Max Darkins rides off-road as much as possible from Richmond Park in London to dip his toes in the sea at Brighton beach. Words Max Darkins Photography Matt Pitts With springtime officially sprung and a day of sunny weather forecast, it is decided that Monday…
2019
Singletrack Magazine Issue 125 | With great power comes great grumpiness
Jason Miles has a run-in with the powers that are supposed to be helping him. A few weeks ago a mountain bike race happened in a park just outside Manchester. I’d organised it. It took a long time to get everything sorted out, mainly because…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 125 | Chairlifted Orienteering
Chipps takes on a mountain orienteering event in the Italian Dolomites, organised by Germans, where the idea is to hunt for dumplings that don’t actually exist, but which everybody gets at the end. Words & Photography Chipps “Crunch!” And with that, our event was over…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 125 | Electric Boogaloo
Chipps infiltrates the underground world of electric-bike-only riding weekends to discover the secret customs and handshakes of this growing mountain bike world. Words & Photography Chipps When you have a ‘special’ hobby, whether it be radio control cars, jigsaws or a rubber fetish, you’re always…
Singletrack Issue 125 | (Not) Catching Up With Peaty
Pete Scullion catches up with Steve Peat, one of the most successful mountain bikers of all time, and a giant of the sport in many ways. Words & Photography Pete Scullion Rolling down Steve Peat’s driveway seems awfully familiar, although I’ve never set foot in…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 125 | Jez Avery – Tears Of A Clown
Hannah catches up with Jez Avery, the official joker of the British mountain bike scene and finds a darker side that nearly did for him. Words Hannah Photography Mark and as credited “I love waking up in the mornings.” It’s taken stunt rider Jez Avery…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 125 | The Road To Thundergay
Sanny and Dave explore the western slopes of the Scottish isle of Arran, far removed from the tourist-heavy honeypots of Brodick and Goatfell. Words & Photography Sanny “Is that a dude dressed as Princess Leia?” I expleted, more than a little taken aback when a…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 125 | The Last Word
Swapping cars for handlebars By Mark Alker Mark swaps heated car seats and sunroof for a bike saddle and the open air in a move to become a daily bike commuter. In April I handed back the keys to my car to the guy from…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 125 | Making Hay On Wye
Barney takes a trip to Hay, while the sun shines… Words & Photography Barney Marsh This isn’t how it usually works. If you’re a freelancer like wot I is (Barney Marsh, writer of rongs, that’s me), you usually find yourself pitching ideas like a desperate,…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 125 | Digital Downloads
Singletrack members gain access to each issue of the magazine in a multitude of formats and options. Read on for shortcuts to the digital extras included with issue 125 of Singletrack magazine. Issue 125 PDF For those digital members who like to read the magazine…
Stan’s & Hope Respond To Shimano Micro Spline Licensing Frustrations
Hub manufacturers express frustration at Shimano’s tightly-controlled licensing over Micro Spline freehub standard Last year when Shimano released the XTR M9100 groupset, it also unveiled a brand new proprietary freehub body called Micro Spline. This Micro Spline freehub body was developed specifically to be able…
Meet the Banshee Paradox – An alloy hardtail that rides like steel
The Banshee Paradox is an ultra-rare alloy hardtail that has been designed to ride with the spirit of a steel bike Banshee bikes aren’t exactly ten a penny in the UK. You might bump into a Spitfire now and then but they’re not the usual…
Review | Who needs carbon when the Hunt Enduro Wide wheelset is as good as this
James gives us his review on the Hunt Enduro Wide wheels after 9 months of punishment What do you do when you can’t find a wheelset with the exact specification that you’re after? Most of us would either compromise or go down the custom route,…
Photo Gallery: 2019 Fort William World Cup Slip ‘N’ Slide
Fort William provided the goods again for this year’s round of the UCI Downhill World Cup, but before we move on to the next leg, let’s check out some the images we caught at the Nevis Range. With a grueling track, extreme weather and crowds…
2019 Fort William World Cup – Elite Men’s Finals Results
Elite Men’s Results Are In For The 2019 Fort William World Cup It’s the third and final day of racing here at Fort William, which can only mean one thing – Finals Time! After two tough days of surviving the notoriously rough Fort William race…
2019 Fort William World Cup – Elite Women’s Finals Results
Elite Women’s Results Are In For The 2019 Fort William World Cup! After a (relatively) dry day during Saturday’s qualifying session, the rain showers returned to the Ben Nevis range for Sunday race day. But while the rock-armoured upper and lower sections of the 3km…
2019 Fort William World Cup – Junior Finals Results
Junior Results Are In For The 2019 Fort William World Cup! It’s the third and final day of the 2019 Fort William World Cup, and the junior field has just finished racing down the mountain. While the rain had mostly held off for the morning,…
