Best AM Riding in Vic

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billyblanks27

Squid
Hi Guys,

Where is the best place for AM riding in Vic? You Yangs has some gnarly ish trails. I'm not talking double diamond or anything like that, more so just fun stuff with boulders. Is there anywhere else?

Also keen to know where the best AM riding is in Australia?
 
NS Capital Man

NS Capital Man

Likes Dirt
Lysterfield com games track has got some nice rock sections and lysterfield also has follow me which is just awesome. They're both double black diamond, but they shouldn't be.
 
IIITAK3NIII

IIITAK3NIII

Likes Dirt
I agree that follow me is AM but the comm games track is definitely not am, it's tame xc. I would suggest riding Lake mountain, it has some nice boulders etc. Plenty of am stuff out Warburton way and also in Kinglake but they are secret :tape:
 
NS Capital Man

NS Capital Man

Likes Dirt
Had a look on lysterfield map and the track I like to ride isn't actually comms game track it's just of it. It's called granite link it's a steep 200m technical decent so much fun.
 
B

benketch

Likes Bikes
I would really like to know where the AM riding in Kinglake is? Any chance it can be PMed? It would be much appreciated. I live inner melbourne at moment, but I am moving to the kinglake area within the next 12 months. At that point I'd be happy to help with trail maintenance if appropriate.
 
IIITAK3NIII

IIITAK3NIII

Likes Dirt
Secret trails are secret... Sorry bud.

Go out exploring the trails that run underneath the powerlines in kinglake, they are good fun.
 
IIITAK3NIII

IIITAK3NIII

Likes Dirt
Oh and Mount Buller is good riding too. It's mostly DH or XC but an all mountain rig would be the perfect ride for up there.

I havn't ridden Erica mtb park yet, but they have a few black diamond runs so I'm assuming they would be good fun too.
 
B

benketch

Likes Bikes
Fair enough...can't blame me for asking. I haven't explored the trails under the power lines, but it's been on my to-do list for awhile.

I think most of the buller tracks are best suited to either a DH or XC bike. I've ridden my 6 inch bike at buller quite a few times and I always wish I had either a proper DH bike on hand or a more xc oriented bike. Pulling the 6 inch bike around stonefly is a bit too difficult (at my fitness level anyway) and I rode the all mountain machine down the international trail and spent the whole time wishing I could give it more.
The one exception is the klingsporn trail. The 6 inch bike rips on that trail. I expect the new copperhead trail at buller will also be really good on an all mountain steed.

The red carpet run at forrest is also really good on an all mountain bike. It is fun on an XC bike, but an absolute blast on the slightly bigger bike.

What are the lake mountain trails? I've never ridden there but in the footage I've seen it looks quite xc oriented.

Like the opening post, it would be good to hear about other proper "all-mountain" trail riding around victoria or australia.
 
B

billyblanks27

Squid
Yeah agree Klingsporn is ideal for a 5-6 inch all mountain rig. I took my Ellsworth down it but wish i had bigger rotors than 6" on the front, 8" woulda been perfect.

Copperhead trail sounds good - is that open yet? and how long is it?
 
B

benketch

Likes Bikes
The copperhead trail is the new "flow" trail at buller. it's due to open on 3rd December. From what I understand, it's a fast flowy downhill trail that is suitable for both xc and downhill bikes. Given an AM bike is in-between, it should work quite well. I'm not sure how long the trail is but I assume it will be about the same length as other DH trails at buller. If you want to see more, there is a youtube clip of the trail floating around the internet.
 
hungrytiger

hungrytiger

Likes Dirt
benketch said:
What are the lake mountain trails? I've never ridden there but in the footage I've seen it looks quite xc oriented.
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Click to expand...
They are good fun, especially the initial drop down off the summit; but ultimately its an XC track. There is plenty of scope to put in some harder stuff though, there was talk of them extending the current track and providing different graded options off the top, but it looks like the funding has run out for now.
 
Beej1

Beej1

Senior Member
I WISH there were more of these types of trails here in VIC.

I was in the US throughout October. Before then I thought the idea of an "All Mountain" specific trail was ridiculous. Now I just think of it as: some trails are just perfect for a 160mm travel bike.

