It’s been a busy week and our editorial team have been worked hard. We’ve featured everything from eBikes to new XT and next week looks like there will be no let up news wise as Chipps continues to beam back his Sea Otter Classic breaking news stories. But in case you have just woken from a coma or were stuck on a raft, here’s the Singletrack editorial team’s favourite picks of the last week.
Well that escalated quickly
Mark’s link of the week – Fat eBike vs Strava
My pick of the week was the story we published on how I earned a bag full of Strava KOM’s riding a somewhat burly Fat eBike. I knew it would be rather contentious (the point was not to show how to bag KOM’s but to illustrate one of the inherent ‘issues’ with off road eBikes and Strava) but I wasn’t quite expecting the level of debate and argument it provoked. Our Facebook post alone managed to reach over a quarter of a million timelines and over 100 comments. Our own forum thread on the issue spanned six pages too. Check out the video story we ran here.
A Game Changer?
Barney’s link of the week – Shimano 11 Sp XT
It’s an old cliché, the old ‘game changer’ phrase. But 2016 genuinely might be the point where 1×11 climbs down from the pedestal occupied by the racer, the sponsored or the minted and started to be embraced by the mainstream. With the new Shimano XT, you can realistically pick up a 1×11 groupset for around £300, with no need to fiddle around with your freehubs. And an 11 speed rear cassette for less than £80? It’s still pricey, but it’s under the magic £100 marker – and it suddenly becomes attainable rather than aspirational.
It’s all 2016 here already…
Chipps’ link of the week – Sea Otter 2016
The Sea Otter Classic is a big bike race: road, mountain bike, ‘cross and more, but it’s in the expo aread and the pits that I spend my time. It’s full of products that are just coming out, but look deeper – or ask someone if they have something special and they’ll dig into the box out the back and come up with something that’s destined to appear in 2016 or beyond. That’s because it’s not only a public show, but it’s full of journalists and people who make bikes who are already thinking about what’s coming next year or the year after. My job is to try to get to see as many of those as possible, while also trying to find the time to write stories about them while they’re still news. For all the stories as they happen, just use this handy search tag of ‘Sea Otter 2015’.
Adventure stoke from Salsa Cycles
Jenn’s link of the week – Salsa Five Days, Five States, Five Trails
Salsa’s ‘Five Days, Five States, Five Trails‘ story follows Justin Julian and friend Josh as they undertake a road trip with a difference. Crossing Minnesota, Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas aboard BMW GS motorbikes with their Salsa Horsethieves strapped to the back and accompanied by lensman Scott Haraldson, they take in plenty of landmark trail rides that are probably overlooked by the average visiting mountain biker in favour of the famous ones that tick all the tourist boxes. I’m fascinated by the ‘secret’ trail stashes that exist all over the world; riding that’s never made it into any guidebook but is every bit as good as the famous stuff. Unless you’re exceptionally lucky it’s rare to do anything more than barely scratch the surface of the areas you visit while overseas, but we all have a pretty good personal map of our local riding, and perhaps our favourite spots in the UK, too – our own trail stash. Imagine what it would be like to pool it all into one massive trail guide and take off on one massive, never-ending road trip, riding the whole lot…
Anyway, I digress. Five days, five states, five trails, a load of nice, life-affirming anecdotes and some stunning photography. Enjoy – and thank you Salsa.
