Mountain Biking

Despite the club's long history of riding on the roads, more and more of the club's members are coming from a background of off-road riding on mountain bikes and many 'roadies' are also turning to MTB for some greater variety in their riding. North Wales provides a wealth of venues for riding off-road, both in established centres like Coed Lllandegla, and in the great Welsh countryside.

There is a large and very varied racing scene off-road for all ages and abilities, and many sub-disciplines within the mountain biking category, including XC (cross country), downhill, and four cross. There is also a very large and growing range of non-competitive recreational events with distances to suit relative novices, right through to long-distance multi-day enduro events and even 24-hour events which are ridden solo or in teams.

As well as participating in organised events all over the country and internationally in Europe and beyond, club members also organise informal rides and welcome serious MTB enthusiasts as well as occasional riders, tailoring the ride and terrain to suit the skills of the group.

There are numerous disciplines within mountain biking:

Cross country (XC) the most common style of MTB, basically it's journeying on your bike over mixed terrain but not normally too technical, usually ridden on a bike with a short amount of suspension travel and lightweight.
Downhill, usually steep and technical, sessioning the same track with an "uplift", which is a lift back to the top of the hill as the bikes are very robust and heavy so pedaling is tough.
Enduro, a mix between XC and downhill. Enduro bikes or all mountain bikes have more travel than XC bikes and a tougher build to withstand more technical terrain.
Marathon, long distance XC is usually 50 miles+ and a lighter weight bike is helpful here.
Mountain biking compliments road riding, keeping your reactions fast and building upper body and core strength too.

Please contact our Mountain Biking ambassador if you have any questions.