At Singletrack this week it’s Anthony’s birthday. Ant looks after the tech side of Singletrack World. Think of him as the hamster overlord of technical things I don’t understand (Ed – that’s quite a broad remit). Ant is a Volped He doesn’t ride a bike!…
March 2023
Fresh Goods Friday 646 – The Weird Galactic Soup Edition
Let’s start out with something approaching normal service… For the CNC and skate nerds, it’s kinda cool, but also seems like a vest waste of metal. Beware the wormhole that awaits you if you explore the rest of that channel, you may get lost: …and…
Free Uplifts For Little Legs At Glentress This Easter
Planning a visit to Glentress? This might just help you out – especially if you’ve got kids that you want to get to the top of the hill. From Monday 3rd April to Sunday 16th April, thanks to Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS) and…
Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero off-road balance bike
Say hello to the Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero. The Kiwi company has launched Magura-equipped, off-road balance bike that can be fitted with 12in or 14in wheels. Looks rad!
Red Bull banned from Welsh mansion after Hardline damage
It’s been reported that Red Bull has been blocked from renting its usual accommodation of Plas Tan-y-Bwlch in Wales, due to excessive damage caused over the past two years. Plas Tan-y-Bwlch is part of the Snowdonia National Park, and offers accommodation, an education centre, as…
Bike Check: Hannah’s Schwinn Traveler
This is my 1964 Schwinn Traveler, given to me as a rather special 40th birthday present from my partner. I did protest that he shouldn’t give it to me, as it’s too nice, and I’m not worthy and I’ll probably break it, but he didn’t…
Podcast – The Giant Interview
Hannah, Amanda and Mark run through the news of the week, and Mark talks to one of the product engineers behind the new Giant Trance X Advanced E+. In the podcast, we talk about how applications to record historic rights of way need to be…
Mental Mondays #5 Crossword & Puzzles by Mark
Mark is the designer of this week’s tricky prize crossword. This week’s test is a mixture of random bike related general knowledge with a few cryptic style questions thrown in for good measure. To complete this you are going to need to be up to…
Making Cycling E-asier: Trikes added to range of options
Cycling UK’s ‘Making cycling e-asier’ scheme gives people a chance to try out an e-bike for a whole month before taking the plunge and buying one. This means riders can try out different styles of bikes and see whether they’ll fit into their lives, the…
Sweet Protection Arbitrator MIPS Helmet Review
The Sweet Protection Arbitrator MIPS helmets is the Norwegian brand's foray into the increasingly popular convertible helmet market.
New Rider (battery provided)
A new reader and rider sent us this piece, before he’s even hit the trails. Welcome to mountain biking, Gareth, we hope you like what you find. So I’ve just bought a mountain bike, my first one, that I have no idea how I will…
Riding The Pictish Trail – a route down Scotland’s east coast
This nice video from occasional STW contributor, Huw Oliver, and first person to complete the HT550 in winter, Annie Evans, may have you planning a trip. Even if you don’t head off to the Pictish Trail, there are some nice moments in there about getting…
Amanda’s Birthday Bargain: Reclaim Your Youth With Tie-Dye
It’s Amanda’s birthday, so it’s time for another birthday promo in our web shop. Amanda has picked our Tie Dye T-shirts: Why Tie Dye? Because each T-shirt is unique and was carefully crafted by either Hannah, Zoe or me on the studio roof. I could…
Gravity School Racing: Team Video Portugal Cup Rd 2 Seia
As the pre-season races really start to heat up, the team headed to Seia for the second round of the Portugal Cup, and everyone was excited to visit a new venue. Especially after three days at our training venue, Ventoso Gravity Park, where everyone was…
Fresh Good Friday 645 – Things that make you go Mmm…
Mmm… Pentax 645. Benji wrote that, and then went on holiday. So who knows? What sort of ‘Mmm’ is it? Perhaps it’s a ‘Mmm’ of the variety you give to your three year old as they tell you a long winded tale of what their…
NBD: Cane Creek Electric Wings, Marin Alpine Trail Es, Bosch x Tektro ABS…
... Liv Intrigue X, SRAM Stealth brakes, BikeYoke Revive 272 dropper and Canyon Exceed. They're are here in this week's collection of Most Interesting Stuff Launched Since Last Week.
