Is 417 worth a drive?

There's enough to keep you going for the day, they're short runs, but the bus is quick getting to the top, so you get a load of runs in, the blues are fun and flowy to start you up, then the reds are nice, igneous is easy going with a few smallish tables at the bottom, dubby skipper seems to be most folks favourite red, again, due to the amount of runs you'll get, you can go easy first and get faster at them, see what you like and so on.

Not been in a couple of years though, it's just up the road from me so i tend to do local more, but it was fun for a day on the bus, or ebike power ups, think they've done a bit up there in the last year, so should be better.

Some friends and I have an annual holiday to the SW of England/S of Wales (from the Edinburgh area) for mountain biking. While we're there we'll definitely visit the Forest of Dean, Bike Park Wales and Dirt Farm, often going to one or two of them more than once. We occasionally visit the 417 project. It's fine but it isn't as great as the others and there is less riding there than the others, especially if you're avoid the black lines (which I do when I'm there).

Thanks, usually do BPW but fancied something different.  Would Forest of Dean be a better bet?  Assume no uplift though which I don't mind, but a couple of the less fit chaps might grumble a bit.

I enjoy it for the skill level I am at. Short runs but good fun and enough there to keep you going all day. Cafe is good (at least was when I was last there) and if you fancy riding up, you can. The website shows the type of trail you would be riding, it isn't bigging it up to be something it isn't 

@alex22. Both 417 and FoD have uplift. I love FoD but it can require a little bit of local knowledge to link in all the good stuff. 

alex22Free Member
Thanks, usually do BPW but fancied something different.  Would Forest of Dean be a better bet?  Assume no uplift though which I don’t mind, but a couple of the less fit chaps might grumble a bit.

There's an uplift at the Forest of Dean. Personally it's my favourite of the riding we've done down there, but that may vary according to personal taste. The trails at the Forest of Dean are mostly hardpacked earth and rooty, and are probably more affected by weather than the other ones.

Thanks all and very useful.  Think we'll give both 417 and FOD a go if I can talk everyone into staying overnight which should be doable given that most of us have not had a weekend away for a while. Both sound like different kinds of trails which makes things more interesting if doing two days.

So a night out in Gloucester probably looms. Wish me luck 😉

FoD is my favourite, but this time of year it's a slop fest, even on the trail centre trails which tend to be overused as always, the one thing 417 has in it's favour is that it's pretty much weather proofed on most of them, bar a few of the normal things you take care with (rocks, etc).

FoD 100% worth the visit, 417 definitely not.

With a bit of scouring this site and trailforks there’s easily enough at FoD to keep you busy for a couple of days. Whether you fancy jumps, tech or just a chilled one it’s pretty much all catered for.

FoD 100% worth the visit, 417 definitely not.

This. I drive past the door of 417 to get to FoD all the time. I feel a bit bad for 417 as it is a small, family run venue but it's just not for me. Prices are near enough BPW money for an uplift and it just doesn't offer enough for me to be comparable. For push up, its not a patch on FoD.

This. I drive past the door of 417 to get to FoD all the time. I feel a bit bad for 417 as it is a small, family run venue but it’s just not for me. Prices are near enough BPW money for an uplift and it just doesn’t offer enough for me to be comparable. For push up, its not a patch on FoD.

Yeah, but FoD at the trail centre this time of year is mostly survival and staying upright outside of Launchpad and Countdown, every other run has roots or mud and are all suffering due to the amount of usage going on. The OP may be looking for something easy and fun, 417 isn't vast, but can do well for a day for folk visiting, dubby skipper was always fun to push toward clearing the tables and stuff for new folk.

Again, not been in a couple of years, i tend to stick local, which is in horrific condition as well this time of year!

Yeah, but FoD at the trail centre this time of year is mostly survival and staying upright outside of Launchpad and Countdown, every other run has roots or mud and are all suffering due to the amount of usage going on. The OP may be looking for something easy and fun, 417 isn’t vast, but can do well for a day for folk visiting, dubby skipper was always fun to push toward clearing the tables and stuff for new folk.

Again, not been in a couple of years, i tend to stick local, which is in horrific condition as well this time of year!

I don't think 417 holds up too well in the wet either, I've been in December before and it turns to orange, sticky gloop. There really is so much in Fod outside the lower bit of the trail centre, I know it takes some looking for but it isn't too hard to find with Strava, trail forks, asking on here etc.

