It looked for a few minutes like we might have two women’s mountain bike world champions on our small island, but as Tahnee Seagrave was knocked of the off the hot seat and then the podium in the Downhill, it’s Evie Richards that holds the…
Hannah Dobson
More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments.
Innerleithen National Downhill Series Rd2 Photo Gallery
Hannah went up to Innerleithen as chauffeur to her partner Fahzure. Being from the dry and dusty lands of Slickrock, where riding on muddy trails is considered bad for the trails, he’s barely ever ridden a bike in the rain before. So what better event…
What Car For Mountain Biking?
Hannah wrangles with the question ‘What car for mountain biking?’… and camping trips, and family holidays, and #mumtaxi… I do not like cars, or driving. I would happily live without a car, but the reality for me is that it makes life very difficult –…
Bikestormz: Where mountain bikes meet urban streets
Last weekend saw the Bikestormz rideout take place in London, with in excess of 2,500 young people (and some of their parents) taking part. The rideout started and ended at Southwark park with a 15 mile ride around London city doing stunts and having fun…
Who Won the Women’s Olympic XC MTB?
There were quietly high hopes that Britain’s Evie Richards would manage to grab a podium place. Taking advantage of a few literal slip ups on the course – it had rained overnight and changed the conditions significantly from the men’s race the day before –…
Did Tom Pidcock win the Men’s Olympic XC? Or Did Nino Schurter? Spoilers!
The men’s Olympic mountain bike race threw up more than a few surprises. Van der Poel crashed and Pidcock started 4th row back on the grid. The usual suspects Schurter and Flueckiger formed a small group up front with Pidcock, and Cink chasing. Screenshot Images:…
Why Is CRC selling old Bombers, and what’s next?
Proving that 26 ain’t dead – or that it just keep on coming back, as shed finds are brought back to life – the Singletrack Forum was all of a flurry as a batch of brand new unused Marzocchi forks hit the Chain Reaction Cycles…
Is This The Worst Pump Track In The UK?
OK, slightly clickbait title, yes, but this is the question that Steve Wilson wants answered. He lives in Carlisle, Cumbria, and was all excited to hear that a new pump track was being built in his local park by Carlisle City Council. And then, he…
Readers’ Rides: Javi’s Pässila Ramäkkä
What are you all riding? This is where we find out! You send us your submissions, and then we cast our judgemental expert lustful eyes over them and bring them to the world to ooh and ahh over. We’re picking the prettiest, the most curious, and the ones with…
Bike Check: Bowhead RX – An e-MTB hand cycle
We’ve previously talked to Bowhead Corp founder, Christian Bagg, about the development of his Bowhead Reach bikes – e-assist trikes designed to make even some seriously gnarly mountain bike trails accessible to those who can’t pedal. When we talked to him, he mentioned that he…
Fresh Goods Friday 558 – Here Comes Summer!
Finally, it appears that we can wish everyone a great weekend of bike riding in great weather. We appear to have hit the sweet spot between the assorted bonkers weather of the world right now and it looks like this is the weekend to go…
Adaptive MTB DH Racing Comes To BC
Adaptive mountain bikes are getting ever more capable, and are a far cry from the off road wheelchairs that were previously available to those hoping to explore the trails. With such capability comes improvements in handling, the ability to tackle a wider range of trails,…
Camelbak Chase Protector Vest review: back protection in a small package
The Camelbak Chase Protector vest is a small capacity backpack of the vest style you might be more accustomed to seeing on the back of some sinewy long-distance fell runner making their way through tussocks powered only by rice pudding. However, this is one that…
Can Bikes Solve The Haribo Delivery Crisis?
