Innsbruck is once again the home to Crankworx this time around it will be the 2nd stop in the Crankworx World Series with events kicking off on the 13th June running through to the 17th. The bike festival will cater for all genres of mountain…
SDG Tellis Dropper Post First Look Review
We’re told it’s taken two years of development, and 120 test units out in the field, but SDG is now ready to release its first ever dropper seatpost. The SDG Tellis is a cable-operated dropper post that features a sealed hydraulic cartridge housed inside scratch-resistant…
National Park’s Warning Over Snowdon Access Agreement
Snowdon is one of Wales’s must-do mountains for walkers and mountain bikers alike. It’s legally accessible by bikes, with three bridleways leading to the summit, but it also receives a huge number of visitors on foot, to the point where riders and walkers mixing poses…
Review: Convert Your RockShox Reverb With The Wolf Tooth ReMote Sustain
We’ve already become fans of Wolf Tooth Components’ brilliant ReMote dropper post lever, though it’s now available in a kit to convert a RockShox Reverb dropper post too. To test how ‘easy’ it is to turn a hydraulically-activated dropper post into a cable-actuated one, we…
Four 2.6in mountain bike tyres tested & reviewed
If a 2.4in tyre is considered ‘normal’, and a 2.8in tyre is considered ‘plus’, then where does that leave the new breed of 2.6in tyres? An emerging trend amongst modern trail and enduro bikes, this Goldilocks tyre width claims to offer similar levels of traction…
Quit Your Job! Work with pushbikes instead!
This article was originally published in Issue 117 of Singletrack Magazine. Hannah interviews five people who’ve said ‘Right! That’s it! I’m leaving to go and work with pushbikes!’ Then they’ve carried through with the threat. And how. Words: Hannah, Photography: Various Whether it’s ‘just a job’,…
Behind The Scenes On The Specialized Stumpjumper Launch
Two months ago, I had the fortune of travelling to Ainsa in Spain for the launch of the all-new Specialized Stumpjumper range. Having been there the year prior for the Levo Kenveo launch, Specialized had chosen to return to Ainsa for the Stumpy launch due…
Review: Magura’s updated Vyron is the easiest dropper post in the world to install, and it’s better than the original too
Magura first announced the Vyron wireless dropper post in 2015 at Eurobike, and it’s been on the market for a couple of years now. We’d already tested the original, though it had some issues. Since then, Magura has updated the Vyron’s guts to improve reliability,…
The Boltby Bash Enduro 2018 brings dust-in-Yorkshire shocker!
Implausibly for some there was an era of mountain biking that existed before Enduro racing. Let’s call this time BE, Before Enduro. In these times gone by, not only did we ride rigid bikes (or maybe if we were lucky had an elastomer suspension fork),…
‘You could buy a car for that!’ It’s Fresh Goods Friday 397
This week, Amanda our designer has stepped in to write Fresh Goods Friday. Mostly because she has a story to tell… Two weeks ago I was on my way to Wales for a weekend of biking. I had my best and most reliable riding buddy…
Breaking News: Singletrack7 Event Cancelled – forestry operations destroy trails
We’ve just received the following notice from the organisers of the Singletrack7 event: It is with much regret and disappointment that we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel this year’s edition of the Singletrack7. On a recent site visit we found that…
Exclusive First Look: The New Cotic Solaris Max
Cotic’s new Solaris MAX launches today. And it’s in stock. And we’ve ridden one. It’s always an exciting day for British mountain bikers when Cotic releases a new model. And while its full suspension bikes are great, we reckon it’s an even better day when…
FINDRA’s lush, luxe, merino – now available for men too
There aren’t many brands where us women get to make the men envious. Usually us women find ourselves looking from the eight different pairs of men’s shorts, 12 jerseys in three colour choices each, all with matching socks, to the women’s option of one pair…
First Ride: 2019 Cannondale F-Si and new Lefty Ocho fork
It was obvious really that Cannondale would choose a World Cup venue and race weekend to launch its new flagship XC hardtail and super, dooper new and improved Lefty fork. But on account of not being a top international XC rider there was going to…
First Look: 2019 Cannondale F-Si – skinnier, more comfortable and faster than before
This week, whilst Britain was finally getting to enjoy some glorious spring weather, Cannondale launched the 2019 F-Si XC hardtail at the Albstadt World Cup in rather wetter and muddier conditions than at home. Given the pace of MTB geometry change over the last few…
First Look: The all new Cannondale Lefty Ocho suspension fork. It’s a Lefty, but not as you know it
The historians and fans amongst us will already know that the Lefty has been around for almost 20 years. For those of you who didn’t, you probably just feel a bit old now. Renowned for its stiffness, lightness and mind-bending one-sidedness, the Lefty has…
5 Full Suspension Bikes That Cost £1200 Or Less
Believe it or not, we are probably at a point in mountain biking when we can pick up a very capable bike for a relatively low-price. Yes, there are superbikes out there which cost upwards of £10,000, but even brands that used to demand such…
First Ride: The All-New Trail 429 From Pivot Cycles
Setting out to redesign your most popular full suspension bike must be an incredibly daunting task. Get it right, and you can potentially turn a great bike into an even greater bike. Get it wrong however, and you have a very real risk affecting a…
Smores and brews? The Solo Stove does both!
