Without heading to the Google search bar, do you know how much a competition ready dirt jump bike costs? No? Us either, but after a hunt around it looks like you could expect to pay anywhere from £900+ for something that can take serious, everyday…
Two Videos To Remind You Life Is Precious
It’s all too easy to say ‘maybe tomorrow’. To look out the window at grey skies and turn on the TV instead of heading for the trails. To put off that meet up with old friends, or tell yourself you can’t justify that trip of…
Pole Stamina New Machined Big Travel Big Wheel Bike From Finland With New Sizing
Finland’s Pole Bicycle Company was best known for its progressive geometry and clever folding frame designs, now, however, the brand is also known for calling out Chinese carbon frame makers (at least those who don’t seem to follow environmental standards) and shifting production to Finland…
Interview: Veronique Sandler – Not In It To Win It
Sitting in the yurt at the Bike Park Wales Women’s Weekend, a group of women are gathered for a Q&A session with three pro riders: Tahnee Seagrave, Katy Curd, and Veronique Sandler. It seems that many in the audience are keen racers, and many questions…
Whisky Riders Super Exclusive Bottle Auction For St. Gemma’s Hospice
In October 2015 we lost our deputy editor, Jenn Hill to cancer. Since then she has continued to inspire friends and riders from all over the country to ride bikes and just get out and have adventures. It was around the time of her death…
2019 Canyon Neuron Gets 130mm Travel, New Geometry And Starts At Just £1,449
In a break from the normal fanfare and pomp that comes with a new bike launch, Canyon has quietly updated its website to include the 2019 Neuron, a bike so well priced we think it actually deserves a bit of hype. The Neuron has been…
“All Hail Our Animal Overlords” – Fresh Goods Friday 417
Here it is, evidence that the animal uprising has already started. Cats are in cahoots with geese, we can only imagine that one will ride the other into battle, while dogs take to the roads! There isn’t much we can do against this unavoidable animal…
Singletrack Issue 121: MIPS: You’re Twisting My Melon Man
MIPS invited us to Sweden to explain its in-helmet safety system in words that non-neuroscientists can understand. Luckily we have our own actual PhD neuroscientist, so we sent Barney to translate.
Singletrack Issue 121: XXC: Cross Country Extra
Three bikes that take the short travel full suspension bike to another world.
Airdrop Fade Jumps And Lands On Our Christmas List
If you’re at home/work worrying what to buy us for Christmas this year then just stop. We don’t want bath bombs, socks, or a gin advent calendar (well, we do actually), what we really want is an Airdrop Fade. The Fade is the latest all…
Insta360 One X Camera – The End To Drones, Gimbals And Possibly GoPro
Just when GoPro thought they had finally made waves with the launch of the Hero 7, Insta360 comes along with the One X, a camera with image stabilisation so good you won’t need a gimbal, and accessories so innovative that you’ll never need a drone…
Highland Trail 550 vs French Divide – Battle of the Epic Rides
Whilst sitting back enjoying some much-needed rest and recuperation on a small Greek Island Stu Taylor took time to reflect on what has been a pretty crazy few months. First was the Highland Trail 550 in May, which I completed in four days and seven…
Battle of the Kit: Bike packing sprint versus bike packing marathon
Whilst sitting back enjoying some much-needed rest and recuperation on a small Greek Island Stu Taylor took time to reflect on what has been a pretty crazy few months, during which he’s completed both the Highland Trail 550 and the French Divide. Read on for…
Cannondale Habit. First Impressions Of A Very Important Bike
Cannondale Habit, first impressions. While I’m not, for a minute, going to think that I can get away with complaining about riding secret new bikes on wonderful trails with great people… it is always hard to come up with a ‘Well, how did that bike…
Cannondale’s New Habit 29er. The Trail Bike For You?
Cannondale has completely reinvented its 29in wheel Habit trail bike – from the ‘not quite a race bike, not quite a trail bike’ Habit model of old and come out with a bike that is very similar in silhouette to many of its rivals, but…
Bike Park Wales: Women’s Weekend – not just for women
For the weekend of 6th and 7th October, Bike Park Wales opened its doors to women. Not that women aren’t usually welcome, but to make sure the park was filled with #RadMums, #girlswhoride and #ladyshredders they were giving women free pedal passes (usually £10) for…
Singletrack Magazine 121: The Not So Nutty Professor
Sanny takes a step into the alternative bike world of Ben Cooper. What he finds is that it isn’t just about the bike. Not even close. Words & Photography Sanny I first came across Ben and his Glasgow-based shop Kinetics many moons ago when he…
Rain Doesn’t Stop Play at Steel Is Real Demo Day
Now in its second year, the Steel is Real Demo Day, organised by Ben, Dan and Jonah of Steel is Real MTB, followed on from its successes last year featuring some of the finest steel mountain bike manufactures from the UK and further afield. Based…
Singletrack Issue 121: Ley Lines – Don’t Do It!
