A trail bike adventure between volcanoes and waves in the former Russian military zone of Kamchatka. Words Philipp ‘El Flamingo’ Becker Photography Constantin Fiene We’re in the last hour of the longest domestic flight in the world, and it’s been a pretty shaky one. Suddenly…
Singletrack Magazine
All the features, tests, opinions and more that have been published in each issue of the printed magazine dating back to 2001
Singletrack Magazine Issue 118: Editorial
Make The Moment Last Words Chipps I’ve never heard of Ben Hogan. I’d assumed that he was the lesser famous brother of Hulk, but apparently he was big in the world of golf. Apart from admiring the odd bunker lip for its take-off potential, and…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 118: West Is Best
Pete Scullion ventures out to the western fringe of Scotland, ready to sleep under the stars on a remote beach. But he didn’t count on life-threatening weather. Will he tough it out? Or make it work? Words & Photography pete scullion The phrase ‘West is…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 118: Trail Hunter – Peaky Blinder
This is a story about an underdog. A sidekick, a minor character, passed over in favour of its more famous sibling, ignored by many but loved by those who know it. It’s a story about the White Peak. Words TOM FENTON Photography ANDY HEADING The…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 118: Seduced By The TV Remote
Steve Longdon is about to despair at the laziness of the world, but he’s not had time. He’s been too busy riding his bike. We all watch what other people do. I’m sure that I’m not alone here. But lately I just feel like I’m…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 118: No Mercy In The Mountains
Backcountry Tour of the Pyrenees? You can’t handle the backcountry tour of the Pyrenees! Words & Photography CHIPPS It took less than a hundred metres of gravity-assisted descending for my brand new rear tyre to die, to give up its air as it gushed sealant…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 118: Internal Struggle
Tom Johnstone rides across Iceland’s interior and learns that making your dreams come true isn’t always easy. Words & Photography Tom Johnstone This was an adventure I’d dreamed about for years – 15 to be exact. Every winter since I was 18 I’ve said ‘next…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 118 : Last Word
barney marsh Train, Train Go Away Barney faces up to the inevitable: he’s not magically going to get fitter by doing nothing. It sits against one wall of the cellar, locked in by a barricade of old unused frames. Slowly collecting dust and detritus in…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: Editorial
Strength through respect Words Chipps 2017 saw car brand Porsche retire from endurance, Le Mans-style bike racing (it’s off to do fully electric racing). Rather than gloating about one of its rivals leaving the scene, Toyota used the opportunity to run a video thanking Porsche…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: Path Of A Prince
Pete Scullion continues his tour of the north’s coffin roads. Ancient byways that were the final journey for the dead and which conveniently make great trails for the living. Words & Photography Pete Scullion
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: Trail Hunter – Border Blasting
Tom Fenton treads the fine line between England and Scotland, black ice and bog, all the while attempting condiment-based puns. Words TOM FENTON Photography ANDY HEADING
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: Classic Ride – The Duddon Valley
Tom Hutton strikes gold in a little-known corner of the Lake District Words & Photography Tom Hutton It’s not often an injury turns out to be a lucky break. But it’s always good to try to see positives in these things. And, as I gazed…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: Quit Your Job
Hannah interviews five people who’ve said ‘Right! That’s it! I’m leaving to go and work with pushbikes!’ Then they’ve carried through with the threat. And how. Words hannah Photography various Whether it’s ‘just a job’, ‘your career’, or even ‘a vocation’, the chances are you’ll…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: Joe Parkin
Less Measuring, More Doing Joe Parkin has the secret of getting fit and he’s willing to share it with you. Spoiler alert: it involves riding your bike. Adults are idiots. Seriously. We go to amazing lengths to take the fun out of everything we do.…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: In The Beginning
Olly Townsend recounts how his earliest experience of mountain biking could quite easily have been his last… Even though this photo was taken nearly 30 years ago, the emotion conveyed in my facial expression seems to have burned its way indelibly into my soul. That…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: Adrian Carter
