DemitriN Posted June 3, 2015 Share In the biking videos I watch I've noticed that a great many of the mtb trails in the UK, US & elsewhere appear to be littered with well manicured dirt jumps, tabletops, rollers, wooden berms, fun looking ladder drops, etc. Our SA trails seem quite basic and limited in comparison! I'm really keen to do more jumping, but where? I bike mainly in the Tygerberg region and apart from a few drop offs at Contermans, there really doesn't seem to be too much available. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest notmyname Posted June 3, 2015 Share Invest in some trail building tools, get in touch with the trail builders and get busy building. #justsaying Paul Ruinaard, nonky, cobus3000 and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisan Posted June 3, 2015 Share If you believe enough in the trail-fairy a well manicured trail with dirt jumps, tabletops, rollers, wooden berms, fun looking ladder drops, etc will appear! nonky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpShift_Cycles Posted June 3, 2015 Share We try but you just cant compare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mntboy Posted June 3, 2015 Share In the biking videos I watch I've noticed that a great many of the mtb trails in the UK, US & elsewhere appear to be littered with well manicured dirt jumps, tabletops, rollers, wooden berms, fun looking ladder drops, etc. Our SA trails seem quite basic and limited in comparison! I'm really keen to do more jumping, but where? I bike mainly in the Tygerberg region and apart from a few drop offs at Contermans, there really doesn't seem to be too much available. Any suggestions?A variety of reasons Demitri but mostly because our trails are built on private land and/or government land and the owners/SANParks don't want to get sued. This leads to trails being dumbed down and none or very few of those cool features getting built. Â For now do two things: visit Chris Nixon's Cycling Academy, their pump track has some awesome features like A frames and join a trail builders group, like the one for Tokai. Maybe get a hold of Table Mountain MTB as they may have a trail building group as well. DemitriN 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JXV Posted June 3, 2015 Share Personally I prefer my trails as natural as possible... GreatGusto, Rapunzel, Mojoman and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niterider Posted June 4, 2015 Share Speaking for the local trails that our club has built (East Auckland), the reason they are the way they are, is because that's what we decide to build. No-one here has any interest in miles of boring track with no features. All new tracks need to be approved by the land-owners, but they leave it up to us as to what we build - their main concern is whether the tracks might damage the forest, not whether we damage ourselves whilst using them. And although most of our tracks are technical and involve steep downs, slippy roots and off-camber (by design), and are best suited for mid-travel trail bikes with dropper posts, that doesn't stop the teenage xc race-whippets from riding them on their hardtails. The thought of riding miles of dirt-roads with no technical or fun bits and calling it "mountain biking" would mostly be met with laughter here. If you're not happy with the trails that your club is building I would suggest that you need to speak up and get more involved, to have more influence over the trail choices that are made. DemitriN, G00SE, Robodog and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pure Savage Posted June 4, 2015 Share Take a weekend away to Knysna and do the garden route tail park, it will blow your mind. Has all the things you want to hurt yourself on Oomkool, nonky, DemitriN and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Mans Posted June 4, 2015 Share Not much defense of our trails popping up here so far??? We do have places that provide pretty much everything you're looking for. You just need to actually get out there and look for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted June 4, 2015 Share G spot, g land, Nixon cycling academy, potato trails, new jump and enduro lines on black hill, contermanskloof, cascades manor in paarl, paarl monument, what jonkers used to be... Â All there. We favour raw trail to manicured flow trails over here. Generally speaking. Easier to build and less impact on the surrounding environment Edited June 4, 2015 by El Capitan SAGecko, Eddy Gordo, Dicky DQ and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the nerd Posted June 4, 2015 Share Also our environment is a harder on trails than some others like Europe and North America, in all the awesome videos it's in forests and beautiful lush green areas where the moisture can keep the trails in one piece nonky, Captain Fastbastard Mayhem and GLuvsMtb 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicoBoshoff Posted June 4, 2015 Share Speaking for the local trails that our club has built (East Auckland), the reason they are the way they are, is because that's what we decide to build. No-one here has any interest in miles of boring track with no features. All new tracks need to be approved by the land-owners, but they leave it up to us as to what we build - their main concern is whether the tracks might damage the forest, not whether we damage ourselves whilst using them. And although most of our tracks are technical and involve steep downs, slippy roots and off-camber (by design), and are best suited for mid-travel trail bikes with dropper posts, that doesn't stop the teenage xc race-whippets from riding them on their hardtails. The thought of riding miles of dirt-roads with no technical or fun bits and calling it "mountain biking" would mostly be met with laughter here. If you're not happy with the trails that your club is building I would suggest that you need to speak up and get more involved, to have more influence over the trail choices that are made.I don't think that's what OP is referring to. Most SA trails (dirt roads are roads, not trails) are natural and challenging in their own way. OP is referring to bikeparks. We have those as well. Steilte trails are full of jumps and tabletops, the stuff in Paarl is more natural but still feature filled.  Contermans is natural but challenging. Jonkers was (and will again be) full of challenging features. We just don't do manicured, bike parky roller, roller, berm, table, roller, hip tipe trails here. G-spot has some of that and personally I find G-spot to be one of the most boring trails to ride (personal opinion !!). I've been to the Portes du Soleil, proper bikeparks there. Super fun and you want to go back, BUT even when we were there everyone sought out the more natural trails eventually, because those test you the most.We're blessed in SA with natural trails that aren't over-engineered. I like it that way (but also love me some tabletops!). Skubarra, nonky, Captain Fastbastard Mayhem and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted June 4, 2015 Share And how could I forget Steilte! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bat-ass Posted June 4, 2015 Share Come to Papa.... I mean Giba!!!We are spoilt in KZN DemitriN 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niterider Posted June 4, 2015 Share I don't think that's what OP is referring to. Most SA trails (dirt roads are roads, not trails) are natural and challenging in their own way. OP is referring to bikeparks. We have those as well. Steilte trails are full of jumps and tabletops, the stuff in Paarl is more natural but still feature filled. Contermans is natural but challenging. Jonkers was (and will again be) full of challenging features. We just don't do manicured, bike parky roller, roller, berm, table, roller, hip tipe trails here. G-spot has some of that and personally I find G-spot to be one of the most boring trails to ride (personal opinion !!). I've been to the Portes du Soleil, proper bikeparks there. Super fun and you want to go back, BUT even when we were there everyone sought out the more natural trails eventually, because those test you the most.We're blessed in SA with natural trails that aren't over-engineered. I like it that way (but also love me some tabletops!).I guess my point (not well made) is that you get what you build. And if there's some style of track that the OP can't find, then it's time to get involved with like-minded individuals to build that style. NicoBoshoff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cycling Addict Posted June 4, 2015 Share Speaking for the local trails that our club has built (East Auckland), the reason they are the way they are, is because that's what we decide to build. No-one here has any interest in miles of boring track with no features. All new tracks need to be approved by the land-owners, but they leave it up to us as to what we build - their main concern is whether the tracks might damage the forest, not whether we damage ourselves whilst using them. And although most of our tracks are technical and involve steep downs, slippy roots and off-camber (by design), and are best suited for mid-travel trail bikes with dropper posts, that doesn't stop the teenage xc race-whippets from riding them on their hardtails. The thought of riding miles of dirt-roads with no technical or fun bits and calling it "mountain biking" would mostly be met with laughter here. If you're not happy with the trails that your club is building I would suggest that you need to speak up and get more involved, to have more influence over the trail choices that are made.Hey NR - you got some pics or video footage of the trails your club has built? DemitriN 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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