In association with… There are some places you ride that stick in the mind long after you’ve brushed yourself down, cleaned the dust off your bike and moved onto places and adventures new. The towering peak of Binnean Mor, an imposing edifice of possibility and…
2019
Eurobike 2019: Oil Slicked Funn, QR GoPro mount and more!
Funn shows us its limited edition oil slick pedals, new goggles, a clever GoPro mount and more! Funn’s booth at Eurobike is bubbling to the brim with parts and components so varied that it’s easy to forget where you are. First up is this pair…
Fresh Goods Friday 464 | The Back To School Edition
All the kids are back at school. The kids in Scotland – who have been back for weeks – are already looking forward to half term. The teachers in England are already looking forward to half term. Daytime gin consumption is suddenly reducing. Soft play…
Eurobike 2019: Prototype DMR DJ bike and single-sided SPD
DMR proves that the best way to get your bike shot is to place a “prototype do not photograph” sticker on it, plus new single-sided SPD pedals. DMR is best known for its steel dirt jump bikes, so when we spotted this prototype alloy bike…
Eurobike 2019: Hellion bikes for Lil Shredders
Hellion is a new sub-brand of Early Rider that hopes to bring aggressive full-suspension and hardtail bikes to young riders. Last year, Early Rider bought the popular kids bike brand Lil Shredder, and at the same time took on the Lil Shredder team to create…
Manitou Mattoc Pro Long Term Review
James Vincent checks out the Manitou Mattoc Pro Boost fork – how does it stand up to the competition? Another month, another set of suspension forks for review. No fancy linkages on these ones though, just standard telescoping tubes, stanchions, bushings and a not so…
Ard Moors Trail Crew Get Their Build On With Chris Akrigg
With Ard Moors just over a week away, the Build Crew have been hard at it shaping and crafting some of the finest trails in Yorkshire and possibly the world. Trials legend and EVOC athlete Chris Akrigg will be taking part this year and joined…
Eurobike 2019: Convert your Hope Pro 4 to Microspline for $25
When it was revealed that Hope couldn’t get a license to make a Microspline freehub there was uproar, luckily this Chinese company came to the rescue. Microspline is a new standard that Shimano came up with when it released its long-over-due 1 x 12 drivetrains.…
Trek SuperCaliber | The 60mm travel World Cup race bike
As World Cup race courses get more technical, with less and less chance to recover between ‘features’, the big question in top level cross country racing is whether to go full suspension, or to keep with a lighter and stiffer hardtail. Well, the new Trek…
Eurobike 2019: Clarks M4 4 Pot brakes just £70 a pair!
Clarks is showing off the new Clarks M4 4 Pot disc brake at Eurobike that cost just £70, and that’s for a pair with a set of disc rotors too! The Clarks M4 is a new 4 piston brake aimed at downhill and E-Bike riders…
Eurobike 2019: Prototype Privateer 161
From the same people who bring us Hunt wheels, the Privateer 161 is a radical 29er aimed to shred the trails, not your wallet! We had heard rumours that the big wheel, big travel, progressive prototype was being shown off around Eurobike (having originally been…
Lee Quarry Riders Robbed By Masked Attackers With Crowbars
On the evening of Wednesday 4th September, two riders had driven up the access road to Lee Quarry, in Lancashire to go for an evening ride. They parked in the ‘top’ car park before the quarry gate and while they were getting ready to ride,…
Eurobike 2019: Ceramic Speed Electronic Drivetrain on a Prototype Canyon
Last year, Ceramic Speed broke the internet with its radical 13-speed drivetrain solution, this year they’re back with a mountain bike version. Ceramic Speed’s very novel 13-speed drivetrain from Eurobike 2018 was cool. It was unlike anything we had ever seen before. It used a…
Last Chance To Subscribe! Singletrack Issue 127
We’re still wearing shorts, despite the unsightly nettle rash (they do get more concentrated as the summer goes on, we’re sure of it). Each day the socks are getting a little longer and a little woolier, and eventually we’ll be force to admin that it’s…
Production Privée and Forestal Join Forces Titanium PP coming soon
Big news away from Eurobike this week is that Forestal, the tech brand Cedric Gracia is riding for, has now joined forces with Production Privée. Production Privée, our favourite Andorran steel bike maker, and Forestal, a new tech based bike start up, have announced a…
Rudy Project Keyblade Photochromic Glasses – Multipurpose frames for many light levels.
