Chipps urges us not to wait for the bad times to remind us what’s important.
Singletrack Magazine
All the features, tests, opinions and more that have been published in each issue of the printed magazine dating back to 2001
Issue 161: Free Time
Hannah goes in search of time away from being on the clock, on a schedule, and hitting goals.
Issue 161: What Happens After Bikes… Is More Bike
When a downward spiral found him jobless, homeless, but still riding a bike, David decided to ride himself back into his life.
Issue 161: Mike Sanderson
Head of Bikes at The Rider Firm, Hannah found out how he got here, and where he thinks we’re heading next.
Issue 161: Pisgah Up In A Brewery
Deep in the North Carolina backwoods, discover a vibrant and welcoming outdoor scene where hunters happily rub shoulders with mountain bikers down at the craft brewery.
Issue 161: An Englishman On New Dirt
Benji invites you to celebrate soil, in (almost) all its forms.
Issue 161: Post-Backpack Hydration
Without a bladder on your back, you need a different way to carry your water.
The Grinder 161: Orbea Alma, Industry 9 Hydra2 wheels, Muc-Off AirMach and more
Ride fast, train hard, stay young. Or just have a lot more fun. The Singletrack Test Team put this parade of products through their paces.
Issue 161: Mountain Biking at the Bottom of the World – A Journey to the Falkland Islands
Imagine the Falkland Islands as having the scenery of the Scottish isles, but the size of Wales. With penguins…
Issue 160: Dual Rules
For one group of mountain bikers, the winter months bring an extra dose of camaraderie, friendship and stiff competition.
Issue 160: Calm Down – Interview with Brage Vestavik
Hannah interviews Brage Vestavik, freeride’s wildest Norseman.
Issue 160: What The Hike?
Is hikeabike just for masochists with no friends to go and ride with? Or is there real pleasure to be found in carrying your bike?
Issue 160: The American Dream
Ambition is not always enough to succeed, but should the risk of failure stop you trying?
Issue 160: Trailside Tools
These are our six favourite multi-tools and (whisper it) puncture repair items that we actually choose to use.
Issue 160: Biking in a Winter Wonderland
Sanny contemplates the joys of changing plans on the hoof and how sometimes the best rides are the ones that don’t follow the script.
The Grinder 160: RockShox Vivid Air, Thule 945 EasyFold, Bontrager G-Spike and more
Shut up legs, we’re trying to figure out what that rattle is.
Issue 160: All That Matters
A bike tour through Morocco whittles away at daily concerns until all that’s left is what matters.
Issue 160: Last Word – Digital Dependency
Should ‘ready to ride’ mean more than just having a charged phone?
Why now is the best time to Subscribe to Singletrack
The simple answer is we’ve never offered as much to our members as we do now and we need our members now more than ever to keep us in the position of the UK’s only remaining independent mountain bike magazine. We are owned by mountain…
Issue 159: Fitting In
Chipps encourages us to get (just a bit) fitter. Do you know any rowers? They’re a special breed, aren’t they? Up before dawn for a few lengths of the river or 15km on the rowing machine before breakfast. How about triathletes? Same modus operandi, right?…
Issue 159: Tour de Farce
The Adventure Syndicate attempts to bring progress to bikepacking by taking it back to a simpler, sillier time.
Issue 159: Secret Diary Of Benjamin Haworth Age 47 3/4
What is a press launch these days? Who benefits? Who gets short-changed? Are they immoral? Are they ecologically indefensible?
Issue 159: Last Minute Tuscany, Bikepacking in Style
Sanny ditches the traditional endless planning of a bikepacking trip and jumps all in last minute.
Issue 159: Where are we going (with geometry, that is)?
Benji opines on what is right and wrong with the world of mountain bikes right now.
Issue 159: Hand Bagging
After a lifetime of thinking it could never happen for him, Neil and friends set out to bag a Munro – on a handcycle.
Issue 159: Digital Detox
Could you leave all of your electronic gadgets behind on a ride? No GPS, no Strava, no phone. How about three rides in a row? Chipps takes on the challenge.
Issue 159: (Calculated) Risks
Hannah reveals the careful behind-the-scenes work that brings the wild spectacle of Red Bull Rampage to the masses.
