[Closed] Bike park Wales - Will my bike handle it

You'll be fine. Knee pads, helmet & gloves as a minimum though, just in case..

I rode it happily last year on a 100mm travel 29er hardtail. You'll be fine. The day we were there, a couple of guys in mid-90s XC race kit on proper noodly XC bikes with the noodliest ever model of SIDs were there - and they were having a ball.

Ride within your limits until you've got a few runs under your belt and then try going quicker / bigger once you have an idea of what you're riding.

One other thing, if you're doing uplift: If you can't get your seatpost all the way down, or don't want to scratch a fancy post, just buy an el cheapo one and cut it down. You won't need the full length one, and it's one less thing to worry about.

Ridden every trail there including all the blacks on my Evil Sovereign hardball. Sixtapod is awesome on a handtail - I was untouchable on it.

If your competent then you'll be fine but I have seen people well out of their depth there.

Nicer to have a full sus on the reds and blacks but not essential. The grounds pretty hard and rocky there so i tend to wear elbow, knees and full face. Blues will be awesome on a hard tail!

I have to say, I'm at the lower end of 'jump god' status compared to some on here and I felt the FF helmet was a truly brilliant idea. Whilst it isn't the be all and end all, having one made me feel a lot better about the world.

I rode it on a 100mm xc hardtail and was fine.
My mate was on a 90s rigid Specialized something. He crashed once but nobody died.

If on the day you felt that the reds were too rough and only rode the blues, you'd still go home with huge grins

As pointed out above, don't overlook the question of whether to fit mudguards or not, especially if you decide to take your hybrid.

Mugboo - Member
If on the day you felt that the reds were too rough and only rode the blues, you'd still go home with huge grins

Spot on.
We went mid week november (very quiet) and my Gf who is still learning really enjoyed it. Both hartails. Don't be a hero and you'll be fine.

tis good fun on any bike ....hybrid???

I go there fairly often. You will be fine on the hardtail. The blacks are a bit rougher than the rest so might be hard work but still do-able.

Full face is a personal choice, lots of people wear them there and lots just wear normal trail lids.

If you have one Id take it as there is no reason not to if your uplifting. If not you will be fine with normal lid.

Have fun!

jedi - Member

tis good fun on any bike ....hybrid???

The spam to which my post alludes has been removed 🙂

its the spam i was refering to 😀

What spam? There's no spam!

I've seen a guy in his 50's riding the blues on an E-Bike.

He wasn't fast, but he was having a laugh, and really that's all that matters.

we were there last summer. one of the lads had a 130mm hardtail that he did all the runs on. another had a 75mm hardtail and he also did all the runs.
we saw a guy on a fatbike too.

as above all you really need is some knee pads and a full face helmet. elbow pads are optional but body armour is a bit overkill.

What are FF helmets, knee and elbow pads if not body armour 😕

I nearly asked a similar question - would I be ok on a rigid 29er?

@njee to me body armour is the full chest/shoulder/back protector stuff. Knee and elbow pads are ... knee and elbow pads 8)

You'll be fine, i went in January on my Ragley Piglet HT and loved it....booked to go back again in April!

I have a 140mm fork and usual trail 2 x 10 setup, i just dropped the saddle and left it down all day, ran dual ply tyres to avoid pinch flats (Minion 2.5 front, High Roller 2.35 rear) and hung on tight...i'll go back again when i've got my FS built up again but i'm just enjoying riding HTs at the moment....the place is great fun, the bike will not hold you back.

To the guy with the rigid 29er, not my cup of tea but if it's what you ride then you should be fine. You need to be both confident and competent in whatever bike you choose to take....don't take the rigid 29er just to be different, take it because it's your usual bike and you're good on it!

We were there yesterday, blizzard like conditions in the morning made it interesting....

2 of our group were on HT's with <100mm travel up front, both managed just fine on the blues and reds

Having taken a hybrid down Stanage causeway (shortage of bikes, newbie rider, ergo they got my bike, I got their 'more challenging one'), you will be fine. 😆

I've ridden a few of the blue and red trails there and it was no harder than any trail centre decent, its just that there are more features. Each feature is typical of a red or blue grade trail feature but there is a higher density of features on the trail compared to a XC decent.

I was riding with a open face helmet and knee pads and felt comfortable riding the trails. I was riding within my limits and not pushing to hard. Although if I went back and wanted to really see how fast I could go I would probably wear a full face.

At the time I had recently switched to a new full suss so I was riding that but I would have be fine riding on 120mm+ hardtail. If you've ridden Welsh trail centres before you'll be fine at Bike Park Wales.

I've done the blue runs on my hybrid. (Flat bar CX with hyd discs) and had a right laugh. Not the quickest or most appropriate bike.

It's not so much about the bike, more about your skills. If your riding black runs now then the blacks at BPW are not any different from blacks at any trail centre. There's just lots of them.

A 100mm hard tail is more than capable for the blues and reds. No need for a full face or pads if you're riding the blues and reds. I'd FF and pad up for the blacks though.