This is just my opinion, yours many vary etc.

It takes a hell of a looking for this time of year, the off piste next door to the trail centre is a mud bath just now and depending on the trail you take, can have some 'fun' features you fall in too!

Love FoD, been going over 20 years, before the whole place erupted into what it is now, love some of the areas around the place that are quieter most of the time, but you need to know where to look (and where to park) and what condition they're in, either through felling, sludge or under repair.

again, 417 is nowhere near a BPW, but for a ready made 4-6 hours of riding with everything nearby, it's pretty easy to do this time of year, the real gamble is if you don't like the two blues and the two main reds, then you've not got a lot of riding to do!

@ChrisL you really should add Dyfi (bike park and forest) to your itinerary if you get the chance.

417 is my 'local' only a 10min drive away, but i visit fod 45min away around twice a month and 417 maybe twice a year - unfortunately the trails are all manufactured, sculpted and amoured at 417 due to the type of hillside and planning requirements, which definitely lets it down in comparison to other trail centers. It's worth a visit as the trails they do have are fun, but I would rather ride at fod/bow/windhill which are all further away for me.
The uplift is good, the push up is ok on an ebike, but not advisable on a regular bike. The cafe & staff are also great, it's just a shame they can't diversity the trails into the adjacent woods as even though the facilities are great you need great trails too for regular repeat visits.

417 is ok - nothing like BPW though. Much smaller hill and you can easily ride all the trails multiple times in a day. I haven’t been for a couple of years, but the one black they had wasn’t that difficult - but is the winter the top of it was a mud fest after going down a short narrow chute into a right hand bend.

Dirt Farm (formerly Black Mountain Cycle Centre) is a good day out - I prefer that to 417 and (in the summer) to BPW. Not too much tech - more flow / jumps / berms etc. really fun.

Dyfi is obviously a completely different ball park - but depending on where you’re driving from it’s obviously much better than 417. Also much more difficult for the most part. I’m middling in terms of skill level - not very good at drops and gaps of any size - but loved Dyfi bike park. Rode all the reds and a few of the easier blacks. Plenty there for a day without having to do the most difficult runs

FOD is fun - the uplift is fine and you have the marked DH trails to go at. There are also various bits of unmarked trail around that area and if you didn’t mind skipping an uplift you could go along and do the enduro runs / other bits and bobs then pedal back along the fireroad to the uplift start.

I don’t think it’s a case of just staying up as mentioned above - as long as you have a decent front tyre on there for mud you’ll be grand. Magic Mary Soft / Hillbilly T7 or T9 / Shorty / Argotal / Verdict etc

Yes not really fair to compare 417 to Dyfi. Different markets entirely.

Dyfi is probably the closest thing the U.K. has to a genuine professional level training venue. It’s intimidating but a great feeling when you’re sat next to a Trek Factory Racing athlete on the uplift on a normal Thursday.

417 I can’t say a single nice thing about so I’ll stay quiet.

OP: Just go to FoD, or if you fancy a change then Dirt Farm isn’t much further away.

FOD & Dirt Farm for the win - both massive amounts of fun.

The only downside to Dirt Farm is the lack of a cafe.

FOD is miles better imo but I do like 417. This might have just been a slump but last time we were there was probably the worst I've been there though- the uplift was blatantly over capacity (there were 2 buses running together, and it was pretty standard for both to fill up and leave a queue, which I'd never seen there before), and some of the more natural feeling trails were pretty hammered, especially the upper black- I think they'd been putting all the effort into building new stuff. Also the cafe was a ghost of its former self, hardly any options, it used to be excellent.

But, it was still a good day. It's nicely different from most uplifts, it's got that "trailcentre with an uplift" feel which works really well as a lower effort day or even just a break from the others.

But I'd 100% go to the FOD, it's just the better option. Or Dirt Farm as mentioned, though I don't like that so much if it's been wet- basically I like pinballing down it with total abandon and when it's slippy a lot of the joy goes out if it for me.

I went to 417 a few weeks ago, for the first time. It's a fun day but the trails are too short, it could be amazing if they could extend the length of the trails and purchase some adjoining land. They manage to pack a lot into a small hill side. I would be picking BPW/FOD over 417 every time.

417 does flow trails much better than FOD IMO. Don't plan to ride up unless you have an ebike otherwise it'll mostly be a push. I've taken friends who've not done uplift before and they've loved the ability to repeat trails a lot through the day and learn from each run.