Barney takes a good hard look at whether the legend of ley lines might hold spectacular secrets of sumptuous singletrack. Words & Photography Barney Marsh
10 Outerbike Bicycle Innovators
Our roving (raving?) US correspondent, Fahzure, has been on the road again, this time he headed to Outerbike. Outerbike is a bicycle consumer demo event and party that takes place twice a year in Moab, Utah and, for the first time this year, additionally in…
Singletrack Issue 121: Crested Butte 40 Years On
Charlie Kelly and Joe Breeze retrace one of the most important rides in mountain bike history, 1978’s Pearl Pass tour. Words & Photography Charlie Kelly In 1978, a small group of early ‘mountain bikers’ rode over the 12,000ft Pearl Pass in Colorado. That event, and…
Singletrack Issue 121: Shakespeare’s Sister
‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players’. How your ride will play out – whether it results in comedy, tragedy or historic triumph – will depend on your cast of players. Let us head to the casting couch and…
The Great British Bike Off – 3 UK-Made Full Suspension Bikes Tested & Reviewed
In Issue #119 of Singletrack Magazine, we tested three big wheelers made on home soil and designed for modern riding. Words: Wil Barrett Photos: James Vincent Going against the tide of offshore manufacturing in the Far East, there’s been a recent flurry of activity in…
UK-Made Full Suspension Group Test – Robot R130 Review
Robot Bike Co. first shot to fame at the 2016 Fort William World Cup when it debuted a stunning full suspension mountain bike called the R160. Made from carbon fibre tubes and titanium lugs, the unique R160 had a curious mixture of retro aesthetics and…
UK-Made Full Suspension Group Test – Swarf Contour Review
In comparison to the other two on test, our third bike comes from a much smaller outfit. Founded in Dorchester in 2011, Swarf Cycles is currently a one-man show that is owned and operated by a chap called Adrian Bedford – a man who, prior…
These Are The 3 Cheapest Ways To Upgrade Your Bike To 12-Speed
So your current drivetrain is in dire need of replacing. Your chain has stretched, your rear mech has more play in it than a Hillman Imp gearbox, and a hen has sharper teeth than your cassette. If you find yourself on a 10 or 11…
Cotic Brings Manufacturing To The UK With 2019 Cotic RocketMAX. Full Details.
Cotic has done it again! Yup, a last minute email about another bike launch, but we forgive them because this is the bike many of us have been waiting for, the updated Cotic RocketMAX! The Rocket MAX sits just above the Cotic FlareMAX James reviewed a few…
Discovering the undiscovered – Finding new trails on your doorstep
In association with… I thought I knew all my local trails I had a revelation a month or so ago. I discovered a local trail that I’d never ridden. Finding local trails is always a beautiful thing but I was filled with equal amounts of…
October Online Deals – Save Up to 73% Off RockShox Forks!
October looks like a great time of year to pick up a new pair of suspension forks, save on bike lights or pick up some water repellent gear. 2017 RockShox Sid World Cup Solo Air Boost – £299.99 These 100mm travel RockShox SID forks did…
Wearables for the body and the bike. Plus a free poem! It’s Fresh Goods Friday 416
This week at Singletrack there has been some drama. Someone used the last of the oat milk without saying anything, there was a birthday cake with no candles, and thanks to the changing of the seasons, half of the staff have got a cold. But…
UK-Made Full Suspension Group Test – Orange Stage 4 RS Review
When it comes to UK-made full suspension bikes, there was one brand that was always going to be in this grouptest. Put simply, few manufacturers can rival Orange Bikes’ rich 30-year history within the UK mountain biking scene. And unlike the recent flurry of newcomers,…
Jumpack Transforms From Backpack To Dirt Jump In Just 10 Seconds!
If you’re a registered user you may have read our trail tool article from earlier on in the week (if you haven’t read it, register for FREE and check it out now!). In that article Antony tested a bunch of tools to tidy up your…
It’s Here! Singletrack Magazine Issue 121 – Where Will Your Read Yours?
Singletrack Issue 121 has landed! Whoop! If you’re a subscriber your copy has probably landed. Have you ripped it open eagerly, or are you saving it for some quality me time? Why not tag us on Instagram or Twitter so we can see how you read…
Five Ten And Adidas Eye Up The Olympic Effect
Five Ten has been the name in flat pedal sticky shoes for so long that it’s easy to forget that it started out life as a climbing and outdoor brand. With some bright spark having the idea that sticky rubber could prove useful at gripping…
2019 DVO D1 Fork Range Announced Along with Topaz And Garnett Updates
For the 2019 season DVO, a brand made up of ex-Marzocchi employees has created a whole new premium range of suspension forks named D1. D1 forks have already been spotted on top of the range 2019 Giant Bikes and Giant Factory Team race bikes, but…
Video: Nick Craig At Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross 2018
We often refer to Nick Craig as ‘the nicest man in cycling’. If you’re ever lucky enough to meet him, we’ve no doubt you’ll experience his kindly soft spoken voice, enthusiasm, encouragement, and love of all things bike. Nick is a veteran of the Three…
Flying the flag for British design – a visit to Ison Distribution – Part 1 – Gusset Components.
