Help, Sherwood Pines, early November -rental and is it worth it?

[Nigeyy]

So I'll be back in the old country in early November and will be in North Notts. I won't be packing up a mountain bike and taking it with me, so I'm looking for some help:

1. Sherwood Pines,is it worth it? FWIW I'm a XC no huge drops kind of person, fat and slow and used to New England rocks and roots. Any other good places in that area?
2. Bike rentals -I saw http://www.sherwoodpinescycles.co.uk/hire-bikes/ -has anyone used them, and are they decent bikes? Any other easy to get to alternatives in the area?

All suggestions welcome!

 

[PeteXXX]

Last time I went to Sherwood Pines was a couple of years ago, so if it's changed, apologies.. Can't comment on the bike hire either but they say the MTB's are Scott and Felt.

There's nothing mega difficult or challenging on the trails there, but it's quite good fun. More XC than full on MTB
The other place relatively nearby is ~Cannock~. You can hire MTB's there as well. It's more challenging than Sherwood, but most of the lumps and bumps are rollable or have chicken runs.
Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Motozulu]

Found Pines quite boring and pedally, tbh - Cannock much more fun.

 

[Nigeyy]

well thanks, Cannock might be a bit more of a trek for me (got no transportation, and Sherwood Pines is very close to family where I'm staying). I think I'll give it a go -if the bikes aren't any good, I'll just go for a walk instead!

 

[Hacienda71]

I did Sherwood Pines this summer as we were staying near there on a family holiday. It is predominantly flat and not too technical, so it is never going to be like one of the hilly trail centres. All that said I enjoyed it and hammered the red route on my own first as I had my bike with me and then with my son and his mates and their dads who hired bikes at the centre. The bikes were OK for their purpose, iirc most were Scott, but not that good. The forks were pretty crap and some of the saddles were pretty shoot. There is a lot of flowing single track and a skills section, so it is what you make it and if you like xc then I suspect you will enjoy it. Definitely better than not going, you just have to put a bit of effort in.

 

[Motozulu]

Yes fair comment I suppose - if you have no choice then yes, Pines is better than nothing.

 

[Nigeyy]

OK, so I did end up going... and enjoyed it.

Just in case this helps anybody else, it is exactly how other posters have described -the red "difficult" trail isn't difficult at all (though there is an interesting jump section). It is definitely more XC and certainly if you charged around it would be more difficult, and I did like the banked sections which do encourage you to go a bit faster than you might usually do so. But all in all, not challenging (and that's saying something as I'm pretty much one of the least skilled slower riders out there) but it's certainly pretty. I also was very suprized at the volume of bike traffic -as well as the quality of bikes out there, a lot of money!

Parking was 6 quid for all day, and I think 3 quid for 3 hours, so paid for all day as I wasn't sure how long we'd be. On site cafe, which was handy to get a coffee. Went quickly into the on site bike shop just to be nosey, looks well equipped.

So, I'd recommend it just for getting a workout and the prettiness and convenience of it, and probably an excellent introduction for first time mtbers -but if you are looking for technical and aren't in a hurry for a cardio workout, I'd say go else where.

 

[screenman]

The faster you go the more exciting it gets.

 

[Motozulu]

It's only worth it if you are local - otherwise, not really worth travelling any distance.

 

[HLaB]

OK, so I did end up going... and enjoyed it.

Just in case this helps anybody else, it is exactly how other posters have described -the red "difficult" trail isn't difficult at all (though there is an interesting jump section). It is definitely more XC and certainly if you charged around it would be more difficult, and I did like the banked sections which do encourage you to go a bit faster than you might usually do so. But all in all, not challenging (and that's saying something as I'm pretty much one of the least skilled slower riders out there) but it's certainly pretty. I also was very suprized at the volume of bike traffic -as well as the quality of bikes out there, a lot of money!

Parking was 6 quid for all day, and I think 3 quid for 3 hours, so paid for all day as I wasn't sure how long we'd be. On site cafe, which was handy to get a coffee. Went quickly into the on site bike shop just to be nosey, looks well equipped.

So, I'd recommend it just for getting a workout and the prettiness and convenience of it, and probably an excellent introduction for first time mtbers -but if you are looking for technical and aren't in a hurry for a cardio workout, I'd say go else where.

I was going to say based on my one time mtb there its exactly what you are looking for

no huge drops kind of person and used to New England rocks and roots

except its Old England rocks and roots and you'll enjoy it but I see you have

 

[Kajjal]

The red route is good for a couple of runs round if you like xc riding rather than loads of jumps. It can get a bit wet in places so best to check with someone who has been recently.