Chipps tries to teach Californians about winter riding and ends up learning as much about himself. Words & Photography chipps “Come to the UK in February! The trails will be…
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.)
The New 2020 Orange Five: Many small changes make a big difference.
The 2020 Orange Five is incredibly the ‘Mark 12’ version of this iconic, British-made full suspension bike from Orange Bikes. It’s no small thing that the Orange Five is doubtless…
FGF 440 – The Magazine Is At The Printers, We’re Hungover Edition. With Added SRAM AXS!
Yep, the magazine is safely off to our printers, Warners in Bourne, Lincolnshire. And, so it seemed only logical that a couple of evening beers were consumed. Perhaps that after-midnight…
The New Orange Alpine 6 Is Exactly The Same. Until You Look Closer And Realise That Everything’s Changed.
Orange Alpine 6 2020 Look once and you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s just another Alpine 6, Orange’s flagship 27.5in wheeled enduro and hard-hitting trail bike, but you’d…
Forget Trump and Brexit: Niner Has Made A 27.5in Bike! Proof We’re Living In Different Times…
It seemed a normal day at Bike Connection Winter 2019. A day like any other, until we met with Niner. The boys at Niner started showing us the new RIP…
Leatt’s New Goggles Are Bulletproof, And That’s Not Even The Best Bit!
Today, Leatt has added to its range of protective gear with some new DH/Enduro/Motocross goggles called the Velocity 6.5. They have been designed from the ground-up with several neat features.…
Marin Mount Vision Returns After Two Years – And What A Difference!
The Marin Mount Vision has been in the range, well, about as long as Marin has been around (and that’s a mighty long time…) But keen eyes will have noticed…
Formula Teases Selva Coil Fork And Confirms New UK Distributor
Everyone loves a ‘Proto’ sticker, don’t they? And seeing the rows of bikes at the Formula truck at Bike Connection Winter, there was definitely something up. A quick glance at…
Hope Launches Redesigned Evo Cranks And New Fortus Wheels
We’re at the Bike Connection 2019 gathering in Italy with a load of top brands who all have something special to shout about. First up is Hope Technology (no, the…
A Beautiful Mason, Several Gurns, A New Frame – And The World’s Smallest Samurai Sword… It’s Fresh Goods Friday 436!
No sooner had Chipps returned from his most recent endless holiday, but it seemed that everyone else took that as a cue to take time off for half term (or…
Stabbing Your Tyre Is Good For It – And Other Fun Things We Learned At The iceBike Show
Madison’s house show, iceBike* is the traditional early-season chance to see what products are appearing this spring and for Madison – importers of a bajillion different brands – to sneak…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 123 : Editorial
Greasing Out Words Chipps Daz was our ride leader for the evening, so he got to deliver the pep talk at the top of the final descent – a rocky…
Singletrack Magazine issue 123 : 25 Years Of Chipps
January 2019 marked 25 years of Chipps being a full-time bike journalist. Here, he pulls up some of the highlights of a quarter of a century that spans cantilever brakes…
Editors’ Choice: Chipps’ Cream Of The Crop Gear Of The Year
What a year! After enduring about four winters, we finally had the summer that everyone had been dreaming about for years. Long, dry days, a collection of riding buddies
Renthal Goes Stealth With Black On Black Fatbars
The Renthal Fatbar (and Fatbar 35) is an iconic bit of kit, used by downhillers, trail riders and enduro elites alike
Marzocchi Returns To Rear Shocks. Affordable Shocks From This Legendary Company.
Marzocchi is back in the rear coil shock game, with the newly announced Bomber CR shock. In keeping with the re-launch of the Bomber fork, Marzocchi (which is now owned…
Guy Martin Wants To Degrease You
Proper Degreaser, or to give it its full name, “Proper Degreaser from Proper Cleaner by Guy Martin” is released today and joins its existing (and successful) stablemate, Proper Cleaner in…
FGF 427: Is It Too Early To Start Christmas Shopping?
Welcome to the final Fresh Goods Friday before Christmas. While it’s probably a little late for gift ideas, there’s nothing to stop you doing some Boxing Day laptop shopping while…
You Love His Photos, Now Help Colin’s Life.
Chipps, Singletrack’s Editor writes: Usually when a regular contributing photographer emails to say ‘Here is a selection of great photos for you – but it’ll probably be the last I’m…
Unsprung Heroes – 3 Fully Rigid Bikes Tested & Reviewed
Chipps rides three fully rigid bikes from Kona, Pinnacle and Surly. Words Chipps Photography James Vincent I always like to wear a watch. I’m lost without one and don’t like to…
Review: Surly you can’t have fun without suspension? We test the fully rigid ECR
 Surly has always been individual and self-confident in its outlook. From pioneering the first production singlespeed (the 1×1, which pre-dated even Kona’s Unit and the On One Inbred) to…
Review: After a playful bargain? The Pinnacle Ramin 3 Plus might be the bike for you
Pinnacle is the house-brand of retail giant, Evans Cycles, but the range is way more than a selection of rebadged catalogue bikes. The brand’s bike designer James Olsen has a…
Renthal Offers You Zero. Zero Rise Fat Bar Lite and Fat Bar Lite Carbon Now In Flats!
Amazingly not available until now, Renthal’s Fatbar Lite and Fatbar Lite Carbon now come in zero-rise options. It seems that both XC and Trail riders have been asking Renthal for…
Review: Kona’s Unit X is like a singlespeed, but with 10 more gears?
The Kona Unit has a long history, from a Canadian company with an equally deep heritage. While Kona celebrates its 30th birthday in 2018, the Unit name dates back at…
Hans Rey Burgled. Then Burgled Again. Thieves Take The Lot.
