.jpg) And still come to Wales......... 
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 I'll be sorry to see it go. I've never had problems with service or the food there (maybe I'm just not in a hurry). Spent a couple of days camping and riding there with a mate ealier in the year and the DropOff was great. The staff were friendly, the food was great and it was a nicer place to sit when is was pishing down outside then being stuck in my tent! Hopefully the new ventures for both parties will work out well.
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i thought a few years ago there was a new structure for regeneration ov places like this atleast six local welsh people will be losing there jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!! somebody needs a kick up the ass. great cafe great place great sorry to see it go.
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Well,well,well...!!!! Living in Warwickshire we have very little mountainbiking available to us, so a trip to Wales is allways good. If we go to Coed-y-brenan we normally have to book a place to stay... but Afan is just the right distance to travel there and back within the day,,, especially in the winter, 3 hour there, 4-5 hours riding, an hour in the cafe and 3 hours back... make a nice day of it that way!!! However, with the Drop off closed I don't think we will bother, as a visit in there was almost as exciting as the ride....... + essential in the winter... I bet all the other trail centres are loving it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PS, I actually went there one week day and the cafe was closed, we drove for ages trying to find some decent food and gave up in the end,,, had to go to the services on the motorway ( not good !!! )  
Drop off Cafe, RIP
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 Yeah - there's nowt else for miles!
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After this brief demonstration of chinese whispers, ending in its shutting! Do we actually have any facts, know what is happening, any ideas on who the new franchisee will be - etc Can the next person to go to the cafe ask, please.
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 Quote from another website - "Following submission of Business Plans and presentations by the potential operators a spokesperson for the Co-operative said: “I am pleased to be able to inform you, that Skyline Cycles, who already operate a successful mountain bike business at the centre, will be taking over the lease for the café early in 2010.” A spokesperson for Skyline Cycles said: “We are delighted to have been successful in our bid to operate the café and to have the opportunity to expand our business further into providing first class services to mountain bikers at Glyncorrwg. We are looking forward to the challenge of not just maintaining the reputation that the Dropoff has deservedly achieved over the last five years, but the challenge to make it even better.”"
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 That will be skyline cycles who charge higher than rrp for brake pads at their on site bike shop, knowing they have a captive audience.
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 Yes, yes it would.
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That will be skyline cycles who charge higher than rrp for brake pads at their on site bike shop, knowing they have a captive audience. Like most bike shops at trail centres they like to capitalise on their audience. It's called Market Forces and the retail industry in capitalist societies thrive (and sometimes) rely on it. Nobody forces you to buy the pads there. If you fail to keep your bike maintained to a reasonable standard before you go to these places then it's the price you pay.
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 That's a fair point...
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I would say its exploiting the market, rather than fair market forces. Just because its legal doesn't mean its moral. Morality and legality quite sadly have no relation in business practices. And pad wear is frequently nothing to do with brake maintenance, I have gone through several pairs over a weekend at afan, and been forced to pay their prices. Not a mistake I will make again, I now keep at least half a dozen pairs of pads in my tool bag, all quality pads bought at a reasonable price
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If they didn't make money, they wouldn't be in business. I've no problem with them making a bit more from unprepared MTBers, and having once met a group (of 3) on the Skyline who had only one spare tube between them, and a lack of patches... Hopefully they will keep the good stuff at cafe (food quality and quantity, service, menu type, opening hours etc) - time will tell.
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I don't fit in with this world.
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 That will be skyline cycles who charge higher than rrp for brake pads at their on site bike shop, knowing they have a captive audience. Like most bike shops at trail centres they like to capitalise on their audience. It's called Market Forces and the retail industry in capitalist societies thrive (and sometimes) rely on it. Nobody forces you to buy the pads there. If you fail to keep your bike maintained to a reasonable standard before you go to these places then it's the price you pay.
My only experience with Skyline was when, while trying to bed my new brakes/pads in on the ride from B&B to centre and having my front brake hose popping out of the lever (pissing fluid everywhere), I had to get an emergency fix done to ride with buddies. They dropped everything, then spent over 1.5 hours cleaning it up, refitting it (dodgy olive/blocked hose/etc from new), rebleeding (multiple times due to not knowing about the blockage) and then double checking rear brake too, to save any nasty surprises out on the trail. Total cost: GBP 15 (sorry, no Pound sign on Canadian keyboard.. .) No faulting that, maybe they just felt sorry for me?
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Sounds like bloody good service to me, I certainly wouldn't complain about that.
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 They're pricey yes, but well stocked and knowledgable.
Also even if you maintain your bike, things break, you can't take a spare everything with you.
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Fair enough, things break, yes, but regular maintanence reduces the risk and makes it easier to spot any potential failure points. But breaks are by their nature unpredictable. The point in question was brake pads which didn't break, they wore out. TBH I'm trying to work out how anyone managed to get through several pairs of pads in one weekend. I'm still using the same set that have been used at Dalbeattie, Kirroughtree, Glentrool, Llandegla, Canoock Chase, and Hanchurch Woods over the past few months. And to believe that morality comes into retail business is just naivety. If they wanted to be moral they would run a charity, not a profit making business.
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I don't believe that morality comes into retail, but I believe it should. I don't have a problem treating people fairly and morally in my life, I don't see why that should be dismissed as a reasonable expectation in everyone's life. That's what law and representation are meant to bring us. Its not naive, I can see that's not what we actually have, but i'm not going to look at exploitation and say "good on them" and blame the victim.
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 And to believe that morality comes into retail business is just naivety. really ? seems as it's inforced by law
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