Specialized overhauled the Epic lineup around this time last year, dropping the horst link FSR pivot and a whole load of weight in the process. A new, refined Brain shock and damper joined the party, as did refreshed geometry and a shorter 44mm fork offset…
Lapierre Launches All New 2019 Zesty, Spicy (and a not-an-e-bike)
The flagship Lapierre models of the Zesty and Spicy have been completely redesigned for 2019, making these some of the few actual new mountain bikes at Eurobike that don’t feature a motor. While they retain their names and intentions, they are very different bikes from…
Bionicon is back and so is its cool geometry adjustment button
We don’t know what it is, but this year’s Eurobike seems to be full of bikes that have geometry adjustment, so it’s good to see that one of the original shapeshifters is back to true form. Way back in the day (hands up if you…
Is This The Goldilocks Casing? Maxxis Launches EXO+
Maxxis has announced a brand new casing option, which we think is going to get a lot of you quite excited. It’s called EXO+ and it’s designed to close the gap between Maxxis’ existing EXO and Double Down models. Maxxis has already had the EXO…
Schwalbe’s new Eddy Current is more aggro than a Magic Mary
Schwalbe has a new tyre on show at Eurobike, and it’s called the Eddy Current (we’re not sure how Melbourne band, Eddy Current Suppression Ring feels about the name of Schwalbe’s new tyre). Technically, there’s actually two new tyres though, since the Eddy Current features…
A solution to pedal rash, or just more Eurotrash?
It’s my first ever Eurobike and although I was told there would be some weirdness on display I hadn’t realised it was going to be so hard to identify the good ideas from the bad. I’m on the fence with this one… OK, so they’re…
Swedish Huldr A1 Converts From Gearbox DH Bike To 920w e-Beast
We can’t believe that it was only yesterday that we discovered the Kinetic Works Quintessenz, a bike that can easily have it’s BB linkage plates swapped so that either a Pinion gearbox or e-Bike motor can be fitted, now today we find another bike with…
Behold! Limited Edition Gold Leaf Pedroni Lupo Carbon Gara
Pedroni is an Italian bike brand that still manufactures all of its carbon and alloy frames in Italy. Being located right in the heart of Italy’s ‘motor city’, you know where Ferraris and Lamborghini’s are made, the company prides itself on making high-quality products with…
Ghost Bikes: All Coiled For Action
Ghost is a brand we haven’t seen too much of in recent years – although we’re sure you’re all going to come out the woodwork in the comment section and tell us we’re wrong and you own three etc. Anyhow, it was with interest that…
The Hope PrePeaks. The non-competitive, grand day out in the Yorkshire Dales
In association with Hope Technology Hope Technology’s PrePeaks is a non-competitive event that offers a challenging loop of the Yorkshire Dales this August. To find out more, we sent Chipps and Barney for a look at some of the terrain with local lad (and current…
13 Speed Chainless Drivetrain – When engineers think differently
We’ve surely all thought that there must be a better way to operate gears than having a dingley dangly rear derailleur hanging off the back of our bikes and waiting for a sniper rock to catch it? Indeed, we think we’ve detected a rise in…
Spotted: Clothing brand Rocday bring fashion to the trails
Earthy tones, modern designs and high-end fabrics spotted at Eurobike 2018 from Polish clothing brand Rocday. Hiding outside in a very modest stand, I was drawn in by the jersey on display and on closer inspection found it to be one of the (if not…
This Sterling Silver Orange Five XTR Is Stunning!
Orange’s stand at Eurobike is full of new colour options for the coming year, but there was 1 bike in particular that grabbed our attention. Can you really say ‘No’ when someone asks if you want to take photos of an Orange 5 dripping with…
Spotted at Eurobike! Fox Live Valve electronic suspension!
These days at Eurobike, journos often get a head start on what’s going to be new at the exhibition. We start getting emails months beforehand, with a head’s up of what’s coming and what deserves our immediate attention as soon as those hall doors open…
Alutech Bikes Fanes 170mm Travel, NFC Equipped, Enduro Bike Plus More
If you’re a fan of direct sales brands there’s already a good chance that you’ve heard of Alutech, they’ve been gaining popularity over the years due to the rise in buy direct brands and thanks to their commitment to trying out new technologies and ideas…
First Ride: Renthal replaces the Fatbar Carbon with… the Fatbar Carbon 2
Iconic UK moto and mountain bike brand, Renthal, has got a brand new Fatbar Carbon. And it’s called…err…the Fatbar Carbon V2. Joining the recently released alloy Fatbar 2, the carbon version also grows wider from the previous version’s 780mm wingspan, up to a more fashionable…
Surly’s Lowside doesn’t have suspension, carbon fibre or 13 gears, but that’s why we love it
Who the heck needs 13-speed when you’ve got a fully rigid singlespeed klunker with 26×3.0in tyres? That’s how we feel about Surly’s Lowside – a bike that is basically the antithesis of almost everything else on show at Eurobike. For a start, this bike doesn’t…
Exclusive First Look: Ritchey Brings Back The Ultra!
