“Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.” And so goes the oft-quoted advice in Hamlet, where a father gives his just-off-to-France son a concise set of rules by which to…
Chipps
With nearly 25 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 32 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)
Issue 154 Last Word: Schrödinger’s Stans Monsters
Chipps gets existential in his tyre swapping. Perhaps those new tyres you had on backorder have finally come in, or you’re simply putting in that pre-summer maintenance where you swap worn brake pads and bottom bracket bearings for new ones. And now, your attention turns…
Issue 153 Editorial: Always Meet Your Heroes
Chipps encourages you to seek out and praise your heroes. However, they might not be the people you first think of. Doesn’t the saying go ‘Never meet your heroes’? Is that because you’ll get to meet them and discover that they’re just normal, boring folks…
Patrick Adams – The Big Man Has Left Us
We’re truly sorry to have to tell you that Patrick Adams, that legend of the mountain bike scene, passed away last night, Feb 11th 2024 leaving the whole cycling world with a massive hole in it. Mountain biking and cycling in general has lost one of…
Issue 153 Tech Head: When It’s All Your Own Fault
A custom-built bike is a dream for many, but how hard is it to choose (and then live with) your exact, perfect machine? Words As told to Chipps Photography Credited For some people, commissioning and speccing a custom-built bike is a fantasy indulgence, for others,…
9Point8 Slack-R Headset Review
What if you want a slacker head angle, but your bike won't accept slackset-style headset cups? Enter the 9Point8 Slack-R!
Issue 152 Editorial: I went into Publishing and all I got was this awesome magazine
Words: Chipps Thirty years ago, at the start of January 1994, I walked into the Future Publishing offices in Bath to begin as technical editor for the recently launched MTB Pro magazine. My deputy editor Richard Howatt showed me around the basement office we shared…
Singletrack Issue 151 Editorial: Especially average? Or averagely special?
Words: Chipps Does anyone ever aspire to be average? Surely, statistically, most of us must be average at most things? Look around, though, and all talk is about the fastest, the biggest, the raddest, with occasional glances towards the terrible for balance. You’ll never really…
Singletrack Issue 151: Ydyn ni bron yna?
Chipps wonders what happened to the Welsh Government’s promises for a more accessible outdoors for all. Words Chipps Photography Amanda *Ydyn ni bron yna? = Are we almost there? A few short years ago, the mountain biking public was hopeful that it would soon be…
Fresh Goods Friday 666 – The Number of the Wee Beastie
Welcome to Fresh Goods Friday, number six hundred and sixty six! There’s obviously only one tune that can start off this instalment – so make sure your office speakers are turned up full for maximum workplace embarrassment. And the ‘wee beastie’ bit is in honour…
Singletrack World Issue 150 Editorial
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to issue 150 of Singletrack World Magazine. Whether you’re a new reader in print or online (or both), or an old hand who’s been around since our first issue back in 2001, I’d like to thank you…
Issue 150: Chipps’ Summer Ridewear
Chipps gives his top kit tips for those summer weeks (or foreign trips) where the temperatures hit ‘scorchio’ and beyond. I’ve had a long-running debate with American (mostly Californian and Coloradan) bike, clothing and shoe designers about designing mountain bike gear that only works in hot, dry lands, as they clearly have no…
Fresh Goods Friday 665 – The foreign food edition
Iiiiiit’s FRIDAY! And no matter how often it rolls around and how predictable it is, you’re never quite sure that it’ll actually arrive until it does, all casual Friday-style and all. And here, in a cycling-filled frenzy, is Fresh Goods Friday! This has been a…
Fresh Goods Friday 661 – The Hard Lining Edition
It's Red Bull Hardline weekend! And it's looking like it might be a terrifyingly wet one. Good luck to all the racers giving it their best.
Chipps with Everything: 2023 Eurobike Highlights
Chipps brings you a curated tour of the eye-catching highlights of this pivotal European trade show.
Editorial: Work up to the widdly bits
Chipps reminds us not to try to skip to the end... When I was about 16 I borrowed an electric guitar from a friend, with the usual teenage ambitions of becoming a rock star in the ensuing weeks. Obviously, this still hasn’t happened… I already…
Interview | Rob Warner: ‘Look At The Time!’
