at that point on the LHS there’s grassy singletrack all the way down to the left of the road.

lunge, as you can read, there is a huge variety of thoughts on the place, some love it and a few hate it. i agree for a regular rider it isnt a technical route theres lots of smooth sections, some jumps and berms and a ‘normal’ bike is fine IMHO. I think its a lot of fun and its dead handy for a blast after work for me but I am pretty local.

The climb is straight out the car park and is a ok, it has switchbacks but is wide all the way to the top. I wouldnt fancy it on a jump bike personally as its a sit and spin climb with only a couple of out the saddle moments. After that there are some other climbs and they are more singletrack based. I’ve seen guys pushing jump bikes on these as I cruise past breathing hard. lol.

It wont take a huge amount of time to get around, most seem to vary between 1.5 / 2 hours.

I can understand the ‘roids bmx comments but its more than that.

So is that pump track open now??

No

(and I’m rubbish)

Theres not much hope for the rest of us then!! 😛

Cheers uponthedowns, I’ll check it out next time I’m up there 8)

Remarkably boring I think sums it up.

Nothing remotely testing, poorly placed jumps ruining the flow, braking bumps on the berms. I would class the black run as a tame blue.

The best bit was the cafe.

I think the negativity and positive comments are equally needed. If your local, I think it would be a fantastic place to have on your doorstep or as part of a Welsh tour. If it was a choice of Clymnix (hits keyboard to try and spell) or this then I’d go with the former.

It might be incredibly boring if you expect a technical challenge, but they get plenty of ambulance calls as it is. These places are built to appeal to a wide range of abilities. Maybe they should not have named the blacks black and raised expectations.

it’s a funny one Llandegla, it always divides people. personally i quite enjoy it and always found it to be quite entertaining, if not the most challenging of trail centres. the new stuff promises to be interesting.

but then again i struggle not to have fun when i’m out riding…

I really like Llandegla, for exactly what it is.

A nice blast round some woods with bits of boardwalk, bit of shore, and rideable all year round.

under 2 hours for the full lap inc black is pretty normal, it’s a soft or as dangerous as you wanna make it, go flat out on the downs and if you get it wrong you’ll be in a tree/ditch and in pain.

Go flat out on the climbs and you’ll have a different experience.

Considering how many say it’s rubbish the car-park is always full on weekends – must be crap then

Ace track, really fun, go fast and enjoy!

Have to agree the grade disparity from place to place is pretty shocking. Black runs should be set up to properly challenge skilled riders. No idea how Llandegla can justify it’s grades. Perhaps we need some grade expansion.

Only been there once, but I enjoyed it.

Nice mixture of stuff.

Agreed, if there was a bit of grading consistency from centre to centre then people may know what to expect, and not be so dissapointed.

Importantly a few people have mentioned the cafe. Now it does do good food & fine coffee – but be prepared for the longest wait you’ve ever experienced in your life. Every time minimum of half hour, last time for a sausage barm which we were told were ready to go out straight away… it was tasty when it eventually turned up.

The trail is a bit of fun, not much there to test anyone. If it’s close by and you want a quick blast it does the job, its no 7staines but worth the occasional trip from Manc for me.

hardtail all the way – go fast & enjoy
but watch out for the most iratating section of ‘shore’ ever – logs not planks – hate them

The climb at the start is long but easy and dare I say boring, but it gets you the height, which is the point. From then on, it’s pretty much all down or swoopy stuff, although there’s a couple more insignificant climbs. There’s a small amount of wide board stuff, and a short bit of this is high up but you don’t know you’re on it til it’s finished if you know what I mean? The pics make it look harder than it really it is.

There are no rocky tricky or technical bits as such from an xc rider perspective.

If you typically roll jumps xc styley and are a wheels on the ground rider, it is is just a swoopy bit of singletrack really, and if this is your riding style, you’ll probably think it boring. It’ll be over too quickly, and there is far more interesting stuff within a stone’s throw in the Ceriog valley for eg.

If you hit it like a fast bmx track, fly round the berms and do the jumps as they’re intended, you’ll probably like it a lot more.

Perhaps we need some grade expansion.

as in more colour to further confuse people and for others to complain about? sounds like a very bad idea to me. the green-blue-red-black-orange system works perfectly well in ski resorts so why should it not at trail centres?

the main problem is that people compare centres to each other; what is black at a TC like degla for instance would only be a red at other places (especially scottish centres). but in terms of what is currently offered up at degla they have the main xc loop graded red, for it’s distance and some technical sections, and then the additional black sections which are for more advanced riders. nothing wrong with how it’s graded IMO.

having said that i’ve heard that the FC are curerntly looking at the grading system of all TC’s in the UK and soon will formalise classifications based on the 1/2/3 traffic light like circles seen on the glentress FR park.

I like the place and hate the place..

IMO having been there quite a few times snowslave has rounded it up the the best for me…

the black are NOT black routes, red at most… but they get a LOT of mincers and maybe they use this to discourage the mincing brigade..

that stupid ass double (which isn’t a double just a single with a dip in it) in the middle of the jump loop needs ripping out asap!! or fixing it’s all wrong.

other than that stop asking and go ride it for yourself.
Personally i would say, if your any further than Manch (60 miles) then it’s better to go elsewhere as you will be disappointed. I’m lucky my lovely lady lives pretty close and we go play there a bit.

FYI the knobs causing braking bumps need shooting! the one thats AFTER a jump is totally stupid… you jump off soil which has a log edge and as you go over you can see a rut 6 inches after the log for 2 ft… about 4-6 inches deep!! WTF let go of your brakes….!

but watch out for the most iratating section of ‘shore’ ever – logs not planks

That’ll be “Not Shore” then, clue’s in the name, hit it fast and keep your cadence high or you’ll stall.

Grading is a tricky one, I find the final red bit trickier than all the black, you’ve just barrelled round the fully bermed up black route at hyperspeed then get to a bit of red, hit it just as fast and find the corners aren’t bermed, whoops, careful.
What makes black black anyway? technical-ness? height of the drops? speed? Some people seem to think having a rock garden makes something black, others need a 5′ drop off. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, it’s an indication not a specification. Blacks should not be ridden flat out on your first run wherever they are.
Just take it as green is the easiest at that centre and black the hardest at that centre Llandegla will only run into trouble if they come up with even tougher routes, will they invent a new colour or just call it “well b@st@rd black”?

Its a nice blast after work or in the depths of winter or crappy weather. Personally find it ok when its quiet – it is popular at the weekend and i avoid it then as I dislike the crowds of body armoured full sus wanabees there 🙂 who are so slow its unbelievable – cannot imagine why these people have to walk the climbs either….

If you ride it a fast wannabe race speed its fun and thats on a hardtail – its not too hard at all – makes me chuckle listening to chester locals coming into bike shops giving it ‘ dude i ride the black at llandegla – ffs!!)

If you extend it via boardwalks / ponderossa trails then its a good longer ride. If you rage round it expect about 1hr / 1.20 lap times – agree that cafe is good. I would agree ceiriog / wayfarer would be a better day out esp if driving miles to get there. I once met some muppets who had driven from the edge of the peak district to ride there….

all in all its ok – its a nice blast but not worth much effort getting there. Go ride and see what you think

paul

Or you could bear right just before the first mast (coming from the Ponderosa) to do the great singletrack down to the road, turn left for a few 100m and do all the boardwalk in…

That’s what I meant, didn’t think you went down to the road though, it’s been a while and we normally do it at night anyway (great depths of winter ride imo, feels a bit epic but isn’t really)