Getting a few things off my mountain biking chest
Opinion
Rants, opinions and general observations from the wide ranging smorgasbord that is our pool of editorial contributors. The usual stuff about what gets said in here isn’t necessarily the view of Singletrack blah blah.
Opinion: Click and collect (much later)
Take a minute to think about the moments you'd like to experience this year, and start sowing the seeds
Tools: A love letter to those who put them in our hands
This was originally the editorial piece in a Weekly Word Newsletter. When it went out, a few people suggested that it would make a great Forum discussion/reminiscing topic. So here it is for you to read, and then head to the comments to recall the…
Recreation Must Pay – But It’s Everyone Who Will Suffer
Hannah thinks that public funding of outdoor recreation is at a crisis point. In the race to balance budgets, we’re at risk of a long legacy of cost. Last week I went to an online public meeting about the future of the visitor centres at…
Thin Pickings For Cycling In UK Autumn Budget Announcement
I had high hopes for yesterday’s Budget announcement. Today, I’m feeling deflated and defeated – was I just too optimistic? The Budget announcement has been tentatively welcomed by Cycling UK and Sustrans, as the £100m for cycling and walking infrastructure goes some way to undoing…
Is It Time For A Shakeup In The MTB World?
We can’t pretend that mountain biking is green. Riding your bike instead of getting in a car is green, but that’s not what mountain biking is. Mountain biking is play, and activity. But by getting us out and about into nature, it can encourage us…
High School Mountain Biking: How the bike industry could save itself?
But perhaps there's a possible option that might see bikes put to good use, and actually generate demand in years to come? Take a look at the USA and I think you'll see a potential answer: High School mountain biking.
Off The Beaten Track
This piece was originally published as the editorial in our Weekly Word newsletter. It’s free and available to anyone who signs up. There’s also the Members’ newsletter – only available to paid up subscribers. Sign up to both or either here. When we put on…
Not In My Name: Trans Athlete Bans
Hannah has been pondering this article all summer, trying to find the words to express how she feels about the emerging bans on trans women’s participation in women’s cycling – and other women’s sports. She thinks she’s finally found them. As the CTT, British Cycling…
Know Your Trail Users
Charlie takes a light hearted look at the wonderful variety of people we share the trails with. It’s that time of year again when the clocks go forward, the sun comes out and at 10am precisely on the first sunny Sunday your peaceful and uncrowded…
How Much?! Why we should care about the closure of Kitsbow
If you’re in the UK, there’s every chance you’ve never heard of Kitsbow, so why should you care that they’re closing? And who even are they? Kitsbow were (or, until 7th April, are) USA based makers of cycling clothing. With an RRP of $289 –…
After Slashing Active Travel Funding, Government Keeps £4.8 billion Fuel Price Discount
Hannah argues that the 2023 budget is taking us in the wrong direction.
Women and Bikes: How Far Have We Come?
Hannah charts the advance of women in the bike industry, as she sees it. Are you as optimistic? What changes have you seen? Apparently I am now long in the tooth enough that people have started asking me about how the bike industry has changed…
From The Archive: Womens’ Specific Bikes – do we need them?
Back in issue 15 of Singletrack Magazine, in 2004, we reviewed three of what were then a new development: women’s specific bikes. We followed it up with a head to head pair of columns from Joolze Dymond and Jenn Hill, complete with ironic pink and…
Do we need trail maintenance trousers?
Rapha has launched a limited edition collection of clothing. It’s a collaboration with ‘Brain Dead’, a trendy LA-based international fashion collective. With its disruptive, graphic-led approach, Brain Dead takes its cues from post punk, underground comics, and the spirit of subculture as a whole. Not…
From Dangerous Sport to Fun Activity – Reframing Mountain Biking
I was recently asked to give a presentation on ‘Image and Mountain Biking’, as part of an event held by Ride Sheffield under the topic ‘Reframing Mountain Biking’. The event brought together a range of people from brands, media, trail associations and the MTB industry…
Don’t think about Monday
This editorial was originally published in one of our Weekly Word newsletters, which comes out every Friday. To get your Weekly Word delivered to your inbox, sign up now – it’s free! Plus, if you’re a Singletrack World Member, you can also sign up to…
Strava adds mountain biking as an activity: hurray or uh-oh?