We bring you some rather unfortunate news today, as we report on a whole swag of bikes that have been nicked from Hans Rey in two separate burglaries. Yes, the…
The Great Singletrack Christmas Giveaway – What’s Coming This Week?
We’ve already given away two prizes this week, but never fear, we have plenty more great prizes to be won. Yes! PRIZES to be WON by YOU! It’s very easy…
Tweedlove Transcend Epic Promises To Change Scottish Enduro Forever!
For years the Tweedlove Festival has done much to promote the Peebles and Innerleithen areas and to make things like the Golfie trails into mountain bike household knowledge. However, after…
Fresh Goods Friday 423 – The Dark At Four Edition
Welcome to the ‘Dark at 4pm, deadline week, Chipps is back and we’re ignoring him’ winter Fresh Goods Friday special! Yep, there’s no getting away from it that we’re fully…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 121: Simon Gallup – There Is No Cure
Simon Gallup: There is no cure. He plays in a world-famous band and has toured the globe for the last 40 years. And yet, all he really wants to do…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 121 : Editorial
Longer shortcuts. Words Chipps Out in the car, running errands on a Saturday lunchtime… the Council tip, the shops, the cheese stall on the market… The usual. Wondering why it…
Interview: Tom Ritchey – The man behind the ‘tache.
This article was originally published in Issue 110 of Singletrack Magazine. We chat to (and ride with) this iconic framebuilder, product designer, owner and boss of Ritchey Components during his…
Review: Curtis AM7 – Not just a pretty face, pretty fast too.
There’s no actual reason to buy a Curtis, other than the fact that you want one. And that’s a perfectly good reason. The bikes are hand made in the UK,…
Singletrack Issue 121: XXC: Cross Country Extra
Three bikes that take the short travel full suspension bike to another world.
Cannondale Habit. First Impressions Of A Very Important Bike
Cannondale Habit, first impressions. While I’m not, for a minute, going to think that I can get away with complaining about riding secret new bikes on wonderful trails with great…
Cannondale’s New Habit 29er. The Trail Bike For You?
Cannondale has completely reinvented its 29in wheel Habit trail bike – from the ‘not quite a race bike, not quite a trail bike’ Habit model of old and come out…
The Cotic Soda – Flagship Titanium Hardtail – Returns! Longshot, but Limited
New Cotic Soda They’re like buses, eh? New bikes… You turn your back for a minute and a load have turned up without you noticing – and now you have…
Focus Launches The New Sam. Introducing, the Focus Sam.
2019 Focus SAM Today, Focus launches its new 170mm enduro bike. It’s called the SAM (just like the old one) and features 170mm travel front and rear. And if it…
Fox Live Valve – Is It Better Than Turning The Knobs Yourself? Maybe Not.
We had a week to ride a Live Valve equipped bike on our own trails. What did we think? Chipps takes up the story... Fox Live Valve has just been…
Fox Live Valve Launches, but what is it?
After years of behind the scenes work and glimpsed prototypes, the Fox Live Valve system is finally ready to be released to the world. Around the time you read this,…
The Most Shocking Bit About Yeti’s New SB150 29er Enduro Bike – Is The Colour!
If you're looking for something big and fast, could this be what you're looking for? We check out the latest bike from Yeti.
Hope Pre Peaks – 70km of cake-fuelled cheeriness through the Dales
It wasn’t a surprise to the weather pessimists among us that the one day you need clear, calm weather to go and enjoy 85km around the Yorkshire Dales, you get…
Don’t call it a heatwave, just call it summer: From Singletrack issue 120
Chipps has vowed to only ride if it’s sunny. Unfortunately, this means he’s not stopped since early May. From Singletrack issue 120
When did it all get so good? Chipps’ Issue 120 Editorial
I took a trip back in time recently, revisiting a place I used to ride when I was just starting out. Back then the mountain bike world was a rich,…
UK Gravity Enduro Announces Cancellation. BEMBA Steps Up With 2019 National Series.
Coming so soon off the euphoria of the successful running of the ‘Ard Rock Enduro last weekend, the UK enduro scene was greeted this morning with a sad announcement from…
GT Fury Downhill Bike Returns!
Today, GT Bicycles has announced a new GT Fury downhill bike. Taking design and suspension cues from the complete revamp that the rest of the trail bike range (the Force…
A hundred grand for a bike rack? That’s what Tailfin has raised in a week
A Bristol-based company has just launched an innovative rear luggage rack on Kickstarter and has seen it raise nearly a hundred grand in a couple of days. The Tailfin rack…
So that’s where all of the country’s carbon enduro bikes (and T5 campers) went this weekend? The Ard Rock Enduro!
The ‘Ard Rock Enduro once again showed that it has become the event of the year for trail riders to be at. With a greatly expanded event village and a…
Fresh Goods Friday 406
da-dum, da-dum, Da Dum, DA DUM, DA DUM! DAAA DUMMM! That’s the sound of the weekend approaching. Hurtling down the trail like a stampede of surprisingly small deer. And boy…
Pump Tracks For Good
A Scottish pump track, opened late last year is already having some great benefits for the local community, reckons its builders, Velosolutions. Here’s what they said about Brendog visiting the…
We Asked Rachel, Gee And Dan Atherton 21 Questions They Weren’t Expecting
A few weeks ago, we had a young lad, Aran Francis in on work experience. Along with the regular work experience jobs of going to find some tartan paint, a…
The Hope PrePeaks. The non-competitive, grand day out in the Yorkshire Dales
In association with Hope Technology Hope Technology’s PrePeaks is a non-competitive event that offers a challenging loop of the Yorkshire Dales this August. To find out more, we sent Chipps…