Produced in association with Finish Line Sealant It was quite surprising for the Singletrack team to learn that one of their own was still running inner tubes. The guilty party, having worked here for less than a year, was well aware that there are more…
October 2018
Interview: Lynne Armstrong – “Watch what happens, it could be awesome”
Everyone we feature in our Inspiring Women interview series has been nominated by you, the readers. The person we have the most nominations for by far is the queen of Scottish freeride, The Clan and Air Maiden, Lynne Armstrong. And why? Over to Heather McCann…
Evans Cycles bought by Sports Direct
1st reported on Forbes by Carlton Reid today it has now been confirmed that Mike Ashley owner of giant retailer Sports Direct has aquired the 60 store chain Evans Cycles. Earlier this month Evans was in talks with Halfords after it announced it need a…
Mondraker Foxy R 29 Review – Don’t read this review if you don’t like riding fast.
I spent the first part of this year onboard the fantastic Mondraker Foxy, so when the 29er version of the same bike arrived at Singletrack Towers I was quick to claim it as my own. Would the Foxy 29er offer the same agility and stability…
‘Ard Rock Enduro Festival 2019 Dates Announced
Save the dates! The 2019 Ard Rock Enduro Festival, the winner of the Singletrack Readers Awards 2018 for best event, will take place from 2-4 August with entries for the popular event going live this Wednesday at 6:30 am. Ard Rock takes place in the stunning…
Could we all benefit from pro-level concussion protocols?
Is the UCI doing enough to protect athletes from their own enthusiasm after a head injury?
Sign This Petition To Save Wharncliffe Trails
The unofficial trails around Wharncliffe have come under threat recently as the Forestry Commission considers the destruction of the locally made features. Wharncliffe Woods has become a popular spot for mountain bikers over the years and is the regular playground of Josh ‘Ratboy’ Bryceland and…
Helmet Review: Bontrager Rally MIPS vs Specialized Ambush
Both of these are what I'd refer to as 'trail' helmets. They're heavier than a XC race lid, though they do come with more coverage to add protection around your skull. They're designed to be goggle friendly, but neither offers a convertible chinbar, so they're…
UK Mountain Biking’s Dirty Secret
As you might already know, we had some disappointing news recently. The Welsh government looked like it was about to follow Scotland in opening up access to its amazing countryside for many more potential users. But then it quietly buried any proposals for reform. It’s…
Video: Dudes of Hazzard Muckle Day Out
Those Scottish boys, the Dudes of Hazzard, have been up to things again – riding bikes in ways that make the rest of us sigh. At least they look a bit cold and uncomfortable for some of it, making this video just a bit more…
Review: X-Fusion Trace 36 Fork – A big fork to take on the big hitters
New for this year, the Trace 36 is X-Fusions’s top end, big wheeled enduro fork, aimed at the influx of long travel, hard hitting big wheeled bikes that have become prevalent in the past 12 months, and has been designed to take on the big…
Don’t Skewer Yourself With A GoPro – Camelbak Sternum Protector Review
I’ll make a bet. If you were drawing up a shopping list for new bits of body armour right now, I reckon it’d be highly unlikely that you’d have ‘sternum protector’ written down on that post-it note. (If you’re the one person who did have that written…
Fresh Goods 419: A Sensible Steel Hardtail, 2 High-Tech Action Cameras, Vampire Blood, And Hannah’s Feet.
Sometimes it really is difficult to think of a good intro for Fresh Goods Friday. We sit at our computers looking at our screens blankly, waiting for a bolt of inspiration to hit. This bolt can come from anything, a flashback, a comment or simply…
Mondraker’s All New Level Is Almost An e-MTB Version Of The Foxy 29
While some bike brands are happy to release e-MTB alternatives to current models, Mondraker develops and names its e-MTB separately from its non-e-bike ranges. So when we looked over the specs of the latest Mondraker e-MTB we instantly thought “surely this bike should be the…
Review: Brother Cycles Big Bro – For long and short adventures
There’s something very exciting about getting a new adventure bike out of the box for the first time. With a trail bike, you kind of know what you’re going to get, with most models following a well tried and tested formula of frame, wheels of…
Reinventing Suspension: We Ride The New Trust Performance Message Fork
Launched today is the Trust Performance Message, a pivoting fork that will change the look of front suspension, and improve your ride. We’re one of just three publications to get an early look at and ride on this brand new fork from three of the bike…
Bike Check: George Thompson’s Geometron G18 29er
George Thompson, ‘award winning’ writer of #MakingUpTheNumbers, joined us at the Singletrack Trade Day for a bit of a ride out in the Calderdale sun. He brought with him what might be the biggest bike we’ve ever seen – but then he might be the…
Singletrack Life Subscribers Private Whisky Riders Bottle Charity Auction
As we explained here, we have three ‘spare’ bottles of this exceptionally rare single malt ‘Laddie’ whisky. We’ve already raised over £1600 with the first two and now we are offering the third and final bottle to you, our similarly rare life subscribers. All you have…
Review: Curtis AM7 – Not just a pretty face, pretty fast too.
