In the last couple of years, Redhill Extreme has been taken into new ownership and has been given a new lease of life. It’s low key and a relatively small site – basically a big field on the side of a hill, tucked away behind…
August 2020
12 Things That Mountain Bike Magazines Need To Stop Doing
The response to our ‘Ten things the bike industry needs to stop doing’ feature a couple of years ago has been very good, with readers outraged and in agreement in equal measures. So, just because we like giving the hornets’ nest a prod every now…
Dropping In – Short Stuff You Should Know
We bring you a round up of snack sized information from the big wide bike world that we think you might want to know. Criminalisation of Trespass As highlighted in Cycling Industry News, there’s only a few days left to try and halt the progress…
Fresh Goods 513 | Andi’s Vacation Collection
Are you here for the waffle, or the product? If you’re here for the product, Andi says: Just because he had 2 weeks away from the office doesn’t mean the industry stopped sending our ginger ninja fresh new kit. Check most of it out below…
Åre Bike Park with Manon Carpenter
Recent videos from Manon Carpenter have been less on the shredit side, and more on the commune with nature side. This latest speed has a total absence of hike-a-bike, it’s just top to bottom descending, jumps and turns. Manon says: As we all know, many…
Cube Blackline Waterproof Shorts – Packable Waterproofing For Your Bum
Vicky puts the Cube Blackline Waterproof Shorts through their paces in the gritty and wet Calder Valley. These Cube Blackline Waterproof Shorts are a lightweight, packable waterproof short, made out of Primetronic material with fully taped seams and a reinforced saddle. The subtly branded black…
New 7MESH Thunderpants!
If you want to catch our eye in our news inbox, there are two ways: a huge price tag, or a great name. Which is it from 7MESH that grabbed us here? The new 7MESH range for autumn/winter has been released and includes new and…
DMR Rhythm | Jumping to a new beat
The new DMR Rhythm is a 26” wheel aluminium jump/pumptrack/4X/play frame, built for big airs, endless laps, and elbow to elbow antics. When a bike model gets bigger wheels for an update, these days that usually means it becomes a 29er. Not so the DMR…
Gowaan Gals | Morzine Mashup
It seems like there are only two places to be in the world right now if you’re not staying home: the wilds of Scotland, or Morzine. The Gowaan Gals have gone for the Morzine option, so that means we get treated to a mashup of…
A Day Out With Allen Millyard and his Hyper Ride II Suspension
We took a road trip down to the Forest of Dean to meet up with Allen Millyard and his sons Stephen and Sam and check out their latest creation, the Hyper Ride Suspension system. It was a baking hot day in the midst of a…
DJ Khaled: Go Sit On A Log
Watch this, then go grab your bike and head out there to find a log to sit on! DJ Khaled shows us the joy to be found out on the trails. Could this be the best feel good MTB video of the year? No carbon…
Rider Inspiration: All-mountain clothing from ASSOS
Legendary Swiss brand ASSOS have a solid reputation amongst our lycra clad cousins for outstanding kit at the unashamedly higher end of the market. Their summer 2020 TRAIL collection combines loose fits, protective features and innovative textiles, perfect for demanding riders. Ross, Amanda and I…
Fresh Goods Friday 512: It’s Hardtail Season
Let’s start Fresh Goods Friday with some breaking news! Carly, the Scottish half of everyone’s favourite Van Gals, has had her first major crash. Naturally, Emma responded as any good girlfriend should: Fear not. Carly is OK, she’s had stitches in her elbow and a…
Corona Coaster | Ella Conolly – At Home in the Highlands
Welcome back to Live To Ride, in this episode we journey north to Scotland where we catch up with Ella Conolly. She moved from XC to Enduro three years ago where she became the U21 World Champion and has since been working her way up…
Identiti AKA Bike Check: Versatile Hardtail For Trails or Tracks
Here we have another hardtail build by Amanda, only this time she’s gone alloy with the Identiti AKA. For her first stray away from steel, she’s gone for ultimate comfort by choosing all her preferred components, and some very noisy wheels. Identiti AKA 27.5 /…
Counting The Carbon Cost Of Peak District Fire
A camp fire caused loss of 50 years’ worth of valuable peat in the Peak District National Park. The resulting blaze released greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to running all the homes in a town the size of Bakewell or Hebden Bridge for a year. The…
2021 Mondraker Podium Carbon frame weighs less than a cup of coffee
Today we have yet another hardtail launch – The Mondraker Podium Carbon. I mean, what is it with hardtails right now? They are everywhere and yet if you try buying one you find they are nowhere. Demand for all bikes as at fever pitch levels…
