Carlos heads to Morocco to immerse himself in a side to this country that tourists rarely get to experience. Words & Photography Carlos Blanchard I hear the first small notes of a captivating tune. Guitars, drums, clapping hands… is it the blues? Sounds like the…
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Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Editorial
Pecking Orders Words Chipps I’ve always been interested in the interplay between riders out on a ride, or over a week of riding in the mountains. Mountain biking is a great leveller and it doesn’t matter what high-powered job you have, how famous you are…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Spineology
Pete Scullion takes on an alpine ridge ride with the most serious of consequences, and the greatest of rewards. Words & Photography: Pete Scullion Above two and a half thousand metres my body starts to wonder what I am doing to it. I was used…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Man Of Porage
Lee Craigie won the right to host Britain’s most bizarre mountain bike adventure race. Join her as she juggles the craziness involved in choosing this year’s Man and Woman of Porage. Words lee craigie Photography james robertson
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: The Isle Of Purbeck
This Dorset hotspot is not an island, but it does come with a ferry and the promise of adventure, as Tom Hutton discovers. Words & Photography Tom Hutton If it starts with a ferry ride it’s an adventure, right? OK, so the ferry ride’s only…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Cross Fell And High Cup Nick
Tom takes on this iconic North Pennine ride. Be warned though, it’s a rucksack and two-sandwiches kind of day out. Words TOM FENTON Photography ANDY HEADING Do you have a friend who carries a massive bag on every ride? A turgid behemoth that accompanies every…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Fjord Fiesta
Words Berne Broudy Photography Donald Shearer Pushbiking and peak bagging: Riding the mountains of Norway’s fjords I’ve been slogging uphill for an hour and a half, my mountain bike on my back, and the summit cairn isn’t getting closer. The trails in Norway’s Sunnmøre…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Talking Trickstuff
Team Singletrack caught up with German precision engineering company Trickstuff this summer, in its hidden factory deep in a German housing estate. Words Hannah and Wil Photography James Vincent We’re not the first to follow the ‘Trickstuff’ signs off the main thoroughfare into the residential…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 116: Column – Life Cycle Of A Riding Spot
Antony de Heveningham charts the rise and fall of that secret riding spot in the woods near you. The following is based on a true story, and is a tragedy, told in 11 chapters. Illustrations Amanda Discovery. A new location is scouted and ridden. Potential…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: 100 Years Later
Words Steffi Marth Photography Nathan Hughes Riding in the footsteps of the Austrian, Italian and Swiss mountain heroes of the First World War. 1915, The Stelvio Pass, Italy.
Singletrack Magazine issue 115: Trail Hinter – Dartmoor
TRAIL HUNTER EXPLORES those must-do RIDES that should be on every British mountain biker’s bucket list. Words Tom Fenton Photography Andy Heading Tom Fenton heads to south-west England and the plentiful, but hard-won, delights of Dartmoor and a strong contender for his ‘best riding anywhere’…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Augmentation
The shape of things to come Jason Miles predicts the future of bikes and riders after gorging on too many ginger biscuits and sci-fi films. Can mountain bikes get any better than they are right now? We all know that manufacturers have to keep making…
Singletrack Magazine Classic Ride 115: The Merrick
Words & Photography David ‘Sanny’ Gould Sanny heads to the deep south west of Scotland and steps back into its bloody past. As part of the ominously named ‘Range of the Awful Hand’ (almost as unappealing as Peak of the Fungal Athlete’s Foot), the Merrick…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Trail Knifes
Words & Photography Chipps For this issue’s look at the non-bike essentials that make us tick, Chipps considers a few non-bike tools that can be essential for improvisation in the hills, as well as for slicing cheese. While bike tools can cope with most foreseeable…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Finding Adventure In The Alps
Words & Photography Anthony Pease Turn your back on the uplifts of the Alpine honeypots and a whole world of adventure, hidden trails, mountain top restaurants (and endless hike-a-bike) awaits. There had been childlike excitement building up over the previous few weeks. Texts and messages…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Just Get Out There
Words & Photography Charlie the Bikemonger Charlie the Bikemonger urges you toward adventure. Even if it’s a sunburned, punctured, dehydrated, drunken, euphoric adventure in Arizona. Especially if it is. This spring, I got back from a few days bikepacking on the Arizona Trail. It’s an…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Whistler For Mortals
Words & Photography David ‘Sanny’ Gould What happens if you take a Lycra-wearing cross-country rider and throw him in at the deep end in the world’s most famous bike park? Do you create a gnarly dude who says ‘stoked’ a lot or do you end…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 115: Last Word
Mediocrity Words Ian Bailey Ian Bailey has a confession. He wants to tell you something that’s been weighing on his mind. I’m mediocre. There, I’ve said it, that’s a relief; finally, publicly, accepting my limitations is mildly therapeutic. I don’t have to share this nugget…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Grand Finale
Taking a holiday from being a mountain bike guide, Ian Bailey goes mountain biking in Italy and lets another guide take the strain. He also lets his sense of self-preservation have some time off too. Words Ian Bailey Photography Ian and friends Right this second…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Last word