The skies are bigger and there seem to be people everywhere. It’s not somewhere that I would have expected to find one of the UK’s most progressive and innovative bike manufacturer and distributers.
Norco Reckons The 2019 Norco Fluid FS 1 Is The Best Bike Under £2000 They Could Be Right
Canadian brand Norco reckons it’s on to a winner with the 2019 Norco Fluid FS 1 and we might have to agree. For 2019 Norco continues to work closely with Evans Cycles to offer UK only bike builds that rival buy direct models for value…
First Ride – Focus SAM 2019, 170mm Of Enduro Travel With Trail Bike Handling
Our guy Rik Legge got the chance to ride the new Focus SAM at for a day at the recent launch event. Here are his first impressions. Focus has just launched the updated version of its SAM enduro bike. There are now two models in…
First Look: Pilot Cycles DURO Titanium Pinion Hardtail With 2 Pages Of Options To Pick From!
“Modern, fast agile and low maintenance wrapped in fluent lines.” is what Dutch frame makers, Pilot Cycles, says about its new DURO hardtail. We can’t comment on all of those points just yet as we’ve only just unboxed it, but “fluent lines” yes sir! This…
The 10 Most Attention Grabbing Bikes Of Cycle Show 2018 Plus A Few #teamrumours
We’ve collated our top favourite bikes of the 2018 Cycle Show from over the weekend, and come away with a list of 10 bikes that grabbed our attention for some reason or another. We’ve got race bikes, new bikes, retro bikes, custom bikes and weird…
“It looks like the worst 90’s mountain bike reimagined” – Rocker Mini DH Bike Launched
The mini BMX craze may have settled but could we be on the verge of an all-new mini bike craze? Nah, we don’t think so either, but Rocker BMX do and they’re hoping that the “Mini Rig” miniature downhill bike will be the Christmas must-have…
Not just #MakingUpTheNumbers – Gloopy Glory at the final round of the HSBC National Downhill Series
‘You just need to commit.’ I know Binnsy’s right but there are far better riders than I going face first into the mud. ‘Come on, give it a go at least’ I tell myself. I commit fully. I crash faster. The bike remains prone in…
Review: Crank Brothers reinvents the wheelset with Synthesis
Oh look, another expensive carbon fibre wheel review! But before you roll your eyes and click the ‘back’ button, allow me the opportunity to wow you a little. If I said that this is one of the most interesting wheelsets to launch in the past…
The Trillion Shug Becomes The Shand Shug And Shand Cycles First Hardcore Hardtail
Are you looking at the ‘new’ Shand Shug and thinking to yourself “Huh, I’m sure I’ve seen this before” well that’s because you probably have. You see that Shand Shug wasn’t always a Shand but a Trillion. Remember now? or more confused? Let’s try and…
New Ibis DV9: A carbon hardtail you can pay for with your summer job?
Ibis has just announced the launch of its new carbon hardtail, the DV9. Following the current trend for XC-but-slacker (which Ibis is calling Downcountry), this new bike will be offered in two build options to suit the racers and the trail riders. Ibis co-owner Hans…
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It started with Kevin the Pirate, starting a small cosmetics company in his kitchen. He is a real pirate, sails up the river and invades the next town of Wareham occasionally with his gang. So over a few ciders he asked “eeeear Charlie what do…
Intense Tazer Relaunched! But As A Full Suspension Enduro e-MTB
After months of being teased with Instagram posts by Mr. Steber, today Intense has officially released details of its brand spanking new, and first ever, Tazer e-bike. Currently only available in one build spec – Tazer Pro – and sporting 150mm of rear wheel travel…
4 Retro Dream Bikes Spotted This Weekend – Which Would You Own?
The 2018 Cycle Show wasn’t all just about seeing the 2019 range of Whyte full-suspension bikes, or super expensive carbon XC race bikes. No, there was also a good selection of retro machinery on show, but of the following 4 mountain bike classics which would you most…
Meet The £12,799 Mondraker F-Podium Carbon RR SL
Possibly one of the most head-turning bikes of the 2018 Cycle Show was this, the Mondraker F-Podium Carbon RR SL 2019, it also won our award for the least sexy name of the show, possibly of all time. It goes without saying that the F-Podium…
Review: Commencal Meta Trail V4.2 Race 650B: Fun and confidence inspiring
When the bike first arrived, aside from being blown away with just how damn good the bare aluminium with orange and black graphics looked, I was puzzled; Commencal Meta TR 4.2 Race. Race. What sort of race? XC race? Nah, can’t be – it’s got…