Issue 17

Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine October 2004

In this Issue:
Jon Whyte Interview
Suspension Fork Group Test
North Pennines Route Guides
Lakeland Odyssey Part II

Cover photo: James Coulthurst rides near Le Tour, France. By Ben Haworth.
Contents photo: Craig Woodhouse rides near Le Tour, France. By Ben Haworth.
Spineline: No one ever expects the ghost bike tandem, eh Dave?

Issue 17: Editorial

Chipps dons his regulation pink afro and waxes lyrical about super-sizing. That and writing a bike magazine.

Lakeland Odyssey II

Part Deux. Thrills, spills and big smiles. More photo’s and words from an epic tour of Cumbria’s Lake District.

Gallery

Ben Haworth and Andy Matthews contribute to some beautiful alpine shots.

Interview: Jon Whyte

Former Formula One engineer Jon Whyte is the designer behind Marin and Whyte’s popular full suspension bikes. This interview finds out more about a designer who is not afraid of pushing the limits of design.

Bike Porn

Continuing a theme of looking at something a bit different, this issue looks at the Salsa Las Cruces cross bike.

Column One

Piers spurns Sex And The City for some V-brake love.

Bike Test

This issue looks at the three bikes that have been on the market for at least ten years. This test looks at the latest versions:

  • Orange P7
  • Cannondale F600 Furio
  • Rock Lobster Team TIG SL

Column Two

The Samuri shows his fangs: Don’t underestimate the quiet rider, with the regional accent, who rides a heavy bike.

Product Tests

Six pages of real world products that have been put through the grinder.

  • FSA K Saddle
  • Blackburn Mammoth Pump
  • Sugoi Gusto Baggy Shorts
  • Chris King ISO Disc hubs
  • Gore Phantom N2S jacket
  • Middleburn RS8 Duo Chainset
  • Pace Fork Service
  • Syncros Bulk Handlebar and Bear Hug Stem
  • Northwave Celsius Winter Boot
  • Pearl Izumi Vagabond Women’s Shoe
  • Travelite Digital Scales
  • Kenda Kinetic Tyres
  • Specialized Alias Saddle
  • Clean Sheet

Summer Sucked At My Wheels

Wasn’t this summer’s weather great? Er…no, not really. Dave Robinson curses the weather gods.

Night Ride Virgin

Every year when the clocks go back someone loses their night riding cherry. Last year Dave Flynn was the lucky fella.

Road (race) Trip

Student holidays, budget plans for a summer travelling and Lance Armstrong going for a record number of Tour de France wins combined to produce a fantastic tale of improvisation and adventure. Words by Matt Boone and pics from Drew Gibson.

Grouptest

Suspension forks are now arguably one of the most important components in modern mountain biking. In this issue of Singletrack a dozen forks get reviewed:

  • Magura Ronin 80mm
  • White Brothers XC 0.8
  • Marzocchi Marathon Race 80mm
  • Fox F80X
  • Magura Ronin 110
  • White Brothers VT1.3
  • Fox Talas RLC
  • Marzocchi Marathon XC
  • Pace RC40
  • Maverick SC32
  • Manitou Skareb Platinum
  • Manitou Minute 3.00

Fish Out of Water

Mountain Bike Guiding. Ben Haworth is thrown into an unfamiliar and unsuitable situation and is given a yellow bib, a group expecting to be shown some great riding and some tips from a pro.

Route Guide

The North Pennines. The area around Garrigill in the wilderness of Northern England offers some gritty riding.

Easy: 13.8 km (8.6 miles), 1.5 hours
Medium: 32.2 km (20 miles), 4-5 hours
Epic: 74.0 km (46 miles), 6-7 hours

Interbike 2004

Chipps comments and shows pictures from the world’s most important bike show from its current location in Las Vegas.

Ivy at Dawn

Ivy Berkshire thought she’d have a go at this endurance racing lark and having done it as part of a team, doing it solo was going to be easy right?

The Secret Ingredient

Woody’s Wisdom is the irregular column from Craig Woodhouse, but what is the secret ingredient?

Armchair Story

Karen Kefauver discovers that riding Durango singletrack with a group of others as part of a guided and supported trip is made even better by good food and great views.

Web Roundup

A brief look at the highlights from the magazine’s daily website over the last few months.

Singletrackworld Goodies

Singletrack propaganda yours for a suitable fee.

Outro

Some of silly things the Singletrack team have been up to since the last issue.