Rich Rothwell is a successful and experienced British endurance racer, but the 500-mile Colorado Trail Race nearly broke him. Fortunately, it merely changed him for life. Words & Photography Rich Rothwell The head of the Fooses Creek Trail hung a tantalising 50 metres above my…
Singletrack Issue 124 : Metal Machine Music
Barney visits this machinists’ paradise in Preston to find out what makes Bounce Cycles, er, bounce. Words & Photography Barney Marsh Preston, a city nestled atop the north bank of the River Ribble, has many things going for it. It’s a city, for a start,…
Singletrack Issue 124 : The Real World Of Vanlife
Anna Cipullo lifts the lid on the realities of spending a dream holiday in a camper van across Canada with an adventure buddy… and a whole load of damp clothing. Words & Photography Anna Cipullo Stunt Driver Tom Johnstone As I scroll through the endless…
Singletrack Issue 124 | Fresh Fruit & New Hazzards
Pete Scullion’s regular series of rides with pro riders continues with one of the enduro circuit’s most enigmatic characters: Joe Barnes. Words & Photography Pete Scullion Overnight snow has turned Fort William into a winter wonderland as we shovel breakfast down our necks in Joe’s…
Singletrack Magazine issue 124 : Last Word
hannah blind. Will following half-heard directions in the woods lead to peril? Or pleasure? I’m following directions that are little more than a rumour: ‘Through the horse gate, turn right at the fallen tree, push up past the puddle, to the top, where two trails…
Review | Propain Hugene Highend 29er – Makes Pedalling Fun
Propain is a direct to consumer bike brand based in Germany. A lot of you will know the Propain name from the World Cup DH circuit, where the likes of Phil Atwill and David Trummer have piloted the Rage downhill bikes at the highest level…
GPS Scrambler Devices Cause Strava Tracking Chaos
It has been revealed that ‘Strava Scramblers’ are being deployed by local authorities in an attempt to reduce conflict around popular ride spots. On both road and trail segments, it is understood that by interrupting the GPS signal, phones and cycle computers are unable to…
Review | Forget 12-speed with e*thirteen’s 9-46t TRS Race 11-speed cassette
It feels like 1×11 drivetrains have been around forever (go on, take a guess. No Googling mind. Answer* at the bottom of the review). I don’t think it would be too much of an exaggeration to say that they’ve revolutionised mountain biking. Riders have less…
Mental Health | What if I want to die every day of my life?
I’ve asked Singletrack to withhold my real name and publish this piece under a pseudonym. Why you might ask? Whether you suffer from poor mental health or not, starting up a conversation about it can be pretty tough – it can feel embarrassing, shameful and…
More multi-tools than bikes! Plus a trail toad | Fresh Goods Friday 441
There are various things that can slow you down on natural trials. A dog you need to pet, walkers, rearranged rocks, a fallen tree… Well here in Calderdale we have some new trail critters to watch out for. Almost overnight, it appears that all of…
Burgtec releases The Bartender Pro Greg Minnaar signature grip
Greg Minnaar’s reputation for being a ‘fussy’ rider hasn’t stopped the Burgtec crew designing and releasing his signature Bartender Pro grip. Grips, one of the most affordable parts on your bike, but one often overlooked yet if wrong can completely screw up your ride. In…
Cycling UK wants you to nominate your top 100 Women in Cycling
Cycling UK have announced details of its 2019 Women’s Festival of Cycling. Now in its third year, the Festival will take place throughout the UK in July with cycling groups and clubs to individuals to register a women-only ride to inspire women to cycle. Earlier…
Newsdesk 5: YT Decoy, RockShox 35, Gee Atherton, SICK and more!