Crash Carnage at Fort William WC Downhill 2019
With the finals at the 2019 Fort William DH World Cup just hours away, we take a moment to look back at the past few days and the carnage we’ve witnessed so far. Although the final races at the 2019 Fort William DH World Cup…
2019 Fort William DH World Cup: Spied in the pits part 2
Another day of cruising the pits at Fort William uncovers more surprising new tech and bikes we’ve never seen in the flesh before. Juliana She 10 This beautiful Juliana She 10 is hitting the dirt at Fort William this weekend. Like other Juliana models, the…
Live Q&A On The New Shimano 12-Speed Deore XT & SLX Groupsets
Send us in your questions on the new Shimano 12-Speed XT & SLX groupsets! In case you missed one of the biggest product announcements of the year, Shimano has just announced it will be rolling out brand new 12-speed iterations of its popular Deore XT…
Rotor Introduces Lightest Ever Crankset – The 429g Kapic Carbon
Rotor rolls out Kapic Carbon – its lightest and stiffest mountain bike crankset ever Spanish drivetrain manufacturer, Rotor Components, recently revealed its first ever carbon fibre crankset; the new Kapic Carbon. At just 429g including a 32t chainring, the Kapic Carbon is the lightest, and…
2019 Fort William World Cup – A Day Of Surviving Qualifying
Qualifying results are in for the 2019 Fort William World Cup! It’s Saturday the 1st of June, which is *technically* the meteorological start to the UK Summer. You wouldn’t know it if you were here at Fort William though. But hey, who are we to…
2019 Fort William DH World Cup Gallery: How the pros deal with the rain
The 2019 Fort William DH World Cup is turning into one of the wettest we’ve had to deal with in years, which gives us a great inside look at how the pros deal with the rain and mud. We have more 2019 Fort William DH…
2019 Fort William Course Preview – Gee Atherton takes us for a wet & wild run down Ben Nevis
Watch Gee Atherton deliver a wet & wild practice run for the 2019 Fort William course preview video We’re up in Scotland at the 2019 Fort William World Cup, and today was the first day that riders were able to get out on course to…
The Fastest Riders From Timed Practice At The 2019 Fort William World Cup
Results are in from today’s timed practive at the 2019 Fort William World Cup Well, it’s been a wet ol’ day up here at Fort William for the 2nd round of the 2019 Downhill World Cup Series. After yesterday’s official track walk session, today would…
Spotted At Fort William: The New Commencal Supreme DH bike
Hiding in plain sight at the Commencal Vallnord race pits in Fort William is the latest variation of the Commencal Supreme DH bike. Walking around the pits, and watching the action on track, it’s hard not to be impressed by the number of Commencal Supreme…
Tahnee Seagrave Crashes In Practice at Fort William.
Our Andi is on the hill at Fort William MTB World Cup and has just heard Tahnee Seagrave has crashed! Rumour is she’s injured her shoulder and had to be helped off the hill. As soon as Andi gets any more news to us, we’ll…
Fresh Goods Friday 450: ‘I Thought We’d Be Enjoying Summer By Now’
Remember those school summer holidays where you looked out the window at the rain hammering down and wished it would stop so that you could go out and play on your bike? Well, that’s a bit like how we feel today. Despite the promise of…
Ten Things About Tweedlove’s Transcend Bike Festival That You Need To Know
We’re looking forward to see what Tweedlove has in store for us this year at the newly minted Transcend Bike Festival. It’s basically like a bike race, bike show geek-out, chill-out camping music fest and food & drink festival all squished into one giant weekend.…
First Ride Review | Shimano SLX M7100 1×12 Drivetrain & Brakes
Wil gets his grubby mitts on the new Shimano SLX M7100 groupset for an early ride review In case you hadn’t heard the news, Shimano has just announced it will be rolling out both new XT and SLX groupsets for 2019. Having launched XTR 12-speed…
Day 1 2019 Fort William DH World Cup: Spied in the pits
We’re here at the 2019 Fort William DH World Cup and although it is absolutely lashing it down, we’ve been through the pits and snapped a few gems for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! Cannondale’s dual shock downhill bike As soon as we arrived at Fort…
First Ride Review | Shimano Deore XT M8100 1×12 Drivetrain & Brakes
Wil gets a first ride review on the brand new Shimano Deore XT M8100 groupset Last year Shimano unveiled its first 12-speed mountain bike groupset; also known as XTR M9100. With two new brake systems, the choice of 1×11, 1×12 and 2×12 drivetrain options, a…
Shimano Unveils Brand New 12-Speed Deore XT & SLX Groupsets
Shimano Deore XT M8100 and SLX M7100 see 12-speed technology trickled down from the XTR M9100 groupset In a move that will surprise literally nobody, Shimano has just revealed its brand new 12 speed Deore XT M8100 groupset – almost exactly one year after XTR…
Review | 2019 Norco Fluid FS 1 – A Sub-£2k Full Suspension Bike
Hannah checks out the 2019 Norco Fluid FS 1, a sub £2k full suspension bike. Norco is sold exclusively in the UK by Evans cycles, and at this price point with that high street access, this is likely a bike that will catch the eye…