Some 30 years after the original, Ritchey is bringing back the Ultra! Though this one is a little different from the last one… Although Ritchey is technically releasing this bike at Interbike in September, the iconic American mountain bike brand decided to bring along one…
This Plastic 3D Printed Frame Costs Just 7,999 Euros!
3D printed frames are nothing new we’ve seen them work and we’ve seen them fail, and generally its the plastic flavored 3D printed frames that have a less than stellar track record. So when we saw this hardtail frame hanging in the corner of the…
Spotted: From Walmart To The Skate Park
What the? Wandering around Eurobike, there was no way this wasn’t going to catch your eye. I mean, look at it. Is it amazing, or incredibly ugly? And then, what is that? It’s er…carbon…with things that might be components attached. Cue a round of eyeball…
3 Brands Taking On The Flat Pedal Market: Northwave, Ion and Vaude
Despite the rise in popularity of clip-in pedals, especially of the platform variety, we’ve got a new entrant into the flat pedal market this Eurobike, plus a bunch of new offerings – will they translate to flat pedal heaven, or just another pair of shoes…
The Kinetic Works Quintessenz Could Be The Last Frame You Ever Buy
What was the reason for getting rid of your last frame? Was it too short or too steep? Did it have the wrong wheel size? Did you want to switch to a gearbox? or god forbid! An e-Bike? If you answered “yes” to any of…
Brose: e-Bike Motors Get Smaller And Quieter
Brose, one of the lesser known brand names in the e-Bike motor market, has today launched its next generation of e-Bike motors. The brand doesn’t plaster its name all over its product, but if you’re in the market for an e-Bike it’s well worth looking…
First Ride Impressions Of GT’s New Force and Sensor
Chipps reports back after a couple of days of riding on GT’s newly launched trail bikes. Over the course of a couple of days I had a chance to ride both the GT Force and the GT Sensor. Both bikes were the top of the…
Trickstuff Maxima Brakes Spotted At Eurobike
Back in issue 115 of Singletrack Magazine we tested the Trickstuff Direttissima, and we were simply blown away by the amount of power the German brakes had on tap, but that wasn’t enough to keep the Trickstuff team from working on something even more powerful.…
Hayes has a new brake called the Dominion A4, and it looks superb
It’s been a little over 20 years since Hayes entered the disc brake market with the original HFX-Mag. Though there were other brands offering disc brakes at the time, it was Hayes that popularised the modern hydraulic disc brake, changing rim, fork and frame design…
Five Ten Goes Retrotastic
Looks like our Amanda might have been right with her predictions, as sticky shoe makers Five Ten has brought out some retrotastic casual shoes which bring together ’90s retro with modern technology. Harking back to the days before Five Ten made bike specific shoes, the…
More Kicks For Kids – 3 Kona Bikes For Your Offspring
We’d already seen the bikes for big kids at Sea Otter: a carbon Process 153, a Big Honzo 27.5+ hardtail, and a nice Honzo ST in a special 30th birthday limited edition. Like many other 30 year olds however, Kona has started to turn its…
Take that SRAM & Shimano – Rotor goes 1×13 with HUGE 10-52t cassette!
Rotor Components has shown off a brand new 1×13 drivetrain, which includes an enormous 10-52t cassette! SRAM already has its 12-speed Eagle groupsets with XX1, X01, GX and NX, which are built around a 10-50t cassette. Just last month, Shimano just came to market with…
Eurobike 2018 LIVE Archive: Watch all our broadcasts from the world’s largest bike show
Hannah, Amanda, Wil and Andi comprise this year’s Eurobike team out in Germany. They are writing, shooting, tweeting, ‘gramming all week. Check this page for all the latest live broadcasts the team are sending out from our Facebook page. Like and follow our page to…
Computer says yes? Lezyne has a huge new Mega GPS that boasts offline navigation and longer battery life
Lezyne has introduced two new GPS units today, both of which belong to the ‘Mega’ family and come dripping with ‘mega’ features. The two GPS units are named the Mega XL and Mega C, and as the name suggests, both are a little larger than…
What’s going to be hot this year? Here’s our 10 predictions for Eurobike 2018!
