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I'm staying near Taunton for a few days and will take my MTB for my first ride in the Quantocks
My brother in law will bring an MTB and I have a grown up nephew who would like to ride with us. I think this will be his first MTB ride.
So we could hire him a bike. If so where from?
Or I coould plan a less technical route and take my gravel bike. It's got 50mm tyres and is reasonably capable for a gravel bike. Can I plan a route say using the blue routes on Trail forks or will it just be miserably rough
Any thoughts appreciated
Find somewhere to hire a bike (sorry I can't hell there). I can't believe the tocks have changed since I was 21, bit they are rocky, can be steep and will likely still be amazing
MTB.
I think you could piece together a decent gravel ride but if you can, I’d hire/borrow a mtb.
MTB defo for Quantock. On a similar theme went to Peaks with the gravel bike, rode the beast and others so lots is doable on a gravel bike with chunky tires and a dropper, but it would have been MUCH nicer on the mtb and MUCH more fun
cheers guys
As I thought not much in the way of obvious MTB rental
I think it'll be a me ride o my MTB and a group ride with me on my gravel bike
When do you need a bike for? I could lend you a Norco Range Carbon for the day size medium if it’s of any use. Has various mods including a coil rear shock and 1x12 XT gears, everything works as of a couple of weeks ago….I’m 10-15 mins outside Taunton.
That’s a very very generous offer. However we are all 6 foot 4. But thanks
there is somewhere nr porlock that hires bikes, and ebikes.
Mountain Bike & E-Bike Hire - Exmoor Adventures
His first MTB ride and you are taking him to the Quantocks! Nothing remotely flat'ish there, its all up hill or down hill, he will either luv it or hate it and never ride again. A typical ride we do there takes in Smith's Combe, Hodders Combe & Lady's Edge, Weacombe and a trip down to the Blue Ball Inn for a cider or two is only about 20 miles but will involve over 3000ft of climbing. Which is probably why we see so many e-bikes there now. You need to do some careful route planing.
I tried to find somewhere to hire bikes in the area last year and had no success, even in Taunton.
You'll probably need to get over to Minehead but Dan at Exmoor Adventures will hire you a half-decent mtb (what Jam-bo said. No hire bikes in Taunton, unfortunately.
I've ridden plenty of the Quantocks on my Genesis Day 1 SS with 35mm tyres but tend to stick to the top ridge rather than taking in any combes. Start from Lydeard Hill car park and you can ride all the way along to the top to the trig point at the end and back.
I'm down there a week Wednesday if you want showing around
The route planned is mainly doing the ridge with just one easy descent and up.
I have a slightly harder route planned if it’s just me
But thanks for all the thoughts and ideas
I eventually worked out we could also just go to Haldon and ride there with a hire bike. But then I’d not get to try the Quantocks
I wouldn’t hugely recommend Haldon forest. I like it for taking my son out but he is already finding the most difficult route quite easy at the age of 12. There is more difficult off piste stuff but still fairly limited compared to the awesome amazingness that is the Quantocks.
Haldon might be "easy" but it's fun, particularly for a newbie.
There is more difficult off piste stuff but still fairly limited compared to the awesome amazingness that is the Quantocks
I'm lucky enough to live equidistant from both, and right on the edge of Woodbury (which is ace too!)
The Q's are amazing, but it's knowing where to look on Haldon. I did 40km of mostly off-piste up there last week 😁 just using the main trails to link up sections.
If you fancy letting me in on some of it please do! Ditto Woodbury which I’ve done a couple of times but failed to find anything that would make me go back more than once in a good while…
So today we road along the ridge from southern end with niece and nephew. There first mountain bike ride. We mainly stuck to the ridge with one easy down and up.
Lovely views and looking forward to more
Oh brother in law didn’t come declaring it too hot, resolving the bike situation
Beautiful time of the year to be here, a sea of purple at the mo.
@andylc - on Haldon most of it is difficult to say without showing!
There's a lot more now away from the central hub.
There's a very friendly Wednesday evening ride. 7pm up at the top of the old A38 cycle path. Takes in a chunk of off-piste most rides.
Woodbury - I ride there at least once a week,
Sunday mornings mostly, would be happy to be a guide.
There's a lot of nice single-track, mainly it's knowing how to string it together, but I've been riding there on and off for 25 years and not got bored yet.