Sue Savege from over at Bike-Fax sent me some info about a new book that’s just come out about trails in Snowdonia. I’m a big fan of North Wales and I think it has a lot to offer to riders in terms of trails, great facilities and friendly people and stunning scenery. In all it’s just about perfecto, especially when the weather is Scorchio! Scorchio! Scorchio!
“GETTING THE BIKE-FAX†the NEW mountain biking guide for Snowdonia. Sweet single track, gut busting loops and unbelievable downhill routes are all on offer in ‘The best mountain bike trails in Snowdonia’ which provides 25 of the area’s gems in a bright, neat and easy to use format. An interactive CD of the book also means readers can download routes and access bonus trail guides and with Bike-Fax waterproof paper print them off and use again and again……
Local mountain bikers Sue Savege, Paul Barbier and Dafydd Davis have taken note of the IMBA (the International Mountain Biking Association) who recently declared.. the mountain biking centers in Wales “offer some of the best new trails in the world.†They have ridden the mountains of Snowdonia forwards and backwards to put together this inspiring selection.
Chapters cover classics like Betws y Coed and the Gwydyr forest plus the Marin trail as well as Coed y Brenin and southern Snowdonia. There are routes for Llanberis and Beddgelert plus even Conwy Mountain and the coast. The guide gives a choice from hundreds of kilometers of thrilling handbuilt singletrack to mouth watering traditional rides across mountain and moor. Put all of them together with a good selection of local amenities, it gives the perfect purchase for a weekend’s riding in Snowdonia. Produced by Bikefax and available at www.bike-fax.com
Another Sue, Sue Heywood, is a big name on the Mountain Bike scene for her racing palmeres offroad. She’s currently with Trek/VW and there’s an interview with her up at Cyclingnews.com.
Saturday’s bike shop discussion involved a bit of talk about SRAMs Blackbox stuff. I think if you’re into offroad it has the same sort of kudos associated with it that Campagnolo Record has on road bikes.
You don’t see much of it, it’s alluring in a carbon kind of way, difficult to get hold off, expensive and works, but differently to Shimano. So there’s a definite appeal with Blackbox kit, but many people will be pursuaded to buy blackbox stuff because of the extensive list of riders that are prototyping and developing it in the field. An impressive list and some impressive brakes too.
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