A recent update to Strava has given users the option of selecting mountain biking as an activity.
Why You Should Read The Outsiders Project: Beyond Representation
The Outsiders Project report ‘Beyond Representation: The Future of Diversity and Inclusion’ is aimed at brands in the outdoor industry. Its goal is to shift brands’ understanding and perspectives on the barriers faced by People of Colour when engaging in outdoor pursuits. However, whether you’re…
Why we (probably) won’t be making a themed women’s issue of Singletrack Magazine
As part of our Members’ Newsletter we give our readers the chance to ask us questions about what we do. Not all of them are quite so in depth as this, and some questions get answered in the newsletter. This question, however, requires a rather…
Access Rights: Be Nice, Say Hi, Ask Why
Recently, I’ve been thinking again about access rights. Previously I was definitely on the side of ‘ride legal, or keep it quiet if you’re not’. Now, I’m not so sure. Increasingly, I’m coming to the conclusion that access is a right, and that the proposals…
A Closer Look At Trek’s Sustainability Report
Tom is a Climate Change and Green Infrastructure Officer, a mountain bike guide, Cytech mechanic, Greenpeace activist and holds a BSc in Outdoor and Environmental Education and MSc in Marine Environmental Protection. We asked him to take a closer look at Trek’s recent sustainability report.…
Throwback Thursday: Shakespeare’s Sister
‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players’. How your ride will play out – whether it results in comedy, tragedy or historic triumph – will depend on your cast of players. Let us head to the casting couch and…
From Enduro To E Cargo | A New Perspective on 2 Wheels
Aran Francis is giving teenagers – and cyclists – a good name. What has this keen enduro rider learnt from riding for a cargo bike delivery service? This morning I got up ready to go for a ride, but instead of putting on my knee…
Ibis Exie Is Made In-House – Is This A New Movement For Bike Companies?
This week, Ibis Cycles has launched the Ibis Exie (‘X C’ – geddit?) cross country race bike. It’s a 120/100mm carbon fibre race bike that saves weight over the already light Ibis Ripley. What is interesting about it is the fact that the whole size…
Sometimes Riding Really Freaks Me Out
I start to pedal, anticipating the ride ahead. My mind is quiet. I chat on the climb, everything is normal and I have no anxiety or worry, I’m just happy to be out on my bike. It’s a bit like Russian Roulette, I never know…
Is What3Words Really That Bad? Or Good? Let’s Ask Mountain Rescue.
Given the recent fuss about What3Words in the outdoor world, we thought we'd ask forum member and rider, Jon Bateman. Jon is a mountain biker and also an active member and the Chair of Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team. He is slightly obsessed with…
Making Time To Ride: a health check for your home
Leave the ‘mum guilt’ and ‘dad guilt’ at home – check your habits and find everyone the ride time and headspace they need. It’s International Women’s Day. In some respects, I don’t want to talk about it – it’s merely a focal point for an…
Opinion: The Illegal Trail Builder
Building unsanctioned trails is a touchy subject. But are there shades of grey when it comes to building illegal trails or is it a black and white issue? We talk to one trail builder who wants to keep his activities secret.
You Can’t Buy Happiness – but you can buy an eMTB
Hannah explains why she thinks an eMTB should be your next gift to yourself if you want to add a little joy to your life. I have never really ‘had money’. For a brief period in my twenties I had a disposable income, and I…
British Cycling – Not Stepping Up For Downhill
Racer and team manager Jack Reading explains why he thinks British Cycling is failing its downhill athletes. This article will be accessible by Free Members on the 23rd November. It will be accessible to non-members on the 25th November. My name is Jack Reading, and…
Whether you like it or not, bikes are political
Columnist Mildred Locke addresses those who would say ‘stick to bikes, keep politics out of it’ – she thinks bikes are political. Following my last column, there’s another phenomenon I want to delve into. Beneath almost every racism-related post from a cycling brand or publication…
What people mean when they say cycling has a race problem
…Spoiler alert: it’s not about you. Mildred Locke examines why cycling brands’ support of the Black Lives Matter movement gets some riders in a flap. With the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, two major conversations have been sweeping through the comments sections of…
Would You Give In To An E-Bike – Or Resist?