Words Chipps Event organisers and the cycle of abuse, forgiveness and eventual love. As well as writing about bikes and the people behind them, I’ve been involved in organising mountain bike events for 20 years or so. Since helping organise the very first Mountain Mayhem…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Azores
Karen Eller and pals take a trip to the ‘so foreign, yet so close’ mid-Atlantic jungle wonderland – The Azores. Words Karen Eller Photography Maria Knoll
Singletrack Magazine issue 114: (Hand) Made In China
Chipps follows the path of an Asian-made bike from concept sketch to mountainside testing. Words and photography Chipps I’ve always wanted to follow the development of a product from first-sketch to final product, but it’s easier said than done. Many companies are rightly wary about…
Singletrack issue 114: Snowdon
Tom Fenton explores one of the ultimate must-do locations in British mountain biking. That highest, pointiest bit of Wales – Mount Snowdon. Words Tom Fenton Photography Andy Heading Apparently, an elephant never forgets. And goldfish have three-second memories. But did you know that tortoises have…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Northern Island
Ulster Says Yes! Ian from Rock and Ride Outdoors shows us round his home trails in Northern Ireland. Words Ian Bailey Photography Caolan Hawkins Loosely tracking a section of the Ulster Way, this classic ride skirts the foothills of the Mourne Mountains while linking sections…
Singletrack Magazine issue 114:The Black Fuel
Words & photography Rob Crayons Last issue, Chipps filled his crystal tumbler and took us through five of his top armchair whiskies. This time we look to Rob Crayons and his pick of coffees for fuelling our rides. Coffee isn’t just a hot beverage needed…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 114: Keith Bontrager
“Strong, light, cheap – pick two.” Mountain bike pioneer, product designer, agitator. Words Chipps Photography Chipps and Steve Behr Keith Bontrager has been a bike industry name since the earliest days of the sport. While not a great self-publicist, his thoughts on bike design have…
Singletrack Magazine issue 114: Shropshire
Barney heads off to Shropshire to try to answer a question which has been bugging him – why are there so many good riders from such a quiet county? Words & Photography Barney Marsh Quests are nebulous things. The definition is suitably vague – “the…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 113 : Dunkeld Exposé
We sent Pete Scullion to the small Scottish town of Dunkeld to see if it really is the best mountain bike town you’ve never heard of… Words & Photography Pete Scullion Quintessential Scottish spring conditions greet us as we hurtle down an unusually dry Atholl…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 113 : La Pura Vida
Living life to the full in Costa Rica. Words Holger Meyer Photography Sebastian Doerk There’s a hectic bustle going on at San José’s airport exit. A man tugs at my bag: “Taxi?” It’s pitch black. Something must be up with the time zone… It’s 3am,…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 113 : Borderlands
Olly Townsend sneaks up to nearly touch the Scottish border in this most northerly and unridden of English counties. Words & Photography Olly Townsend Apparently, there’s a widely held view in the customer service industry that employees with Geordie accents come across as friendly, helpful…
Singletrack Magazine issue 113 : Kit Bag
Bothy Bag Kit Bag is our chance to have a nosy inside the bags carried by riders from different branches of the mountain bike tree. Each bag has been refined over the years by its owner – adding bits when they’re needed, chucking stuff out…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 113 : The Winter Sun Chancers
Words and Photography Antony de Heveningham The post-Christmas period is a dark time for mountain biking in the UK. Fitness and motivation are low and the only thing on the menu is muddy slop, liberally garnished with wind and rain. To counteract the depression, Antony…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 113 : Staying Intense
Jeff Steber: Staying Intense The founder of Intense, Jeff Steber, talks to Chipps about keeping up with the times and thinking about the future. Without forgetting the past. Words and Photography Chipps Jeff Steber is the first to admit that he’s not the best guy…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 113 : Gettin’ Grizzly
Tom Fenton’s search for the must-do trails of the UK has resulted in some surprising soul-searching. And a great lap of Grizedale Forest in the Lake District. Words Tom Fenton Photography Andy Heading When Chipps asked if I wanted to write about the ‘must-ride’ trails…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 112 : Cannocking on heavens door
In this slightly unusual Classic Ride, Barney takes the Chase to Cannock… Words & Photography Barney Marsh Before we begin, a quick word in your shell-like, if I may – because this is a ‘classic ride’ with a difference. Cannock Chase is a relatively small…
Singletrack Issue 1 Editorial – I’m old enough to know better
I’m old enough to know better… I should know better than to get together with a couple of friends to try and start a mountain bike magazine, published entirely with our own, limited funds – in a ‘flat’ cycling market. Only a fool or a…
Singletrack Issue 1 – If it’s Tuesday this must be Moab
As we met for a breakfast of omelettes smothered in green chile sauce, Jo and Russell told us about how they’d been up early and seen the Uranium trucks rumbling through Moab at 5am (presumably while they thought no one was watching).
Singletrack Issue 1 Editorial 2
GoFar is pleased to announce the birth of its successor. Well this is a bit of a leap isn’t it? From website to real mag. There’s a sort of inverse logic to all this. Magazines exist, then usually they sprout a token website full of…
Singletrack Issue 1 – Michael Bonney (Orange Bikes) interview
Way back, in Issue 1 of Singletrack Magazine, we interviewed Michael Bonney. As friends, family, and the industry mourn his passing, look back fondly as he takes a guess, in 2001, at how mountain biking will develop. Intro From the depths of deepest West Yorkshire,…
Singletrack Issue 1 – Singleminded
Words by Steve Delacruz Picture by Seb Rogers First published April 2001 Singletrack. There isn’t a single word in a mountain biker’s vocabulary that evokes as many memories or passion as this one. