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Bike Check: Ross’ Deviate Claymore
The Deviate Claymore is fast and fun, composed in the rough and the steep but also versatile and easy to get along with.
Can Working On Your Bike Void The Warranty?
We asked a selection of bike companies to comment on whether working on your bike could void the warranty.
Bikepacking The EWS – Delirium, Duct Tape and Detours
While still just 17 years old, Matthew Fairbrother from New Zealand set off on the adventure of a lifetime, competing in the EWS, and riding between the stages. He carried all his gear between races, often riding through the night to get the distance covered…
What MTB Marketing Works On You?
Of course, you’ll probably say ‘none of it’, right? But something, somewhere, informs your buying choices, and you have to hear about a product in the first place to know it’s available to buy. How do we get from anonymity to desirability? Before we continue,…
What We’re Looking Forward To In 2023
Let us raise our spirits, look on the bright side, and feel the warm rays of positivity. 2023 is gonna be great, OK? There are going to be highlights, and peaks, and apogees of achievement. Big good and small good stuff. All the good stuff.…
Gravitating Around The Aneto Discovering The Pyrenees’ Highest Summit
Slowing down the pace in order to take in the surroundings has paid off for this group of bike packers. Join Simon, Ulysse, Dani, Chris and Thomas for a journey through the unique location of Aneto – the highest summit in the Pyrenees. Words: Simon…
Predictions For The Mountain Bike World In 2023
Every year we make our predictions for the world of mountain biking. Some take it seriously, some less so... Last year Mark predicted that the influencer bubble would burst... does Specialized dropping its global ambassadors counts as evidence he might be right? He also predicted…
Internet Rummagings – Tom’s Christmas Baubles
Season’s greetings and welcome to this edition of Internet Rummagings where, rather than doing my Christmas shopping on the internet I once again have been rummaging around in the WWWLBS, to find shiny trinkets, tinsel and baubles to hang from your tre… sorry, bike. This…
Peanut Butter Squares Recipe
Rick Hamilton shares his popular peanut butter squares recipe, having fuelled the Slymefoot Slide route with them. I got this recipe from my friend Louise. These are fabulously dense and calorific trail snacks, perfect for mountaineering and mountain biking. Nobody complains if you take them…
An Alternative Year in Sport
Today’s the day when Strava does its ‘Year In Sport’ thing, and your social media feeds will be filled with miles ridden, feet climbed, cups won and other such data driven achievements. For those of you without a virtual trophy cabinet, or maybe just with…
Back From The Dead – ‘Tis The Season For Good Vibes
Dieter is the kind of bike nerd mechanic that every good bike shop should want. He is endlessly enthusiastic about getting people of all kinds onto bikes of all sorts. He can fix your bike even when the outlook looks bleak. Go for a ride…
Laps and Loops: Is It Time To Rethink Trail Centre Designs?
Dave Evans from Bike Corris has previously written extensively on ‘wild trails’ in Wales – it’s all well worth reading, and his latest paper is no different. ‘Evolving The Trail Centre – Lessons From Wild Trails‘ looks at the difference between trail centre designs and…
Drool This Way: A Lust Worthy Gallery of Hand Built Bikes
This year’s Bespoked organisers made a point of getting nice photos of at least one bike by every builder at the show. Because bike builders might be good at building bikes, but they’re not always good at photographing them. Luckily, Adam Gasson is good at…
Back From The Dead: We Need To Talk About Jack
Dieter is the kind of bike nerd mechanic that every good bike shop should want. He is endlessly enthusiastic about getting people of all kinds onto bikes of all sorts. He can fix your bike even when the outlook looks bleak. Go for a ride…
Red Bull Rampage: Wish You Were There?