A few trails I rode come to mind as being very fitting of this description: Overall elevation loss with a combination of downs that are most fun on anything 160mm travel or greater, and climbs (some technical) that would suck on anything greater than 160mm.

The Whole Enchilada in Moab (approx 5 hrs), and the Downieville Classic DH trail in Downieville (approx 1 hr) are two of the best trails I've ever ridden, and perfect for AM rigs. Both could be ridden on anything from rigid SS to fully-fledged DH bikes (saw both on both). But 160mm was the sweet spot between, and my Nomad loved every minute of it.

I just wish we had something like it here. But we just don't have the elevation they do over there. That or the spots we do have it along the GDR are either really remote, privately owned or protected to the point that thinking about cutting a trail through it is a crime.

It's a shame, cos trust me when I say riding a trail with well over a kilometre of elevation loss that takes several hours is as close to heaven as you'll get.
 
retroenduro

retroenduro

Likes Dirt
nuclear_powered said:
I WISH there were more of these types of trails here in VIC.

I was in the US throughout October. Before then I thought the idea of an "All Mountain" specific trail was ridiculous. Now I just think of it as: some trails are just perfect for a 160mm travel bike.

A few trails I rode come to mind as being very fitting of this description: Overall elevation loss with a combination of downs that are most fun on anything 160mm travel or greater, and climbs (some technical) that would suck on anything greater than 160mm.

The Whole Enchilada in Moab (approx 5 hrs), and the Downieville Classic DH trail in Downieville (approx 1 hr) are two of the best trails I've ever ridden, and perfect for AM rigs. Both could be ridden on anything from rigid SS to fully-fledged DH bikes (saw both on both). But 160mm was the sweet spot between, and my Nomad loved every minute of it.

I just wish we had something like it here. But we just don't have the elevation they do over there. That or the spots we do have it along the GDR are either really remote, privately owned or protected to the point that thinking about cutting a trail through it is a crime.

It's a shame, cos trust me when I say riding a trail with well over a kilometre of elevation loss that takes several hours is as close to heaven as you'll get.
Click to expand...
hey mate come on some of our LDTR rides...we do have some of that stuff if you know where to look........not at lystie obviously tho.
 
2holdens

2holdens

Cannon Fodder
Hey,

I 've been following this thread for a bit and thought I'd put in my 2c... oh this is a first post

I've ridden quite a lot of these local AM trails mentioned on a 5.5" dually: Lake Mountain, You Yangs, Buller, Lysty, Forrest, Wombat, as well as my local trails (sorry, secret too :tape:), and yeah each has some good challenges.

Lake mountain - has some good sections, but it's quite slow for the most part. Like the designer wanted make it challenging and tech, but was told by management to keep it slow for public liability reasons. The 'surf' trail section is fun. For the most part, I just wanted to speed it up, flow more. The A-lines are not too challenging, B's a bit easy
Youies - yeah this great AM
Lytsy - I'd have to agree with this being quite XC-ish, but new additions and repairs since the reopening of the trails have been worthwhile, with some grin-inducing sections at Blair witch, granite trails and the berms at the end of the big hill climb
Wombat - The main trails here are fun, and while I haven't been up there for a year, there were some unmarked built sections deep in the woods that were showing real promise. I've gotta get back out there soon, but I hear it's been super wet/muddy/ripped up by motorbikes.
Buller - a bit like lake mountain for the XC trails, mostly made to slow one down and a little frustrating - but the new copperhead trails looks the business
Forrest - love it
Haven't check out Erica yet, but hear good things about it.

We do have some trails a bit of a drive away that are closer to true AM - in south coast of NSW. I spent some time riding the four local Nowra trails, Bermagui, Tathra, Kangaroo Valley, Southern Highlands etc, and we could learn from what they've done there. While a lot of it is trail/xc-ish, some of it is more challenging and really fun. They have a flow to them that maybe comes from the local trail builders being surfers too. The terrain isn't that different to some of what we have around Melb, except that they have sandy soil, which is awesome for grip and tackiness. It's be great to get more flow into our trails, I think.

cheerio
 
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