There’s no actual reason to buy a Curtis, other than the fact that you want one. And that’s a perfectly good reason. The bikes are hand made in the UK, in a shed, by a two-man operation, they use materials and techniques that many other…
First Look: Insta360 One X. A GoPro Killer?
Insta360 is a “new school” action camera maker, who rather than simply makes an alternative to a GoPro, has looked at the idea of an action camera from a totally new perspective to bring something new to our action video experience. The clue is in…
Tested: 5 Cheap Upgrades For Your Mountain Bike You Didn’t Know You Needed
Here are five little upgrades that I've been using on my test bikes over the past year, all of which cost less than 20 quid.
Video: A Slice Of Ariégeoise Pie
We not sure how to say it. Ariégeoise. Ar-ee-ay-jwaz? We’ve googled it, it’s in the Pyrenees, on the border with Andorra – which is of course the home of Commençal. It looks like it’s fun to ride there – though we’d be sure to take…
Don’t Bonk! 5 Nutrition Products For Your Next Riding Trip
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been travelling around parts of Europe on a road trip to check out some absolutely mint riding destinations, such as Punta Ala, Finale Ligure and Molini in Italy, and Alicante, Sierra Nevada and Malaga in Spain (sorry). My wife…
Video: Buying A Mountain Bike, Buying A Lifestyle
If you’ve stumbled onto this looking for genuine advice on how to go about buying your first mountain bike, you should probably go and read the reviews section of our website, because this video is not going to help you. It might still be wise…
Bike Check: Paul Byrom’s Kingdom Vendetta XFS 29
Before the Singletrack Reader Awards kicked off last week, we had a Trade Day ride out, where loads of our friends from the bike industry join us for an actual ride. It might come as a surprise (and something of a disappointment) to you that…
The Winners! Singletrack Reader Awards 2018
Nominated and voted for by you, our readers, the votes have been counted and the winners have been revealed at our star studded awards ceremony. There were definitely more flannel shirts than sequins on display, but as usual Chipps made up for the lack of…
First Look: Calibre Bikes Astronut A.K.A The Midlife Crisis Machine
Some people buy funny shirts, or a custom guitar, some people even buy impractical sports cars, but not us! No, for our mid-life crisis we’ve gone for a dirt jump bike, because why not! Actually, we have to get a few things straight first: We’re…
Don’t Speak Too Loudly We’re All Hungover – Fresh Goods Friday 418
Thursday was a big old day for the Singletrack Team and indeed for the whole cycling industry for it was the 2018 Singletrack Readers’ Awards. We had bike riding, bants and beer, lots and lots of beer, and more beer. It was a great day…
Review of the Highway Code will improve safety for cyclists
Even the purest of mountain bikers amongst us will occasionally venture onto tarmac, even if it’s only to get out the trail centre car park or onto the next bridleway. Today the Government has announced that there will be a review of the Highway Code…
Nukeproof Dives Into 2019 With Range Update
Today sees the launch of a 2019 ‘range update’ from Nukeproof Bikes. Although there isn’t anything glaringly new in the line up, there are a few tweaks and alterations to what we already know from the Northern Ireland based brand. Similar to Ross’ story from…
Identiti Dr Jekyll Returns 2 Decades After The Original
If you have been riding for as long as we have then it’s highly likely that you’ll remember the original Identiti Dr Jekyll. Back in 1998, this overbuilt dirt jumper was the stuff of dreams for many riders. It featured tough 24inch Halo wheels, a…
BikeYoke Releases Superlight And Hacksaw Compatible Divine SL Dropper Post
German component maker, BikeYoke, has developed a new dropper post to add to its range of posts. The new dropper is aimed at XC racers, has 80mm of drop and weighs as little as 345g when adjusted to suit your bike. Over the past couple…
First Look: Nordest Bardino Ti Prototype A “Fast And Silent” Enduro Hardtail From Tenerife
Nordest is based in Tenerife (lucky so and so’s) so it makes bikes that suit the rocky, volcanic trails they have on the sun-kissed island. The current range includes a host of hardtail frames ranging from the all steel Sardinha frame, the more aggressive steel…
Flying the flag for British design – a visit to Ison Distribution – Part 2 – Halo wheels.
Flying the flag for British design - a visit to Ison Distribution - Part 2 - Halo wheels.
