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loving the look of it but which should I ride?
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That is the Syfydrin Trail. The first section on the video is more or less right out of the visitor centre. The rest of the trail has some lovely back country secions with an 'out there' feel to it and some brilliant super high speed double track rocky descents
Lst time I rode it a mate who was leading the group took us on a 15km detour around the head of one of the valleys. It really made for a great day out.
I loved Syfydrin... On paper, it's not that good- tarmac bashing, long draggy climbs, some very basic riding really in places. But as a package it just works so well. Also has both the best and worst trailcentre climbs I've ever done.
Another +1 for the Syfydrin. I did 2 laps of it the other week. It hurt but it's a good trail. If you just want trail centre thrills then it won't appeal but as a mixed XC ride it's perfect.
Northwind- I know what you're referring to when you say worst climb ever, but what's the best one? I can't remember thinking 'this is an amazing climb, I must do it again' at any point during the 2 laps.
If memory serves it was in the fireroad bashing section on the way back in- basically a really eroded/gullied landrover trail, fairly steep and all about line choices and bursts of power. TBH it might not have lasted like that, it didn't really feel like it was supposed to be that way! But it was mint.
Another vote for the full-length trail. You might as well unless you plan on lapping the shorter version.
More like a XC ride in the Dales for most of it - couple of nice fast doubletrack descents, a bit of slogging up, good views out to sea, and even a bit of tarmac.
If you're a trail centre devotee, you might find it unusual, but the man-made sections on the run-in are good as well.
I also loved the syfydrin trail.
Keep a bit in the tank for the last climb. 😉
Don't know what it's called, but the one that has the Zorro descent...now that was a laugh. The fire road climb was just a sit & winch while having a natter affair. The cafe is ace too. Probably my favourite Welsh trail centre.
@ martinhutch..I'm not a trail-center devotee at all but I love fast, flowey decents and if they happen to be at a trail-center then so be it. It seems most trail-centers build up to a final decent.. I liked the video above and thought I'd like to ride it. I have geared a lot of good things about Nant...
The fire road climb back up from the gate is a bitch, so boring, but worth it for the last section, as said it's just a case of granny ring & winch up. The standard loop, 8k? you'd want to lap for a full day out, but what we did was ride it complete once, then drove back up to the lake & lapped the top sections for a bit of fun/skill building. Is a good centre, and less than an hour for me 🙂
Mark of Zorro is bitchin'.. 8)
As is Italian Job.
...just don't get distracted admiring the view while whoopin' the pumps and switch backs.. 😉
If you look at the maps you can easily combine the Summit and Pendam trails. That will get you all of the available man made singletrack if you are after a pure trail centre hit. The bits round the lake (particularly Hippity Hop) are easy to keep repeating. Personally I skip the very northern bit of double track on the Pendam as its just climb and descend on forest road for no singletrack. Instead I use road + track to get to the the top of Hippity Hop (obvious on map).
Maps here;
http://www.mbwales.com/en/content/cms/Centres/Nant_yr_Arian/Nant_yr_Arian.aspx
What tommies said. Sydfrin is a nice big loop in open country but you get more smiles by looping summit trail twice plus pen darn bits. Cafe good and catch the kit feeding. You'll see very few other cyclist there which is why it's in such good surface condition.
Something else to add. When it's wet, it's one of the best places to ride. You'll be soaked but clean.