“Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.” And so goes the oft-quoted advice in Hamlet,…
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 154 International Adventure: The Last Yak Attack
The high altitude race that brought so much to Nepal and to its racers in turn has run its last. Words by Laura Martin The Yak Attack race in Nepal…
Issue 154 UK Adventure: Chariots of Rust
Subsequent to the sudden death of a childhood friend, and my girlfriend leaving me over the phone during my graduate school finals in Boston, I fell into a major depression.…
Issue 154 MTB Culture: Having The Wrong Thing
Necessity is the mother of invention, and stupidity its cousin. We bring you a selection of instances where ‘Having the wrong thing’ (or forgetting the right thing) brought the family…
Issue 154 Interview: Gladiators… Ready!
It’s perhaps no surprise that one of the new competitors on TV’s Gladiators is a pro mountain biker. Hannah catches up with Privateer Bikes rider Kerry Wilson to find out…
The Grinder: Zefal Bike Taxi Tow Rope, Continental Argotal, Fox Dropframe helmet, Zipp 1ZERO HiTop Wheels
Is that creak me or the bike? Real-world product reviews from real-world riders.
Issue 154: Tech That Should Have Stuck Around
Benji dons possibly rose-tinted spectacles and brings us the technology that he thinks has fallen undeservedly out of fashion. Inverted forks Kicking things off with a real doozy. What are…
Issue 154 Column: Riding By Numbers
Are you beating the clock or beating yourself up? Vicky struggles to get into a healthy race mindset. Words by Vicky Balfour Trudging along, pushing our bikes up a narrow,…
Issue 154 Away Day: Farmer Johns MTB Park
Amanda, Benji and Mark go for a trip out to Farmer Johns bike park to see what’s there, what to wear, and which bike to take. Farmer Johns (yes, without…
Issue 154 Last Word: Schrödinger’s Stans Monsters
Chipps gets existential in his tyre swapping. Perhaps those new tyres you had on backorder have finally come in, or you’re simply putting in that pre-summer maintenance where you swap…
Issue 153 Editorial: Always Meet Your Heroes
Chipps encourages you to seek out and praise your heroes. However, they might not be the people you first think of. Doesn’t the saying go ‘Never meet your heroes’? Is…
Issue 153: Peaks of the Balkans
Jerome Clementz takes an optimistic ride into the forgotten reaches of the cursed Balkan mountains. Words Jerome Clementz Photography Jérémie Reuiller While it seems that the focus of bikes these…
Issue153 Interview: Flying Under The Radar
Joey Gough has been so busy riding her bike that she’s flown under the commercial radar in an industry that’s just catching up. Words & Photography Geoff Waugh Joey Gough…
The Grinder: Wolf Tooth pedals, DMR cranks, Ceramic Speed SLT bearings, USE bar, Madison bib-trouser, Leatt knee pads
The only lateral stiffness is in our backs; real-world product reviews from real-world riders.
Issue 153 Classic Ride: Surrey Thrills
Despite Hurtwood being one of the UK’s busiest riding spots, its trail network relies heavily on the continued goodwill of landowners and volunteers. Adele takes a ride to find out…
Issue 153 Bikepacking: Spend Time Not Money
Amanda and Rhys spend their summer holiday discovering that cheap really can be cheerful. Words Amanda Photography Rhys Wainwright & Amanda In summer 2022 we crammed two enduro bikes and…
Issue 153 MTB Culture: Minority Rapport
What is it about women’s rides that is proving so attractive? Fi Spotswood has been trying to find out. Words Fi Spotswood Photography Credited I’m ashamed to admit that when…
Issue 153 Tech Head: When It’s All Your Own Fault
A custom-built bike is a dream for many, but how hard is it to choose (and then live with) your exact, perfect machine? Words As told to Chipps Photography Credited…
Issue 153 UK Adventure: Britain’s Lost Rainforests
It’s not just the Amazon rainforest that’s at risk. Here in the UK, our own temperate rainforests are vanishing too. Words & Photography Pete Scullion I know what you’re thinking.…
Issue 153 Last Word: Weights and Measures
Hannah proposes a new system of measurement, putting quality over quantity. Miles covered and feet gained seem to me an inadequate measure of mountain biking. Kilometres and metres likewise. Hours…
Issue 152 Editorial: I went into Publishing and all I got was this awesome magazine
Words: Chipps Thirty years ago, at the start of January 1994, I walked into the Future Publishing offices in Bath to begin as technical editor for the recently launched MTB…
Issue 152 UK Adventure: South Glen Shiel Ridge
James Vincent rides possibly the best descent of his life in the North West Scottish Highlands. But is it worth the steep price of admission? Words & Photography James Vincent…
Issue 152 International Adventure: There’s more to Europe Than Mountains
Hannah explores the hillsides of Tuscany, where European mountain bikers are busy having their holidays without you. Words by Hannah, pictures by Hannah or as credited. In my mind’s eye,…
Issue 152: Salmon Fishing in the… Feshie
Pete gets his feet wet in a search for that iconic Scottish image: the leaping salmon. Words & Photography Pete Scullion Returning from overseas to find most of Scotland underwater,…
Issue 152 International Adventure: Icy Trails And Fairy Tales
Martin Bissig makes the most of a week in surprisingly snow-dusted Cappadocia. Words & Photography Martin Bissig Unexpectedly caught in a snowstorm on a biking trip in Turkey, I found…
Issue 152 Classic Ride: Riding the Dyfi
The Climachx trail in the Dyfi Valley offers a day out for those looking for an alternative to the Athertons’ neighbouring descents.