Truth be told, one of the best aspects of bikepacking or long days out on the bike in the hills is the point at which you decide to stop and break out the stove. Quite why this is the case, I’m not exactly sure. Perhaps…
2018 Fort William World Cup Track Course Preview
It’s less than a month to go before the World Cup circus arrives in Fort William and we’re as keen as you are to know if that dreaded forest section will remain for 2018. Luckily the Fort William track isn’t in a top secret location…
The Need For Tweed: The Scottish Valley With The Best Mountain Biking In the World?
“If you asked me where the best riding was, anywhere in the world, I’d have to say the Tweed Valley.” The man making this bold statement is Neil Dalgleish, a man who believed enough in the place to leave a career in marketing and design…
Mondraker Carbon Foxy 29er – The Most Obvious Bike Ever
Given that Mondraker has already launched a 27.5in carbon Foxy bike, the fact that it was going to launch a 29er version of the acclaimed Foxy took no great deducing. What is a surprise, though, is that – in honour of the fact that the…
Cube Stereo 150 Rolls On Bigger Wheels With Enduro Geo
Cube has gone and given its EWS team a new tool to compete on and it is now available for us mere mortals to buy and ride.
Fort William: All the stars, plus #MakingUpTheNumbers – HSBC British Cycling DH Series Rd 2
Rather strangely, the story of Round 2 of the National Downhill Series begins roughly one week earlier, some 300 miles from Fort William on an uplift in Llangollen, Wales. “I don’t think I’ve ever missed a race through injury” Binnsy says with a touch of…
Jennride 2018: the perfect Lake District weekend?
This weekend saw the 2018 edition of the ‘Jennride’, organised by Richard Munro, in memory of our late Deputy Editor, Jenn Hill. There were three routes available: a 50km ‘dipping a toe in bikepacking’, a 100 mile ‘two days with a pub stop or two’,…
Alutech Cycles: a drop bar enduro bike, and a bike designed by committee. Eh?
Dotted amongst the big brands’ bike livery at the Garda Bike Festival were several smaller German and Italian companies proudly showing their wares. And none caught my eye more than Alutech Cycles, probably because smack bang at the front of their stand was a drop-bar…
We’re Hiring! Could You Be Our New Technical Writer?
Singletrack is on the lookout for a new person to join our small, enthusiastic and hardworking team. We are looking for someone to work closely in our Todmorden office with Wil, our Technical Editor, writing news, shooting and appearing in video and photos as well…
A Threesome Of Bikes, Lots Of Pants, And A Couple Of Strap-Ons – Fresh Goods Friday 396
There is no introduction today because it’s *ping* too difficult *ping ping* to think straight when *ping* your Twitter feed has gone *ping* into overdrive because you *ping ping* innocently tweeted about a column that Bez wrote. *ping* It’s quite the experience. Being famous and…
From Big Miles To Tiny Wheels – It’s All On The Spectrum
If you’ve followed Greg’s riding, you’re probably used to seeing him gobbling up the off-road miles, probably wearing lycra, possibly sleeping in a ditch. So when we saw him hopping around on a trials bike, we weren’t sure whether this was just a side to…
2.6in Tyre Grouptest – Schwalbe Nobby Nic APEX Addix Speedgrip Tyre Review
The Nobby Nic is a well-loved tyre from Schwalbe, which has recently been bolstered with the new Addix rubber compound and a ‘plus-minus’ 2.6in width option. To put these new not-quite-regular-not-quite-plus tyres to the test along with three other pairs of 2.6in wide tyres, we…
Success! Expansion Plans Approved For Dales Bike Centre
Everyone’s favourite cake emporium and mountain bike centre, not to mention the literal hub of the Ard Rock Enduro, the Dales Mountain Bike Centre in Reeth, North Yorkshire, has just scored planning permission to extend its operations, with more places to stay and a lot…
2.6in Tyre Grouptest – Bontrager XR4 Team Issue Tyre Review
As Bontrager has developed wider rims for use on Trek’s hardtail and full suspension mountain bikes, its range of tyres has gotten wider too. Case in point, the versatile XR4 tread pattern is now available in plus-compatible 2.8in and 3.0in widths, as well as this…
10 Spring Saver Deals!
We’ve been waiting for the weather to improve and now the sun is here, and so are the super savings!
