Tuesday Treats 72: Bitesize Review

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Your once a week dose of retail therapy from Singletrack’s Premier Dealers, stockists and advertisers.

Tuesday Treats gives you a quality serving of independent bike retailing and a chance to win big in this week’s prize draw.

This week, we review (in bitesize fashion): Tuesday Treats 2013:

Our Premier Dealers are a smart bunch. Whether they be independent bike shops, online retailers, clothing brands, holiday, skills or tour companies. They immerse themselves in the world of mountain biking to offer you guys the very best in advice, gear and service. Whether that be in-store, on t’internet or by taking you off to far off promised lands they are to their core, champions of this sport we love.

Bicycle Doctor, Manchester

Each week, one of our Premier Dealers talks shop, to point you in the right direction with your MTB decision making.

This week, as a nod and wink in their direction, (we’ve rather unscientifically) collated some of their inspiration and thrown in some Singletrack prizes from our very own shop to make it a bit more palatable. A bit of festive joy to all you readers, on behalf of all our dealers. Cheers!

A selection of our 2013 Premier Dealers and Advertisers

Cycle Gear (Halifax), Rebound Suspension, Exempt Clothing, Cycle Addicts, Qwerty Cycles, Bikeshak, BikeSeven, Singletrack School, Riders Cycle Centre, The Bicycle Co, Moose Cycles, Big Peaks, Over-Ride Cycleworks, Muddybum Bikes, Velo Virtuoso, Ae7 Bikes, Escape Route, Edinburgh Cycle Co., Crosstrax, Bikeright, Ubyk, Squarewheels, Just Mountain Bikes, Bicycle Doctor, 18 bikes, Drover Cycles, J E James, Garage Bikes, Animal, Rule 5 Bikes, Chevin Cycles, MTB Kerala, Flare Clothing Co., Loco Tuning, Kinetic Cycles, Cyclehighlands, CRGMoto, DC Cycles, Morvelo, 559 Bikes, The Velo Store, The Orange Tree Hotel, Charlie the Bikemonger, trail42, Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery.

Premier Dealer ‘Brands of the Year’

In no particular order…

Genesis, Scott, Santa Cruz, Hope Tech, Kona, Continental, Exempt Clothing, Schwalbe, Cannondale, Surly, Salsa, Ibis, Yeti, Whyte, Orange, USE Exposure, Trek, KTM, Lapierre, Transition, Felt, Giant, Flare Clothing Co., Bos Suspension, Cube, Ghost, Cotic, Pyga, Kinesis, Fizik, DSP Racing, IChu Titanium Springs, Rocky Mountain, Gloworm, Lezyne, 45nrth, Morvelo, Evil, Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery.

http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/04/shop-640x423.jpg
Moose Cycles, London

Premier Dealer ‘Products of the Year’

In no particular order…

Mucky Nutz Fender Bender, Continental Rubber Queen, Exempt Clothing Original Swobble Hat, Genesis Croix De Fer, Garmin Edge 800 GPS, Rockshox Reverb (and dropper posts in general), Cannondale Helmets, Wheehoo Biketrailer, Relic Pedals, Maxxis EXO tyres, BOR Rims, Ibis HD, Schwalbe Muddy Mary, SDG Saddles, Haglofs Ardent Short, Panaracer Cedric Gracia, DMR Vaults, Nukeproof pedals, Rockshox Pike, X Fusion Slant, Schwable SV13 inner tube, SRAM XX1, Whyte T129, Gloworm X2, Niner ONE 9 RDO, Morvelo ThermoActive Jersey, trail42 Trail Flask, ESI Grips, KLB Singletrack Flowy Ale.

Premier Dealer ‘Image of the Year’

We all fell in love (again) when The Bicycle Co. dropped us this one. Especially as the real thing actually exists. Jealous.

http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/VW_Caddy-640x298.jpg
Winner. Martyn’s VW Caddy

Premier Dealer ‘Quotes of the Year’

“I invented the ferociously easy going sport of orienBEERing: checkpints not checkpoints”.

“The punctured tyres to punctured lung ratio will be about 1:1”.

“You have also only seen just the start of ‘the fat’. It’s going to change, just as mountainbiking in general has. Fat bikes are fast, damned fast, and this will mean that a fat hardtail will eat up trail centres and DH runs… it will also eat that annoying bloke on the supermarket bike with too many accessories who thinks his bike is the best in the world, it will totally kill him. Believe”.

He’s a man of many words and some of them, quite bloody funny. It’s that Charlie the Bikemonger.

Premier Dealer ‘Custom Build of the Year’

You’d be hard pressed not to buzz off the very sophisticated guys at Garage Bikes effort here. Both the video and resulting Ibis HD build typify what many of our Premier Dealers do best. Lovely stuff.

http://vimeo.com/singletrackmag/garagebikes

Premier Dealer ‘Web Ad of the Year’

From the moment it landed, we knew this would get readers all clicky. (Vested interests aside, it’s good inni’t). Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery.

http://ad.singletrackworld.com/images/fe97100b47e4813f965e3c080629f1d2.gif

Premier Dealer ‘Shop frontage of the Year’

Kinetic Cycles (Hitchin) is as inviting as it gets, ‘retro-modern-TARDIS-meets-postmodern-internals’ (we made that up).

Outside
Hitchin’s very own cycle-infested Grand Design

Premier Dealer ‘Workshop of the Year’

We might well have a fight on our hands (by even suggesting this category) but due to the the sheer consistency of work that emanates from their new Peak District location, a tooled up workshop and knowledgeable staff. You got to give it up for the 18 Bikes boys. Class act.

http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/07/Workshop.jpg
Matt H at 18 Bikes, very much in his element

Showroom of the Year

This was a close call, but we fell quite rightly head over heels, for the dark (almost F1-slick) and stealthy feel of the guys at Ubyk, in Oxford. With their own ghost captured here. Check it.

Ubyk, Oxford

Premier Dealer ‘Hound of the Year’

A very tough contest but you got to hand to the guys at Edinburgh Cycle Company, Boomer is a beauty.

http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/06/Boomer_Hound-640x424.jpg
Boomer Dog, Edinburgh Cycle Co.

Premier Dealer ‘Wheels of the Year’

Kiss our collective face! Natty paint jobs should be mandatory on all company vans. Congratulations Square Wheels on being bold. We’ve got a ‘Vans Grouptest’ coming up in Issue 87. Not particularly relevant but true.

http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/07/Shop_Wheels-640x373.jpg
Square Wheels, Strathpeffer

That’s it from our very unscientific Premier Dealer bitesize review. Stay turned for more every Tuesday, here on your favourite MTB website in 2014. We’re back as normal, from Tuesday 7 January.

Tuesday Treats Prize Draw

Click here to win this week’s prize!


Comments (2)

    Thank you, and you and you.

    This would not be possible without help. I would like to thank a misspent youth that has not yet ended, a casual regard to A&E, and unrelenting bravado despite no evidence of talent.

    My GCSE English teacher deserves a mention for being bloody useless, and writing me off, an.

    And… Sincerely thanks everyone, thanks STW, thanks chaps, and thanks to my suppliers, and not forgetting HST, and Henry Weston.

    After party in 15 mins at the red lion.

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