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Now there's an article worth reading in SAGA magazine. 'Internet dating, 4 'couples' take the plunge. 😯
Thank you Grace.
Sorted.
I've been reading this months (issue 93) and I too currently find the articles relevant, inspiring and a good read.
I'm planning to ride the Dorset downs route in the next few weeks, the sarn Helen route is intriguing and a possibility for a weekends riding and Moab/transpyr is at the moments just pipe dreams.
Keep up the good work!
I'll second the minor whinge about the font colours, I really can't read white on black text. I've seen articles that it's difficult for men to read text this way round and I just can't read the articles that are presented this way!
Moab shots are a mix of Moab Brand XC loops, Amasa back, Porcupine Rim, Captain Ahab's and Portal.
here is an article i'd be interested in:reasonable rider rides the same course on a £800 hardtail, £2k hardtail, £2K FS and £4K FS all from the same manufactory . Compare times and see how much of a difference there is.
In fact, do up hill and down hill segments.
compare 29er and 26er.
there you go. there's next years content!
Sounds good
Or maybe merge routes and bike some times
Set off on classic rides with a collection of bikes and discuss the route sand the pros and cons of each bike on different sections
LBS verses online. Get some newbies to buy their first bike in different ways and shart their progress. Does the support of a local shop give greater benefit over the lower cost or higher spec of the direct sellers
The where were the MOAB shots isn't like a deal breaker but i think it helps to link the pictures and the text
plus I have been and its nice to think "I road that"
Given up on non 26'er bike reviews - I have a shed of 26'ers and am persisting in being an old dog refusing to learn new wheelsizes.
We'll review every 26in bike we can get hold of these days. They're in very, very short supply, as we've mentioned.
I'll have a word about the font size/legibility. And if we can increase it by 10%, then I'll have to write 10% fewer words to fill the same space. 🙂
re; the affordability question. We have done blind tests in the past between steel and titanium hardtails, we've done our 'One Ton Challenge' where we (well, I) have done 50 mile rides on £75 bikes. We'll try to keep affordable bikes in mind when planning our bike tests. Manufacturers do try to send more expensive bikes than we ask for though, as they don't want to be the ones that come out worst on a test, so they'll often try to send us £1000 bikes for the £800 bike tests.
On a tangent, but similar, we did do timed runs (and fun-o-meter tests too!) on skinny hardtails vs enduro bikes on and up and down loop a few years ago. That might need re-doing...
For lights tests, ironically, it's easier for us to get hold of a £400 set of lights from the manufacturer than a £20 set, but we'll try to get one in for our next roundup. (Although, given a few recent experiences on here, I'm not going to leave them charging unattented...)
Keep 'em coming!
I was half tempted to get the latest copy if it was so good but then I read:
I knew I loved Singletrack when I saw a full page review of a single malt whiskey.
And thought sod that.
For lights tests, ironically, it's easier for us to get hold of a £400 set of lights from the manufacturer than a £20 set, but we'll try to get one in for our next roundup. (Although, given a few recent experiences on here, I'm not going to leave them charging unattented...)
Buy 5 sets. Get them wet, drop them, unplug and reconnect the battery 100 times, check the stability of the mounts and so on.
Give them a month of abuse then get them checked out by somebody who knows about electrickery.
We cheap bastards are more concerned about whether they will break/melt/explode than what the beam pattern is like.
Score them like Top Trumps.
Light
Mount
Battery
Reliability in the wet
Points off if they pack up
More points off if the impartial electrician condemns them as dangerous
Cheap as... errr... chips and relevant to quite a lot of people on here I suspect.
binners it's not funny... I started gettting emails for "Dating over 50's"
a. I'm married
b. I'm not Wayne Rooney
c. I'm mid 40's
When you pass 50 S(ex)a(nd)g(ames for the)a(ged) come after you with a vengeance and the over 50 plan insurance companies and the funeral plans...
(Mrs S signed me up for £75 of M&S vouchers, I'm working out where the patio extension should go).
A bit late now but I have a suggestion. When reviewing "packable jackets" and discussing how having more features makes for a bigger packed size, take photos of the jackets packed so the reader has some idea of whether they meet his/her definition of packable. A pack I accept in my camelback might be too big for a jersey pocket.
That was the idea, Mr Nice. Unfortunately, the photoshoot didn't go as planned and our receptacle (a litre cafetiere) was never stuffed for the photos as I'd hoped. That was the idea from the start.
Bit late to the party, but I’ve only just finished the Moab story. Fantastic pictures, [i]buuuut[/i] I’m still none the wiser as to whether I’d want to spend the time and money travelling over to ride there. From the intro I was expecting more on whether the area lived up to the nostalgia/ ‘classic’ status, e.g. Was riding on a sandpaper surface all the time great, or do you start longing for slidey wet grass or an occasional wooded section?
Loved the story on Chile in the previous issue, which also had some extraordinary photos.
Off topic, but does anyone know if there is a way to access the magazine archive on Android please?
Roger, I'm pretty sure I'd never do a transatlantic trip just to ride bikes, but a Southern Utah national parks road trip is an amazing trip. With a few days biking and rafting in Moab, it's even better.
I'd agree that the last few mags have been especially awesome.
You have also set me Transpyr 2016 as a training goal, I hope you're satisfied....
The expensive gear reviews are fine, but balance is needed in all things. I'm still on a collection of 26'ers and have no plans to replace any 'just because' - there are people who accept that £3500 is the baseline for a mountain bike but I suspect this is not reality for most of your readers.
Font size? Meh.. It's fine, leave it alone, please. Singletrack has enough of a "dad's mtb club" reputation in some quarters without printing body text in 16pt bold...
Cheers Ned, yeah it would have to be combined with something to justify the cost!
[i]Off topic, but does anyone know if there is a way to access the magazine archive on Android please?[/i]
If you have a pdf reader on your Android, you can access the magazine pdfs in the archives I think.
There are some more affordable bike tests planned in the next year (and some not so, too, just for balance of course...)
Wanting the font size bigger because one usually reads it when the lights are dimmed while watching Casualty is somewhere north of reasonable. 😉
Given up on non 26'er bike reviews - I have a shed of 26'ers and am persisting in being an old dog refusing to learn new wheelsizes.
We'll review every 26in bike we can get hold of these days. They're in very, very short supply, as we've mentioned.
Got no issues here with reviewing bikes you can actually buy, the lack of 26" bikes available means I've not much interest in knowing how they ride as the chances of buying one are slim to none.
If your going to do a 26" review then maybe a classifieds/ebay top gear style challenge where for a set budget build a bike.
DH for the alps
Budget XC racer for a long event
Something bouncy for an enduro
Considering some of the threads on here something like how to size yourself up for a bike properly, geometry and suspension for dummies, what all the words mean.
Also got a great idea for a foreign race report, multi day stage racing in the sun...