Issue 152 International Adventure: Choosing The Right Path
Jonathan Kambskarð-Bennett took on unseasonable Moroccan weather and unfriendly dogs in order to get a glimpse of the vast Sahara Desert on his bike. It wasn’t a simple journey. Words…
Issue 152 Last Word: Start Something
Hannah says just get started. It doesn’t matter where you finish.
Singletrack Issue 151 Editorial: Especially average? Or averagely special?
Words: Chipps Does anyone ever aspire to be average? Surely, statistically, most of us must be average at most things? Look around, though, and all talk is about the fastest,…
Singletrack Issue 151: Borneo Singletrack
Steve helped plant the mountain biking seed in Borneo a decade ago. Visiting again for the first time, he wondered if it had taken root and flourished. Words Steve Chapman…
Singletrack Issue 151: A Clarion Call
Hannah examines the rise of a new type of cycling club: the collective. Words Hannah photography as credited Some of the earliest cycling clubs were formed by people with a…
Singletrack Issue 151 Classic Ride: Pendle Pootle
The STW team ride in the shadow of Lancashire’s Pendle Hill, site of many a 17th century witch trial. However, they didn’t find any witches; just mellow trails and tasty…
Singletrack Issue 151: Ydyn ni bron yna?
Chipps wonders what happened to the Welsh Government’s promises for a more accessible outdoors for all. Words Chipps Photography Amanda *Ydyn ni bron yna? = Are we almost there? A…
Endurance Cross-Country Kit Essentials
Trial and error (and a bit of grumpy lying on the ground) has seen Amanda find her way to the ideal kit to keep on going, and going, and going…
Singletrack Issue 151 Purposeful Adventure: Friends in High Places
Pete goes in search of the dabs of colour that cling to life in the Scottish mountains. Words & Photography Pete Scullion Heading north and west into a little-known corner…
Singletrack Issue 151: I ❤️ My Night Riding Gear
Hannah brings you the clothing and hardware that keeps her spinning through the long winter evenings. Words Hannah Photography Amanda Night riding… it’s something of a necessary evil in the…
Singletrack Issue 151: Finding The Flow
The full member paywall on this article has been removed in association with Endura Skipping school and heading to the woods might get some kids a telling-off. Ina de Smet discovered it…
Singletrack Issue 151 Last Word: Favourite Meal
Amanda recalls a favourite, awful, meal. Food is a very important part of riding bikes. Not only for the basic fact of us needing the fuel, but it often can…
Singletrack World Issue 150 Editorial
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to issue 150 of Singletrack World Magazine. Whether you’re a new reader in print or online (or both), or an old hand…
Issue 150: Limestone Cowboys
Can you really enjoy the delights of a new country when you’re racing through it at high speed on a stage race? There’s only one way to find out… Words…
Issue 150: Full Time Tinkering
Steve Chapman talks to the man who makes your suspension work better than when it left the factory. Words Steve Chapman photography Sarah Barratt I’ve been harbouring a secret for…
Issue 150: A Few Feet Away
Anders measures the gaps between doubts, dreams and delivery. Words & Illustrations Anders Engberg When I was five years old my dad built a 25ft sailing catamaran in the living…
Issue 150: Purposeful Adventure – Land Lost
Pete Scullion looks at some of the industrial scars that mark the ‘unspoiled beauty’ of England’s Lake District. But it’s not all bad… far from it. Words & Photography Pete…
Issue 150: The Three-Wheeled Amigos
Antony finds out the unique challenges that taking a trike around an event like the Dirty Reiver poses. Words Antony de Heveningham Photography As Credited We’re in a van heading…
Issue 150: Chipps’ Summer Ridewear
Chipps gives his top kit tips for those summer weeks (or foreign trips) where the temperatures hit ‘scorchio’ and beyond. I’ve had a long-running debate with American (mostly Californian and Coloradan) bike, clothing and shoe…
Singletrack World Classic Ride 150: Ben Mac Do It
Each year my friends and I take a trip to Scotland for a week during May bank holiday to enjoy the freedom of wild camping, the right to roam and…
Issue 150: ‘Who died and made you Keeper of the Peak?’
Hannah chats with Chris Maloney to find out what keeps him giving up his free time for the benefit of mountain bikers. Words Hannah Photography Alastair Johnstone / as credited…
Singletrack World Issue 150 Celebration
It’s not always new tyres and perfect corners, OK? Singletrack World Magazine is 150 issues old. That’s no mean feat, and we wanted to celebrate it by bringing you a…
Issue 150 Last Word: How did we get here?
In his Editorial, Chipps says you don’t ‘do mountain biking’, you just ‘are a mountain biker’. I wonder though, how many of you thought you were becoming mountain bikers on…
Editorial: Work up to the widdly bits
Chipps reminds us not to try to skip to the end... When I was about 16 I borrowed an electric guitar from a friend, with the usual teenage ambitions of…
Beinn Dorain: Scotland’s Great Pyramid
Ever seen that big pointy lump of a hill on the way to Fort William and wondered how it rides? Pete Scullion goes to find out. Words & Photography Pete…