A quick flick and, blimey, what atmospheric pics of the Devil’s Staircase. 😯

Interesting looking feature on oldies riding bikes, ahem. 😉

Plenty of pics to inspire as usual and reckon this issue will be a great read!

Got mine today as well…Love the pic on the front cover

Downloaded it last night, looks decent. Damn I love the digital subscription 🙂

Reading it on the iPad this afternoon, didnt think I would get along with the digital sub thing, but I’m liking it, oh and agree on the new layout and loving the pics

The cover picture is fantastic. Nice work!

mine arrived this morning, just in time for my hols 🙂 not even opened the plastic wrap! Put in hand luggage for safety!!! 😀

I came home from a hard day to find mine on the door mat. I unwrapped it ready for when the kids are in bed and when the wife is ignoring me. Otherwise known as “bliss time”. 🙂

Same here, it passed the quick flick through test.

Looking forward to it.

Is it just me, or has that pic on pages 10 and 11 been in before?

Mine arrived today, best birthday present of the day so far……

Isn’t the front cover picture from an issue last year? About august/september time, it was about the cape epic? or tour de divide? something like that, I’m sure it was a half page spread.

still trying to be Privateer!

So, kids in bed.
Mrs_OAB out for evening.
Whisky on table in front of me.
STW (weighty) tome to side of me.

*is happy*

I’d say it was trying to be singletrack but better which is a good thing, surely.

I think they’re succeeding, too.

Flicking through it now with a beer. Outstanding photography! And just reading chipps article on riding my local trails. If at a somewhat different time of day. Quality!

Some great photography and a the writing is as good as ever.
Good piece from Steve Worland.

But:

£2300 for the cheapest bike tested.
Another £200 plus waterproof gets a recommendation.

The mag obviously isn’t aimed at me anymore.
Fine, I get the message.

My last subscription , unless they start testing reasonably priced kit.
Think I’ll leave it to the Audi drivers from here on in.

Shame.

You do realise that magazines generally get to test the kit that the companies want them to test? They don’t go to the shop and buy stuff to test you know? They might say to a company that they are looking to test £300 bikes/£20 waterproofs but if no company has those products in their test fleet for this year then nowt will turn up.

Or at least that’s how I believe it happens.

Promoting riding your bike in mixenden and round the back of b&q. Madness! Good sprint training though i suspect! Great mag all. Off for an early night with a cuppa and the mag. How sad 😉

No sign here yet 🙁

Still, as long as it shows up before I start nights at the weekend…

Andy

Looks great, lovely cover and so what if it has been in the periodical before (if it has I don’t remember it) it’s a wrap round cover now.

Dead chuffed mine landed today especially as I looked like a drowned rat from my ride home.

Read the oldies article on the download last night and really enjoyed it. My sort of cycling really, but then I could pass for a youngster in the Tuesdaylot (50 last December).

Looking forward to giving it a good read, but must finish “Quicksilver” first. SO close to the end and it’s taken months. Singletrack 73 and “Adventures on the High Teas” can be some light relief before I kick in on “The Confusion”

speaker2animals – Member

You do realise that magazines generally get to test the kit that the companies want them to test?

Rubbish.
Other mags manage to test cheaper kit, I really don’t think that there is some kind of embargo.

They appear to have made a conscious decision to test high end stuff and ignore the kit that the majority can aspire to.
Fair enough, they seem to be aiming at a certain demographic, I hope those people stick with them when the next big thing comes along.

@ speaker2animals – you are in for a (lengthy) treat, and The System Of The World is a great finish.

Well they’ll probably have me as I have had every issue and have cycled as an adult for for 26 years so I’m not likely to be swayed by the next big thing.

Perhaps you’re right though to a degree. Perhaps STW only test kit that they feel is appropriate to fairly full on off road cycling, not commuting/family Sustrans trails rides.

I know folk have taken issue with things like light tests where there don’t seem to be any inclusions of Deal Extreme types.

As for the recommendation of a £200 water proof, why not. It’s not in a group test so nothing to compare against. TBF I’d like to think that any £200 would get a recommendation if tested on it’s own. At that sort of price you’d think the maker would know what they were doing. Not always the case. I once earned the money that allowed me to fall in to the Rapha trap. Some of their kit is in my opinion very good and I would recommend even at the sky high prices. Other stuff though was high priced tat.

