The 2021 Intense Primer range has been revealed. While there isn’t a whole lot changing (apart from some new graphics and colours) the smoke clears to reveal two main models…
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.)
Roval Launches New Control SL Wheels – ‘The Lightest In The World’
We brought you the story of Roval’s super-light, super-limited Team Edition Control SL wheels back in March. Back then, they were the lightest production mountain bike wheels in the world,…
Cass Gilbert – What Does The Bikepacking Guru Pack Himself?
The new issue of Singletrack features an interview that Chipps did with world adventurer, Cass Gilbert when the two met up at the southern tip of Baja California Sur a…
Fresh Goods 514 – The Stand Inna Garden Edition
Yes, without wishing to gloat too much, us Calderdale residents are now afforded the luxury of being able to actually stand in someone else’s garden having previously been denied the…
2021 Trek Slash – More Travel, More Geometry, More Racing, More Fun
Today, we’re seeing the launch of the brand new 2021 Trek Slash. It’s not just a warmed-over version of the previous version, but a completely re-made range, from entry level…
Your Suspension Is Set Up Wrong – Cane Creek’s Kitsuma Is Here To Help That
Suspension in general, and rear suspension in particular, is complicated to set up as you ideally have to be on a repeatable bit of trail and have the knowledge and…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Shimano’s ME7 And ME5 Trail Shoes Get Full Revamp For 2021
Shimano’s ME7 and ME5 shoes are popular sights on the trails, start lines and after-ride cafés around the place, so for 2021 Shimano decided not to change too much, but…
New EXT ERA Fork Is Big, Stiff, Clever, 29in-only… And £1590
After much teasing back in the spring, EXT has finally announced its enduro suspension fork. There was great speculation about what it might be, how it would be sprung, travel,…
Is This 35th Anniversary Yeti ARC The Most Expensive Hardtail Ever?
The original Yeti ARC is a hardtail of legend. Launched in 1991 at a time when many hardtails frames weighed in at 5lbs or more, the Yeti ARC’s alloy frame…
2020 GT Malverns Classic Cancelled. Postponed Until 2021
It was going to be the one event of the season – the one we’d all look forward to and we hoped against hope that it would go ahead. It…
FGF 508 – Fresh Goods Friday Of Hope
OK, we’ve had a couple of weeks of rain, yes, it’s good for the plants and all that. Has anyone noticed just how good it’s been for the nettles? And…
The 2021 Evil Wreckoning – Bigger, Badder, Meaner And Neater
The Evil Wreckoning is seen by many as the ultimate big-wheel steamroller bike, but with things getting even bigger and badder out there in enduro-land, it was time for a…
Where To Ride In Scotland – Where’s Open? Where Opens Soon?
With venues around Scotland (and Wales) starting to slowly open as lockdown eases (or not, in some cases…) we’ve been in touch with the fine people at Developing Mountain Biking…
Cycling Geeks Unite! Shimano Celebrates 25 Years Of The SPD Sandal
There’s no easier way to suddenly age 25 years than by putting on a pair of these beauties! And in a timely coincidence, the venerable SPD Sandals are now celebrating…
Tweedlove Cancelled For 2020. Roll On 2021!
In a ‘can’t really say it’s a surprise’ move, the organisers of Tweedlove have reluctantly announced that they’re pulling the plug on all events for the rest of the year.…
The new Yeti SB115 – Downcountry? Fast Trail? Whatever?
Call it ‘downcountry’ or ‘fast trail’, we’ve been seeing increasing numbers of bikes coming out in the last couple of years aimed at riders who aren’t necessarily cross country racers,…
Welsh Trail Centres Move To Reopen In July With New Trails On Offer
In a joint statement last weekend, the major uplift bike parks in Wales announced that, in line with Welsh Government advice, and after consultation with Welsh Cycling and the Outdoor…
First Ride Review: 2021 Specialized Epic Pro – No Mercy XC Racing Beast
Wheel this new Specialized Epic Pro out of the box and you’re immediately struck by how neat and purposeful it looks. Thanks to the SRAM AXS Eagle wireless shifting and…