You may have heard people say things like ‘Rampage is too groomed these days, it’s getting too easy’, or ‘It’s just tricks, it’s not mountain biking’. Alternatively, there’s the ‘It’s too dangerous, someone will get killed’ camp. Some of my colleagues are among them. Me?…
Best In Show – Judging Bespoked’s Best Mountain Bike
When I was asked to judge the Best Mountain Bike at Bespoked, I had no idea how hard it would be. Last year I’d been along and picked my own favourite bikes of the show, so I figured that repeating the process but handing out…
Bespoked Bike Check: SmithyFrameworks Ullassa
We’d love to tempt you along to Bespoked, the Handmade Bicycle Show celebrating handmade bikes and the people that make them. To give you a taste of what you might see, we’ve got a few bike checks from builders and makers who will be at…
Bespoked Bike Check: Coal Bikes 84
Coal Bikes turned a few heads at last year’s Bespoked show in Harrogate. This year, Bespoked has moved to the Lee Valley Velodrome in London, on 14-16th October, perhaps you’ll be tempted to head along and feast your eyes on some hand built dreams. Coal…
Bespoked Bike Check: ACTOFIVE Cycles P-TRAIN CNC
Want to see more of this sort of thing, or chat to the makers? Get yourself along to Bespoked, the handmade bicycle show, in London, 14-16th October. ACTOFIVE Cycles P-TRAIN CNC It’s a full suspension bike. The deep-feeling HIGH PIVOT suspension gives massive traction and…
How Injured Are You? 5 Exercises To Find Out!
Coach to the mountain biking stars, Alan Milway, brings you some exercises to help you assess just how much work you could be doing… We like how the introduction assumes you actually do preparation and training at all… 5 Exercises to self-assess your own strengths…
Bespoked: Ryden Bikes’ Free 3D Print Your Own Bike Fit
Bespoked, taking place 14-16th October in London, celebrates hand built bikes and their makers. Sometimes those makers are making bits for bikes, as well as whole bikes. Here, we’ve got a frame builder who has also designed a 3D printable bike fit tool. If you’ve…
Bespoked Bike Check: The Variangle Mk5
We’ll be heading along to Bespoked in London for 14-16th October to check out all the hand built bikes and chat to their makers. It’s being billed as ‘a celebration of hand made bicycles and the people who make them’. With talks, races and presentations,…
Back From The Dead – Punk Rock Holiday and Armpumpapalooza
Dieter is the kind of bike nerd mechanic that every good bike shop should want. He is endlessly enthusiastic about getting people of all kinds onto bikes of all sorts. He can fix your bike even when the outlook looks bleak. Go for a ride…
Bespoked Bike Check: Quirk Cycles SUPERCHUB
We’d love to tempt you along to Bespoked, the Handmade Bicycle Show celebrating handmade bikes and the people that make them. To give you a taste of what you might see, we’ve got a few bike checks from builders and makers who will be at…
Thinking of starting a charity event? Tips from the Calder Divide Challenge!
When Adrian Wright’s riding buddy, Will Norman, died of cancer during lockdown, he and his other mountain bike friends couldn’t mark his passing as they might have hoped. Like many, they wanted to raise funds in Will’s memory – but rather than entering the London…
Behind the Media: Wyn Masters – athlete and entertainer
Anders concludes this short series looking at the changing face of mountain bike media, with a look at the shifting expectations on athletes. From racer to content creator, Wyn Masters is one of the best at walking the line between these worlds. The charismatic Kiwi…
Internet Rummagings – No Queue Edition
There's never a queue to get to the back room of the internet's bike shop, so off I went a rummagin'. Here's what I found this month.
Behind the Media: photographer Katie Lozancich
Anders Engberg embarks on a short illustrated series examining the changing world of mountain bike media.
Goodbye Red Bull! Here’s to the Past 10 Years
In 2012 Red Bull got the broadcast rights for world cups, fast forward to 2022 and we're entering a new era with Discovery.
Food and drink to avoid on a ride – no, really, just don’t do it!
Sanny has been engaging in adventures of a culinary kind to make sure that you don’t make mistakes next time you fill up your Camelbak.
Internet Rummagings – The Flexible Edition
Welcome back to the look behind the curtain, beyond the velvet rope at everything the internet bike shop is hiding in it’s darkest places.
Back From The Dead: Electric Lemons
Faceless corporate big-box auto-spares multi-sport camping-stores bringing out bikes to play catch-up with whatever is the bicycle-du-jour.
