Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine

Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine February 2005

In this Issue:
Patrick Adams Interview
Helmets Group Test
Western Lake District Route Guides
Underground Overground

Cover photo: Chipps and Brian Gibb somewhere Scottish. By Andy McCandlish.
Contents photo: Climbing towards Mary’s Loop, Fruita, Colorado. By Chris Garrison.
Spineline: Boy, you gotta earn your maple syrup.

Issue 19: Editorial

Chipps compares your bike with a 1992 Sierra Estate…

Crossing the Cairngorms

Bryan Singleton and a couple of friends take everything that the Cairngorm mountains can offer. Which turns out to be a fair amount.

Underground Overground

The account of a great ambition realised. Take all of Greater London’s underground tube stations, devise a route and then navigate to them all by bike. The Underground Overground.

Interview

Patrick Adams is known to many mountain bikers in the UK and Europe as the larger than life organiser of some of the most well known and popular events on the mountain bike calendar. Find out what’s new and coming soon.

Bike Porn

A very pink, very light weight full suspension carbon Giant T Mobile NRS Composite.

Column One

Roly Lambert is back on his bike and battling against all odds during the morning commute.

Bike Test

This issue investigates bikes for around a grand. Three full suspension bikes demonstrate that a £1000 buys a lot of bike these days.

• Specialized XC Comp
• GT i-Drive XC 3.0
• Marin Alpine Trail

Product Test

What kit the Singletrack testers have been putting through the grinder over the last few months.

• USE Carbon Pro Saddle
• Berghaus Tyrant Jacket
• Gill Eyewear
• Deuter Race X Air II
• Elite Digital Wireless Fluid Elastogel Trainer
• Kenda Knarly 2.1
• Lupine Otto 8
• Specialized Sirrus Pro Hybrid
• CLarks VRC Brake Pads
• Lab Gear 1.2 Long Sleeve Merino
• Gaerne Polar MTB Shoes
• Shimano MT30 Shoes

Gallery

A collection of photos from Steve Makin, Callum Sword, John Orr, Tim Moorhouse, Leo Ranta and Stuart Boreham.

Column Two

The Samuri gets a personal with some other bikers.

Grouptest

Demonstrating the ability of bits of moulded polystyrene and plastic at saving peoples melons was one way in which bike lids used to be marketed. These days things have moved on here’s some of the new kids on the block:

• Specialized Aurora
• Specialized Decibel
• Lazer X3M
• Lazer Devil
• Met Anaxagore
• Met 5th Element
• Giro Xen
• Giro Atmos
• Giro E2
• 661 Comp XC
• 661 Bravo XC
• Limar 911

A Mechanic’s Sense

If you’ve been around as long as Ben Reedy then you’ll know that the internal dimensions of a flange grommit were once as much essential after-ride-down-the-pub-conversation as the latest suspension forks from Fox.

Scotch on the Rocks

Combine Whiskey, distilleries, post Christmas winter weather and a ferry trip with some friends to a tiny island, mix with gale force winds and add a dash of precipitation and share.

Dirt Rag Mag

Singletrack takes a rare look at how another mountain bike magazine works with a visit to Dirt Rag in Pittsburgh, USA.

Route Guide

The Western Lakes. Quieter than the honeypots and offering some of epic riding and scenery for those brave enough to venture over Hardknot Pass.

• Short: 13.1 km (8.1 miles), 1.5 hours
• Medium: 26.1 km (16.2 miles), 3-4 hours
• Long: 30.9 km (19.2 miles) 6-9 hours

Competition

Win a Dialled Bikes Prince Albert

Fish Out of Water

Take a rider used to screaming downhill on a heckler or raging uphill on a singlespeed and give them a cross bike and enter them in a race. Craig Woodhouse goes racing with Karrimor legend, John North.

Armchair Story

Adrian Bostock finds that the plains of Mongolia have riding unlike anywhere else on earth and bike thieves just like everywhere else.

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.