Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
  • What’s like Minortaur?
  • molgrips
    Free Member

    Took the kids to CyB the other day. Expecting a fiasco as usual. My youngest didn’t want to go – even though she really loves biking her anxiety makes her not want to go; my eldest throws a hissy fit at any sign of upward gradient and is terrified of anything going down.

    However they absolutely smashed it and had a brilliant time. Eldest nailed every descent and even did the climbs all the way without stopping. She even did the really steep rocky fire road with only a little dab in the middle, when the teenagers who we were following round got off and pushed straight away. Youngest had a meltdown practising on the green skills area but on the trail got really into it, rode all the climbs but had to get off at some points.

    So anyway, now they want to go again but CyB is a bit of a trek from Cardiff. So I reckon similar trails will be Brechfa green/blue and Ashton Court/Leigh woods. From the looks of it the Verderer’s trail is also swoopy and easy? Too much climbing will be a turn-off but they can apparently handle some now.

    ajaj
    Free Member

    Brechfa green is good fun, but the blue section starts with a big tedious climb. Verderers also longer and the final descent quite lumpy these days – not the manicured gravel of Minotaur – but you can cut out the big climb in the middle.

    joebristol
    Full Member

    Ashton Court and Leigh Woods are really easy but fun. No real climb to talk of (unless you go down the steep off piste at Leigh Woods – which you wouldn’t be).

    They’ve been surfaced so you could just about balance bike them / kids bikes would be fine, but if you’re good you could clear the rollers at speed.

    Not sure about Brechfa, I only did the black / red loop there. I did accidentally stray onto a blue section and it had fun massive berms built into it.

    Definitely nothing at Cwmcarn – all big climbs and fast descents.

    Not a loop but Flyup 417 at cheltenham could be worth a look – although you’d probably want to pay for uplift as the climb is horrible in the middle (steel and gravelly). There is a very easy but flowy blue designed pretty much for kids (although it’s also fun for adults on a hardtail) – and there is another blue that’s a little bit harder but still very much a flow trail where you can keep your wheels on the ground. There’s also a pumptrack in a barn. Cost is probably prohibitive though for 3 of you uplifting.

    Just a sudden thought – what about Cwm Rhayader just north of Brechfa?

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    molgrips
    Free Member

    I know nothing about Cwm Rhaeadr

    ajaj
    Free Member

    Cwm Rhayader is a rollercoaster that starts with a winch up. If that’s too much you can just whizz around and around the bottom section (which is huge fun).

    warpcow
    Free Member

    Majortaur!

    joebristol
    Full Member

    Cwm Rhayader (sorry, my phone keeps changing it) is fun. It’s only about 7k round. Nothing too difficult – just flowy. Bit of a climb at the start but in my mind it just weaves up the hill (although we then drove down and joined up the black and red at Brechfa for a monster of a day) quite easy. Then it’s mostly flow.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    How much of a winch?

    Looks like a hefty climb for an 8 year old on trailforks.

    joebristol
    Full Member

    According to Strava it was 6.85km, 228m elevation, and 33m moving time for me. I’m not the best uphill and on a 34lb enduro bike and I don’t remember it being too bad.

    Maybe it gets a bit narrow on the downhill bit towards the end if your little girl is only 8.

    Ashton Court and Leigh Woods would be far easier. There isn’t really a downhill as such – it’s all quite flat and swoopy.

    RobHilton
    Free Member

    Blaengarw blue is a fun easy one and nice and short in case the nippers lose their shit.

    The black would offer you a good bit of fun too.

    slimboyjim
    Free Member

    I’ve bought a tow rope for my 8 year old – it’s called a tow-whee. Not cheap but it is very good. My 5 year old has mastered it too and he’s next up for a day trip. I did 8 miles round Cannock as a tester the other day and it was fine – I didn’t notice the weight too much and I cleaned everything (including a particularly nasty climb). My 8 year old thought it was amazing – just clip it on before a hill and winch them up…

    Just thought I’d mention it as it may be an option for you to extend rides (multiple kids could take it in turns)?

    Only negative I’ve come across so far is that when extended it is a fair length, so it will probably be less useful for climbing narrow single track and is more for fireroads. Plus the price, but I think that is worth it – I live some distance from proper trails so to go up for a proper length ride means a lot to me!

    I’ve no affiliation to the company, etc, by the way… (e.g. I didn’t buy their belt as it was silly price, and I just got a similar one off ebay.)

    BillOddie
    Full Member

    We rode Minortaur last week too.

    My 9 and 11 year olds bloody loved it, as did I.  The new sections are really really good, super fun and flowy!

    Not ridden it for a bit but Llandegla Blue might be worth a look as it was getting rave reviews from some of the kids/parents at MTBMeetup at the weekend.  The first climb is long but pretty shallow and basically straight so Towhee friendly..

    There is also Blue Scar at Afan Argoed too which might be worth a look.

    http://www.mbwales.com/listings/blue-scar/

    Riding with your kids is THE BEST!

    joebristol
    Full Member

    Forgot about Afan – there must be something there that’ll work and it’s a lot closer to Cardiff

    tillydog
    Free Member

    Llandegla Blue might be worth a look

    I wouldn’t recommend it. The Minotaur is fantastic fun. Llandegla blue is an endless trudge up for an unrewarding trudge down.

    nicknameless
    Free Member

    My two penneth.

    None of those really match minatour for kid friendliness;

    Brechfa green / blue – quite a lot of climbing in comparison, even a lot on the green. It is bloody good fun though. I think the blue descent after the big climb is awesome but not necessarily something I’d take the young uns on unless they were proficient.

    Blue scar – again quite a lot of climbing in comparison to minatour. And most of it in a big winch fashion.

    Llandegla blue – wouldn’t bother.

    Verderer’s – fantastic track regardless of ability. Comment about last descent is true. If they are reasonably proficient you can cut out the last descent and track round to launch pad (orange graded) which is massive fun but not too gnar at all (designed for 4 wheelers). Ensure they can control speed before taking them on this though.

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