Government Changes Policy on Rights of Way: The Deadline is Back
Having previously announced that the 2026 deadline for registering historic rights of way would be removed, the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has taken an about turn and decided that there will be a deadline – in 2031. By way of explanation, DEFRA…
How Much?! Why we should care about the closure of Kitsbow
If you’re in the UK, there’s every chance you’ve never heard of Kitsbow, so why should you care that they’re closing? And who even are they? Kitsbow were (or, until 7th April, are) USA based makers of cycling clothing. With an RRP of $289 –…
Giant Trance X Advanced E+ Elite First Ride Impressions
This re-designed e-MTB was launched on the 21st March and you can read our launch story here with all the details on the range and specs. The Ride So, loads of new tech on board, but how did it translate to the very un-British like…
Transition Smuggler: First Ride Review
Tim Wild gets a sneak ride on the new Transition Smuggler before its UK release. Snozberry Spectacular! The bike is due for release in the UK through Windwave in early April.
The Classic Ride Is Coming – with Cycling UK
The next issue of Singletrack World is about to whirl its way around printing presses, and you’ve got until 25th March to get your name on the list if you want to receive the printed copy! Within, you’ll find another Classic Ride, this time written…
New Trance X Advanced E+ Elite Just 18.8kg @ 400wh
‘Trance X Advanced E+ Elite’ is quite a mouthful for sure and I’ve not yet come up with a handy short name for it and that’s despite sitting on this particular bike launch for the past 4 months. The actual launch was way back at…
New SRAM X0 Eagle AXS: First Ride Thoughts
The new SRAM X0 Eagle AXS drivetrain requires a UDH equipped frame. Why? To enable a direct bolt-on mounting method that's designed for robustness and ridiculous shift under-load capability.
Canyon Neuron First Look: A Very Rejigged Trail Bike
What sort of bike is the new Canyon Neuron? The simple answer is: it's a mountain bike. The more specific answer is: it's a trail bike. A trail bike with 29in wheels with 140mm travel front and 130 rear.
Podcast: The budget and click-bait journalism episode
This week’s podcast covers the demise of Moore Large – distributor and supplier of bike parts to many a bike shop. Mark gets Hannah worked up about government spending priorities, and the lack of focus on Active Travel. Amanda enjoys the politics lesson, then raises…
Mental Mondays #4 Crossword & puzzles by Hannah
Hannah is the designer of this week’s fiendishly tricky crossword and those that know her will not be surprised to discover it’s rather cryptic. The crossword is definitely one for those who spend perhaps too much time on the Forum. Or is it? Somewhere between…
The Answer To Everything Is…
This piece was originally published as the editorial in our Weekly Word – a newsletter which brings you a piece like this, plus a round up of news, offers, and whatever else we think you’ll like. It’s free to get the Weekly Word, and you…
Journey To Unbound: Riding Your First 100 with Marley Blonsky
If you’re looking at how your training plan has withered along with your quads and wondering whether that Dirty Reiver entry was such a great idea, here’s some inspiration for you. Follow along as PEARL iZUMi athlete, Marley Blonsky takes on her first century ride…
Singletrack Kitchen: Pub Bike Gumbo
By popular demand, here’s another recipe from Charlie to warm you up and fill you up after a ride. This is a really efficient recipe as it is great for using things up. I suppose in many ways this is the pub bike of recipes,…
Benji’s Bonzer Birthday Bargain Thingy
When a Singletrack staff member clocks up being another year further away from being a teenager, we do a little special Singletrack merch offer. In Sheep We trust I have no doubt mentioned this before, but some very wise words were once conveyed to me…
Fresh Goods Friday 644 – The Where Am I Edition
It is, inexplicably, Friday again. The longest fastest week to date. Are we sliding ever faster, reaching terminal velocity, and then about to hit British Summer Time? Hopefully it’s like one of those waterslides, that then launches you high into the air, whoosh into the…
Let’s Go Racing! Tarouca DH with Gravity School RacingÂ
We kicked off the 2023 race season with a visit to Portugal for the first round of the Portugal Cup at Tarouca. This venue always promises exciting racing, with a fast rough track, which tests riders from the moment they leave the start gate, all…
NBD: Ritchey Ultra 50th, YT Capra Core 3, Canyon Grizl CF SL 7…
Cube ebikes with Bosch ABS, 5Dev chainrings and SQlab Innerbarends. They're all featured in this week's handy roundup of the most interesting New Stuff That's Come Out.
After Slashing Active Travel Funding, Government Keeps £4.8 billion Fuel Price Discount
Hannah argues that the 2023 budget is taking us in the wrong direction.