To E-Bike or not to E-bike, that is the question? That's the question that Gary from Dorset is having to consider as one by one his local riding group has bought them to ride.
Dear Diary, Lock Down 2020 | Trails Are Better With Friends
One of our readers shares his tale of discovering that in lock down the trails are quiet – just a bit too quiet. Lock down, the meaning of: The confining of prisoners to their cells A state of isolation or restricted access instituted as a…
Deciding Not To Die Isn’t The Same As Choosing To Live
Just over a year ago, we published a powerful piece on mental health called ‘What If I Want to Die Every Day of My Life’. Since then, the author has spent some time off the bike, having been admitted to a mental health unit. Now,…
How to be a dick during the Coronavirus
Never one not to be topical, or controversial, Sanny is back with his latest in his “How to be a dick….” Series. This time he sets his sights on a topic that we are all too familiar with. The following opinions are not necessarily those…
Winter Cycle Commuting | It Might Be Grim, But It’s Not All Bad
Hannah peers into the driving rain of the daily commute and sees sunshine and spring at the other end. The worse the weather the better. Giant puddles, torrents from the sky and the valley sides. I’ll even go for a bit of snow, sleet if…
A Bike Love Affair | My Ragley Piglet
The day my new Ragley Piglet frame arrived I washed my hands before opening the box. I didn’t want to put any fingerprints on it before I’d applied the EcoCoat ceramic glaze. Because god forbid I scratch the paintwork on a steel commuter, right? The…
Remembering Jenn Hill – And All Those Who Remind Us To Live
It’s been four years since Jenn Hill, our Deputy Editor, died. Hannah reflects on the legacy she’ll never know she created. I came to Singletrack just over four years ago. It was the silver lining (for me) to a sky of very black clouds. I…
Stolen | It’s More Than Just A Bike
Hannah and Amanda had their bikes stolen from under their noses. In the immediate aftermath, Hannah wrote this. I had a bike stolen once before. I don’t know what make or model it was, but my Dad bought me it as a surprise present. It…
Opinion: Insult and Battery – The Times Has A Pop At E-Bikes
I’ve written before about the fractious relationship that cyclists have with newspapers, and it seems like it’s not getting any better. This week it’s the turn of the Times, who have discovered, by dint of five minutes of desk-based research, that not only do people…
Mental Health | What if I want to die every day of my life?
I’ve asked Singletrack to withhold my real name and publish this piece under a pseudonym. Why you might ask? Whether you suffer from poor mental health or not, starting up a conversation about it can be pretty tough – it can feel embarrassing, shameful and…
Opinion: Facial Hair Rorschach Test
Do fellow riders acknowledge your cheery greetings, or swiftly look at their front derailleur? If they have one
The Future of Mountain Biking Isn’t in the Mountains
I’ve been thinking a bit recently about the future of mountain biking, and what it might look like. There will undoubtedly be more technical innovations that make bikes faster and more fun, as well as more complicated and expensive. And naturally, those pesky e-MTBs will…
Warning: Cliff Edge Ahead – we need to talk about mental health
As I climb back onto my bike I realise I’ve just seriously considered stepping off a cliff edge to escape the turmoil that is going on inside me, that’s not good.
Column: Moving On – mountain bikers don’t need to ride to stay fit
Jason Miles has moved to another country. Well, Scotland. I’ve very recently moved house. It wasn’t a particularly straightforward move – we upped sticks and relocated from Manchester to a fairly remote part of southern Scotland, but it’s quiet, friendly and the cycling here is…
Ride and Prejudice – how mountain bikers became the bad boys of the outdoors
Recently I wrote about how most of the UK’s outdoor access laws favour users who don’t happen to be mountain bikers. Sadly, that’s just part of the picture. There are deep-set cultural biases at work too. Collectively I’d term these “YSBH”, or You Shouldn’t Be…
UK Mountain Biking’s Dirty Secret
As you might already know, we had some disappointing news recently. The Welsh government looked like it was about to follow Scotland in opening up access to its amazing countryside for many more potential users. But then it quietly buried any proposals for reform. It’s…
There’s A Hole In The Road, Please Can We Keep It?
Hannah reflects on the disruption that a burst water main near home has caused, and hopes it continues. There’s a hole in the road where I live. Not your average pothole, but quite a substantial chasm. In the way of things in small towns where…