Launched today are the latest 2020 products from Rudy Project, including these new Rudy Project Keyblade frames with photochromic lenses, which we picked up at a preview at Impact Sun Valley, Idaho earlier this summer. Rudy Project has a background in road and triathlon, though…
Eurobike 2019: This custom-built King isn’t from 1993
Custom frame builder King, has taken inspiration from a 1992 Klein and built this absolute stunner! We don’t give out awards at Eurobike for the best looking biking on display, but if we did this custom made King bike would be in our shortlist. For…
Vote Here | Singletrack Reader Awards 2019
You’ve done all your research, yeah? If you are ready to cast your votes then head on down to our ballot box below. If you are still unsure then head back to our category index here and learn some more about this year’s finalists. GLITCH…
Eurobike 2019: TRP DH7 Drivetrain first look
Not exactly surprising after all the leaks and spy photos, but TRP has now officially released it’s first drivetrain the TRP DH7. Head to the TRP booth at Eurobike and fight your way to the front, and you might finally get to hold, play with…
Eurobike 2019: Orange Switch 6 first look
Orange has used Eurobike as the platform to introduce the new Orange Switch 6 here’s a quick first look. Orange Bikes has a bit of a monster launch going on at Eurobike, with 5 new bikes launched, and 2 updates to current bikes. We’re not…
2020 Orange Stage 6 – Exclusive First Ride Review
In 2017 Orange launched the Stage 6, a long travel, big mountain, do everything, enduro bike. The Stage 6 was Orange’s answer to the increasingly growing aggro 29 full suspension bike market and sported big numbers and slack angles. Today, Orange launches the updated 2020 model…
2020 Shimano Shoes | Trail Shoes, Race Shoes and – E-Bike shoes?
Shimano is using the evening of this year’s Eurobike Show to launch the new 2020 Shimano shoe range. There are cycling shoes for every discipline here, including disciplines you didn’t know needed their own shoes. The 2020 Shimano shoe collection (and it it quite a…
A great gift for cyclists | Bikes, Beers, and Subliminal Biscuits…
Charlie (former Bikemonger) creates a great gift for cyclists and/or biscuit fans. Sometimes the hill is not worth the trouble. Wind and rain tear at your Gore-Tex, deep mud foils your efforts, so you decide to get the hell out and find a new hill…
Manon Carpenter’s “An Ode To The Land” Video with Ben Cathro
Manon Carpenter’s latest eco video is better viewing and more important than any downhill shredit. Manon Carpenter decided to stop racing a few years ago, but she hasn’t done with mountain biking and her title sponsor Radon Bikes, still supports her on adventures, explorations, and…
Sector 9i carbon wheels come with a built-in Suit of Armour first ride review
Wheel maker Sector wants to prove to the world that tough and durable, needn’t mean stiff and uncomfortable with the new Sector 9i carbon wheelset. I was chatting with a very well known composite guru one evening, and over a bottle or two of red…
Sector 9i Carbon Wheels With TeXtreme First Look
Sector has launched the new Sector 9i carbon wheelset today with low-weight, competitive pricing, and added Textreme. Sector is a new wheel maker, but the people behind the name have been in the bike industry for years, and are better known for the Kinesis bike…
Endura MT500 Lite Knee Pads | Review
Wil gives us his review of the new Endura MT500 Lite Knee Pads Just two months ago, Endura released several brand new protective products under the venerable MT500 label. These included a very lightweight, (as in, 640g lightweight!) full-face helmet equipped with Koroyd protection, and…
Granite Stash Tool System Is My Back To School Essential
Granite Design has released its own Stash Tool system with all the benefits of the OneUp but without the need to thread your steerer. And it’s more affordable too! Granite Design has a couple of tool systems that hide into the otherwise empty orifices on…
Adam Brayton’s broken collarbone means he’s out for the rest of the season!
Hope downhill rider, and Nukeproof pilot, Adam Brayton has announced that he’ll miss the last round of the World Cup and Hardline! Adam Brayton has had a pretty tough season so far, and it just got a lot worse. Earlier today, Mr Gas To Flat…
Singletrack Issue 126 | Editorial – There is no right or wrong…
Words Chipps How is it that I can love listening to a particular band, yet my friend hates them? Or that I can dislike food that is someone’s favourite dish? Or that I can laugh at a comedian who barely raises a titter from others…
Would you hit this railway gap on a £2600 enduro bike?