Urgent call on Government to reverse devastating cuts to active travel budget
It feels like, given the response to our original story on this, this press release from the Walking and Cycling Alliance is worthy of a share. For what it’s worth, the Department for Transport still hasn’t answered the questions we asked them: In an open…
DirtFund Vitus Privateer Programme – 2023 riders announced
Having successfully launched the first DirtFund Vitus Privateer Programme in 2022, volunteers Daniel O’Shea and Tom Scott have announced the three new programme riders for 2023. Leah Maunsell, Ruairidh McRitchie, and Aidan Coulthard are the privateers set to benefit from the support for the coming…
YT Szepter Core 4 Review – Gravel For MTBers?
For this YT Szepter review I’ve been testing a medium sized YT Szepter Core 4, the slightly pricier version – the Core 3 gets a slightly lower grade suspension fork and drivetrain, and doesn’t have a dropper post. The YT Szepter Core 4, we are…
What’s Inside Singletrack Issue 148? Don’t Miss Out!
It’s the shoulder season. Kind of Atlas sized shoulders, that go on forever. Snow, sun, ice, mud, frost, wind… This issue, out early April, bridges the seasons nicely. We’ve got sunny days out, snowy epics, and the brightest collection of waterproofs ever assembled on a…
First 3D Printed Thermoplastic Mountain Bike: Revel Rodeo
Revel, the Colorado brand behind Revel Bikes and Wheels, has been experimenting with 3D printing in order to make a FusionFiber bike. This is a type of thermoplastic, and using it can avoid the epoxies needed to use carbon fibre layups. In the longer term,…
After The Storm – #RideOverRacism
I first saw this film at its premier at Kendal Mountain Festival and recommended you seek it out at one of the screenings that have since taken place around the world. Now, it’s available on general release, to mark the United Nations’ International Day for…
Monday Movies: The British Connection Edition
Have yourself a bumper viewing of mountain bike videos – not just two minute shredits, but some longer stuff too. Plus, all of them have a UK connection. Should keep you occupied for a while. You didn’t really have any work to do anyway, did…
Mental Mondays #3 – Crossword & puzzles by Chipps
Chipps is the designer of this week’s fiendishly tricky crossword. You may need to have your MTB historical records to hand to complete this one. Good luck. Todays quiz was composed of clues I didn’t have to look up on the internet, so expect a…
Full Suspension for Short Riders: What’s Out There?
If you’re a smaller adult looking for a full suspension bike, it can be tricky to find what you’re looking for outside of the women’s specific market. Some women’s specific bikes come with a shock tune suited to the lighter rider, which doesn’t always suit,…
WTF are Activated Carbon Fork Spacers?
Studio chat between Mark, Charlie and Benji covers everything from concussion protocols to why it’s often better to not understand how a product works before reviewing it. Charlie rants about his open insurance claim and Benji tells us about two products he had misguided pre-conceptions…
Retro Ridgeback gallery and video walkthrough
2023 marks Ridgeback's 40th anniversary and Madison had a bunch of retrobike beauties on display at their recent iceBike* trade show. For those who couldn't attend the show, here's our gallery and video for your delectation.
Government Slashes Funding For Cycling And Active Travel
Yesterday’s announcement that HS2 is being delayed to reduce costs has grabbed most of the headlines, but buried in the statement was the news that Active Travel funding is also being cut. Understandably, there’s a lot of anger and disappointment about this among those working…
Fresh Goods Friday 643 – The Chiller Aisle Edition
Let’s be truly British and talk about the weather, eh? It seems that no sooner have you been given a glimpse of spring than it all goes bonkers again and plunges us into winter again for a few weeks. It’s always been the way, though,…
NBD: Trek Farley, Thok Gram, Audi E-Tron, Last Cinto V2…
... YT Decoy CORE 4, Islabikes Creig.S and Luath.S. They're all in this week's New Bike Day round-up.
Islabikes Launches Bikes For Smaller Adults
If you’ve ever eyed up the Islabikes range with envy – or perhaps even had a go at riding one – you’re in luck. The Shropshire based company that revolutionised kids’ bikes designs has expanded its Creig and Luath ranges to suit small adults. If…
Women on The Move: The Politics of Patents
I think you’re going to like this. Fun, irreverence, freedom and a good dose of messing around. This new film looks at some of the clothing that adventurous women invented in an effort to be able to get outdoors under the disapproving gaze of society.…
Women and Bikes: How Far Have We Come?
Hannah charts the advance of women in the bike industry, as she sees it. Are you as optimistic? What changes have you seen? Apparently I am now long in the tooth enough that people have started asking me about how the bike industry has changed…