Perhaps you’re right though to a degree. Perhaps STW only test kit that they feel is appropriate to fairly full on off road cycling, not commuting/family Sustrans trails rides.

So you need to spend £2300 on a bike to ride seriously off road?
Anything under that price is only fit for a Sustrans trail?

What utter, utter rubbish.
On One, Merlin, Canyon, Boardman and all the mainstream brands sell bikes that are just as capable for less than half that price.

I, and I bet an awful lot of people on this forum ride thousands of miles a year on such bikes.
Perhaps we’re not real cyclists?

TBF I’d like to think that any £200 would get a recommendation if tested on it’s own.

Yep, that’s pretty much my point. I’d expect a £200+ waterproof to be decent.
What about the £100 ones? Can we get a bargain?

I know folk have taken issue with things like light tests where there don’t seem to be any inclusions of Deal Extreme types.

I think it was the attitude of a contributor that no one would take these lights seriously that really wound people up.
Look at the amount of posts regarding DX lights on this forum over the last few years:
These cheap lights have opened up a whole new area of riding for some people. They are worthy of more than contempt.

A pic of ‘oldgit’ on page 86 I noticed.

I like it.the content is more in depth, which means i cant just flick through while watching the apprentice, but makes for a better mag all round. I dont think its trying to be privateer- still better IMO. I am struggling to get on with it on the iPad though. Dirt rag for example has the dedicated app for subscribers, which allows me to look at double page spreads as intended. Have tried iBooks and adobe reader for it – any suggestions for something that allows me to view it as designed?

liking the Leith Hill Tower piece – tis a magical place.
They need to stock more sandwiches though – always seem to run out.
what other tea shop would sell orange cordial? awesome.

thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you

for the review on bikes for the vertically challenged….couldn’t have come at a better time as I am in the market to get one 😀

The group fork test had everything from the cheapest to the most expensive 140mm forks available to buy these days, and the cheapest got a recommendation – I don’t think they deliberately only test expensive things.

been with STW since day 1 but now wavering – I too feel left behind…nothing in either this one or the last one for me.

Well judging from the adverts, if they only tested what the manufacturers wanted, we’d only be reading about 29ers! And we’re not. There’s plenty in there other than bike tests.

I have to admit to taking a sharp intake of breath looking at the price of the forks on test. 800 dabs for something to hold your front wheel on! Sweet jeysus!!! 😯

The App Goodreader displays the PDFs in DPS mode. It’s £2.99 tho and doesn’t allow you to switch between ePub and PDF mode like iBooks does.

I looked at the jacket and thought “nice, would like one of those, oh, it’s quite a lot of money, I probably don’t want it that much!” and carried on.

Well Chipps article on morning riding with Terrahawk has got me thinking. The trails they’re riding is my extended commute in the evening, having taken the shorter road route in. Having read that, and looked at the piccies, I’m going to try it the other way round, and try an early morning session

So this months mag has already inspired me to try something new, I’ve not done before. I’ve just flicked my liights on charge. Can’t ask for much more than that really

prices in the mag are RRP aren’t they? stuff is often cheaper than RRP.

I did not feel it was possible for stw to ‘inform it’s readers on lit night riding opportunities whilst not printing the obvious dx facts of the matter. There are many choices but dodgy dx has opened night riding to many non lexus/audi riding dudes. It seems odd that these facts cannot be shared due to conflict with ad revs. I realise this is a hobby for me and don’t wish to take anyone dinner from the table but..

What on earth is this conflict with ‘ ad rev’ nonsense?

That’s rhetorical btw

During the winter I asked several times at Leith Hill Tower for tomato and lentil soup but was told they don’t do it any more. But if I’m wrong I’m also delighted, it was just the thing on a cold wet winter’s ride.

(Surrey Hills are magic, don’t tell anyone!)

Another £200 plus waterproof gets a recommendation.

How about a budget waterproof shootout soon guys?

I wouldn’t change my winter British Army DP goretex for the world.

I see what you did there Hora. Very good!

Are you suggesting a format for the ‘shootout’? Can I suggest one? We send you out onto Holcombe Moor during a live firing exercise, in a selection of natty camo waterproofs. Then this: