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Singletrack Issue 51 – The Early Edition

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High street version. Pic of Sylvain Turcotte, Carcross, Yukon by Dan Barham.
High street version. Pic of Sylvain Turcotte, Carcross, Yukon by Dan Barham.
The bike shop and Subscriber edition.
The bike shop and Subscriber edition.
Contents pic by Dan Milner.
Contents pic by Dan Milner.

And here’s a rundown of the contents of Singletrack 51 “The Lost & Found” issue…

Etoile* handmade bicycles at Bespok...
Latest Singletrack Videos

7. Editorial
We’ve all lost a glove, or a shoe before haven’t we? Let’s remember those that are lost forever…

8. Lest We forget
Benji looks at the history of our rights of way network and the trails hidden under our noses.

18. Skye
It’s not just a long way away. Skye is a world away – but a world worth riding.

26. Blame the Dog
Mike Ferrentino mines the rich vein of internet forum knowitalls…

28. Singletrack Weekender
Did you miss the best event of the year? We didn’t…

30. Column – Philip Diprose
Philip is excited about bread and butter rides; home baked, local rides with friends.

33. Bike Test – New School Ti
Four Ti bikes designed for UK riding from Lynskey, Ragley, Van Nicholas and Whyte.

44. IMBA UK – Trans-Cambrian Way
Chipps rides the 100 mile, cross-Wales route over three days. Great riding and big scenery all to yourself.

52. Through the Grinder
More bikes tested in the wet/dry/wet UK weather.

64. Interview – Dom Mason of Kinesis/Upgrade Bikes
He’s one of the reasons that jump bikes look so good these days.

70. Column – Faye Stewart
What are the rules about trail diplomacy where you live? Faye knows hers.

72. Long Term Test Bikes
Here’s the result of half a year of testing and tweaking our own bikes.

80. Fitness – Race Fast!
Matt Hart gives out top tips for riding and racing fast, whatever your level of fitness.

85. Grouptest – GPS Units
Geoff Johnson shows you your options when it comes to electronic navigation.

94. Finding nirvana in the Picos Mountains
Two guys, two bikes, two bivvy bags and some Spanish mountains to explore. The two Jons go big in Spain’s Picos mountains.

100. Cycle 2009
Our favourite Cycle show of the year returns bigger and better. We’ll be there.

102. Column – Ed Oxley
Ed’s gone and lost a trail. In a small way, it was his fault for assuming it would always be there. You probably have trails like this one.

104. Propaganda
We’ve got spanky new tees for you to look good in.

106. Competition
Win a 2010(!) bike from Trek! A Trek 6300 to be precise.

108. Socks!
They’re always getting shredded or lost, so why not get inspiration for some new ones from our selection.

110. Scenes
Chipps rides with the Dangerous (mostly) Dads of Prestwich, Manchester. Three hours of urban singletrack just off the M60.

112. Subscribe to Singletrack
And get a free hipflask in time for winter!

116. Route Guide – Eastern Cairngorms
The Queen has Balmoral House there. She abviously knows a thing or two about great mountain riding.

126. Members’ Club
Discounts for all of our subscribers here!

127. Outro
It’s been a good month for silly pictures…

Orange Switch 6er. Stif Squatcher. Schwalbe Magic Mary Purple Addix front. Maxxis DHR II 3C MaxxTerra rear. Coil fan. Ebikes are not evil. I have been a writer for nigh on 20 years, a photographer for 25 years and a mountain biker for 30 years. I have written countless magazine and website features and route guides for the UK mountain bike press, most notably for the esteemed and highly regarded Singletrackworld. Although I am a Lancastrian, I freely admit that West Yorkshire is my favourite place to ride. Rarely a week goes by without me riding and exploring the South Pennines.

More posts from Ben

Comments (13)

    I hear the Bionicon Golden Willow review is very good

    suprise – I’ll say so I didnt even realise I’d renewed my subscription in time until I trod on the new mag when I came home yesterday!!

    Looks good and liking the Ti bike reviews but how do you reckon the Ti frames compare to the Commencal Flame VIP Ti you reviewed last year? (Issue 41 or 42 I think?)
    ..and did you ever stick 120mm forks on that like you said you wanted to?

    The Commencal Flame Ti was more of a rockety race-whippet of a bike compared to the bikes on test here. We didn’t stick longer forks on it as it was whisked off to another mag unfortunately.

    I hear there’s no gallery this issue – mine’s not arrived yet so I can’t confirm. that so?

    Gallery has been something of a struggle in recent issues. And we get so many ace pics (that we print uncluttered) accompanying the features and these pics keep the photo standard (quality and quantity) high. We’re currently assessing what to do with the Gallery.

    Is it in the shops yet?

    Sim, race whippet (the frame at least) ended up in my hands eventually (at least I think it is the same one, if not it was another ex trade demo/show bike) so if you want to send me a pair of 120 forks and the Ragley bike I will let you know how it copes and they compare!!!

    For the sake of parity I think you should send the frame here 🙂

    Great issue this one, thanks. Bens article about old routes is very interesting, perhaps you could look at how we identify possible trails then the way to getting them listed as a right of way.

    mt – anything wide enough that a horse’s arse could get through is worth researching.. go to a local library and inquire about olde worlde maps.. librarians love helping people who aren’t just interested in renting a DVD 😉

    Sim maybe i’ll meet you halfway if you will let me test ride some new exotica I will lend you my bike for the day to do an update article on 😀

    I say this is the best edition you have had out in a while. Thank you.

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