Revel Bikes Now Available with UK Distributor
While it has been possible to get a Revel Bike shipped anywhere in the world, there’s something comforting about having a UK person to call up and pester with questions and deal with all the shipping and stuff for you. If you’d been eying up…
BikeYoke | New 213mm Dropper and Triggy Alpha Lever
Dig out your tiny frames, prepare to ride in platform shoes: the new BikeYoke Revive 2.0 Dropper is here, with a whole 213mm of drop! Previous testers have found the BikeYoke droppers to be silky smooth, reliable, and with nicely ergonomic and effective actuators. With…
Join The Singletrack Zwift Race Series This Autumn
Off the top, we claim no credit for this – we’d never be this organised – but forum regular robbo1234biking has started a thread on our forum inviting you to join in an Autumn Singletrack Zwift race series complete with clever algorithm to level things…
Liv Tempt | A budget hardtail to lure you to the trails
Liv’s update to its entry level series ‘Tempt’ range will no doubt appeal to the many new riders that 2020 has spawned. Available in either 29-inch or 27.5-inch wheel sizes, the new Tempt series is billed as the ideal entry level off-road bike for women.…
Canyon Exceed CFR LTD – First Ride Review
When an email dropped into my inbox asking if I’d like to test the new Canyon Exceed CFR, I’ll admit I hesitated before accepting the challenge. The last time I rode a hardtail race machine was exactly a year ago at the 10@Kirroughtree race, and…
Canyon Bikes Goes All-Out With the 2021 Canyon Exceed Hardtail
Featuring bold rainbow decals and ‘unicorn hair’ carbon fibre, the new 2021 Canyon Exceed has been engineered to be one of the lightest mountain bike hardtails on the planet. The Canyon Exceed CFR (Canyon Factory Racing) frame is quoted at an astonishing 835g. And that…
What to expect from a day out at Dyfi Bike Park
Could you ride Dyfi Bike Park? Could your kids? We set out to find out what the new Red trails are like. When Dyfi Bike Park opened it quickly gained a reputation for being a place for only the best of riders. These were Dan…
Bespoked Show 2021 Moves To Harrogate For Its Tenth Year
We’ve just heard from the organisers of Bespoked, the British handmade bicycle show, that it is moving next year’s show to the Harrogate Convention Centre, from its previous home of Bristol for Bespoked 2021. Not surprisinly, this year’s show didn’t happen. Like many spring 2020…
FGF Podcast 511 | Recorder music, hardtail shortages and Hannah’s #vanlife
Hannah is back but she’s not really back. She’s roughing it the back of her van with love of her life Fahzure as she travels around Wales having riding adventures. So, it’s MC Mark once again standing in. This week we get a disturbing aural…
Van Gals VLOG: Dreamy Singletrack in Châtel
By this point, we’re confident you all know who the ‘van gals’ Carly and Emma are. For those that don’t, come join us for a brief recap of the adventures and mishaps the two mountain biking van dwellers have had in recent months. Pizza Powered…
Video: Andi rides with Tommy C Hype on their local
Andi brushes off his eMTB to ride with rising YouTube star Tommy C Hype in his latest video edit. For some, a mid-life-crisis might mean buying a 2 seater sports car but Andi is doing it differently. Instead of a toupee or heading back to…
Fresh Goods Friday: FGF 511 – The Can-we, can’t we? edition
Crazy times on crazier times. We find ourselves here at Singletrack Towers in the midst of local lockdown where we can’t go to someone’s house or garden, but we can go for a bike ride with them. So that’s good. But at the end of…
Merida Big.Trail 600 First Ride Review | All the hardtail you’ll ever need, for just £1500
It’s no secret that the writers at Singletrack love a nice boutique hardtail. The lure of a custom steel frame, painstakingly brazed together by a bloke who looks like he got lost on the way to the Glastonbury Festival in the 1970s in his garden…
New Merida BIG.TRAIL Hardtail Launches With UK In Mind
Wow, it seems to be hardtail season. And when one of the biggest bike companies in the world looks to the UK for inspiration, it’s time to listen… Merida makes no secret that its new BIG.TRAIL hardtail range was designed with UK riders in mind.…
Think global, ride local -A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood – Part 3
Worn down by home schooling, Sanny takes a different tack when it comes to education provision. Words by Sanny. Images by Julia Gould and Sanny. “How long has it been now?” I wonder to myself as I look at another day of home-schooling tasks that…
New ‘99% Accurate’ Wahoo KICKR Trainer Launches
Yes, it must be time to start thinking about those dark nights spent spinning away in front of the screen in the hope of spring fitness. And the new 5th edition of the Wahoo Kickr is aimed at helping you achieve all of those goals.…
Yeti Cycles 2021 – New Colours, New Specs, New Bikes.
As the brand celebrates its 35th anniversary, the Yeti Cycles 2021 range seems to be having a time to take stock and just catch up with everything, after a couple of years of frantic bike launches and revisions. There have been a couple of new…
Video: The Brigade Team let loose in Vallnord
With the possibility of World Cup races on the horizon, The Brigade Team headed to Vallnord for a week of testing. The Brigade Team riders, Alex Marin and Rudy Cabirou seized the opportunity to head to Vallnord, Andorra once lockdown lifted to test out a…
Kona Honzo ESD first ride review: Kona’s classic hardcore hardtail gets an update
On one of the hottest days of the year, Andi takes out one of the hottest new bikes of the year. Here are his first ride impressions of the Kona Honzo ESD. There was a time that all I rode was steel hardtails. Now and…
North American Scrap Lumber Bicycle Symposium | Bike Check
Pushing the boundaries of bicycle technology, taking innovation to the next level, and setting new standards, it's Hannah and Fahzure's lockdown creation. No, it's not a baby, a sourdough loaf, or a pizza oven: it's a bike made from wood. With so many cancellations of…
Classic Ride 132 – Menteith Hills
Pete Scullion takes us on a tour of the endless, accessible fire roads and exciting singletrack on the very edge of the Scottish mountains. Words & Photography Pete Scullion The Trossachs… A sleepy corner of Scotland where the wide open spaces of the lowlands meet…
The New Giant Talon XC Hardtail
“The call of the trail is real.” says Giant’s new enthusiastic press release about its new 2021 Talon hardtail. To be fair, hardtails are great and they’re all very sharply priced. So, let’s take a quick look at the 2021 Giant Talon hardtail run down……
Fresh Goods Friday 510 – Where’d They Go? Where’d Who Go?
We’ll start you off with five points if you got the ‘Top Gun’ reference. We actually know one bike journalist who would begin every single ride with the first ten minutes of Top Gun on the big screen to fire them and their riding crew…
Never Ride Outside Again! Zwift Introduces Futureworks Steering, Supported By Elite Trainers
It’s been a fun week or so for indoor cycling fans. Today, we’ve seen dual announcements from Zwift and Elite to say that both companies are now incorporating steering into online workouts. Zwift steering is already in use on its off road trail in Watopia,…
BMC Two-Stroke Hardtail – Not (Just) For Racing
Today, BMC launches its new hardtail, the BMC Two-Stroke. It’s a 100mm forked hardtail designed for going fast, fast, fast, but it’s not for racing. Or rather, it’s not really designed for XCO, UCI World Cup cross country racing. BMC acknowledges that the best bike…
Schwalbe release 5 new Super casings plus updated Nobby Nic and Big Betty
Schwalbe reintroduces the Big Betty, revamps the Nobby Nic and introduces an entirely new range of Super casings for 2021. The pandemic has made keeping products a secret even more difficult than ever before, so while today is the official release of the new Schwalbe…
Sonder goes hardcore STEEL hardtail with the new Signal ST
Sonder has taken the spritely Signal Ti and given it a real steel flavour with the new Sonder Signal ST. Some months, or was it years back, I tested the Sonder Signal Ti for a feature in Singletrack Magazine (yes, there’s a mag!), I really…
2021 Kona Process X launched alongside updated 153
Kona goes eXtreme with a capital X with the release of the new Kona Process X and Process X DL. Gravity-fuelled rigs aimed at the enduro/freeride crowd. Has freeride made a comeback? Well, new bikes from the likes of Commencal and Kona seems to suggest…
SixSixOne release Radia Goggle range
Protection peddlers, SixSixOne enter the goggle game with the new Radia Goggle for just £39.99. We don’t know if the cycling industry has known all along about this wet summer but there has been no shortage of affordable goggles released this year. Funn entered the…
Tested: Fasst Flexx Suspension Handlebars
David breaks out the digital calipers to test the effectiveness of the Fasst Flexx suspension handlebar. There's something undeniably nineties-sounding about suspension handlebars, especially given that these work with elastomers. Manufacturer Fasst have tested the concept with ATVs and motocross bikes since at least 2011…
Yeti Launches Yeti ARC Production Bikes For Those Without Nine Grand
Recently, Yeti Cycles celebrated its 35th anniversary with the launch of an eyewateringly expensive, commemorative Yeti ARC 35 hardtail, complete with colour-matched components and a pretty top-shelf spec. The bike itself was so far over most people’s price ranges that we didn’t really pay close…
Singletrack Podcast 510 | The Chris Porter EXT Fork & Politics Rant Episode
We’ve missed a week of Podcasts due to summer holidays and the fact that only Hannah really understands how to organise this side of editorial production. However, Mark has managed to roundup Chipps and Andi to talk about the latest developments in the MTB UK…
SR Suntour TriAir 3CR Rear Shock Review
The Suntour TriAir 3CR is an affordable rear shock that promises performance and easy maintenance. So, does it live up to the promise? Perhaps one of the most overlooked parts on many bikes, at least when it comes to upgrades, is the rear shock. We're…
Review: Suntour Durolux R2C2 PCS EQ top-performance on a budget!
The Suntour Durolux R2C2 PCS EQ is awarded a Singletrack Recommended Award for providing quality suspension and performance at a budget price. Suntour’s continued development of its rowdy 36mm enduro fork has paid off with Andi thoroughly recommencing this budget bouncer. When I started to…