Dargle DH race track

[acrider]

I've heard good things about this track like it's technical, skill testing nature and without too much pedalling.

Is it easy enough to learn the track in one day's practice ?
(As it's only seems to be open for practice during race meetings)

Committing a course to memory in just a few hours riding, then going flat out in blind corners has always been daunting.

What makes it more technical than most of the other Race tracks out there ?
Tight, steep Rock gardens or any big gaps ?

Thanks.

[Jordy]

steep,tight and rocky sums it up.... very hard track, this track has stuff you will not be able to walk down without falling over but if you can ride down it you will learn the track no probs... its onli a short track and everyone else learns it from one day

[acrider]

Sound like a steep head angle set up may be the way to go.

2.7 + recommended at the front ?

[Jordy]

2.5 maxxis high rollers the way to go

[brodes]

where is the track

[Jordy]

dargle sorta western sydney... near wisemans ferry

[and1]

Sounds fun, is body armour recommended? I have always gone with shinnies and full face and thats it.

I will most likely be there to give it a run.

[juzza]

ive heard from some other guys that the track is verrrrrry steep and technical with blind corners and a shitload of rocks. so if i were you body armour is the way to go. be prepared for a testing track....

[Daver]

yep.. it doesn't really flow either... but it is fun

[dugfast]

i was thinking of racing, but i dont know if this is a good first one to race on, ive only ever do old bathurst, chicken run, and elizabeth lookout in the blueys. reckon i should wait for a different track to do my first race on or jump right in?

[Jordy]

Sounds fun, is body armour recommended? I have always gone with shinnies and full face and thats it.

I will most likely be there to give it a run.

yes i do recommend body armour !!

[acrider]

I watched the video of guys racing at Dargle and it didn't seem that obscenely difficult not to race on for a first try.

Tight.....yes, but no more technical than parts of the old Oxford Falls race track or the tighter stuff at Ourimbah.

My only concern would be forgetting where the tight blind corners are,(under race conditions) and over running them majorly into the bushes. :oops:

Most of the fast guys on the Dargle video seemed to be pushing the front down hard over drops to maintain momentum, and there seemed to be a lot of stop-start tight stuff.

Looks like an excellent track though.


I am very keen to kick some old fart ass in the Masters :)
(If 11 guys show, I am top 10 for sure ! )

[Jordy]

I watched the video of guys racing at Dargle and it didn't seem that obscenely difficult not to race on for a first try.

Tight.....yes, but no more technical than parts of the old Oxford Falls race track or the tighter stuff at Ourimbah.

My only concern would be forgetting where the tight blind corners are,(under race conditions) and over running them majorly into the bushes. :oops:

Most of the fast guys on the Dargle video seemed to be pushing the front down hard over drops to maintain momentum, and there seemed to be a lot of stop-start tight stuff.

Looks like an excellent track though.


I am very keen to kick some old fart ass in the Masters :)
(If 11 guys show, I am top 10 for sure ! )

ummm well your footage must've been crappy coz i've ridden dargle once and ridden ourimbah lots and dargle is WAY harder and steeper

[acrider]

I wasn't saying Ourimbah is more techincally difficult than Dargle (as I've never ridden at Dargle), but it's all speed relative by the looks of it. The trickiest thing about Dargle seems to be going too fast into blind, tight rocky corners with trees either side, and over running the corners.

Lack of practice time, and track knowledge is probably the main culprit.

I agree though, the big loose rocks that don't show up on the video probably make it look a lot easier than it actually is, but that's what makes it more fun and challenging.

I'll definitely be there at the NSW State race, hopefully not getting too intimate with those trees.

[Jordy]

yea man you will see for yourself....the ourimbah track doesnt take much skill to roll down.... dargle really tests you

[acrider]

2_fast-4-u,

You may have had 31 seconds on me at the long course at Thredbo, but that was my first ever race....ever, and it was on an AC.

With my DHR208, I plan to kick your ass this time, and bring that 31 down to 30. :)

Maybe, change that name to 2_slow_4_u.

Just kidding mate.

I agree, Ourimbah is not a testing track, but my point is any track is difficult if you go a bit faster each time, at your own personal limit.

You've answered my questions about Dargle and your advice racing there in exactly the input I was looking for, so thanks dude..

[Jordy]

lol its cool man.... you would've gone faster on my avanti frame though :P when was the thredbo race ? the national round or the state round ?

[acrider]

National Round last December.

That ADX is probably faster dude, but that colour clashes with my helmet.
:)

Are most guys really using 2.5 highrollers at such a steep technical track like Dargle ?

I was thinking of trying a Super Tacky 2.7 Minion this time with a 2.5 on the back.
What u think ?

