What makes a good 4x track..

[Shane J]

I am in the process of building a 4x track at Brisbane's MTB Park.
It will be 400m plus long and it is all DH.

I would like to know what people like in a 4x track.

[Scott]

I think lobb st. in ipswitch was a fine example.... a more dh oriented track might prove to be quite interesting.... i would love a track that starts like most 4x's, gets into dh, then finishes 4x.... but then again, thats just me...

[Turley]

Flow flow flow! The track has to flow! Be nice and wide for 4 bikes and have a few corners unlike a few of the other tracks around hte place. All dirt, and perhaps even a drop in there to stuff up the BMXers a bit :) I definately agree that the Lobb street track now rox! Its a fun track to ride, not super difficult and has plenty of passing opertunities. Make sure the jumps are in proportion so ie, the down ramp is in the right size and right shape for the speed you will be hitting the kicker. Everything must also be able to be rolled over so the Cgraders who ain't super confident at jumping can still roll/scoot the doulbe, triples and stutters.

SPECTATORS MUST BE ABLE TO SEE THE ENTIRE TRACK TO THE LAST JUMP! Very important part of any 4x track design!

[Shane J]

Turley.. You sound like u know what is involved. Next time you are out at the park you can have a go at designing it.. 8)

[DOM]

Make sure there is a nice elevated start .. sprints suck .. and your sprinters will always win on the start .. if you make something elevated at the start it gets riders off to the same start and then the best cornerer jumper basically will win. The Track must be flowly like Turley suggested .. all jumps must be difficult yet easy enough to roll over in sticky situations .. have a nice Woops section with nice sized woops which can either be doubled or trippled or rolled over.

Make sure the berms are nice and big .. you want 4 guys to hammer them and enough room for a guy to go inside on the berm.

Also a Good 4x track has many different lines .. something Glen Jacob's always added to his tracks .. the tracks in cairns allow a rider to go inside line .. and then come out peddalling for another double whereas the guy on the top of the berm comes straight into a double rather then having a straight because he already got enough speed on the berm.

This allows riders to attempt passing on different jumps etc. There will always be a faster line but in race conditions anything goes.

I know you have already had a visit from Glen, So i suggest you give him a yell cause hes the Master of 4 cross.

www.cairnsmtb.com
has some fine pictures of the cairns 4x tracks.

P.S Shane i sent you a PM

[Shane J]

Thanks for the input.

I have just sent Glen an email, he walked up the area I am putting the 4x down..

[Ryan]

A good idea if you're looking to tame BMX riders / sprinting gurus out of the gate is a gate drop as used in the X-Games downhill BMX course ie: A 3-4 foot drop STRAIGHT out of the gate and onto a downramp. The use of this drop at the first DHBMX really screwed with the racer boys and made for more exciting racing as everyone seemed to struggle equally with it. Other than that, big jumps that can be rolled by ppl who can't jump them, big berms you can fit 3-4 guys on and plenty of alternate lines.

[DOM]

the big drop would be mad .. but your newbies will hate ya.

[Fat_Ride]

Make sure everything is rollable... the only reason I say this is that you want to, especially at the mtb park, make it enjoyable for all riders. There are more and more kids starting up and we have to support them. After all, turning a double into a flowing tabletop for example can make everyone happy. Id also recommend nice smooth high berms and a decent on ramp.
I will defiantely have to venture up to queensland to check out this park... it seems awesome.

[fastrider gus]

[MOD - Ryan] - If you don't have anything intelligent to add to the conversation, please refrain from posting.

[curtisrider]

big jumps(including doubles), high berms and a wide track it also need to have various passing points

[Ty]

ok heres one that some people disagree with, make it rough enough that it would be slower to do on a BMX, i reckon you could get around Lobb street and the Mogil track quicker on a 20 inch, make something that forces you over rougher ground that mountain bikes are designed to ride over.

[Shane J]

Ty, what would you have in mind?
Sounds good...

This site is giving some great feedback. Thanks guys..

[Ryan]

For roughening the course up; why not put in a field of moguls on one of the straights, just small mounds of dirt placed randomly all over the place, making people pick their lines. Another good idea is another G.Jacobs invention; "Gutter sluts" think reverse whoops, instead of building mounds of dirt up above the ground, dig three or four parallel trenches about half a foot to a foot deep and a few feet apart. There's no way anyone can negotiate gutter sluts fast, they are an honest to god prick of a feature and a huge challenge to any rider.

[Ty]

stutters, rough lines with rocky sections, imperfect take offs for the jumps, basicaly a wide mountain bike track with jumps, wasn't glen going to send you some plans for tracks?

[Shane J]

He was sending me track plans for the DH tracks. I emailed him today about the 4x.

[sxereturn]

A really nice big finish jump. Maybe with water in the middle. And glass. And piranhas.

[Shane J]

Yeah thats great... Maybe when you come back with something more constructive I will listen to you..

[fastrider_ben]

big moto style doubles wide and long, big berms, switchbacks, road gaps, big step ups and step downs, studder sections and some kind of north shore section would be cool as never seen that before

[S.]

Step-ups into berms, step-downs at high speed (a la roadgaps).

[Stinky]

ok heres one that some people disagree with, make it rough enough that it would be slower to do on a BMX, i reckon you could get around Lobb street and the Mogil track quicker on a 20 inch, make something that forces you over rougher ground that mountain bikes are designed to ride over.

By rights, 4x is a mountian bike dicipline, therefore you are required to have at least 24 inch wheels and five working gears, so bmx and cruisers are not allowed.

Fair enough comment though because in reality you will get weekend riders use the track on BMX and cruisers.

[Ty]

i know the are not allowed; thats not the point.

[blacky]

lobb st is far from perfect,but it is a start,it is much harder building than talking,beleive me i know,when i started shaping lobb st in the bob cat it is so hard to build to you original plan but we stuck to it and decided to race the track and learn from that what worked etc ,lobb st needs to be wider and the start is way to flat,but it is a start . It will be good when some other tracks get built,1 thing i think we have acheived is 4x is alive again.

[Ty]

i don't think i've ever posted this

"some guy trying to hit the lobb st step up in his cruiser while roadie rob defends it with is life (or something like that)"
http://www.farkin.net/forums/albums/724.jpg

[Tom]

I think it needs at least one hip into a berm and some big flat doubles that you hit at top speed. The UK tracks are the ones to look at as they have been racing BSX/QuaD for as long or longer than anyone.

Is the Lobb st track rideable anytime or only race days?

[blacky]

any time tom
but if you ride it it would be nice if you help fix it on the club working bees,normaly before a race

[blacky]

ty i was going to run over rob but you took a photo ,he would have made a good lip for the jump

[Roadie Rob]

Thanks Jase ya bugger actually thinking of going out tommorrow wath ya doin'