Andi returns to Newsdesk this week with new product news from YT, RockShox, Orange, Motion Ride, Intend and more news from Atherton Bikes and Cedric Gracia! As always you can watch Newsdesk in the following video, or if you prefer reading scroll a little further…
First Look | New SRAM G2 Brakes – New Pads, Lower Price, Same Feel
Today, SRAM launches its G2 range of brakes, which replaces the former Guide brakes. They’re still a four piston brake, and our brief rides out on them suggest they’re still very good at stopping. So what’s changed, apart from the name? The big news for…
The New 2020 Orange Five: Many small changes make a big difference.
The 2020 Orange Five is incredibly the ‘Mark 12’ version of this iconic, British-made full suspension bike from Orange Bikes. It’s no small thing that the Orange Five is doubtless the best-selling British-made bike ever, tracing its roots back 20 years, so every update, however…
Review | Vibration-Killing Pro Series RevGrips
£99 for a pair of mountain bike grips? You read that correctly. But as David Hayward found out, the RevGrips ain’t no ordinary lock-on grips Vibration is a well known cause of nerve injuries. I’ve personally suffered from the effects of a bad handlebar combined…
Cotic has a new full suspension bike! Say hello to the Longshot Flare
Brand new from Cotic Bikes is the completely redesigned Flare The Flare is Cotic’s 27.5in full suspension trail bike, and is now the fourth and final full suspension model from the Peak District-based company to receive the Longshot treatment. First debuted on the Rocket enduro…
Video | The Unsung Heroes of Brendog & Olly Wilkins
Yes, it’s an advert. But it’s an advert with Brendog and Olly Wilkins in it, so that’s a plus. And they do crank flips, and a ridiculous gap jump, so they get an extra point for that. And, it’s an advert for DMR AXE LE…
The 2019 Cape Epic onslaught is over. Maybe.
The Cape Epic is known as one of the toughest MTB races in the world. Although not the techiest of riding, the heat and unforgiving terrain make the eight day stage, 16,650m climbing and 630km race a pretty monumental challenge. It’s also the only MTB…
Crankbrothers Synthesis Tuned XC Wheels Launched With Industry Nine Hydra Hubs
Crankbrothers launched its tuned carbon wheels for the hard hitting end of the market back in October last year. ‘Reinventing the wheel’ headlines abound, with the news that the rims were ‘tuned’. Front and rear specific tuning – what did this mean? The idea came…
Race Face announces Next SL Crankset with Shimano 1×12 compatibility
Race Face has just furnished us with the details of it’s latest (greatest?) carbon fibre chainset aimed at XC and trail riders, the all-new Race Face Next SL Crankset. Shopping for a new, lightweight, carbon fibre chainset just became a little more tricky today with…
Review | Nukeproof ARD Tubeless Inserts
Tubeless tyre inserts claim to offer additional protection for your mountain bike rim, so you can run lower tyre pressures for improved traction. Nukeproof’s Advanced Rim Defence (ARD) system is one of the newer inserts on the market, so we got our local rim-dinger, David…
Review | Shimano goes for mega bearing durability with the tough-as Saint M828 flat pedals
For over a quarter of a century, Shimano has held an unwavering reputation for producing some of the most functional and durable clip-in mountain bike pedals on the market. Curiously, the dominating popularity of its SPD system hasn’t exactly translated through to its flat pedal…
Gallery | NAHBS Brings Out The Freaks And The Geeks
It’s been the North American Handmade Bike Show this week. Sadly we’re not able to fly out there and fondle the bikes, so we’re left to rely on the official press release and images to satisfy our freak needs. What we get is a huge…
Skinny Dipping #003: British mud, South African dust and Brazilian firsts
From the mud of northern and middle England to the dust of South Africa and Brazil, we’ve got it here in this month’s round-up of XC and endurance news. Rain in Manchester shocker! We start up in the glorious setting of Whitefield, Manchester and hand…
FGF 440 – The Magazine Is At The Printers, We’re Hungover Edition. With Added SRAM AXS!