Behind the Media: Chris Hall and Downtime Podcast
Anders Engberg embarks on a short illustrated series examining the changing world of mountain bike media. In the streets of Reading you would often find a kid riding his Raleigh Mustang looking for something to do. It was 1991 and even though the Mustang somewhat…
National XCC and XCO Championships at Kirroughtree race report
What a weekend! The National Champs at Kirroughtree was an absolutely stunning way to finish the National XC season.
Name That Park Tool Quiz – The Amateur Edition
We’ve been playing in our workshop – which Park Tools and Madison kindly fitted out for us after we got ram raided a few years back – with play dough to bring you a couple of quiz options. If you think you are a tool…
My Top 10 Sustainable Travel Toiletries For Cyclists
My top 10 sustainable travel toiletries ideal for bikepackers, campers, racers and every other kind of bike rider.
Q: How much to start mountain biking? A: £605.00
Contrary to what mountain bike websites may imply, you don't have to be a millionaire to be start mountain biking.
Internet Rummagings – Bacon Cheeseburger Edition
Welcome back to this month’s rummage through the internet bike shop back room where we find bikes and parts whose native countries foods they are renowned for, would come to create something brilliant. An American burger, some Danish Bacon, and some Swiss cheese. Let’s dig…
Back From The Dead: Your Bike Hates You
Dieter is the kind of bike nerd mechanic that every good bike shop should want. He is endlessly enthusiastic about getting people of all kinds onto bikes of all sorts. He can fix your bike even when the outlook looks bleak. Go for a ride…
British Cycling National XC Series Rd 5: Woody’s Bike Park
Back to Woody’s Bike Park for the last round of the XC season. Last year the series started here and it became known as a pretty tough course where both technical ability and fitness play their part.
What size mountain bike do I need?
If you're unsure as to what size mountain bike to get, don't worry. You're not alone. It is not always obvious these days.
Readers’ Rides: Jon’s Smokestone Bow-Ti
Whether you’ve got a special new bike or just a bike that’s special to you, this is where you get to tell us about it! You send us your submissions, and then we cast our judgemental expert lustful eyes over them and bring them to the world to ooh…
Internet Rummagings – Queen’s English edition
Welcome to the results of this month’s rummaging around the back room of the internet bike shop, where I try and find cool, shiny or interesting parts to show you, and try desperately not to go bankrupt in the process. Farr (ST) Farr is an…
Dotwatchers Assemble! Bikes of Blaenau 600
The Blaenau 600 is a new bikepacking event, 600km long with over 11,000m of climbing. Blaenau translates roughly as ‘remote uplands’, though it starts in a fairly accessible place and as a loop you return back to base – perhaps making it less of an all-in…
Back From The Dead – A Full Suspension Handcycle
Dieter is the kind of bike nerd mechanic that every good bike shop should want. He is endlessly enthusiastic about getting people of all kinds onto bikes of all sorts. He can fix your bike even when the outlook looks bleak. Go for a ride…
The Boy of Ten Who Conquered the Ben!
It’s just after 3pm on a cold and blustery April day as I ponder my current situation; I am just over 500m away from the summit of Ben Nevis in thicker than anticipated snow. On my back is a 18kg full suspension mountain bike in…
British Cycling National XC Series Rd 4: Cannock Chase
A welcome return to Cannock Chase for Round Four aka the round much nearer to most people than some of the previous ones. Before anyone starts, to have a race you need an organiser and a landowner, and this season, somewhere where all the trees…
The MTB Tyre Tread Quiz – how well do you know your rubber?
How many times have you ridden along a trail and looked down to see tyre tracks that you could identify? Have you impressed your riding mates with call outs of "See that tyre track down there? That's a Magic Mary that is". Now you can…
Things you’re no longer allowed to like in mountain biking
This is a rundown of all of the things that the Mountain Biking Illuminati has recently outlawed. Cancel culture MTB, if you will.
Readers’ Rides: Tom’s Rå .410
Whether you’ve got a special new bike or just a bike that’s special to you, this is where you get to tell us about it! You send us your submissions, and then we cast our judgemental expert lustful eyes over them and bring them to the world to ooh…