The Singletrack team tests out three hardtails that sit somewhere in the midst of the ride style continuum.
Daz Hall
Daz got into mountain biking by accident, quite literally. After falling off a cliff in the Peak District while climbing and nearly killing himself, he decided something safer was probably a good idea, so bought a mountain bike some time around 2004. It sat in his flat unused for about 6 months until a mate bought one too, when a whole new world of excitement was discovered by pushing it up unrideable climbs, and falling off unrideable descents in the Peak District. In the rain.
Fast forward 10 years, several bikes, countless injuries and scrapes, and a lot more fitness and skill later, his Mrs told him if he wanted any more bikes he had to buy a bigger house in which to put them. At which point he moved to Todmorden, and randomly bumped into a bunch of magazine types who have the good fortune to do this sort of thing for a living.
Somewhere along the way he also acquired a masochistic love of winter endurance racing, and as a result can be found riding his bike on ‘training’ rides in the dark and the drizzle, when everyone else is huddled in front of their wood burner. This provides excellent bike and kit testing/breaking opportunities and we try to keep him busy doing just that.
Trek Roscoe 9 review
As a gnarly trail shredding bike, it won’t surprise anyone that the Trek Roscoe is biased in favour of the rowdier type of riding.
Review: Canyon Lux Trail CF 8 – the best value bike of its type?
Daz reviews the Canyon Lux Trail – another XC/trail bike in a long line of this ilk that he’s tested. Images by Rob Lockhart. I’m sure it was just an unfortunate coincidence, but I can’t be the only mountain biker wondering why the bike industry…
Review: Merida Ninety Six 8000 don’t call it “down country”
When is a cross-country bike not a cross-country bike? When it has bigger tyres on it? Whilst that’s clearly a silly question given the years of work and squillions spent on research, but after the best part of a month riding the Merida Ninety Six…
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…
Cannondale Scalpel 2020 SE 2 – First Ride Review
One of the more interesting aspects of reviewing the new crop of XC bikes is that the press packs manufacturers send out often start with an old photo of what the bike looked like 20 years or so ago. It might not surprise you to…
First Ride Review: Kona Hei Hei CR/DL | For XC And More
The 2020 Kona Hei Hei has undergone another step-change, continuing its metamorphosis from XC race machine to something much more trail-capable, with a significantly remodelled frame design, geometry updates and upgrades to the componentry. Not too long ago, had you turned up at the start…
Intense Primer 29 Pro | A Solution For The One Bike Shed?
“WTF is that?!”, exclaimed my pairs partner when I rolled up to the 10@kirroughtree endurance race late last summer. I thought he was talking about my newly acquired beer belly, the result of six months of no racing or training, and lots of drinking and eating.…
Review: Gloworm Alpha and X2 Lights – For Night Riders And Wildlife Safaris?
“How much? For bike lights!”, said pretty much every non-mountain biker when asking how much the super bright torches attached to our bikes and helmets cost us. It wasn’t always like this: the first time I ever rode a mountain bike in the dark was…
Review |Canyon Lux CF SL 8.0 Pro Race – Mile-Muncher For Mortals
The Lux isn’t just Canyon’s latest XC ripper – it’s also the lightest and most advanced full suspension race bike that the German brand has ever produced. We put one into the hands of our tame XC/marathon masochist, Daz, to see if this German lightweight…
Review: 45nrth Ragnarök Winter Shoe – For Cosy Toes
Winter’s back! Rejoice! I’m pretty sure everyone, like me, was a bit bored of the ridiculously long and hot summer we were subjected to by the time September hit. Thankfully those long, hot, blue sky days, dusty trails and clean bikes are but a fleeting…
First Ride: We Test The Brand New 2019 Canyon Neuron CF
For those who were taking notice, you’ll remember that a short while ago we reported that German direct sales giant, Canyon, had quietly released an updated 2019 version of the Neuron AL with a minimum of fuss or fanfare. It was with some interest then that…
Review: Want to run non-Boost wheels in your Boost frame/fork? VeloSolo has you covered
Remember when you could walk into a bike shop and buy a mountain bike wheel, any wheel, and then put it on your bike and it would fit? No, me neither. In fact I can barely remember going into a real bike shop unless it…
Review: Stan’s Podium SRD Wheelset Weighs Less Than 1300g
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read somewhere or been told by fellow bike riders that the best place to save weight on a bike is on the wheels. Personally I’ve always thought the best place to do that was somewhere in…
Review: Simplon Cirex 120 – Slammed and svelte, but not just for suffering
As I’m sure everyone has noticed, there’s been something of a change in mountain bike geometry in the last few years. The longer-lower-slacker trend has become de rigueur, and aside from the fact that some bikes these days resemble a devil’s cross between a farm…
Review: Hutchinson Taipan Hardskin 29×2.25in Tyres
Hutchinson is a well-known brand in the mountain bike tyre world, but in recent years the French rubber manufacturer hasn’t exactly been at the forefront of the scene. After nabbing an award in last year’s tyre group test however, we decided to see what else…
Review: BLS wants to get your kit organised with the VeloRacing Bag
As many who know me will testify, advance preparation and organisation have never been my strong points. Packing for a race usually involves running around the house shouting at my long suffering partner about how I can’t find anything, and furiously throwing any bike kit I do find into some…
Review: Alpkit Argonaut – Cheap Enough To Buy Several Of For When You Crash
While recently sorting through all my kit in preparation for the Strathpuffer I counted 12 jackets of varying makes and styles. Some waterproof, some windproof, some expensive, some cheap, some paper-thin, others full-on winter mountaineering jobs. Even though not all of them are cycling specific, they share a common cause in that…
Tyre Review: Bontrager XR Mud vs Specialized Storm Control
Don't accept the winter wetness. Embrace it with a set of proper mud tyres. Here are two of the best for cross country mud-pluggin'.
Review: KMC X11 EPT Anti-Rust Chain
Just how good is the EPT anti-rust coating? We gave one to a high-mileage test rider to see if months of wet weather riding and neglect could beat it.