Issue 29

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Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine June 2006

In this Issue:
Rare Management Interview
Bike Racks and Rear Shocks Group Tests
Exmoor Route Guides
Soul Searching in Slovenia

Cover photo: Kona’s Dik Cox and Patricia Loureiro in Brazil. By John Gibson
Contents photo: Bluebells and Ben haworth. By Steve Makin
Spineline: When you live on the edge, you attract the edge pullers

Editorial

Chipps wonders whether all this mountain bike malarkey is worthy of our time.

Soul Searching in Slovenia

Matt Letch and Dave Anderson discover some exhilarating mountain biking in this fantastic and overwhelmingly accommodating country.

Nan Bield Ride

How do you fancy making your first ever Lakeland ride an all day epic over three passes? Andy Cronshaw did.

Interview: Rare Management

Lesley and Mike from Rare Management, the main people behind the Fort William World Cup Races speak to Singletrack.

Bike Test: Boutique Titanium

Almost certainly the most expensive bunch of bikes Singletrack have ever tested. One of the hardest reviews to write too.

  • Independent Fabrication Titanium Deluxe
  • Moots YBB
  • Seven Sola
  • Titus Eleven

Grinder

Some real products given some real riding on some real trails by some real riders. It’s all very real indeed.

  • Dialled Bikes Prince Albert Frame
  • Crank Brothers Smarty Pedals
  • Ice Toolz Toolkit
  • Shimano Hone Cranks HollowTech II & BB
  • Gerber Pruning Kit
  • DT FR2350 Wheels
  • Michelin All Mountain 2.2 Tyres
  • Azonic Fury Helmet
  • A Bell
  • Camelbak Hawg
  • Pakuma Akara K1 Backpack
  • BETD Goldtec Strong Bushes
  • Bikeshield
  • Edinburgh Bicycle Revolution Cargo Load Trailer
  • Salomon Pro Dirt Short
  • Bontrager King Earl Crankset
  • Focus Arriba
  • Marmot Essence Jacket
  • Nike 10.2 Mountain 101 Shoes
  • Gear Inner Wire Caps
  • Shimano Deore Disc Brakes
  • Adidas Burna Goggles
  • Surly Steamroller

Gallery

Photos from Philip Diprose, James Leverton, James Dymond, and Mark Alker.

Fort William

The year’s biggest mountain bike event so far, summed up in pictures.

Group Test: Bike Racks

Singletrack investigate the best way to attach your bike to your car.

  • Pendle Strap On Rack
  • Hollywood F10 Elevator High Rack
  • Saris Bones
  • Rocky Mounts
  • Roma Fork Mount
  • Roma Universal
  • Thule ProRide 591
  • Maxx Raxx 4 Bike Carrier
  • Pendle Three Bike Wheel Support Rack
  • Pendle Dour Bike Tow Bar Rack
  • Thule Hang-On 970-3
  • Twinney Quattro

Bike Porn

Liam Kileen’s Specialized Epic Carbon. Have you ever seen a panther that is pink? Think! Perhaps not, but here’s a rather bling race bike.

Cliquey Trails

Nick Clark heads into the woods to find whatever bike he rides, it’ll always be wrong.

Morocco

Oliver Townsend knows why we ride bikes rather than lie on a beach – because we’re mountain bikers.

Group Test: Rear Shocks

Eight Shocks from all the major players put through their paces. Here is what Ben thought of them.

  • DT Swiss HVR 200
  • Fox DHR Air 5.0
  • Fox DHR 5.0
  • Manitou S-Type SR
  • Magura Hugin
  • RockShox Pearl 3.1
  • Romic D
  • X-Fusion Shox O2 RPV

Singletrack Exile

You can take a Mountain Biker to a beach,but you can’t make him stop thinking about bikes.

Singletrack Photography Weekend

A group of Singletrack readers in the Lakes being tutored in Photography by the esteemed Seb Rogers.

Deep Waters

Sam Waters is the master of his local trails. However he finds that his singletrack mistress has other ideas.

Route Guide: Exmoor

Three great routes taking in all that’s best about this easier than you think to get to part of the world.

  • Easy Route: 15km (9.32 miles), 1.5 hours
  • Medium Route: 21.8km (13.55 miles), 2.5 hours
  • Hard Route 34.1km (21.19 miles), 3.5 hours

Get Faster without Training

Dave Smith knows a think or two about training. Most mountain bikers aren’t going to start interval training, but he still thinks he can make you faster.

Hammer and Wrong

Dom Perry proves that you should never approach any maintenance job with nonchalance.

Fish Out of Water

Going Downhill Fast. Matt Letch and Ben Haworth travel to the wild Midlands to partake in some proper downhill racing.

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Canning Stock Route

It’s a 2,000km track across Australia’s inhospitable Outback and Jakub rode it alone and unsupported.

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Competition

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Web Roundup

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Outro

Gurning Special. This issue pictures everyone looking their worst.