Yorkshire Grit Chipps catches up with one of the UK’s original mountain bike pioneers, still making waves from his base in North Yorkshire. Words chipps Photography james vincent
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: Last Word
last word: That time I got mistaken for a bear. Charlie the Bikemonger shares a little too much. Again. Back in the early days of singlespeeding, after bar ends, but before 10-speed (if you had gears, that was), I was minding my own business… well…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 117: Room 101
Words Charlie the Bikemonger Every issue we highlight some of those niggly aspects of being a mountain biker. Our resident judge considers the evidence for and against each case. Often a part of mountain biking which we’ve never noticed can be quite infuriating is brought…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 112 : Riding Romania
Words & Photography Tomasz Debiec Glimpsing a world of open spaces, empty mountains and wickedly tough trails. Romania is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and interesting countries in Europe. It attracts increasing numbers of tourists looking for traces of its famous vampires (Prince Vlad…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 112 : The Wayfarer
Tom Fenton and pals head to the Berwyn range to ride the classic Wayfarer trail, though controversially not the ‘right’ way. Words Tom Fenton Photography Andy Heading On 23rd January 1974, lights blaze in the night sky. Seconds later, a huge jolt shakes the earth…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 112 : Morocco Blues
Carlos heads to Morocco to immerse himself in a side to this country that tourists rarely get to experience. Words & Photography Carlos Blanchard I hear the first small notes of a captivating tune. Guitars, drums, clapping hands… is it the blues? Sounds like the…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Editorial
Pecking Orders Words Chipps I’ve always been interested in the interplay between riders out on a ride, or over a week of riding in the mountains. Mountain biking is a great leveller and it doesn’t matter what high-powered job you have, how famous you are…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Spineology
Pete Scullion takes on an alpine ridge ride with the most serious of consequences, and the greatest of rewards. Words & Photography: Pete Scullion Above two and a half thousand metres my body starts to wonder what I am doing to it. I was used…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Man Of Porage
Lee Craigie won the right to host Britain’s most bizarre mountain bike adventure race. Join her as she juggles the craziness involved in choosing this year’s Man and Woman of Porage. Words lee craigie Photography james robertson
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: The Isle Of Purbeck
This Dorset hotspot is not an island, but it does come with a ferry and the promise of adventure, as Tom Hutton discovers. Words & Photography Tom Hutton If it starts with a ferry ride it’s an adventure, right? OK, so the ferry ride’s only…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Cross Fell And High Cup Nick
Tom takes on this iconic North Pennine ride. Be warned though, it’s a rucksack and two-sandwiches kind of day out. Words TOM FENTON Photography ANDY HEADING Do you have a friend who carries a massive bag on every ride? A turgid behemoth that accompanies every…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Fjord Fiesta
Words Berne Broudy Photography Donald Shearer Pushbiking and peak bagging: Riding the mountains of Norway’s fjords I’ve been slogging uphill for an hour and a half, my mountain bike on my back, and the summit cairn isn’t getting closer. The trails in Norway’s Sunnmøre…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Talking Trickstuff
Team Singletrack caught up with German precision engineering company Trickstuff this summer, in its hidden factory deep in a German housing estate. Words Hannah and Wil Photography James Vincent We’re not the first to follow the ‘Trickstuff’ signs off the main thoroughfare into the residential…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Column – Life Cycle Of A Riding Spot
Antony de Heveningham charts the rise and fall of that secret riding spot in the woods near you. The following is based on a true story, and is a tragedy, told in 11 chapters. Illustrations Amanda Discovery. A new location is scouted and ridden. Potential…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: 100 Years Later
Words Steffi Marth Photography Nathan Hughes Riding in the footsteps of the Austrian, Italian and Swiss mountain heroes of the First World War. 1915, The Stelvio Pass, Italy.
