your favourite trail feature

[dunndog]

^^^ wow, great photo of someone's crotch.

Yeah right?! Look at the size of his.. er… wheels!

 

[Genius Josh]

Rocky rooty slippery descents where you have almost enough traction to bounce down the trail but nowhere near enough to stop.

 

[pink poodle]

Bottle Shop.

Don't drink and ride. You can get in trouble with the law.

 

[clockworked]

hip jumps into berms/long landers, no real gap necessary, just a deep landing area. That and rocky, tech climbs on uphill sections

 

[andy73]

Tabletops - helps people to build their confidence.
Step downs - so much fun!

Then everything the others have said - get the most out of the terrain. One way I've seen to avoid braking bumps is one of the Warby tracks that will just kick slightly uphill before a tight turnt o help you wash off speed - no need to grab a fist full of brakes.

 

[pink poodle]

Thought I might give this a rebirth...

My local trails were hammered with traffic over the last 2 years. Along with the lengthy dry spell the trail surfaces have eroded a lot. In a few spots some little step like erosion barriers have been built to hold the trail together and this has given these trails a new lease on life.

 

[Ackland]

My favourite trails/features are techy, challenging but low(er) risk. The kind of trails that are technically Blue, can be ridden slowly with little to no risk but are quite hard to nail properly.
I prefer to keep my wheels within 300mm of the ground, no idea why jumping never clicked for me but I can confidently take on any black trail without non negotiable gaps.

Here in Adelaide, every dipshit on a 140mm+ travel bike will froth about how big they send it on gaps, step downs or tables but as soon as there's a trail that isn't bowling green smooth they whine like a busted levo motor.

Local mini network (shared but reasonable fun for an xc blast) used to have plenty of off camber and rocks which kept trail speeds down (and the walkers happy-ish) but it has progressively had all of the rocks removed and berms placed on every corner resulting in too much speed for the trail design.
Now there's braking bumps everywhere and it's eroding (so it's actually becoming fun again) and the bros are all complaining that there's no maintenance being done....

A Black diamond trail at a popular network was originally finished quite smooth but the builder knew that as it bedded, heaps of rocks would appear (and they have). In my old job I was being constantly spammed about returning it to BMX track spec...

Just waiting for the new trails we had built at Melrose to start having all the fun taken out in favour of knuckle draggers with 900mm bars and 60deg head angles that can't turn a corner or do front wheel lifts

 

[pink poodle]

Now there's braking bumps everywhere

Possibly my least favourite trail feature!

 

[Ackland]

Possibly my least favourite trail feature!

Except in this case, they're so big and early that you can use them to jump into the turns..

 

[pink poodle]

Except in this case, they're so big and early that you can use them to jump into the turns..

Sometimes Jerry puts the bumps where you want them. Many years ago I built a short not very steep line into a wall or berm to redirect traffic away from a similar bit of trail that had been destroyed by people who don't know how to berm. It only took a month or so for the steep section to be 1 long rut into the corner...where most of the traffic appeared to not be using the berm.

This is why we don't have nice things.

 

[caad9]

I rode the Cascades trail up at Lake Mountain last week and it has two very distinct halves which are great for trail analysis.
It had been two years since I had ridden it so there was a few changes along the way.

In my opinion, the trails up the top of the mountain are a lot more interesting and engaging.
I get to Arnolds Gap and think about how fun it was and how the rock slabs are so unique for the area.
After Arnolds Gap and the climb out of it, the trail is much more focused on flat out speed and big berms or jumps. It is enjoyable for sure, but I just prefer the top section.

Interestingly, towards the end of the trail they have signs for machine built or hand built, rather than A or B lines which is a nifty idea.

As a general rule, having the skills to ride a feature is more important to me than having the gonads for it.
Tech would win out over Hucks or big, pointless gaps

 

[leitch]

Interestingly, towards the end of the trail they have signs for machine built or hand built, rather than A or B lines which is a nifty idea.

Yeah, love this. Took me longer than I’d like to admit to decipher the digger/rake distinction I like that trail a lot, there’s a fair bit of variety.

I agree that the top section is great, pretty telling how many people recommend just doing from the ticket box down hah.

 

[ashes_mtb]

Fellow burners,

I am considering engaging in some trail building and want the trail to have some wider appeal than just me. So let me know what features you don't like to miss on a trail.

I have already looked through older threads and current trail talk where I am seeing a lot of reference to stakes, wire, broken glass, caltrops and land mines so think fresh.

I love b-lines. And c-lines if offered.

And the ground.

 

[Stredda]

I love a fast trail, be it rocky, smooth, loose or hard packed, if it allows you to hold a good speed, it's right up there in my books.
It's the reason Iron Tor at Penguin is one of my favorites.

 

[zooks]

Bit of everything for me, but mainly the steep'ish technical stuff. Feels like I have achieved something after doing it.

Also been getting better at doing drops, so don't mind them in the mix nowadays.

Recently went to Thredbo & Stromlo and LOVED all the trails on offer

 

[ozzybmx]

Just waiting for the new trails we had built at Melrose to start having all the fun taken out in favour of knuckle draggers with 900mm bars and 60deg head angles that can't turn a corner or do front wheel lifts

The trails up there never change... too much like hard work for visitors to move stuff or shortcut in a new line.

Heading up Thursday

 

[tubby74]

downhill into a nice big u turn berm that heads back up hill. you get squashed into the turn so plenty of grip in a very sharp turn. and slightly off camber flat turns, have to work the bike to carry speed.

 

[kbekus]

downhill into a nice big u turn berm that heads back up hill. you get squashed into the turn so plenty of grip in a very sharp turn

That's an awesome feature - if you're ever at Maydena ride Waratah, it has 2 excellent examples of that feature that are massive fun to ride.

 

[Freediver]

I thought about this for a while, it's trees and fresh air for me.

 

[frenchman]

Doubles.

Its always doubles. I hate the first hit, but after a couple of goes you realise how much dirt you would've wasted filling in a empty space that could've been used on other features. Extra spiciness if a case means you die as well.