On hearing that Haribo deliveries could be facing disruption, we were worried. Component delays are one thing, but you can grind along on that old and skipping chain for a while. Time riding without Haribo…an hour, max, surely? In an effort to address this impending…
Rider Gallery and Debrief: #JennRide 2021
The #JennRide is organised by Rich Munro in memory of our late Deputy Editor, Jenn Hill to raise funds for St Gemma’s Hospice. It’s quickly obtained a reputation for being a fun event with a challenging route. Race around s fast as you like, or…
Fresh Goods Friday 556 – The Everything Is Biting Us Edition
This week has flown by in a flurry of nettle stings, sun burn, midge bites and paper stitches. Bulk orders of midge repellent have been placed following a particularly biblical encounter with flying beasts of various sizes, but all of which had apparently giant venomous…
Progress Report! Local Riders Have Beef With Council Over Chopped Ham Lands Trail
We’ve posted before on the importance of accessible ride spots, particularly in urban spaces, so when we heard via our Forum that barriers had been erected beside a BMX track and jump spot in central London, we took an interest. The Teddington Locks track is…
Behind The Build: The BeeLine Bike
In a moment of internet idleness important journalistic research, we spotted this BeeLine Bike by Beehive Fabrications in Moab, Utah. Unable to enter the country right now or jump on a plane for a first hand look, we had to settle for an email chat…
10 Flat Bar Bike Checks: BC Epic 1000
As the riders prepare to set off on their 1000km ride around British Columbia, all eyes are on the weather forecast. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your perspective) for you, you’ll be dot watching rather than bug swatting or melting in the heat. These ten…
Fresh Goods Friday 555 – The Big Life Changes Edition
This week we’ve managed to fit in a house move, a haircut, and an engagement at Singletrack Virtual Towers. If we extend the family ties a little, there’s also been a birth and a new bike day. All the big stuff. Bigger still: the curly…
BC Epic Bike Checks: the Ti, the Custom, the Vintage and the Homemade
The BC Epic 1000 is one of those long distance unofficial organised events in the tradition of the Tour Divide or Highland Trail 550. With this year’s Tour Divide disrupted by border closures between the USA and Canada we thought the dot watchers out there might be…
Proving Grounds Sets New Course For Freeride
Proving Grounds shifts focus and introduces new opportunities for Freeride athletes. Originally introduced as a qualifier for Red Bull Rampage, Proving Grounds remains an event organised by Todd Barber of H5 Events – the force behind Rampage – but takes a new direction with a…
Readers’ Rides | Joe’s Marino ‘Ultimate 40’
What are you all riding? This is where we find out! You send us your submissions, and then we cast our judgemental expert lustful eyes over them and bring them to the world to ooh and ahh over. We’re picking the prettiest, the most curious, and the ones with…
Bird Reveals Its New Electric Bird Bike
The list of bike brands that doesn’t have an e-bike on its line up grows ever shorter, as Bird reveals its new e-bike. Each bike is equipped with a high-powered electric motor capable of powering riders up hills with as much as a 20% grade while its…
6 Surly Bike Checks – Taking On The BC Epic 1000
The BC Epic 1000 is one of those long distance unofficial organised events in the tradition of the Tour Divide or Highland Trail 550. With this year’s Tour Divide disrupted by border closures between the USA and Canada we thought the dot watchers out there might be…
A Day With Chris Porter – Everything Is Connected, Except Us
Hannah and her partner – a paid up Geometron owner – visited Chris Porter for chat, coffee, a leafy ride, and a whole pile of setting the world to rights. On the hottest day of 2020 I miss the turning for Chris Porter’s Mojo Rising…
Bike Check: 10 Ways To Salsa the BC Epic 1000
The BC Epic 1000 is one of those long distance unofficial organised events in the tradition of the Tour Divide or Highland Trail 550. With this year’s Tour Divide disrupted by border closures between the USA and Canada we thought the dot watchers out there…
Readers’ Rides: Dan’s Banshee Prime
What are you all riding? This is where we find out! You send us your submissions, and then we cast our judgemental expert lustful eyes over them and bring them to the world to ooh and ahh over. We’re picking the prettiest, the most curious, and the ones with…
Cannondale Dave – For Anywhere and Everywhere
We take a look at the Cannondale Dave dirt jump bike – and its curious marketing. Better Bring Dave Anywhere and everywhere – jump lines, street jibs, skatepark flow, pump-track laps, whatever. Dave’s into it. Cannondale The Cannondale Dave comes with a marketing package that…
7MESH Copilot Jacket Reviewed | Packable Waterproofing for the Trail
I think it was 16 years ago that I was bought a GoreTex Paclite jacket for cycling to work in. From memory, it didn’t cost much less than this 7MESH Copilot jacket. I’ve still got it – it’s somewhat less waterproof than it was, but…
Give Today To Double Your Donation To World Bicycle Relief!
We’re big fans of the work of World Bicycle Relief, and this week your donations are being match funded – making them worth double! How much did you spend on your last bike? How many bikes do you own? We know that many of our…
Evoc Trail Pro 16 Review – a light weight backpack with protection
Evoc’s new Trail Pro backpack offers Level 2 certified back protection in a light weight pack. There are three size options: 10 litre, 16 litre and 26 litre. None include the hydration bladder, but they are compatible with those if you buy them separately. I…
How Anyone Can Get A Job In The Bike Industry
It’s not so long ago that I was an outsider – I rode bikes, but beyond my local bike shop, Wiggle, and a few brushes with British Cycling, I had no real idea about how things worked. Having spent my working life in the public…
The Singletrack World Issue 137 Quiz
Although we think the magazine is exciting enough that of course you’ll be ripping open the paper packaging and settling down to read it cover to cover, we know life is busy and and gets in the way. To help you justify that extra down…
Readers’ Rides | Charlie Kelly’s 1983 Ritchey Annapurna
What are you all riding? This is where we find out! You send us your submissions, and then we cast our judgemental expert lustful eyes over them and bring them to the world to ooh and ahh over. We’re picking the prettiest, the most curious, and the ones with…
It’s Hannah’s Birthday – Members get discount T-Shirts!
