Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine

Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine Winter 2003

In this Issue:
Jenn O’Connor Interview
Waterproof Jacket Group Test
Llangollen Route Guides
Leadville 100

Cover photo: Karl on the South Downs. By Seb Rogers.
Contents photo: Yukon Dog Racing. By John Gibson.
Spineline: Where’ve all the coverlines gone? You must be very special…

Issue 12: Editorial

Issue twelve has made it to the shelves and now Chipps and Mark are going to be pulling out the stops, cranking up the coffee machine and producing another two issues each year. Singletrack, six times a year for the New Year.

Decisions

Rob Hamilton-Smith made plans for an adventure to remind him of what mountain biking is all about, but it didn’t turn out like he might have expected.

Gallery

Photos from Steve Makin, Ben Haworth and Chipps

Giro Photo Competition Results

Photos from Jason Bartlett, Janet Clarke & Mike Osbourne

The Interview

Jenn O’Connor is known to many from mountain bike endurance events and not just for the fact she is often on the top of the podium collecting a winner’s prize at the end. The Singletrack team find out more.

Bike Porn

The latest and much anticipated virtual pivot point offering from the prestigious Intense Cycles, the Spider XVP.

Column One

Piers Barber is a competitor at heart who can’t resist a good fight.

Bike Test

Three of the most talked about bikes in the 5″ travel category.

• Gary Fisher Cake 2
• Turner 5 Spot
• Kona Coiler

Long Term Tests

Feedback on a number of components and other kit thats been under test for quite some time. This issue reviews:

• Stoptheft electronic tagging system
• Magura Louise brakes
• Crate Works Pro XLC bike box
• Surly hipflask
• Manitou Minute 3
• Torq energy bars
• Santa Cruz Chameleon
• Revolution suspension hydration pack
• The Bike Path
• Continental Vapor tyres

One Liners

Brief reviews of stuff the team like and dislike:

• Gill Storm Paw gloves
• Apple iPod
• Ritchey Innovader tyres

Mountain Goat

Shaun Allen finds strangers on his extreme Spanish trails.

The Nightclub

There is a club where you’ll be welcomed in while muddy and wearing lycra. Steve Makin is a life member.

Dawn Chorus

Jenn Hopkins thinks that all dawn rides should be accompanied by reverential silence. Not everyone agrees.

Group Test

This issue takes a topically seasonal look at this years offering of waterproof Jackets.

• Endura Lomond
• Gill Adrenaline
• Gore Countdown Paclite
• Karrimor EPO
• Karrimor Vail Paclite
• Marmot Precip
• Pace 3×3 Shell
• Pearl Izumi Channel
• Race Face Aquanot
• Sugoi Bosui Vapor Flex

 

• Women specific:
• Endura Pinnacle
• Gill Freedom
• Karrimor Nikita
• Lowe Alpine Rush

Fish Out of Water

Wearing baggy shorts and peaked helmets and riding fixed singlespeeds around in circles, indoors. That’d be a bunch of mountain bikers on the track then. Mark, Chipps and company hit the boards at the Manchester Velodrome.

Singletrack Awards

The results, the news from the night and the photos.

Route Guide

This issue returns to Wales and offers a route around Llangollen, in the Dee Valley.

• One route: 27.8km (17.27 miles), no timescale given

The Armchair Feature

If you’ve ever ridden at altitude, you know it’s a serious business. Seriously hard and seriously dangerous – there is a mountain bike race in America, all of which is above 10,000 ft (that’s over 3,000 metres). This is one rider’s account of the Leadville 100 miler.

Webpage Roundup

Highlights of the drama and comedy from Britain’s busiest cycling website.

Singletrack Propaganda

Subscriptions, jerseys, t-shirts, hats, mugs and the new calendar.

Outro

A light-hearted look at the silly world of mountain biking