Mark takes a trip back to the trails of his youth and remembers why he still loves riding the trails of Rivington Pike. Words Mark Photography Amanda This being the…
Mark Alker
Mark has been riding mountain bikes for over 30 years and co-owns Singletrack, where he's been publisher for 25 years. While his official title might be Managing Director, his actual job description is "whatever needs doing" – from wrangling finances and keeping the lights on to occasionally remembering to ride bikes for fun rather than just work. He's seen the sport evolve from rigid forks to whatever madness the industry dreams up next, and he's still not entirely sure what "gravel" is. When he's not buried in spreadsheets or chasing late invoices, he's probably thinking about his next ride.
The story behind Troy Lee Designs A3 Helmet – The Stikman Interview
Last week Troy Lee Designs launched its new open face trail helmet complete with impressive list of features. Andi has had one on his head for a few weeks now…
BREAKING: Mum to be, Rachel Atherton in car crash (She’s fine)
Multi World Cup DH winner, Rachel Atherton, who recently announced her pregnancy, posted on Instagram pictures of her written off VW Camper van after a collision with an oncoming driver…
Fresh Goods Friday 540 – The We’re Coming Up On 20 Edition!
Normally here it is customary to include some waffle and some wibble about whatever is happening in the world. But a) we’ve no idea what’s happening in the world because…
Maxxis Shorty Gen 2 – An updated spikey tyre for mud and extreme dust
Ever popular for UK wet weather trail, downhill, or enduro riding, the mid-spike Maxxis Shorty is getting an update. It’s also apparently suitable for ‘extreme dust’, but unless there’s room…
Untold British history of mountain biking hits 1 million views
The feature length documentary, Mountain Biking, The Untold British Story, charts the history of the mountain bike viewed from a British perspective. Through interviews and rides with many of the…
Bike Shop Thieves Strike Twice – Again!
It’s the second time this week that we find ourselves reporting on a bike shop being broken into for the second time in a month. This time it’s Cycle Gear…
Staff Bike Test: Hannah’s Stooge MK4
This article was first published in Issue 129 of Singletrack Magazine. Sometime during high school I had an epiphany: the cool kids were always going to think I was a…
Propain Statement – Covid/Brexit Update Prices Rising
With each day that passes it seems we are hearing about more businesses that are affected by the perfect storm of COVID and Brexit. We’ve had announcements and updates from…
Editor’s Choice Awards 2020 – Mark’s Picks
First published in Singletrack Magazine Issue 134. It’s been a ‘special’ year, for sure, but the sun has continued to come up and bikes have still been ridden. We’ve perhaps…
Cotic iron out EU export details – Prices go up
Last week Cotic informed their customers that they were temporarily suspending EU deliveries of bikes and frames until they could sort out exactly how much it was going to cost…
Cotic suspend EU deliveries over question around what constitutes a British product
Are bikes ‘made’ by Cotic that consist of frames built in Taiwan actually British products? That’s the question that Cy at Cotic is grappling with right now (as well as…
The Mega Sack winner is…
The draw happened. Live. On Youtube at 7pm New Years Day. Were you there? Watch the video again to see if you won. Also, there was some extra draws we…
Top 10 Singletrack Podcast episodes of 2020
In 2020 we relaunched our podcast. Relaunched, because according to the Singletrack Magazine Wikipedia entry we were the first mountain bike media to have a podcast way back when podcasts…
Singletrack Podcast – The legendary Charlie Kelly episode
Whether you believe that mountain biking started on the slopes of Mount Tam, or the forests of the Pacific Northwest, or some muddy fields in the UK, the term ‘Mountain…
Christmas Countdown Day 27 – The Squire Inigma BL1 Smart Lock
Welcome to Day 27 of our big Goodbye to 2020, Hello to 2021, Advent/Christmas/New Year Daily Countdown Giveaway. Today, as with every day in our GHACNYDCG, you have two chances…
Christmas Countdown Day 26 – TRP Slate Brakes
Welcome to Day 26 of our big Goodbye to 2020, Hello to 2021, Advent/Christmas/New Year Daily Countdown Giveaway. Today, as with every day in our GHACNYDCG, you have two chances…
Christmas Countdown Day 25 – Effetto CafeLatex complete tubeless kit
Welcome to Day 25 of our big Goodbye to 2020, Hello to 2021, Advent/Christmas/New Year Daily Countdown Giveaway. Today, as with every day in our GHACNYDCG, you have two chances…
Christmas Countdown Day 24 – Thomson Bar & Stem
Welcome to Day 24 of our big Goodbye to 2020, Hello to 2021, Advent/Christmas/New Year Daily Countdown Giveaway. Today, as with every day in our GHACNYDCG, you have two chances…
Canyon suspends UK order shipments blaming Brexit uncertainty
The Canyon website today had a message for all UK based customers via a banner at the top of the home page. “We’ve temporarily paused shipments to the UK…” canyon.com…
Knolly asks for Jury to decide on alleged Intense patent breach
Not a lot of details at this stage as both parties are perhaps understandably keeping quiet and digesting the ramifications of the court filing made on Monday. But, as reported…
Christmas Countdown Day 8
Welcome to Day Eight of our big Goodbye to 2020, Hello to 2021, Advent/Christmas/New Year Daily Countdown Giveaway. Today, as with every day in our GHACNYDCG, you have two chances…
FGF 527 – Don’t Expect Sense, We Have SNOW
SNOW! Snow snow snow snow snow. That is all we care about. SNOW! Come coat the hills in your fluffy white glory, hide the daily trappings of human occupation, and…
Knolly Chilcotin joins the Vancouver based bike co. line up
Last year, when we could go places and ride, I spent a week riding the trails in and around Whistler’s bike park on a Knolly Warden. That was a 27.5…
Singletrack Podcast | The one where a bloke jumps out of a helicopter
Where do I start with the rambling introduction to this week’s episode? It has to be one of the most random introductions we’ve ever recorded. Chipps joins the professionals and…
What’s the deal with the Atherton Bikes Ltd share issue CrowdCube campaign?