Yep, the magazine is safely off to our printers, Warners in Bourne, Lincolnshire. And, so it seemed only logical that a couple of evening beers were consumed. Perhaps that after-midnight pint of Jaipur was one too many though. So, today, assembling Fresh Goods, we’re steering…
Matt Stuttard and Sophie Tyas Join The Hunt Wheels Racing Squad
Hunt Wheels announces sponsorship of Matt Stuttard and Sophie Tyas for 2019 read the full press release and details below. “Race season. As riders it gets us excited; signalling the end of winter it brings with it fresh motivation to ride. Anticipation to witness edge…
Interview | Monē Bikes Reveals US Made Fillet Brazed Steel Full Suspension Bike
Some people think social media is a waste of time, that it’s a vortex into which your soul and time will rapidly disappear. It depends what you’re looking at – if it’s cats, the naysayers are probably right. But if it’s bikes you’re looking at,…
Singletrack Newsdesk 4: New Bikes And Old Legends
Hannah runs through this week’s bike related highlights. As always you can watch the Singletrack Newsdesk video or you can skip it and read the highlights below. Orange Alpine 6 Launched More different than you might think to look at it, this long travel 27.5…
Review | The Calibre Sentry is a wallet-friendly enduro bike
For a brand that didn’t even exist five years ago, Calibre Bikes has shot to stardom pretty darn quickly. In its short history, the company has been breaking new ground in the mountain bike market with its mix of low-cost high-performance bikes, with the popular…
The new Calibre Sentry is the longest, lowest and slackest 29er we’ve seen for £2K
Calibre Bikes launches the all-new Calibre Sentry a 29er full-suspension bike with impressive geometry and components from just £2,000. Calibre Bikes, the same crew that brought us the popular Bossnut full-suspension bike, has just announced an all-new model for 2019, and it has all the…
British Cycling Wants YOU To Shape The Sport’s Future
British Cycling got in touch specifically to ask us to run this press release, because it thinks you, Singletrack readers, can help it improve the breadth of representation on their MTB commissions. TLDR? Need a summary? They’re looking for people to represent different cycling disciplines…
The New Orange Alpine 6 Is Exactly The Same. Until You Look Closer And Realise That Everything’s Changed.
Orange Alpine 6 2020 Look once and you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s just another Alpine 6, Orange’s flagship 27.5in wheeled enduro and hard-hitting trail bike, but you’d be mistaken. Every tube on the 2020 bike has been changed from the 2019 with…
Review | The Ergon SM Pro Men’s Saddle Wins A Singletrack Recommended Award
Rarely do mountain bike saddles attract the attention they truly deserve. Then again, perhaps nobody really wants to talk about saddle sores, ingrown hairs and numb genitals. I’m no advertising guru, but I suspect that sort of thing is impossible to market in a way…
Merida Factory Team racing modified One-Twenty trail bike at Absa Cape Epic
Known as one of the hardest mountain bike stage races in the world, the 2019 Absa Cape Epic is currently being raced right now in South Africa. The Cape Epic attracts a combination of the world’s fastest XCO and XCM racers, who team up into…
Trek’s new WaveCel helmet technology finally unveiled – and it’s not what you think
Trek sent ripples throughout the internet earlier this month, after launching a vague online advertisement that included this rather cryptic message; “Cycling’s most important change in 30 years. On 20 March, we’re unveiling something that will change cycling forever.” That bold message was accompanied by…
Mountain Mayhem 2019 Sponsors Announced
Mountain Mayhem, the longest running 24hr mountain bike endurance event in the world, has today announced their sponsors for 2019, to be held at the magnificent Marston Lodge in rural Northamptonshire on 21st, 22nd and 23rd June. The sponsors are: Cycle Surgery – Official Retail…
Santa Cruz Megatower first ride review – The big wheel Nomad we’ve been waiting for.
We ride the first Megatower in the country!
All Hail The Megatower – Santa Cruz’ Brand New Long Travel 29er Enduro Bike!