Chipps quizzes Rob Warner, on lucky breaks, World Cup racing and how commentating saved him from himself. Words & Photography Chipps CAUTION, CONTAINS ALL OF THE SWEARS. NORMALLY WE TONE DOWN THE ODD BIT OF SWEARING IN INTERVIEWS SO AS TO NOT OFFEND MORE SENSITIVE…
Fresh Goods Friday 651 – The C-Word Edition
Regardless of where you stand on the whole divine right to rule over a nation of subjects whilst wearing a really heavy bling-bling hat, we can all agree that an extra Bank Holiday is nothing to be sniffed at.
A close look at Classified Powershift. Two-by is back!
The Classified Powershift system revolves around a two-speed hub, made in Belgium, that is electronically shifted by a remote shifter.
Issue 148 Editorial: Every ride is like an individual snowflake
What is it that sets our sport apart from most of the other sports/hobbies/lifestyles out there? After all, some people don’t even think that mountain biking is a sport anyway. While the cross-country tip of it has some Olympic cred, it doesn’t pop into your…
Fresh Goods Friday 648 – Sort It Out Edition
Enough with the chocolate, it's time for everyone's favourite end-of-the-week shiny bits showcase: Fresh Goods Friday!
Fresh Goods Friday 647: Bank Holiday Bonanza!
Spring arrived earlier this week, and what a treat it has been. How have you chosen to use all that extra daylight? I have spent it taking a longer way into work, baking trail treats, going lamb spotting, counting goose eggs and avoiding llamas. So…
Spy Shot – New Specialized Bike Spotted In Banyoles
Specialized debuted a secret new cross country race bike this weekend
Issue 147 Editorial: Best Foot Forward
Admission time… I’m a secret, or perhaps ‘recovering’ left-hander. That is to say I write and use a mouse with my left hand, but apart from that I’m basically right-handed. I play guitar right-handed. If I played racquet sports or golf, I’d do it right-handed. I still rely on my left…
International Adventure: New Kids Sur Le Bloc
For my part, I have moved with my wife Beate to a little place called Fuilla, in the southeastern Pyrénées-Orientales – about as far south as you can get in France. It’s a sleepy village of 450 people at about 600m altitude, sitting in a wide, grassy valley…
The Cobble Wobble Returns!
Frome Cobble is a ‘World Famous’ bicycle hillclimb sprint up 179 yards of a steep, cobbled hill in the heart of Frome, Somerset. With the narrowness of the streets, the backdrop of 17th century buildings and a cheering crowd packed along the full length of…
Fresh Goods Friday 637: The Warranty Edition
This in the 'kin-tro... A bit like the flippin-tro but just that little bit coarser. Because we all just want to go out and ride our ATBs today, let's dive straight into FGF!
7Mesh WTV Chilco Jacket review
7Mesh WTV Chilco jacket (‘Wind, Thermal, Ventilation’) is a big new thing from top-notch clothing company.
Issue 146: Editorial – We Are Not Alone
Chipps encourages us to get to know our ride-group neighbours. As a reasonably feeble and glasses-wearing schoolboy, I was never great at ball games and was usually among the last to be picked for school sports teams. Imagine my delight when I later discovered mountain…
Issue 146: In Praise of Petrichor
Mountain biking smells aren’t just of damp shoes and disappointment. There’s joy to be found in the company of a good trail nose. Words by Chipps, photography by Mark Do you remember your first off-road ride? Of course you do. Those tend to be burned…
Fresh Goods Friday 630: Behind The Radiator Edition
The orange-chested robin redbreast is called redbreast because there was no English word for the colour orange until the 16th century.
The Bicycle Academy Closes Its Doors
After ten years of teaching framebuilding, designing and selling frame jigs and generally being a force for good for British framebuilding, the West Country’s Bicycle Academy has closed its doors. In its goodbye announcement, below, founder Andrew Denham and the other workers there, cited a…
Singletrack World Issue 145: Editorial
Chipps is in the flow zone… just don’t tell him. Been ‘in the zone’ lately? Have you achieved ‘flow state’? Perhaps you have; perhaps it’s something you’ve only glimpsed once or twice, or it might be something you’ve never heard about. ‘Flow’ is something that…
Issue 144 Editorial : No More Crashing?