6 New Products You Never Knew You Needed: Garda Festival 2018 Roundup
Garda Bike Festival has reached the ripe old age of 25. Whilst it may not be as big as its European brother Eurobike and misses out to Core Bike in showcasing all the springtime product releases, it’s still pretty big as MTB expos go. Plus…
Garda Bike Festival: SRAM and RockShox 2019 Roundup
SRAM was out in full force at this year’s Garda Bike Festival with an amazing array of bouncy and stoppy-go-y-ness. For once SRAM wasn’t launching any new products or upgrades but the amount of new MY19 (model year 2019) kit on there showed just how…
2.6in Tyre Grouptest – Maxxis Minion DHF EXO 3C Tyre Review
The venerable Maxxis Minion DHF tyre has been shaped and moulded into a wealth of different sizes over the past decade, though more recently the blocky tread pattern has been adapted for the new-school 2.6in width. With more volume than ‘regular’ tyres, but purportedly fewer…
What One Old Lady Can Teach You About Cycling
Betty was our next-door neighbour. She was the archetypal elderly spinster: she was feisty, she was fiercely independent, and she used her home as a sort of hostel for local stray cats. One of Betty’s tools of independence was her venerable Raleigh Shopper. Despite having…
2.6in Tyre Grouptest – Specialized Hillbilly GRID Tyre Review
Designed as an intermediate mountain bike tyre suitable for winter slop and loose, technical trails, the Specialized Hillbilly tyre is distinguished by its sticky rubber and mud-cutting tread pattern. More recently, Specialized has added a bigger 2.6in option to the Hillbilly range, which follows the…
Garda Bike Festival Highlights: First Look – Felt Compulsion 1
Last weekend’s Garda Bike Festival saw the launch of the new Felt Compulsion full suspension enduro bike. You rather needed to pay attention though, Felt didn’t so much announce their new arrival, just put it up on their stand and left you to notice it…
Fresh Threads, Fresh Springs, And Fresh Water – It’s Fresh Goods Friday 395
∗Ēξū⊕ϖ ℘ÛℵЊ βγ Ηē¢κ ιτ˜ς ƒℜî∂αψ Never fear, normal service has been resumed. The walls have dried, the IT hamsters are lying with their legs in the air and the servers are floating in a cloud. The office has been moved around so that everyone has a new…
Routes and Manoeuvres: And why you really shouldn’t follow our route guide in issue 118
Why you must not ride our route guide published in issue 118 As mountain bikers looking for new places to ride it’s easy to fall in to the trap of following lines on maps and apps and assume that since it’s been published, or someone…
TweedLove festival and demo – uplift now available all weekend!
TweedLove organisers have just announced that they have partnered with Adrenalin Uplift to provide transport services up into Glentress and Innerleithen over the TweedLove Festival weekend. The uplift bus stop is part of the expo village, in the town centre of Peebles, and will be…
First Look: Abus MonTrailer Enduro helmet
This weekend’s Garda Bike Festival finally saw the long awaited release of the Abus MonTrailer helmet and I was the lucky one who got to go out to the Italy to wear it for myself and sample the sun, dry trails, pizza and ice cream.…
Review: Schwalbe Rocket Ron Addix Speed. Fast XC tyres that last.
Claiming to offer more grip, faster rolling and improved durability, Schwalbe’s new Addix rubber compound has been implemented throughout its entire mountain bike tyre range, replacing the previous PaceStar, TrailStar and VertStar compounds in the process. Our resident pedal-head, Rachel Sokal, has been putting the…
Lock and unload: Vista Outdoor announces plans to sell off Giro, Bell and Blackburn
US-based outdoor conglomerate Vista Outdoor has announced plans to sell off some of its biggest cycling brands, including helmet manufacturers Giro and Bell. We previously reported how the brands had attracted calls for a boycott, after it was publicised in the wake of the Marjorie…
New Airdrop Bitmap: UK designed hardcore hardtail
Airdrop Bikes, a small Sheffield based brand led by Ed Brazier, has until now had just the one bike in the range: the Airdrop Edit. It’s gone through a couple of iterations since birth, but the full suspension enduro model has been an only child…
After 8 months of foul-weather testing, here’s our review of the OneUp Components Aluminum Flat Pedals
Having tested no fewer than 17 flat pedals in last year’s epic group test, David Hayward has developed a keen eye (or is that foot?) for detail when it comes to assessing a flat pedal’s feel and performance. So when OneUp Components decided to enter…
TransPennine Express Fails Basic Cycle Proficiency
Last year the Department for Transport published its Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, bolding asserting: “We want to make cycling and walking the natural choices for shorter journeys, or as part of a longer journey “ It came with a slew of transport policies –…
From Mood Board To Muddy Bike – the birth of a dream bike
You may have seen ‘Andy’s Hardtail’ by Mercredi in Wil’s round up of mountain bikes from Bespoked this year. You may also have dribbled a little bit when you saw it. And that’s OK, because, as Andy explains below, he wanted it to be a…
This Australian made hardtail uses 3D printing to make its exquisite steel frame
Part of the international contingent who turned up to the UK Handmade Bicycle Show on the weekend, Mark Hester from Prova Cycles made a very long trip over from Melbourne, Australia, in order to be a part of the 8th edition of Bespoked. Hester brought…
Want to carry a chainsaw, Jagermeister and a BBQ on your ride? Portus Cycles’ steel utility bike is for you!
Looking for a way to raise the bar on the #coffeeoutside movement? Searching for the ultimate utility vehicle for your trail building ambitions? Well, we might have found the perfect bike for you. Except to call it a bike would probably be doing it a…