It’s the first of our new and bigger issues, and it’s at the printers right now. Yes, it will be available in selected newsagents in due course, but that will of course not be the Premier Edition – which has even more features and pages than the standard version. Plus, you can get the Premier Edition delivered to the comfort of your own doormat – all you need to do is subscribe before midnight on Sunday 26th March.
It’s not just bigger, thicker and longer (said the actress…), it’s got some new features, some design tweaks, and we’re really pleased with how it looks – it’s Singletrack, it’s still as you know it, but it’s even better than before. Let’s have a taste to whet your appetite.
Even if you’ve no intention of ever visiting Morocco, this feature by Carlos Blanchard will have you seeking out the tagine and couscous. Flavours, sounds, culture and – of course – bike riding are all covered in this atmospheric account of Moroccan adventures.
There’s more international adventure, this time just a short (budget) flight away from the UK, in Romania. Tomasz Debiec gives us a taste of the riding that’s to be found – only a little nibble mind, as with so much riding to be had in the various mountain ranges he’s still working his way through it all. Luckily, many of the descents are accessible by spectacular roads…roadtrip anyone?
On UK soil, and rock, and water, Tom Fenton continues his search for those must-do trails, heading to the Wayfarer trail in the Berwyn Hills. Rather than riding it as part of a 50km loop, he tries it as an out-and-back, and gets a new perspective on this classic trail.
Our Classic Ride route guide feature is still here, and this issue Barney heads to Cannock Chase – where there’s more to it than just the man-made mountain bike trails.
It’s not all long features – there’s plenty for your coffee break or that grabbed moment of calm before the kids come out of school. We take a look at what’s in Chipps’ kit bag, sample some cheese, Jason Miles implores us to let mould grow in our fridges (you’ll need to read the column to understand how this relates to bikes), and Charlie The Bikemonger takes over as judge and jury in our Room 101 feature. Will Charlie put any of your submissions into Room 101?
To sate your technical appetites, we have a bike test of three British made bikes. Not just British made, but with a bunch of interesting components – belt drives, gearboxes, and hub gears all feature – that we’re hoping will keep our bikes rolling long after the apocalypse. Everyone has their own ideas about the perfect weapon for when zombies attack… cricket bat, chainsaw, big pokey stick… which bike would you choose in your quest to survive? We test out the BTR Ranger, Olsen Pinion, and Shand Drove.
In another technical feature, we bring you Singletrack Recommended. We test a lot of products, and we bring you our honest opinion on them all. In this feature we take the cream of the crop and show you those select products that we rate so highly that we give them our Singletrack Recommended seal of approval.
Are you still riding padless? Or dressed up like a Storm Trooper? We check out the new generation of kneepads to help you choose the ones that meet your needs – and ones that will be comfortable enough that you’ll actually be wearing them when you take a tumble, rather than carrying them in your pack for ‘when things look tricky’. We’ve all done it, right?
If you pop along to your newsagent you’ll be able to get all that. But you don’t really want to do that, because then you’ll be missing out on all this, that’s in our Premier Edition – available to subscribers, through your local Premier Dealer, or to buy from our shop.
Sanny plans a big day out with Mr Nice Guy, Nick Craig. It’s apparent that all might not be well in Sanny’s department when he stops talking. Read the tale of Sanny’s gradual disintegration as they ride from peak to peak to…well, nearly a peak…in the Lake District.
Hans Rey and Danny MacAskill are used to bunny hopping up, over and around any obstacle you can throw at them. However it turns out that the huge obstacles of Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro might be just a trail too far. With stunning photography by Martin Bissig and words by fellow trails rider Gerhard Czerner, this is an adventure story that proves that even our heroes are mortal.
As ever, there’s a Last Word column to see you on your way. Or indeed to start you off, if you’re one of those back-to-front magazine readers. However you read yours, all this can be delivered to your door, just subscribe by midnight on Sunday 26th March.
