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★★☆☆☆

“very average. not as thorough as id have liked.”

written by Iammoregingerthanu on 06/11/2012

In whole i didnt feel like i had got value for money. I paid the same for a 3 day course part 1 and part 2 as someone doing a 3 day course cbt part 1 and 2?

in summary:

a little disorganised and could have been more informative noone seemed to know what was happening

not as intensive as id have liked. not really a 3 day intensive course. probably had little over 10 hrs on a bike in total and no classroom work/debrief. Dare i say it not a professional outfit.

a little misleading. bit of a gamble. If you fail any part at any stage you have LOST YOUR MONEY. there is no getting out of the fees you paid. this was not explained to me prior. i only found out when asking on day 1! they will continue your training but for little return

accomodation is clean and basic. the owner good fun and appears to be the only one who genuinely cares if you pass. However please note the accommodation is a distance from the training center and the instructors arent in a hurry to give you a lift. i ended up with 3 people in my 2 seater van every day. The center is not what it appears on the website. I was expecting a riding centre with attached accommodation and appropriate facilities. Dont really have such a problem with it but not what i was expecting.

the bikes are not very well maintained. i imagine it is hard to maintain bikes that are abused like these. mine needed new chain and drive and the brakes were pretty poor.

day 1:
The 1st day was spent with chris. 1st we went to collect someone from the test centre then rode to preston where i sat in a cafe waiting for another guy to fail his theory. in whole i learnt nothing on this day and found the instructor pretty useless. more interested in showing off his knowledge on other matters than teaching me anything. there was a point where i thought the radio had broken. also found his manner quite cocky.

day 2:
massive improvement cant remember the guys name but was a lot more hands on. only criticism is the lack of positive feedback. Handy to know what your doing right! didnt explain things as thoroughly as id liked just the bare bones. talked me and another guy through the part 1 and gave us some practice on a retail park. no advice on bike handling-not braking in corners etc. lucky for me i had some bike experience but i seriously thought the other guy was going to crash on a couple of occasions. i had one lesson before using west pennine that had a speed gun to give you an idea of how fast to go. no such luxury here all down to the individual. not a massive investment at £60. Then went for part 1 which i passed.

day 3:
stayed in bed for the morning and arrived at the training centre an hour before my test as instructed. unhappy to find i was the only person there. 15 mins later the instructor arrived to take me for a short ride before my test. Dont blame west pennine for my failiure on my part 2, examiner said i should have waited before overtaking, i disagree!! but that has no bearing in my opinion on west pennine.

Oh and blackburn is not a nice place to ride.

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