Calibre Hopes To Bring Dirt Jumping To The Masses With The £550 Astronut
Without heading to the Google search bar, do you know how much a competition ready dirt jump bike costs? No? Us either, but after a hunt around it looks like you could expect to pay anywhere from £900+ for something that can take serious, everyday…
Two Videos To Remind You Life Is Precious
It’s all too easy to say ‘maybe tomorrow’. To look out the window at grey skies and turn on the TV instead of heading for the trails. To put off that meet up with old friends, or tell yourself you can’t justify that trip of…
Pole Stamina New Machined Big Travel Big Wheel Bike From Finland With New Sizing
Finland’s Pole Bicycle Company was best known for its progressive geometry and clever folding frame designs, now, however, the brand is also known for calling out Chinese carbon frame makers (at least those who don’t seem to follow environmental standards) and shifting production to Finland…
Interview: Veronique Sandler – Not In It To Win It
Sitting in the yurt at the Bike Park Wales Women’s Weekend, a group of women are gathered for a Q&A session with three pro riders: Tahnee Seagrave, Katy Curd, and Veronique Sandler. It seems that many in the audience are keen racers, and many questions…
Whisky Riders Super Exclusive Bottle Auction For St. Gemma’s Hospice
In October 2015 we lost our deputy editor, Jenn Hill to cancer. Since then she has continued to inspire friends and riders from all over the country to ride bikes and just get out and have adventures. It was around the time of her death…
2019 Canyon Neuron Gets 130mm Travel, New Geometry And Starts At Just £1,449
In a break from the normal fanfare and pomp that comes with a new bike launch, Canyon has quietly updated its website to include the 2019 Neuron, a bike so well priced we think it actually deserves a bit of hype. The Neuron has been…
“All Hail Our Animal Overlords” – Fresh Goods Friday 417
Here it is, evidence that the animal uprising has already started. Cats are in cahoots with geese, we can only imagine that one will ride the other into battle, while dogs take to the roads! There isn’t much we can do against this unavoidable animal…
Singletrack Issue 121: MIPS: You’re Twisting My Melon Man
MIPS invited us to Sweden to explain its in-helmet safety system in words that non-neuroscientists can understand. Luckily we have our own actual PhD neuroscientist, so we sent Barney to translate.
Singletrack Issue 121: XXC: Cross Country Extra
Three bikes that take the short travel full suspension bike to another world.
Airdrop Fade Jumps And Lands On Our Christmas List
If you’re at home/work worrying what to buy us for Christmas this year then just stop. We don’t want bath bombs, socks, or a gin advent calendar (well, we do actually), what we really want is an Airdrop Fade. The Fade is the latest all…
Insta360 One X Camera – The End To Drones, Gimbals And Possibly GoPro
Just when GoPro thought they had finally made waves with the launch of the Hero 7, Insta360 comes along with the One X, a camera with image stabilisation so good you won’t need a gimbal, and accessories so innovative that you’ll never need a drone…
Highland Trail 550 vs French Divide – Battle of the Epic Rides
Whilst sitting back enjoying some much-needed rest and recuperation on a small Greek Island Stu Taylor took time to reflect on what has been a pretty crazy few months. First was the Highland Trail 550 in May, which I completed in four days and seven…
Battle of the Kit: Bike packing sprint versus bike packing marathon
Whilst sitting back enjoying some much-needed rest and recuperation on a small Greek Island Stu Taylor took time to reflect on what has been a pretty crazy few months, during which he’s completed both the Highland Trail 550 and the French Divide. Read on for…
Cannondale Habit. First Impressions Of A Very Important Bike
Cannondale Habit, first impressions. While I’m not, for a minute, going to think that I can get away with complaining about riding secret new bikes on wonderful trails with great people… it is always hard to come up with a ‘Well, how did that bike…
Cannondale’s New Habit 29er. The Trail Bike For You?
Cannondale has completely reinvented its 29in wheel Habit trail bike – from the ‘not quite a race bike, not quite a trail bike’ Habit model of old and come out with a bike that is very similar in silhouette to many of its rivals, but…
Bike Park Wales: Women’s Weekend – not just for women
For the weekend of 6th and 7th October, Bike Park Wales opened its doors to women. Not that women aren’t usually welcome, but to make sure the park was filled with #RadMums, #girlswhoride and #ladyshredders they were giving women free pedal passes (usually £10) for…
Singletrack Magazine 121: The Not So Nutty Professor
Sanny takes a step into the alternative bike world of Ben Cooper. What he finds is that it isn’t just about the bike. Not even close. Words & Photography Sanny I first came across Ben and his Glasgow-based shop Kinetics many moons ago when he…