[Jordy]

oh k national round i crashed :P ummm i've only got high rollers and mud tyres so i dunno.... highrollers will be the most popular tyre there on the day i recon

[bb7 rider]

go 2.7 front just for the rocks i reckon plus its quite sandy in a few off camber turns and the extra width will be usefull as these are the corners you will need to get right in order to make the track flow if you mess them up you will end up why off track, any advantage of running the thinner tyre is not there cause it is very steep, i would even think about 2.7 front and rear lower pressure and miss the rocks just because those corners are hard and very important.

[Daver]

how about a michi comp 32 front and rear? i ran those and they were perfect, although a 2.5 comp 16 wouldn't be much worse!!!

[and1]

I might have to give dargle a miss, unless I can get enough money to buy some more armour, don't want to hammer myself in the first state round. There is still canberra, killingworth and ourimbah.

[RCOH]

I raced at Dargle for a whole season with WSMTB last year and found the track scary at first but you get used to it after a couple of runs.

It is basically 4 drops/rock chutes linked together by some twisty st & a couple of off camber corners. There are chicken lines around 1st (sometimes) 3rd & 4th drop. 2nd drop has two lines, but the one that looks hard is easier if you go fast

basically the track goes like this:

from gate go about 10m into a series of rock ledges, turn right follow single track for about 50 over a rock garden (jumpable) then tightish left hand turn into first drop. Drop from side rock (1-4ft) into verysteep rock shoot into tight left straight into tighter, stepp right turn. Dodge tree then head down to 2nd drop, left hand line is easier if you go really slow, A line is easy if you just take off brakes and drop. This leads into off camber section, a bit sandy, then a slight up hill section (5m) dodging a tree then a very fast downhill section with a small log lump then kind of come in to right hand rock/wall ride/drop off into tight rockgarden left hand turn. This leads into third drop which is aither a steep rocky 'staircase' that veers round to the right or a 4-5ft drop into very steep rocky landing (someone broke their back here last year ). Then it is a short run of singletrack before final left turn into 4th drop, about 6-7ft to landing, but you can roll it, then a 50m sprint to finish round a mellow righthander.

hope this is of some assistance:)

It is a really fun track to ride, & pretty quick. My fastes time is just under 2 minutes, i think either rick boyer or amiel have record time of 1.19 or 1.20 ish.

[acrider]

Great description.

Thanks RCOH.

[and1]

Sounds fun, hope i can get some armour in time, 7 footers on a DH track would be mad.

[bb7 rider]

i was there last yr when the dude broke his back, it was when the sporties where on and everyone was yelling " crash crash crash" cause so many of them where and then this guy just got absolutly drilled. needless to say we all went quite.

[yamum884]

just wondering did the guy that broke his back wear armour?

[fog]

farkin idiot if he didnt

[Jordy]

i dunno if he did but it wouldn't have saved him... he landed straight on his head

[RCOH]

he wasn't wearing armour, & all through practice he took the 'B' line, but tried the drop during his race run

He got taken away on a stretcher, but an hour or so later he got up & drove home. His mum or GF or something made him go to the hospital & have an x ray where they found broken vertebrae.

[Woodsie]

You can see that ROCH has been having lots of sleepless nights dreaming about this track. :wink:

[bencam]

FWIW - I rode a club round at Dargle with some mates last year as my first ever DH race. Previous experience was mainly oldbathurst social rides (and not too many of them).

Main things I noticed were:-

1. Track is more intimidating to walk than Old Bathurst - after a few practice runs this is negated but the last two drops will certainly test
2. There is little flow from drop section to drop - it's short and steep with a lot of tranversing side hills between obstacles
3. The chicken lines are almost XC rides as they loop a long way - buggers up your times but does give you a safer option

I took the conservative approach all day and went home in one piece. Number one objective for the day is not to get to know the Ambulance driver !?!?

Overall it's not the sort of track I'd go to for a social day with the boys but it is a good test of skill (and nerve). I'll definitely aim to ride a few rounds this year to see how I'm progressing (not interested in podium positions - just personal bests)

Hope this helps...

[Link]

Dargle is the best track around....end of story

It is the only race where people were actually freaking out and struggling to ride down it, it was real mountainbiking testing skill and, well, just how much bollocks you had (as opposed to how hard you peddled).

The trend of late seems to be racing on tracks my grandmother could ride down...dargle is a very welcome exception.

(and what were you saying heaps earlier in the post about wanting a steeper head angle for dargle....i rekon you'd be wanting it as slack as you can get it)

[acrider]

Does anyone have any decent video of these tricky sections ?
Thanks.

[RCOH]

Does anyone have any decent video of these tricky sections ?
Thanks.

come out to the freeride comp on fed 22 & do a few runs on the DH track whilst the rest of the riders practise the 'freeride' course.

[nitwit]

I am looking forward having a race there sounds sick.Had my 1st race at Ourimbah nationals track that was pretty tame.