Singletrack Magazine issue 115: Trail Hinter – Dartmoor
TRAIL HUNTER EXPLORES those must-do RIDES that should be on every British mountain biker’s bucket list. Words Tom Fenton Photography Andy Heading Tom Fenton heads to south-west England and the plentiful, but hard-won, delights of Dartmoor and a strong contender for his ‘best riding anywhere’…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Augmentation
The shape of things to come Jason Miles predicts the future of bikes and riders after gorging on too many ginger biscuits and sci-fi films. Can mountain bikes get any better than they are right now? We all know that manufacturers have to keep making…
Singletrack Magazine Classic Ride 115: The Merrick
Words & Photography David ‘Sanny’ Gould Sanny heads to the deep south west of Scotland and steps back into its bloody past. As part of the ominously named ‘Range of the Awful Hand’ (almost as unappealing as Peak of the Fungal Athlete’s Foot), the Merrick…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Trail Knifes
Words & Photography Chipps For this issue’s look at the non-bike essentials that make us tick, Chipps considers a few non-bike tools that can be essential for improvisation in the hills, as well as for slicing cheese. While bike tools can cope with most foreseeable…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Finding Adventure In The Alps
Words & Photography Anthony Pease Turn your back on the uplifts of the Alpine honeypots and a whole world of adventure, hidden trails, mountain top restaurants (and endless hike-a-bike) awaits. There had been childlike excitement building up over the previous few weeks. Texts and messages…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Just Get Out There
Words & Photography Charlie the Bikemonger Charlie the Bikemonger urges you toward adventure. Even if it’s a sunburned, punctured, dehydrated, drunken, euphoric adventure in Arizona. Especially if it is. This spring, I got back from a few days bikepacking on the Arizona Trail. It’s an…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Whistler For Mortals
Words & Photography David ‘Sanny’ Gould What happens if you take a Lycra-wearing cross-country rider and throw him in at the deep end in the world’s most famous bike park? Do you create a gnarly dude who says ‘stoked’ a lot or do you end…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Last Word
Mediocrity Words Ian Bailey Ian Bailey has a confession. He wants to tell you something that’s been weighing on his mind. I’m mediocre. There, I’ve said it, that’s a relief; finally, publicly, accepting my limitations is mildly therapeutic. I don’t have to share this nugget…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Grand Finale
Taking a holiday from being a mountain bike guide, Ian Bailey goes mountain biking in Italy and lets another guide take the strain. He also lets his sense of self-preservation have some time off too. Words Ian Bailey Photography Ian and friends Right this second…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Last word
Words Chipps Event organisers and the cycle of abuse, forgiveness and eventual love. As well as writing about bikes and the people behind them, I’ve been involved in organising mountain bike events for 20 years or so. Since helping organise the very first Mountain Mayhem…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Azores
Karen Eller and pals take a trip to the ‘so foreign, yet so close’ mid-Atlantic jungle wonderland – The Azores. Words Karen Eller Photography Maria Knoll
Singletrack Magazine issue 114: (Hand) Made In China
Chipps follows the path of an Asian-made bike from concept sketch to mountainside testing. Words and photography Chipps I’ve always wanted to follow the development of a product from first-sketch to final product, but it’s easier said than done. Many companies are rightly wary about…
Singletrack issue 114: Snowdon
Tom Fenton explores one of the ultimate must-do locations in British mountain biking. That highest, pointiest bit of Wales – Mount Snowdon. Words Tom Fenton Photography Andy Heading Apparently, an elephant never forgets. And goldfish have three-second memories. But did you know that tortoises have…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Northern Island
Ulster Says Yes! Ian from Rock and Ride Outdoors shows us round his home trails in Northern Ireland. Words Ian Bailey Photography Caolan Hawkins Loosely tracking a section of the Ulster Way, this classic ride skirts the foothills of the Mourne Mountains while linking sections…
Singletrack Magazine issue 114:The Black Fuel
Words & photography Rob Crayons Last issue, Chipps filled his crystal tumbler and took us through five of his top armchair whiskies. This time we look to Rob Crayons and his pick of coffees for fuelling our rides. Coffee isn’t just a hot beverage needed…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Keith Bontrager
“Strong, light, cheap – pick two.” Mountain bike pioneer, product designer, agitator. Words Chipps Photography Chipps and Steve Behr Keith Bontrager has been a bike industry name since the earliest days of the sport. While not a great self-publicist, his thoughts on bike design have…
Singletrack Magazine issue 114: Shropshire
Barney heads off to Shropshire to try to answer a question which has been bugging him – why are there so many good riders from such a quiet county? Words & Photography Barney Marsh Quests are nebulous things. The definition is suitably vague – “the…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 113 : Dunkeld Exposé
We sent Pete Scullion to the small Scottish town of Dunkeld to see if it really is the best mountain bike town you’ve never heard of… Words & Photography Pete Scullion Quintessential Scottish spring conditions greet us as we hurtle down an unusually dry Atholl…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 113 : La Pura Vida
Living life to the full in Costa Rica. Words Holger Meyer Photography Sebastian Doerk There’s a hectic bustle going on at San José’s airport exit. A man tugs at my bag: “Taxi?” It’s pitch black. Something must be up with the time zone… It’s 3am,…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 113 : Borderlands
Olly Townsend sneaks up to nearly touch the Scottish border in this most northerly and unridden of English counties. Words & Photography Olly Townsend Apparently, there’s a widely held view in the customer service industry that employees with Geordie accents come across as friendly, helpful…
Singletrack Magazine issue 113 : Kit Bag
Bothy Bag Kit Bag is our chance to have a nosy inside the bags carried by riders from different branches of the mountain bike tree. Each bag has been refined over the years by its owner – adding bits when they’re needed, chucking stuff out…