The weather has held so our dry spell (ooh er misses) is now at a full three days of bright sunshine here at Fort William, meaning super dry dusty trails for timed practice today. Riders hit the dirt from 3:30-onwards, where they let rip down…
News
The latest stories from the world of mountain biking.
Before The Race – 2018 Fort William World Cup Randoms
Race day is almost upon us here at the 2018 Fort William World Cup. The crowds are building and the atmosphere is rising. It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago the Nevis Range was almost empty, with teams starting to arrive to…
Course Preview: Fort William World Cup 2018
Blue skies and dusty trails at Fort William (for now…). We welcome you to take a walk down the world cup track with Ross and James as they consider line choices, calculate what percentage of the track they could actually ride, and meet some familiar…
Kona has a new carbon Operator downhill bike, and it’s 29er ready
Connor Fearon of the Kona Gravity Team is racing aboard a new Operator downhill prototype that features a carbon fibre frame and dual wheelsize capability. Everywhere we turned in the race pits during today’s opening day of the 2018 Fort William World Cup we seemed…
Brendog’s Prototype Scott Downhill Bike
Scott Sports has a new prototype downhill bike, which is currently being raced on by the Scott-Velosolutions team this weekend at the 2018 Fort William World Cup. First shown in Losinj, Crotia, for round one of the 2018 World Cup series, the prototype is a…
Rachel Atherton’s Stunning Custom Painted Trek Session 9.9 Race Bike
Today marks the first official day of the 2018 Fort William World Cup – the second round of the 2018 World Cup series – with all of the teams, managers, racers, and mechanics descending on the race village to get everything setup in preparation for…
Pole Machine 200 Prototype First Look
Pole, the Finnish mountain bike brand, is up at Fort William this week racing a brand spanking new prototype downhill bike. And it’s rather special indeed. We’re all pretty well versed with Pole and the way the small mountain bike brand does things, so it’s…
Breaking News! Greg Minnaar Out Of 2018 Fort William World Cup
That’s right – Greg Minnaar is out of the 2018 Fort William World Cup with a broken right arm! Uh-huh. We’ve only just arrived in Fort William, Scotland, for the second round of the 2018 World Cup Downhill Series, and already the drama is starting…
Jeff Steber Interview: Staying Intense
Chipps visited Intense Cycles in Southern California back in April 2017 for an in-depth conversation with the founder of Intense, Jeff Steber. This interview was originally published in Issue #113 of Singletrack Magazine. (And, while much of the business organisation may have changed since then,…
Get A Grip! Northern Grip Festival Coming Soon!
If you love the North, Mountain Biking, Music, and a festival vibe then the Northern Grip Festival is the one place you need to be! Northern Grip returns to Lee Quarry and Stubbylee Park for 2018 with more of the same and a whole lot…
Motion E18 Linkage Fork Goes On Sale 1st June
Do you ever look at the current range of excellent telescopic suspension forks on the market and just wish there was something different on the market? Sure, there’s the Lefty Ocho, but what if you want up to 170mm travel and have a soft spot…
Will This Be The UK’s Ultimate Mountain Bike Festival? Malverns Classic Returns
Mention the Malvern Classic and Chipps goes a bit misty eyed. It was obviously an influential event. A recent ‘were you there, what do you remember?’ thread on his Facebook page elicited a similarly excitable response. And quite a lot of debate – what year…
Does e-bike=motorbike? EC proposes compulsory insurance for e-bikes
If you’re an e-bike user, or you’re thinking of getting one, you might soon need an expensive insurance policy to ride it legally. That’s because the European Commission (EC) has proposed updated laws which will require users of e-bikes to have the same level of…
Solaris Max, MaXalami and Max Madness – It’s Fresh Goods Friday 398
Good day prized readers. It is time. Time for you to sever ties with that yoga mat supplier you once made a purchase from five years ago. Time for you open your mailbox to find only highly relevant information of direct interest to you. Of…
Last Chance To Subscribe! Singletrack Magazine Issue 119
It’s off to the printers, which means that our designer, Amanda, is breathing a sigh of relief, and you have just a few days to subscribe in time to get Singletrack Issue 119 delivered to your door. The cut off date is Sunday 27th May…
Crankworx World Tour Arrives In Innsbruck 13th-17th June
Innsbruck is once again the home to Crankworx this time around it will be the 2nd stop in the Crankworx World Series with events kicking off on the 13th June running through to the 17th. The bike festival will cater for all genres of mountain…
National Park’s Warning Over Snowdon Access Agreement
Snowdon is one of Wales’s must-do mountains for walkers and mountain bikers alike. It’s legally accessible by bikes, with three bridleways leading to the summit, but it also receives a huge number of visitors on foot, to the point where riders and walkers mixing poses…
The Boltby Bash Enduro 2018 brings dust-in-Yorkshire shocker!
