Reviews for Penmachno Mountain Bike Trails

Summary:
This is a benchmark trail for the committed

Review:
I have ridden this trail twice now - once when the entire area was flooded and it rained all day and today at 26 degrees and sun shining.

i must say i have a love hate with this trail. I love the challenge , the descents , the graft but hate my lack of skills that makes me fall off the bridge for cutting the corner, that makes me fall off going uphill.

There are some quality descents here / it is narrow / you need to be alert / you need to attack quite a lot of it to generate any flow. There is a speed that you have to attain on elements of the trail otherwise you lose momentum.

The first time I went - I got battered. Today I got battered but I got better. The fitter you are the better this is I think.

It is singletrack - but its single track with sharp rocks / off camber so you have to pick your line constantly.

You do need to inflate your tyres as high as they will pinch flat. My mate had two go today. I lost my big chainring on the bridge but had a soft landing.

I dont have any pads - I 'd get some to go back to be a little safer. I might get some specs too as theres a few low branches too.

Whatever you do - dont go after a late night because you need to keep your wits about you.

well done to the lads who work on it - stuck a few quid in today for you.

Summary:
This is a numbr 1 ride, great fun, a hidden gem

Review:
Had a great day out on Thursday, sun was out, frost was coating the shaded areas and the ride was just fun. I rode it with two friends from North Cheshire Clarion who had not experienced what Penmachno has to offer. At the end of the ride I asked them what they thought, the best ride they had experienced in N. Wales they answered. No doubt about it, raw fun, not tarted up, which allows you to test all the skills that you have leant.
The lads who maintain it do a great job, they deserve your donations.

You can tell proper mountain bikers use it, no litter anywhere!

Summary:
A tad icy in sections

Review:
a good trail, which suited my free ride bike, well, climbs where fire tracks, which suited my level of base fitness combined with the fact i climbed the Grib Goch Ridge the day before, i was already cramping leaving the car park.

Down hills where very good, contouring and long gradual decents, giving a cracking level of momentum but controllable, but time for lots of fun

The only negative, was solely down to this time of year, there are trails which would normally run with water, and others where water would cross, not streams but streamlets, these were seriously frozen, and often caught us out, with some long sections having to walk past and in spud shoes this wasnt that easy even on foot.

Looking forward to going again, when it thaws out abit

Summary:
Remote, hardcore XC trail.

Review:
I first rode this trail in Nov 2008 and really enjoyed it. I liked the isolated ‘carved from the landscape’ feel to the trail.

I rode both loops again in May 2010 and for some reason did not enjoy it quite as much. The trail was the same as ever so clearly it is me that has changed. Even though it was the driest May for a long time there were still very wet patches of trail and I had a skid and an unplanned excursion into a bog on wet duckboards early on loop 2 which maybe coloured my view.

Whereas the narrowness of the trail was part of the charm first time round the second time it just seemed to hold the trail back. I suppose I am saying that there was not a great deal of flow to the trail and with the exception of the last wooded section there is nowhere to cut loose. Even that is short lived as you soon run into tight switchbacks with a big drop to one side which starts the run back into the car park.

What Penmachno does well is the rugged out in the wilds vibe. Knowing what was coming I ran my tyre pressure 5 to 10 Psi higher than I usually do and avoided any flats but the other side of the coin is on wet duckboard I had a lot less grip which probably contributed to my unplanned dip in a bog. We did run into a couple of riders who were nearly on double figures of punctures between them so we felt a few extra Psi was a worthwhile trade off on balance.

Biking round the Penmachno on a nice day in May in stunning countryside it was impossible not to have a good day but somehow the trail did not live up to my memory of it. It is a challenging XC experience rather than an adrenaline inducing trail experience.

If by the way you are struggling to find the Penmachno, and it is not easy, I doubt you will find better directions than Big Phils review on 11/7/2008.

Summary:
simply awesome

Review:
a proper trail. some of the climbs are grueling and some of the single track requires some serious effort on the cranks. that i however like. the flowy fast single track sections however i really like and theres few trails i've ridden that come close to how good this place is