Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine

Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine March 2006

In this Issue:
Tim Johnson Interview
Bars and Gloves Group Tests
The North Downs Route Guides
Hashing the Jungle

Cover photo: Magura Test Riders, La Palma. By Marco Toniolo.
Contents photo: Sedona, Arizona. By Anne Keller.
Spineline: He’s the new Sid James.

Editorial

Chipps invites the readership to beat your bike and show it who is boss otherwise you are just throwing shapes.

Doorstep Adventure

You didn’t need to fly to Durango to have fun when you were a kid. No, you found adventure on your bike in scrubby wasteland near your house. Dave Anderson continues the tradition.

One for Sorrow

Solo rides are for introspective poets. Real mountain bikes embrace the group ride, so reckons Philly D.

Interview

Tim Johnson is the proprietor of Sideways Cycles – a pokey shop in the middle of nowhere. Despite this he has won the Singletrack Awards for ‘Best UK Bike Shop’ three times. The Singletrack team try and identify the secret of his success.

Bike Test

The team test four 29ers – big wheel mountain bikes – from Salsa, On-One, Ridgeback and Gary Fisher. Are they the future?

• Gary Fisher Rig
• On One Inbred
• Ridgeback Dual Track Pursuit
• Salsa Dos Niner

Grinder

Our regular product testing section. Products from jackets to pedals put through their paces in this gritty issue.

• Nike Packable Jacket
• Bontrager Mud-X Tubeless Tyres
• Bontrager Super Juice Tyre Sealant
• Rennen Rollenlager tensioner and single cog spacer
• Park Tools Steerer Tube Cutting Guide
• Ikea Bag
• SDG Bel Air RL Saddle
• Crank Bros 50/50 XX Pedals
• Icebreaker Mt200 Oasis Crew Top
• Google Earth
• Lake Mx 300 Boots
• ArmourFit Basic Long Sleeve Cold
• 1000 Mile Socks
• Continental Slash 2.3 Tyres
• Continental Edge 1.9 Tyres
• Pakuma Choroka K1 Messenger Bag
• Marin Drop Out Protector
• OMM AR25L
• Smartwool Lightweight Crew Jersey
• Smartwool Lightweight Leggings
• Adrenaline Mini Crew Socks
• Spectre MTB Oxidised Special Design

Competition

Four pages of reader-submitted photos on the theme of ‘Adventure’ – including the winning submission which wins a Dakine camera bag.

Bike Porn

The Trek EX9.5 OCLV. Trek’s top notch carbon fibre trail bike. Just about everything is carbon fibre.

Grouptest

Bars. Everyone needs bars, right? The Singletrack team round up twenty examples that run the full range from risers to flat bars and from carbon to alloy bars.

• Answer Pro Taper XC Riser
• Azonic B-52 Riser
• Easton Monkey Bar EA70 Riser
• Easton Monkey Lite XC Riser
• FSA XC 190 Riser
• Gusset Topless 4Cross Riser
• Oval T600 Riser
• Oval T800 Riser
• Ritchey WCS Riser
• USE Atom Riser
• X-Lite XC-2 Riser
• Bontrager Race X-Lite OS Riser
• FSA K-Force XC Riser
• Race Face Atlas LR Riser
• Race Face Next SL Riser
• On One Fleegle Bars
• Salsa Pro Moto Flat
• Bontrager Race XXX Lite OS Flat
• Ritchey WCS Flat

The Trivial Pursuit of Knoweldge

Is it a coincidence that so many pub quizzes take place in pubs with fantastic trails out the door? Ben invites two teams for riding and grunge quizzing.

Deep Waters

This issue, Sam Waters looks at how improbable bicycles are in general and how inevitable a crash must be.

Fish Out of Water

Hucklustre. Can you turn a wheels on the ground XC rider into a freeride God? Not really, but Chipps has a go anyway.

Let’s get Lost

Dean Taylor swaps man-made trails for good old getting lost in the hills. He loves it – once he has managed to get home.

Grouptest

Gloves. Nearly everyone needs gloves, so here’s a selection of some of the best.

• 661 Raji
• Altura Ascent
• Dakine High Wire
• Endura Dexter
• Fox Incline
• Fox Thermal Paw
• Kona Stuff
• Lizard Skins Komodo
• Nike Long Finger Glove
• Northwave Skeleton
• Race Face Flow 2
• Specialized Ridge
• Specialized Team XC Long
• Salsa Baja

Cressers

If you go down to the woods today – you’ll find Cressers fighting a slow-motion battle with the trees.

Propaganda

We’ve a new jersey design out, mouse mats and other things for you to spend your money on.

Competition

Win Manitou R7 Forks. Ben collected up all the questions from the pub quizzes (on ’58) and is using them as your chance to win a pair of brand new Manito R7 forks.

Lost Within Sigh

Mel Allwood gets lost on a sunny day with perfect visibility. It’s not as hard as it sounds.

Hashing the Jungle

It’s a ‘hare and hounds’ pasttime played by runners around the world. Steve Thomas joins a mountain bike ‘hash’ in Malaysia to see how it compares.

Route Guide

Holmbury Hill and Ranmore Common, The North Downs. Simon Raistrick serves up the most comprehensive slice of South Eastern riding, including a definitive guide to what’s legal and downright cheeky.

• Easy 23km (14.29 miles), no timescale given
• Medium 38km (23.61 miles), no timescale given
• Hard 62km (38.52 miles), no timescale given

Great Divide Race

The Great Divide ‘course’ is a 2,500 mile off-road trip from Canada to Mexico. Alan Tilling faced fatigue, bears and a numb willy in last years event.

Web Roundup

It’s back. The latest news from Europe’s biggest MTB website along with the top ten posters on it.

Subscribe

Find out about all the benefits you could get!

Outro

Some off duty shots of the illustrious characters behind the magazine along with Steve M pondering peer pressure.