Watch this rider hit the infamous Pemberton Railway gap in Whistler on the £2600 Patrol 691 enduro bike! Earlier in the year we visited Bali and tested wallet-friendly enduro bikes from Indonesian brand Patrol. Since we left the sunny island, Patrol has been sending bikes…
Fresh Goods Friday 463 – A Little Yellow Tool Every Biker Needs
We deliver Fresh Goods on time this week, despite being thin on the ground and those of us that are here being distracted by the results for the Singletrack Reader Awards 2019. Have you voted for your favourite products, services, people and places from the…
Watch Luca Shaw’s DH World Champs Course Preview
Practice has already kicked off over at the UCI World Championship track in Mont St Anne, here’s Luca Shaw showing us how to ride this rough, fast track. It’s a funny Downhill season this year with the World Championships taking place before the end of…
Who Is Bicycle Pubes? We Chat To The Instagram Star
If you’ve not yet discovered the frankly bizzare and often hilarious Instagram account BicyclePubes yet then you are missing out on a whole heap of bike industry parody and satire wrapped up and delivered by the power of memes, hairy balls, and poop. We ‘despatched’…
New Specialized 2FO 2.0 Clip-in Shoe Launched
The new version of Specialized’s flagship clip-in trail shoe, now called the 2FO 2.0 is said to be even better than the original, with new materials, greater protection and a bold claim that they’ll dry ‘in under four hours’ – now that’s a claim. The…
Commencal celebrates 20th birthday with LTD Edition Meta AM 29 XX
Commencal is celebrating its 20th birthday with the release of the limited edition Commencal Meta AM 29 XX with AXS components and holographic decals. Commencal is celebrating 20 years this year and has launched a limited edition Meta AM 29 XX. Each Meta AM XX…
Pivot Lightens The LES
2020 Pivot LES SL launched. Those Pivot folks in Arizona have just let us know that the new LES hardtail is getting a lighter and even racier version – the SL. The Pivot LES already has a pretty good pedigree (an earlier model of the…
Fresh Goods Sunday 462 – Four Bikes
The doorbell has barely rung this week, which is just as well because the skeleton staff we have here are quite tired enough without running up and down the stairs too. Tower life has its disadvantages, and with even our very own Rapunzel off her…
MakingUpTheNumbers | National Downhill Series Round 4 – Hopton
Can 14lbs and 8mm make our George any faster? He heads to his next Downhill race to find out. ‘It’s worse than ever’. MrsMakingUpTheNumbers has finally snapped. My snoring is now unbearable apparently; so, after a visit to the GP I’ve been advised to lose…
Best Online Service – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
No matter how committed you are to using your local bike shop, the chances are you’ve used an online service of some sort this year. Interestingly, this year’s nominations look beyond the ‘buying stuff’ to other sorts of ‘online services’. This year is a re-run…
Best Published Image – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
Singletrack Magazine has always prided itself in the quality of its photographs and the skills of its contributors. In this day and age when everyone is now a photographer and your phone is always to hand to snap whatever catches your eye, it’s easier than…
Best e-MTB – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
This has been a tricky category to choose the finalists, as we’ve already seen what’s coming in 2020 – and as you’d expect with new technology, there are some giant leaps that make the older models look almost quaint. But what we’re interested in for…
Best Trail Centre – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
There have to be trails, obviously. But a really good trail centre needs more – maybe it’s somewhere to wash your bike, maybe it’s a family option as well as a white knuckle death gnar trail. Maybe it’s a really good pie at the end…
Best Bike Shop – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
The Finalists – Best Bike Shop 18 Bikes, Hope Valley A regular shop ride, a regular bike shop, and some regular and irregular custom frames – 18 Bikes is not your average bike shop. Their location in the Hope Valley means they’re always busy, but…
Best UK Event, Show or Series – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
Always one of the closely fought and highly campaigned for prizes, we’re looking for you to choose your ‘Best event or series’. Whether it’s the atmosphere, the trails, the charity support, the beer tent or a magical mixture of all these and more that make…
Mountain Bike Personality Of The Year – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
This is a hard one. What is a personality? Is it someone you’d like to have dinner with, because you know it would be entertaining? Is it someone you admire? Is it someone who has loads of Instagram followers? Or someone who’s put something into…
Best Hardware – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
These are the bits you attach to your bike. Maybe they come on a complete bike, maybe you replace something old, or maybe you just upgrade to something even more better. Whatever it is, from bells to brakes, hardware goes on you bike. Here’s the…
Best Software: Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
Software is all the stuff that doesn’t go on your bike – it goes on you. It probably keeps you warm, or dry, or safe, or sweat-free. Maybe it carries your stuff, or keeps your stuff dry. Whatever it is, you’re likely to cover it…
Best Bike Over £4500 – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
Imagine for a second that you have unlimited funds, no mortgage, and no bills. It’s dream bike time, but you only have three bikes to choose from. Which will it be? The Finalists – Best Bike Over £4500 Pivot Mach 4 SL Team XTR Wil’s…
Best Bike Under £4500 – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
If you’re shopping for a bike at this price point then you have our condolences – it’s not an easy job trying to choose just one bike from the 100’s of stellar options on sale today. You are both spoiled for choice and cursed with…
Best Bike Under £2000 – Singletrack Reader Awards 2019 Finalists
This was a big year for bikes at this price point, with hardtails as well as some quality full suspension options becoming available, prompting a different sort of ‘How Much?!’ squawk from many. Here are the bikes that lightened your hearts but not your wallets:…