Implausibly for some there was an era of mountain biking that existed before Enduro racing. Let’s call this time BE, Before Enduro. In these times gone by, not only did we ride rigid bikes (or maybe if we were lucky had an elastomer suspension fork),…
‘You could buy a car for that!’ It’s Fresh Goods Friday 397
This week, Amanda our designer has stepped in to write Fresh Goods Friday. Mostly because she has a story to tell… Two weeks ago I was on my way to Wales for a weekend of biking. I had my best and most reliable riding buddy…
Breaking News: Singletrack7 Event Cancelled – forestry operations destroy trails
We’ve just received the following notice from the organisers of the Singletrack7 event: It is with much regret and disappointment that we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel this year’s edition of the Singletrack7. On a recent site visit we found that…
Exclusive First Look: The New Cotic Solaris Max
Cotic’s new Solaris MAX launches today. And it’s in stock. And we’ve ridden one. It’s always an exciting day for British mountain bikers when Cotic releases a new model. And while its full suspension bikes are great, we reckon it’s an even better day when…
FINDRA’s lush, luxe, merino – now available for men too
There aren’t many brands where us women get to make the men envious. Usually us women find ourselves looking from the eight different pairs of men’s shorts, 12 jerseys in three colour choices each, all with matching socks, to the women’s option of one pair…
5 Full Suspension Bikes That Cost £1200 Or Less
Believe it or not, we are probably at a point in mountain biking when we can pick up a very capable bike for a relatively low-price. Yes, there are superbikes out there which cost upwards of £10,000, but even brands that used to demand such…
2018 Fort William World Cup Track Course Preview
It’s less than a month to go before the World Cup circus arrives in Fort William and we’re as keen as you are to know if that dreaded forest section will remain for 2018. Luckily the Fort William track isn’t in a top secret location…
Mondraker Carbon Foxy 29er – The Most Obvious Bike Ever
Given that Mondraker has already launched a 27.5in carbon Foxy bike, the fact that it was going to launch a 29er version of the acclaimed Foxy took no great deducing. What is a surprise, though, is that – in honour of the fact that the…
Cube Stereo 150 Rolls On Bigger Wheels With Enduro Geo
Cube has gone and given its EWS team a new tool to compete on and it is now available for us mere mortals to buy and ride.
Fort William: All the stars, plus #MakingUpTheNumbers – HSBC British Cycling DH Series Rd 2
Rather strangely, the story of Round 2 of the National Downhill Series begins roughly one week earlier, some 300 miles from Fort William on an uplift in Llangollen, Wales. “I don’t think I’ve ever missed a race through injury” Binnsy says with a touch of…
Jennride 2018: the perfect Lake District weekend?
This weekend saw the 2018 edition of the ‘Jennride’, organised by Richard Munro, in memory of our late Deputy Editor, Jenn Hill. There were three routes available: a 50km ‘dipping a toe in bikepacking’, a 100 mile ‘two days with a pub stop or two’,…
We’re Hiring! Could You Be Our New Technical Writer?
Singletrack is on the lookout for a new person to join our small, enthusiastic and hardworking team. We are looking for someone to work closely in our Todmorden office with Wil, our Technical Editor, writing news, shooting and appearing in video and photos as well…
A Threesome Of Bikes, Lots Of Pants, And A Couple Of Strap-Ons – Fresh Goods Friday 396
There is no introduction today because it’s *ping* too difficult *ping ping* to think straight when *ping* your Twitter feed has gone *ping* into overdrive because you *ping ping* innocently tweeted about a column that Bez wrote. *ping* It’s quite the experience. Being famous and…
Success! Expansion Plans Approved For Dales Bike Centre
Everyone’s favourite cake emporium and mountain bike centre, not to mention the literal hub of the Ard Rock Enduro, the Dales Mountain Bike Centre in Reeth, North Yorkshire, has just scored planning permission to extend its operations, with more places to stay and a lot…
10 Spring Saver Deals!
We’ve been waiting for the weather to improve and now the sun is here, and so are the super savings!
Fresh Threads, Fresh Springs, And Fresh Water – It’s Fresh Goods Friday 395
∗Ēξū⊕ϖ ℘ÛℵЊ βγ Ηē¢κ ιτ˜ς ƒℜî∂αψ Never fear, normal service has been resumed. The walls have dried, the IT hamsters are lying with their legs in the air and the servers are floating in a cloud. The office has been moved around so that everyone has a new…
TweedLove festival and demo – uplift now available all weekend!