Ah, Eurobike. It’s the humongous bike show where tons of brands, media, buyers and even the public come together to check out all that is new in the bike world. It’s not just mountain bikes – there’s every sort of two wheeled pedal powered (and…
Testing Formula’s new Selva R fork and those funky Neopos volume spacers
Two years ago, Formula introduced its first Boost compatible suspension fork called the Selva. We’ve tested and reviewed one already, and it’s an absolutely brilliant fork with a tonne of adjustability. Formula is keeping that Selva in the lineup, but it’ll now be called the…
Throwback: 14 Highlights From The 2017 Eurobike Show
In less than 24 hours, the world’s biggest bicycle industry show, Eurobike, will be kicking off in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Notching up 26 years in 2018, Eurobike is known as THE show for all things cycling. Whether you’re a bike brand, an accessory company, or a…
Love Mud Distortion pedals – a mid-price pedal that’s not too budget, not too bling
Our resident bargain hunter, Antony, has been testing out a set of flat pedals from UK-brand Love Mud. The Distortion pedals are great value on paper, but are they any good? Over to Antony for the review! There’s a dilemma with pedals. They’re a part…
Fresh Goods Friday 403: Apparently this is the underwear and gardening tools issue
Between the heat, the many (many) products, and the excitement about football Eurobike, we can barely think. SOme of you are probably past thinking anyway, since the Scottish school holidays have begun. The rest of us are frantically searching for improbable costumes for end of…
How Far Can You Go? A myth busting e-MTB adventure
In association with Canyon Bikes UK This is not how I imagined it. I’m pedalling hard, e-assist off, into a rain-bearing headwind, downhill. Not pedalling downhill in a full-enduro race-face way, but in a the-wind-is-blowing-me-up-the-hill kind of way. And my face is more of a…
Twice As Much Bike, Twice As Much Good, Same Amount Of Money
World Bicycle Relief provides bicycles for people – usually young girls – in developing nations, and those bikes are rugged, high quality machines designed to stand up to rural commutes. Hannah previously did a bike check on one of the Buffalo bikes they give. The bikes…
The New Bronson Is So Good It Might Kill Its Sibling, the 5010
After a too-short afternoon on both bikes, Chipps gives us his Santa Cruz 2019 5010 and Bronson first impressions… A week or so ago, I got a brief chance to ride the new 5010 and the Bronson on a visit to Santa Cruz UK. There…
GT Bikes’ brand new Force and Sensor, and the return of LTS – but not as you know it!
Chipps reports from Norway as GT launches some new suspension bikes that it is very proud of. The new GT Force and Sensor bikes aren’t just last year’s bikes with a bit of a tweak, they’re a complete ground-up redesign with a new suspension system…
First Ride – WTB introduces new Vigilante, Trail Boss & Judge tyres
WTB has got some brand new tyres and rims to show off, so we sent our resident rubber nerd, James Vincent, down to Bikepark Wales to see what he thought of the new treads and casings. He only managed to destroy one tyre and a…
Bamboo, Sweat & Tears: Attempting To Build The Bamboo Bastard
Back in February for issue 117 of Singletrack Magazine, we decided to see if a self-confessed perfectionist who’s terrible at woodwork make a bamboo bike from scratch at home? Well, the answer is ‘sort of…’ Read on for the full story and watch out for…
First Ride Review: The 2019 Marin Alpine Trail is a big travel 29er that is tough & simple, but it’s also really good
Brand new from Marin Bikes for 2019 is this long travel 29er called the Alpine Trail. Replacing the outgoing Attack Trail 27.5, the Alpine Trail is an all-mountain bruiser equipped with a 160mm travel fork, 150mm of rear suspension travel, and big 29er wheels wrapped…
Review: Motion Ride E18 Anti-Dive Linkage Fork First Ride
Motion Ride is a new French suspension fork company that has taken a fresh piece of paper to design a fork from the front hub up. The main design brief? Create a fork that doesn’t dive. After determining out that it could indeed build a…
We Bet You Didn’t Know There Was This Much To Know About Fabric: An interview with 7mesh
Enduro baggies, XC lycra, gravel shorts, merino baselayers, merino boxers, waterproof jackets, windproof gilets…the list of possible ride kit is pretty endless. How much of it do you need? How much is just nice to have? And is ‘nice to have’ actually a need when…
Could Shimano’s E7000 STEPS mean e-Bike prices to rival standard bikes?
Shimano’s STEPS range grows to 3 models with today’s announcement of the STEPS E7000; an ‘affordable’ drive system for the e-Bike and e-MTB markets. The new E7000 drive system sits slap bang in the middle between the E6000, a system designed for trekking and commuting,…
First Ride Review: Quiet hubs and smooth shifting – Shimano is BACK with new XTR!
Just over a month ago, Shimano unveiled the most anticipated product launch of 2018: the brand new 12-speed M9100 XTR groupset. Took ’em long enough eh? We brought you all the juicy details in our news story here, and then we gave you a virtual…
Wanna win a £2700 Pivot 429 Trail Frame? Enter the 2018 Pivot TwentyFour12 right here!
Looking for that ideal MTB party weekend for you, your family and friends? Then look no further than Twentyfour12! The event is a 4 day festival of fun, centred round a little bit of mountain bike racing. There’s something for everyone; young and old, slow…
DT Swiss has a new fork! Introducing the 130-160mm travel F 535 ONE
DT Swiss has finally unveiled its new trail fork, and it’s called the F 535 ONE. Featuring 35mm diameter stanchions and up to 160mm of travel, the F 535 ONE is the biggest and burliest fork to come from DT Swiss. The F 535 ONE…
British Edition Commencal Meta TR 29 Released Along With 2 More 29ers
Commencal has finally released official details and specifications for 3 versions of the Commencal Meta TR 29 including the much drooled over British Edition which we had a first look at during Fort William. The ‘TR’ in the name stand for Trail and in this…
Fears for classic Lake District trails as diggers move onto Helvellyn
The work of Lake District conservation group Fix the Fells has been in the spotlight recently, after controversial repair work was carried out to the classic trail of Boredale Hause. Now fears are being raised that some of the best descents on Helvellyn, the mountain…