2021 Specialized Epic. Lighter. Faster. More Epic Than Ever!
2021 Specialized Epic For the 2018 model year, Specialized did a major revamp of its flagship race bike, the Epic. The full carbon frame was made a lot lighter, while…
FGF 505 – The Enjoy This Weekend. Nights Start Drawing In Soon Edition
Did everyone’s grandad always greet midsummer like this? Or just mine? Was it a celebration of a summer barely half-through? Or a lament at months wasted and a looming winter…
Fort William’s Nevis Range Hopes To Reopen July 15th
We’ve just had word that Nevis Range, the venue that hosts the annual Fort William downhill World Cup will hopefully reopen (with restrictions, obviously) for business and bike riding on…
Ibis Mojo 4 – 27.5 Ain’t Dead! The Ibis Mojo Gets Major Update
After the new 29in Ibis Ripmo appeared in 2018, followed by the revamp of the Ibis Ripley last year, it perhaps is no surprise that the venerable Ibis Mojo gets…
UK’s Bespoked Show Postpones Until ‘Spring 2021’
Having already had to postpone its dates once, from April until October 2020, the UK’s handbuilt bicycle show ‘Bespoked’ has announced that it has had to give up on that…
Roval Control SL Team Wheels – First Ride Review
The world of the carbon-rimmed wheel is a complicated one. After all, you need to know why you’re making your rim out of expensive carbon fibre instead of affordable, durable,…
Roval Wheels Control SL Team – Its Lightest Wheel Of Any Kind Ever
At 1240g, the Roval Control SL Team wheel is the lightest wheel that Roval has ever made. Bearing in mind that Roval makes road race wheels for Tour de France…
Review: Giro Ventana Fastlace Shoes
The two models of Giro Ventana shoes are looked on as being the spiritual successor to the Terraduro – a shoe whose rise to prominence seemed to parallel the enduro…
Cannondale’s New Scalpel And Scalpel SE – XC riding reimagined
There’s a new Scalpel on the block and Cannondale is keen for everyone to see how new and how dramatically different it is from what has gone before. Originally pitched…
Cotic BFeMax Gets The Big Wheel 29in Hardcore Hardtail Treatment
Only a week after Cotic announced that there would be no more 27.5in Cotic Soul bikes in future, it has now announced the new Cotic BFeMax . “It’s the result of…
Shimano ME700 Trail SPDs Upgraded. Leisure Pedals Get Colours
Shimano’s fixed cage, entry level trail pedals, the M530s are getting retired, to be replaced by the new dual sided ME700 pedals. Shimano claims they’re ‘Perfect for use with mountain…
Fresh Goods Friday 500! Happy Birthday To FGF!
It’s the five-hundredth Fresh Goods Friday! Wow! That means that it’s getting on for ten years of a weekly check of the things that have appeared in the office. Started…
SuperBoost And Flat Mount XTR – Things You Didn’t Know You Needed
On the same day that Shimano announced its new 12 (and 11 and 10) speed Deore groupset, it is also announcing a few more items, like bigger capacity batteries for…
Shimano new Deore M6100 Goes 12 Speed. And 10 and 11…
Probably one of the most easy to guess developments this year was that Shimano Deore would be going 12 speed. Yes, Deore M6100 is 12 speed – and we’ll get…
First Ride Review – Giro Manifest Spherical
That's some big, sucky venting potential there. Whatever sort of mountain biker you are, you inevitably have special cycling shoes and a particular helmet you wear. Some riders want nothing…
Giro Manifest Spherical Trail Helmet – Giro’s Most High Tech Helmet Ever
Today, Giro launches its most high tech helmet ever, the Giro Manifest Spherical trail helmet. Spherical? Yes, this uses MIPS Spherical, a technology developed in partnership with MIPS and first…
First Ride Review: GT Zaskar LT Expert
We’ve had this mossy green-coloured hardcore hardtail in to ride for a few weeks now, and Chipps has been able to take it on enough of his local trails to…
The new GT Zaskar LT – Is This GT’s Definitive Hardcore Hardtail?
The GT Zaskar is one of the mountain bike world’s longest-running names and one of the most versatile. Introduced in 1991, the Zaskar has seen World Cup victory in downhill,…
Then And Now | 19 Years Of Advertising Singletrack Supporters
When Singletrack magazine started, back in 2001, the publishing world revolved around print advertising. Online advertising didn’t really exist, and the online ads that were around normally sent the viewer…
Cane Creek eeWings Cranks – Now in 165mm and now in Raven black
Cane Creek has had some good (and you’d have to say surprising) success with its £1000 titanium cranks, and even launched a limited edition tie-dye set last year for the…
First Look And Competition: Win Shimano XC501 Fast Trail Shoes
Price: £139.99 From: Freewheel We’ve got a first look at Shimano’s new XC501 fast trail shoes and a chance to win yourself a pair. Read on for all the details.…
Fresh Forks Friday 495 | 4 new bouncy forks in time for Spring!
Hey, listen up! We know we had to remind you last week when it got to Friday, but now it’s Friday again and you should know that it’s Friday, because…
2021 Rockshox Pike | First Ride Review
We’ve had a new Pike, in a 29in x 150mm flavour, for a few weeks now and, despite chunky riding being out of the question for the last couple of…