Reviews for Gwydir Mawr Mountain Bike Trail

Summary:
Dull apart from last drop back to carpark

Review:
Have caravan close by, so my local in wales. Fist climb up a bit of single track then fireroad, first decent ok but short then back onto fireroad, climb more fireroad, few bits of singletrack ups n downs then massive drop down fireroad???? why o why.. then more up n downs back to cross the trail on way up from carpark...
now the fun bit is the descent back to carpark- nice fast rocky flowing.
Now i just ride up to this and loop back to carpark...
the rest is only for xc run

Summary:
In need of a serious overhaul.

Review:
When the Marin first opened it was a godsend to riders in the area and further afield. I feel the base in many sections was built to narrow. What has resulted after years of use are sections barely a foot wide with drops either side - like a bumpy narrow-gauge railway track. These sections need to be hammered down and widened to improve the flow of riding. There is still of course buckets of good singletrack making it well worth riding. I'm not a big fan of wet conditions but I think the Marin suffers less than most trails as it drains quite well. Score is for present condition - In better condition this would be a good 9.

Summary:
The faster the better

Review:
First time around it's a bit of a slog. The initial uphill seems to go on forever and there's a couple of bits on tarmac (one particularly short steep ascent 1/2 way around). There's also a short section that you'll need to get off and carry for a hundred yards or so which is a pain so all in all, it doesn't really flow that well. Yes, it is beginning to fall apart in some sections but then so what - it's a mountain bike trail, not a country garden. I went round 1st time in 2hrs 15, had a sandwich then blasted round again in 1hr 58mins and it was a better ride for it. I agree with 'shunt11' above - you need to really attack this trail to get the best out of it.

Summary:
You have to go up and down mountains.

Review:
Great fun trail for real mountain bikers. Don't be put off by talk of climbs and lost altitude it's an MTB Trail not a Downhill Course. It is very technical in places and flowing in others, it's a great mix. The only problem is that earlier reviewer who spoke about a topless bikini bike wash is lying. I keep looking for her, in fact I did the trail again today and after 27k I was on the last 20m of singletrack just before rejoining the car park and I stalled because I was concentrating on looking for the bikewash and nearly fell off- Lesson learned there then. My advice is go and have a good ride at the Marin there is something for everyone.

Summary:
You need to remember this is an old, old trail.

Review:
By the standards of the trails built these days I simply think that thhis just doesn't hack it. The amount of altitude gained is just lost and it never really gets going. I would ride half way up the first climb then tear off to the right, joining the track at about post 72 and fly down the last 2km of decent desent. Thats about the best piece of it unless you like uphills with no downhills afterwards in which case you are a helmet.