TweedLove organisers have just announced that they have partnered with Adrenalin Uplift to provide transport services up into Glentress and Innerleithen over the TweedLove Festival weekend. The uplift bus stop is part of the expo village, in the town centre of Peebles, and will be…
Lock and unload: Vista Outdoor announces plans to sell off Giro, Bell and Blackburn
US-based outdoor conglomerate Vista Outdoor has announced plans to sell off some of its biggest cycling brands, including helmet manufacturers Giro and Bell. We previously reported how the brands had attracted calls for a boycott, after it was publicised in the wake of the Marjorie…
New Airdrop Bitmap: UK designed hardcore hardtail
Airdrop Bikes, a small Sheffield based brand led by Ed Brazier, has until now had just the one bike in the range: the Airdrop Edit. It’s gone through a couple of iterations since birth, but the full suspension enduro model has been an only child…
Propain Hugene – A 29er ‘that doesn’t feel boring’
Propain is a small German maker of carbon trail and enduro bikes and you might have seen or heard about the Tyee – the company’s 160mm travel 27.5in trail bike. We had one in for review a couple of years ago (sorry, the photos aren’t…
Fresh Goods Friday 394 – Office Redecoration Whitewash Edition
We are in a state of some upside down-ness. Chipps is back from his long haul trip and might be jet lagged and befuddled, but the rest of us are too muxed ip to notice. Our desks have become little floating islands of relocated office…
Sea Otter 2018: Found! New Giro Shoes Hidden In Plain Sight
The Giro booth at the Sea Otter is always a good source of news and gossip. Not usually because of the products on show (only because we’ve often already seen them, as worn by this beautiful model below…) but because everyone seems to drift by…
Chris Chance And The New Fat Chance Wicked
After many years out of the bike industry, legendary founder of Fat City Cycles, Chris Chance, returned with a new, updated version of the Fat Chance Yo Eddy back at the 2015 Sea Otter. After more ‘creative’ criticism about tyre clearance and chainring clearance, Chris…
Bold Unplugged. The Neatest Full Susser Ever?
Swiss company, Bold, was showing off its latest trail bike at this year’s Sea Otter. Featuring 170mm (or 180) travel up front and 165mm rear travel, so far so normal, but what sets these frames apart is the concealed rear shock, which leaves a very…
Sea Otter 2018: New Gadgets From Lezyne
Lezyne always launches a load of new stuff at the Sea Otter and 2018 was no different. Concentrating on its core products of pumps, tools and lights, there was plenty to see… Not everyone (ahem) can see those teeny tiny pump gauges, so Lezyne’s latest…
Sea Otter 2018: OneUp Components New Tools (And Dropper)
Earlier this week, we brought you word of OneUp’s new dropper post. A visit to its Sea Otter booth brought news of interesting additions to its EDC steerer tube hidden tool. The EDC tool has found instant favour with racers and with riders who like…
Niner Shows Integrated Luggage And Teases Full Suspension Gravel Bike
Niner, which many people know for its fast race mountain bike hardtails and full suspension bikes has been developing a few new products to appeal to those with a less racy outlook. The SIR9 (Steel Is Real) has been around for a few years now…
Praxis Works Will Lighten Your e-Bike
With most e-bikes weighing in at the high 30lbs or mid 40lbs mark, saving weight is still a worthwhile exercise, yet most e-bikes run the stock forged alloy cranks that came with them. We got beckoned over to the Praxis booth where usually we get…
Behold The Pole Machine
The Pole bike company (confusingly from Finland) has always done things a little differently. And rather than go to Taiwan to make a carbon premium frame, it decided to machine the whole thing from billet aluminium and put it all together in Finland. Having announced…
Kona’s 2019 Newcomers Go Big On 29ers
Kona is 30 years old this year and has many treats in store for you. There are new carbon bikes, new steel hardtails, new drop bar bikes and new e-bikes. Among them is a limited edition Honzo ST – which has been done for the…
Continental Revamps Its Entire Tyre Line
Things have been pretty quiet from Continental Tyres for the last couple of years. The company has been busy with some dull corporate move arounds and logo redesigns, the revamping of its head office and perhaps it’s been sat around waiting for rim and tyre…
GT Bicycles Celebrates 25 Years Of Suspension With Retro Showcase
GT Bicycles has a pretty extensive heritage to call on. It also apparently has a pretty good retro bike library back at CSG headquarters, so when it decided to mark 25 years of full suspension bikes, it had plenty of retro machines to call upon.…
Syncros Launches Lightest Wheels Ever?
Syncros has just, cryptically, launched a new wheelset that, on (digital) paper at least, appears to be one of the lightest cross country race wheelsets out there. It has also expanded its radical Hixon carbon bar/stem combo into the trail and even enduro worlds. First,…
TyreWiz – Real Time Tyre Pressure Monitoring
Quarq, the SRAM division that brought you the ShockWiz, has just announced TyreWiz, which promises to offer the same kind of precise tuning and real-time monitoring as ShockWiz offers for forks. As the bit of your bike that actually contacts the ground, tyres are the…
