Reviews for Penmachno Mountain Bike Trails

Summary:
i need help

Review:
will someone please tell me where to start this trail ? i am doing the marin in the morning and no where to start that , but not sure where to start this in the afternoon ?!

Summary:
Quality flowing single track

Review:
We did this trail in strong winds and heavy rain and enjoyed every minute of it. What a little gem this trail is. Great flowing sections of sweet single track linked together by brief fire road climbs. the conditionmade for tricky riding but I think it just added to the enjoyment, I wish we'd had time to give loop 2 a try as well. Never mind, the perfect excuse to go back. Well worth it

Summary:
narrow

Review:
did my first run round it last week, wasnt sure what to expect from mixed reviews id read.
my main comment would be that its very narrow for a lot of the way, lots of trees an boulders to skim with your shoulders an little toe (ouch!) doesnt really open up to let you blast at it which is a shame. did test my fitness ( did both loops ) but doesnt really feel that flowing.

Summary:
Technically Tough

Review:
Just got back from Penmachno, wasn't sure what to expect from the fairly varied reviews on how tough it was etc. a lot of people compare it to the Marin, which is understandable. i found it really good fun on the faster singletracks, but it's a pretty technical and tough trail in sme parts. there's a long, up and down XC singletrack section in the middle which apparently some people dodge using fireroads but it's worth doing.
Pretty consistent in it's technical level actually, unlike a lot of places. we took a couple of relative newbies and they handled it so it's not like it super tough, but everyone was knackered by the end.
Last few descents are worth all the aches though.
Also - get good tyres, it will clog low profiles with mud to the point where you're pretty much on slicks - a la my mate who decked it a few times as a result.

Summary:
Simply Superb

Review:
Rode this trail for the first time on 17/05/08, did both loops & it was excellent! Great singletrack, some jumps & great views, which is not so common for a trail centre as you're often riding through the forest. The fire-road climbs as mentioned by others are not a problem. I'd much rather climb the fire road & go down the singletrack, than go down fire roads, which sometimes happens in other trail centres. Much better than I expected!

Rode this again on 08/07/09 & am bumping my mark down by one. When I rode it, it was very wet & this trail doesn't handle the wet that well (massive puddles in several locations). It also badly needs somebody to come along with a strimmer to cut back the undergrowth (it makes for poor visibility & my pal got stung by a bee/wasp disturbed from the many foxgloves beside the trail). The descents are still well worth it though - I'd say marginally better than the Marin trail just down the road.