Ooh, yay, 10th June, it’s my birthday! Come and celebrate the passing of time and the greying of hair with me. I’m in the calm waters between mid-life crisis and hot flushes. Maybe it’s even the prime of my life? To celebrate, we’re offering Singletrack…
BMX Star Brad Simms Joins Canyon on MTB Contract
With a recent Adidas sponsorship, BMX rider Brad Simms’ star is still rising, and this latest deal with Canyon demonstrates both his commercial power and riding prowess. With 15 years of BMX competition already under his belt, two X Games medals and awards including the…
The Duke, The Bike Ban and the Taxman | Podcast with Cycling UK
The Duke, The Bike Ban and The Taxman is neither an episode of Poirot nor a jazz band. It is in fact a tale of access – or lack thereof – that highlights some wider issues around the rights of the public in England to…
Stanton Bikes | Back On Track and In Stock
Way back at the end of 2018, I went to visit Dan Stanton at Stanton Bikes to check out his new business plans, and a new piece of kit that was going to let them start making hardtails here in the UK. Sitting Dan down…
Oakley Sutro S Glasses with Prizm Trail Torch
The Oakley Sutro S are a scaled-down version of the somewhat over the top Sutro model. With a smaller overall size, these will suit either the smaller of face or those who don’t want to make quite such a statement with their eyewear. They’re available…
Making XC Cool Again? New Santa Cruz Blur and Juliana Wilder
Now before you all shout ‘but XC has always been cool!’, the whole shizzle with this bike launch seems to be about being a bit of an XC renegade here to shake off any mis/pre-conceptions about what XC racing is like. Santa Cruz never went…
Readers’ Rides Bike Check: Shia’s Production Privée Shan GT 935
What are you all riding? This is where we find out! You send us your submissions, and then we cast our judgemental expert lustful eyes over them and bring them to the world to ooh and ahh over. We’re picking the prettiest, the most curious,…
Readers’ Rides Bike Check: James’ BTR Ranger
What are you all riding? This is where we find out! You send us your submissions, and then we cast our judgemental expert lustful eyes over them and bring them to the world to ooh and ahh over. We’re picking the prettiest, the most curious,…
HT550 – The First Finisher is In!
The Highland Trail 550, 550 miles in length with over 16000m of climbing, started on Saturday morning, 22nd May, and the first finisher is already in. With some diversions in place this year, it’s not clear that this will stand as an official record time,…
Bike Shortages Stop Demo Events
Not only does the current shortage of bikes make it hard to buy a bike – it’s also making it harder to try one out. Outerbike, a major bike expo event in the USA, has had to cancel the first four scheduled events for the…
Can Machine Learning Change The Shape of Bicycles?
A video of a SRAM collaboration with Autodesk, a company specialising in ‘generative design’, gives us a peek into what the not too distant future might hold for us. Autodesk is a company that combines machine learning and computer power with additive manufacturing techniques to…
Readers’ Rides Bike Check: Andy’s Geometron G1
There are so many great New Bike Day threads on the Forum – often the result of other lengthy ‘What Bike?’ threads – that we thought we’d create the opportunity to bring some of them to the front page for a bit of extra love…
7 More Bikes of the HT550 and how to follow them
With a weather forecast that looks ‘mixed’ and bothies out of bounds, this year’s Highland Trail 550 riders will be pedalling into the sunset/sunrise/low cloud/driving rain for the next week or so. Here’s the start list (rv = route veterans): WOMEN1 Ruth Crewe2 Dawn Anderson3…
Gallery: In Celebration of The Group Ride
After a long spell, group rides are back in much of the country. In celebration of the joy that is the group ride, with its giggles, its slithers, its mechanicals and its chat, we asked you to send us your photos from this week’s return…
Can You Wheelie? You could be in the next Danny MacAskill video!
If you can wheelie, then you could be in with a chance of appearing with Danny MacAskill in an upcoming video. This is a once in a lifetime chance for a UK based bike rider. Danny MacAskill, Adidas and Five Ten have teamed up and…
10 Bikes of the Highland Trail 550
It’s the first event we’ve seen in a while and all those long distance riders must surely have the pent up energy of a spaniel that needs a wee. The Highland Trail 550, 550 miles in length with over 16000m of climbing, kicks off this…