Issue 159: Last Word – It’s my birthday and I’ll fly if I want to
Hannah’s nerves age a little as her husband chases youth
The Grinder 159: RockShox Pike Ultimate, Stan’s Flow MK4 Wheels Alpkit Floe trousers and more
If you rest you rust, and there’s no rest for the wicked… so no rust on this batch of wicked products then? Stan’s Flow MK4 Wheelset The USP here is the M-Pulse hubs, specifically the rear. Instead of trad spring-loaded pawls, the M-Pulse system uses…
Islands In The Mud
You know how there are islands in the Galapagos where there’s a finch that’s perfectly adapted to eat just that one seed that grows on that one island? And then on the next island there’s another finch that’s perfectly adapted to eat just that one…
Issue 158: Bourganised Chaos
Barney skips the lifts for a self-propelled – and self-inflicted – Alps adventure. Words and photos by Barney Marsh It seemed like such a fine idea. In the thick of a holiday to the French Alps with the family – so (in order of importance),…
Issue 158: Special Notice Of Appreciation
Issue 158 was brought to you by a whole bunch of behin dthe scenes people but a huge part was played by all the people listed below.
Issue 158 – Last Word: Going Nowhere, Getting Somewhere
Hannah suggests we don’t need miles of new trails to become better riders. When it comes to bike infrastructure and mountain biking facilities we usually think of new trails. Perhaps a whole trail centre with routes of different gradings, a café, a car park, a…
Each Peach Pear Plum: Using e-cargo bikes to survive picnics with kids
Hannah enlists her friend Celia on a mission to re-enact a favourite book from her childhood. Luckily, Celia is indefatigable.
How to Thrive, not just Survive, this winter
Benji adopts the slithery path to zen in the darker months Acceptance. Acceptance and change. That, to me, is the key to getting through winter. If done correctly, winter can be just as much fun as the other three seasons. To remind you, the current…
Issue 157: MTB Culture – Rain Stops Play
Chipps looks at the increasing influence the changing climate and other pressures are having on off-road events. As the climate changes, it is bringing more unpredictable weather with it. We’re seeing everything from unusually dry Februarys to snow in May and floods in August, which…
Issue 157: Busman’s Holiday
Tracy Moseley’s idea of a holiday does not involve a sun lounger, but it is all-inclusive – and all-in. A trip of a lifetime to the BC Bike Race lives up to her dreams.
The Grinder 157: Granite Quiver, Madison DTE jacket, Feedback Sports Pro HD Repair Stand and more
Tried and tested by the Singletrack Crew, gear to help you survive a day in the hills – or the workshop. Granite Design Quiver Tool Roll This is marketed as a next generation saddlebag, but I’ve not used as such because… well, as a mountain…
Issue 157 – Better With Friends
Is mountain biking something best done as a group, or is there a certain singularity of experience to be had in the solo ride? Chipps and Hannah try to see things from all perspectives… Hannah: Unusually for me, perhaps, I don’t have strong feelings about…
Issue 157 – Norway Hans Rey
What would you say are the greatest innovations in mountain biking? Most would agree the invention of full suspension, then there is the dropper seat post; in more recent times we have purpose-built trails and bike parks; and, even more recently, ebikes. Hans Rey has…
Issue 157 Last Word – Catastrophe!157
After a dozen years of incident-free mountain biking, luck ran out for my wife in October and she found her foot pointing sideways after an innocuous slide-out into a gravel car park. Thanks to the wonders of the French health service, her foot was swiftly…
Issue 156 Editorial – A curated taste
Chipps gets to put together a menu of rides. Does he start bold? Or subtle and build to a crescendo? I had some riders in the village this week. Not friends or friends of friends as is often the way, but four Brits who’d looked on a map to find somewhere they’d…
Issue 156 – No place for science
Put down your calculators and pick up your pitchforks, because Benji has ideas about where you can stick your science… Despite what this article is called, I am not anti-science. I do not wear a tinfoil beanie. I have all of the vaccinations. I like…
Issue 156 – Arran’ a good time
Amanda, Rhys and James are reunited for further confirmation that ‘enduro-packing’ is a great idea. WORDS AMANDA PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES VINCENT I am spreadeagled on a rock slab. James is holding my right arm and taking half of my weight and Rhys’ fist is hooked around…
Issue 156 – Beyond Benidorm
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY CHIPPS One blazing sun, two very different worlds on Spain’s Costa Blanca. As I look around at the hotel breakfast buffet, there are two distinctly different groups here. One group looking more serious than they should for people on holiday, mostly older…
Issue 156 – Earning your descents
In our next head to head debate, Chipps is a big fan of earning your descents – he thinks they’re all the better for having put in the effort to get there. Hannah is just in it for the kicks and thinks that ‘earning’ it…
The Grinder 156: Formula Cura X brake, OneUp Alu bar, MSR tent, Specialized Method shoe and more
Bits for your body, bike, and the happiness of those who share your shed. Formula Cura X Brakes First things first, these brakes aren’t as powerful as the SRAM Maven or the Hope Tech4 V4 (the latter still takes the Best Brake crown in my…