Well a long-travel 29er is THE bike that everyone has been expecting from Santa Cruz Bicycles. But did anyone expect it to be called the ‘Megatower’? Too bad if you didn’t (and bonus points if you did!) because that’s the name of Santa Cruz’ brand…
Stan’s NoTubes Unveils Strongest Rim Yet – The Flow EX3
Sick of trashing rims? Then you’ll be eager to learn more about the brand new Flow EX3 from Stan’s NoTubes – a super tough alloy rim designed for enduro, downhill and e-MTB use. As the newest mountain bike rim to come from Stan’s NoTubes, the…
Video | Veronique Sandler ‘Vision’ Freeride Documentary Coming This Summer
All you can see for now is a sneak peek of a teeny tiny trailer, but we’re told there’s a documentary called ‘Vision’ coming this summer, and we’re pretty damned excited to see it. Promising to be an action focussed documentary about bringing her dream…
First Ride Review: 2019 Sonder Transmitter First Impressions
Sonder’s popular Transmitter alloy hardtail returns for 2019 with a fresh lick of paint and updated geometry, but how does it ride? We sent Andi to the woods to find out. Just over a week ago we reported that Sonder had refreshed the popular Sonder…
Pipedream Cycle’s 2nd generation Moxie hardtail gets new geometry, still bonkers
Pipedream Cycles debuted its prototype long-travel steel hardtail back at the 2017 Eurobike show – in a retina-burning hot pink no less. Designed to accommodate a 140-160mm travel fork, and your choice of either 29in or 27.5+ wheels, the Moxie was pitched as the ultimate…
Building Our Test Bike | Stanton Switch9er FS – Full Suspension British Steel
Any new bike day is pretty exciting, even if it is a test bike that you’re going to have to bid adieu to in due course. This one, however, is a little more exciting than some – it’s not every day you get to have…
FGF 439 | Where Have All The Good Words Gone? At Least We Have The Goods. It’s Fresh Goods Friday 439!
Where is Barney when you need him? We need words of wonder and wibble to kick this thing off here, and if you’re looking in ST Towers for them, you’re looking in the wrong place. We have used all the words. We’re left with the…
Goggle Grouptest | We ran 5 pairs of goggles through the winter, and this is the result
Riding in the winter can be pretty shit. So with the hope of trying to make it less so, we’ve put five pairs of goggles to the test through an English winter. Goggles may be more associated with racing, but for a change from specs,…
Atherton Bikes Unveils 2nd model, a Titanium BMX with 22in wheels and disc brake!
Atherton Bikes, or more correctly, Dan Atherton has just unveiled the second Atherton Bikes prototype, a titanium BMX with disc brakes. We didn’t see this coming, but perhaps we should have. After stepping away from racing, Dan Atherton has spent a lot of time building…
Singletrack Newsdesk 3: West Yorkshire’s New Bike Park and more
This week Andi reports on a brand new bike parking opening in West Yorkshire, fills us in on the £2500 Trust Message fork and explains how subscribing to Singletrack Magazine will save the planet. As always you can watch the Singletrack Newsdesk video or you…
#MakingUpTheNumbers | Ae-bandoned – SDA Round 1
‘What’s your favourite season?’ MrsMakingUpTheNumbers asks.Every fibre of my being wants to respond with ‘race season’ but as I open my mouth, I think better of it. ‘Spring’. Tension has been building over the past few weeks. We’ve not talked about it but we both…
Trust Performance Message linkage fork goes on sale in the UK for £2500
The Trust Performance Message linkage fork is now officially available in the UK, but you’ll only be able to buy one at physical bike stores and it isn’t particularly affordable. Like them or not, linkage suspension forks are making a bit of a comeback and…
Review | The Scott Prospect Goggles are about as ‘shouty’ as they come
What are the best goggles for mountain biking? We brought together five pairs from 100%, Dragon Alliance, Julbo POC, Scott, and put them in the hands of our goggle aficionado and all-round jumpy rider, Rob Mitchell, to see which ones we’d recommend for UK mountain…