On floors, that is… but why not? I’ve been a serial chancer/cheapskate/ ‘economic lifestyle enthusiast’ for years, especially when travelling. I’ve been that guy who phones up someone I met ten years ago, saying ‘Hi! Remember me? No? Well, we met in a hotel bar in…
Issue 144: Zippity Doo-Dah
Zippity Doo-Dah Chipps would like to lead you in praise of the humble cable tie. Words Chipps Photography as credited Every mountain bike guide seems to have two different tool rolls and two different first aid kits. The first kit, marked clearly with ‘Tools’ will…
10 most eyebrow-raising things seen at Eurobike
Chipps reflects on the best, worst and out-there inventions of the 2022 Eurobike Show (his 25th visit!) and the bike industry in general.
Issue 143 Editorial: Local Secrets
Chipps wants to show you all of his favourite trails. Well, nearly all. We all know that there are no secrets any more. Every mountain has been discovered, every field, stream and hillside catalogued, and every vaguely wiggly forest track named and KOMed. It seems…
Issue 143 Interview: Guy Kesteven
If he can tell how a bike will ride just by pushing it, why does he keep riding and testing? Words & Photography Chipps Whether you know Guy Kesteven through the thousands of bike and product tests he’s written over the last 25 years, his over-exaggerated ‘bike journo’ riding style, or…
Issue 143: Lost In Time
A few rolls of lost camera film bring back memories of older times. Words & Photography Chipps The fading art of the analogue photograph was always a wonder to me. I can remember watching, amazed, as my first black and white print appeared before my eyes in the college darkroom.…
Issue 142 Editorial: Gambling With Choices
Chipps ponders those moments where the path you choose makes all the difference. We all like to think that we’re, to a greater extent, in charge of our own destinies. Those decisions we make every day propel ourselves towards some ultimate goal. Occasionally, though, life…
Fresh Goods Friday 595 – Big Fork, Little Bar, Cardboard Box Edition
It’s Friday again. Easter is approaching and, soon, summer will be here. Or is it spring? When does it all start? Anyway, not long now until those blue sky days and all-day rides that leave you dusty, tired and in need of a cold beverage.…
15 signs you have an unhealthy relationship with your bike
Yes, it's February the 14th. Time for some sort of crowbarred themed listicle! No matter what happens just remember, we will always love you.
Editorial: The Eternal Suffering Of The Spoke
I was once on a Mavic press launch, somewhere in the French mountains. Our merry band of bike journalists was augmented by some of Mavic’s sponsored riders, including Jérôme Clementz and the flamboyant Frenchman Cédric Gracia. As we stopped for lunch at an outdoor café,…
Singletrack Issue 141 kit essentials: Insulated jackets
Chipps and the team venture out into the chill winds to bring word of the best insulated jackets out there.
Chris Hinds – Unexpected Hero
How much physical and mental strength does it take to finish, let alone win, the 1,800km Great British Divide? More than we could ever imagine. Words & Photography Chipps & Chris Hinds How does that kitsch saying go? To truly appreciate the heights, one must…
MTB Culture: Meet The Minehead Mentors
Chipps takes a ride with the Minehead mountain bike club that’s just for youngsters. Words & Photography Chipps Saturday mornings are busy for parents, with many different demands on both their time and their mum/dad taxis with myriad choices for youngsters to spend the hours…
2021 GT Malverns Classic – Editors’ Choice Awards 2021
The Singletrack Staffers pick the standout products and locations from their riding year. This article was originally published in Singletrack Magazine Issue 140. The year has felt a little like approaching that nemesis feature on the trail: you roll up to it full of optimism,…
Glentress Forest – Editors’ Choice Awards 2021
The Singletrack Staffers pick the standout products and locations from their riding year. This article was originally published in Singletrack Magazine Issue 140. The year has felt a little like approaching that nemesis feature on the trail: you roll up to it full of optimism,…
Thule Rail Hip Pack 2L – Editors’ Choice Awards 2021
The Singletrack Staffers pick the standout products and locations from their riding year. This article was originally published in Singletrack Magazine Issue 140. The year has felt a little like approaching that nemesis feature on the trail: you roll up to it full of optimism,…
Scott Spark RC – Editors’ Choice Awards 2021
The Singletrack Staffers pick the standout products and locations from their riding year. This article was originally published in Singletrack Magazine Issue 140. The year has felt a little like approaching that nemesis feature on the trail: you roll up to it full of optimism,…