Alpinestars Trail Attack Heads to Antur Stiniog
We’ve just heard that Alpinestars’ popular ‘It’s a knockout/devil take the hindmost/battle to the death’ downhill trail racing event will return at the end of June. And this time the venue moves from Hamsterley to a new venue of Antur Stiniog in North Wales on…
The Met Parachute Helmet Returns. Now With Removable Chinbar
The Met Parachute has been a feature in the Met Helmets lineup since 2007 and it’s no coincidence that that was around the time global Enduro racing really began to gather momentum. The original helmet was more a full face trail lid offering an increase…
Cash reward for the return of Aaron Gwin’s stolen bike in Edinburgh
Aaron Gwin’s bad luck continues, after hurting his ankle he’s now dealing with a stolen bike ahead of this weekend’s Fort William WC downhill race. The Intense Factory team has suffered a theft on the way to Fort William with Aron Gwin’s bike stolen during…
Review: Northwave Clan flat shoes gives you gecko grip plus
Andi slips on a pair of the new Northwave Clan flat shoes featuring a tread and rubber collab from the rubber wizards at Michelin. We first spotted the Northwave Clan shoe way back at Eurobike in 2018. There the shoe was shown alongside the Northwave…
MilKit Tubeless Sealant Launches Today To Solve Common Sealant Issues
The tyre sealant market is a crowded one, but Swiss company miKit reckons that its new sealant, simply called milKit Tubeless Sealant, is different enough to win fans. milKit Sealant promises to be lump-free, so that it doesn’t need vigorous shaking and when it dries,…
Bike Check | Chloe Woodruff’s Live Valve-Equipped Pivot Mach 4 SL
For America’s Chloe Woodruff, everything clicked into place on Friday the 25th of May at the second round of the UCI World Cup at Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic. During the Short Track XCC race, Woodruff made a powerful move during the 6th lap…
Review | Hellkat Pro AEC Tyre – For When The Going Gets Steep
David tests out the Hellkat Pro AEC, an enduro tyre from Kenda. Way back in the day, Kenda had a solid reputation in mountain biking and seemed to dominate. By a decade or so ago, that seemed to have fallen to competitors, who’d quickly made…
Longterm Review | FSA Flowtron Dropper Post
After six months of testing, James Vincent delivers us his verdict of the FSA Flowtron dropper post Which has revolutionised trail riding more; 1x drivetrains or dropper posts? Now there’s a question. Sure, 1x drivetrains have made gear shifts easier, cockpits less complicated and given…
Fresh Forking Goods 449: Meet the RockShox Ultimate family, and have fun in the sun
The long weekend approaches and naturally our minds turn to fancy new RockShox forks, comfy saddles, fresh threads, and suncream. Oh, and pickles… Fabric Scoop Shallow Race Ti Price: £69.99 (model shown is not available to buy) From: Fabric.cc Ross has been sent an ambassador…
New 2020 Trek Top Fuel Is As Much Trail Bike As Race Bike
Trek has announced an update to its very popular XC bike, the Top Fuel, that takes it further into the realms of other fast trail/XC race/marathon bikes rather than it being a dedicated World Cup machine. The new Trek Top Fuel is longer and slacker,…
New SRAM DH Drivetrains And Troy Lee Camo Colab
Downhill riders get new SRAM drivetrains and a Troy Lee collaboration. While most of what we hear from SRAM involves singing the praises of wide range cassettes and 12 gears, there’s a group of riders for whom getting up hills is of no interest whatsoever.…
Ibis Collaborates with Stan’s on new carbon wheels, creates cheesy video all by itself
Ibis rolls out new Carbon S-Wheels designed in conjunction with Stan’s No Tubes Ibis Cycles has been producing complete mountain bike wheels for a good while now, having been one of the earlier brands to jump on super wide rims back in 2014. The latest…
Hayes Performance Systems Introduces New Enduro Fork, Shock, Wheels AND Brakes
New Performance Products from Manitou, SUNringlé, Hayes and ProTaper MTB For the 2020 model year (yes, it’s only May…) Hayes Performance Systems, which includes the Manitou, SUNringlé and ProTaper MTB brands, will be launching a swag of new products aimed at the enduro crowd. For…
Review | Pivot Cycles Mach 4 SL Team XTR
Wil reviews the brand new Pivot Mach 4 SL The Mach 4 SL debuts in 2019 as a freshly baked model for Pivot Cycles. With a sleek carbon fibre frame, 29in wheels and 100mm of efficient dw-link suspension, it slots into the Pivot lineup as…
Pivot Cycles Launches New Mach 4 SL
Brand new from Pivot Cycles is the all-new Mach 4 SL Standing in the Pivot mountain bike lineup as the flagship full suspension XC race bike, the Mach 4 SL replaces two existing models; the Mach 4 Carbon and the Mach 429 SL. The Mach…
Osprey Raven 10 | Women’s Hydration Backpack For Long Days Out
It’s getting harder and harder for women to choose kit these days, because we seem to have more choice than ever before. The Osprey range alone features women’s specific packs for commuting, racing, big mountain days out and everything in-between. In this case I have…
Met Helmets Teases New Convertible Parachute Helmet
Met Helmets has today released a cool video, shot in the Highlands of Scotland, showing Kevin Miquel and Liam Moynihan winching up hills before hooning back down them. And it’s all in the name of promoting an as-yet announced new Met Parachute helmet. The video…