If you have been following the journey of the Athertons and how they are spreading their pro wings beyond just mere racing and into a number of businesses over the…
DMR V11 pedals scrutinised, ridden and then opened up
There’s a general assumption that if a pedal isn’t made of metal then it must be made of plastic. Sometimes even carbon gets insulted by being referred to as plastic.…
Best bike over £4.5k | Singletrack reader Awards 2020
This category is our traditional collection of money no object bikes, colloquially known as the Bike Porn category. Imagine if price was no longer a barrier for you, what would…
Classic Ride 133 – Nan Bield
Nan Bield Pass Lake District local James Vincent shows us just why this is epic day out is considered a true classic ride. Words & Photography James Vincent “Switchback” Noun:…
Vancouver to Whistler in 30 minutes via high speed train? There’s a plan for that
Ok, at the moment it’s a ‘proposal’ for a post covid-19 recovery plan for the south BC area and the plan is designed to allow for the affordable expansion in…
5 ways to fix riding problems using zip ties, glue and video at double speed… wtf?
Having problems riding and turning your head to see what’s behind you? Just use a coat-hanger and a big badge to fashion a rear view mirror and attach it to…
Afan Forest Park Added to Welsh Lockdown Areas
Updated 28 September following addition of further areas including Afan to the lockdown zones. The Welsh Government has introduced a number of local lockdown areas in an effort to combat…
FGF 517 Podcast | The episode where Amanda and Chipps try and cheer up grumpy Hannah
This week Hannah is really grumpy, but so is Amanda. Chipps is never grumpy though. Will his eternal chirpiness help or hinder the situation? Worth listening right past the final…
Sonder Signal ST NX First Look & Ride
Launched in August the Sonder Signal ST is essentially a steel version of their existing Signal Ti model - that's Ti = titanium of course. You can check out Andi's…
Bike Park Wales closes again due to latest Welsh lockdown
The latest lockdown restrictions have once again hit Bike Park Wales hard. The latest Welsh government rules on the pandemic have resulted in the team having to close the gates…
FGF 516 Podcast | The rapid weight loss episode
Chipps, Andi and Hannah meet up for a virtual discussion on the best ways to lose weight off your bike, including whether you should even care at all how much…
Giant Trance X Advanced Pro 29 | Adjustable Geo, Fox Live Valve, More travel, more words
The Giant Trance has a long history, being launched way back in 2005 – In fact this year’s models represent the 9th generation of this bike. The Trance has always…
Latest North East UK Lockdown | How this affects mountain bikers
From Midnight tonight (Thursday 17th September) if you live or travel to the North East of the UK you are likely to experience enhanced lockdown restrictions that mean your plans…
FGF Podcast 515 | Riding in the UK vs US & Rude YouTube comments
It’s another three way chat this week. Mark and Hannah are joined by regular contributor Fahzure (AKA Kevin) to talk about his 2 month long experience of riding in the…
Singletrack Podcast 514 | The why won’t the rear mech just die episode
We’ve been away for a couple of weeks while many of the Singletrack podcast team were on holiday. But we are back now and we’ve recorded a bit of a…
2021 Mondraker Podium Carbon frame weighs less than a cup of coffee
Today we have yet another hardtail launch – The Mondraker Podium Carbon. I mean, what is it with hardtails right now? They are everywhere and yet if you try buying…
Join The Singletrack Zwift Race Series This Autumn
Off the top, we claim no credit for this – we’d never be this organised – but forum regular robbo1234biking has started a thread on our forum inviting you to…
Singletrack Podcast 510 | The Chris Porter EXT Fork & Politics Rant Episode
We’ve missed a week of Podcasts due to summer holidays and the fact that only Hannah really understands how to organise this side of editorial production. However, Mark has managed…
Specialized Status First Look | All new, all mountain, affordable trail bike
Today we can, finally, tell you about the new Specialized Status – a bike we’ve had under us for the past two months. Since the ‘launch’ campaign for this bike…
Crank Brothers Stamp 2 & 3 Pedal Competition Winners
A few weeks ago we introduced you to the new Crank Brothers Stamp pedal range and asked you a simple question to check you were paying attention. If you missed…
Garmin Down! Ransomware Attack Blamed, Riders Unable To Ride
Tens of thousands of cyclists are dealing with the traumatic experience of not being able to prove they’ve ridden their bikes as Garmin’s Connect servers go down. The server outage…
Whistler Bike Park Opens | But is it worth the the full ticket price?
Of particular frustration to those of us on the right hand side of the Atlantic as we are pretty much locked out of travelling unimpeded to BC but for those…
Missing Mountain Mayhem? Join in the #mayhem24 competition next weekend
To celebrate what could have been the organisers are planning a weekend of prize giving on the dates of the cancelled Mountain Mayhem 24 hour racing event, 20-21st June 2020.…
Singletrack Podcast 502 | World Bicycle Relief, 3 Peaks & eMTB battery range
In this week’s episode Hannah gets to talk about her favourite bike related charity with chief exec of World Bicycle Relief. Chipps talks to the organiser or the recently cancelled…
Podcast 501 | What sorts of magazines did Hannah read as a teenager?
This week Hannah, Andi and Mark have a three way chat about everything from the latest mtb news to the strange and unusual things that people are typing in to…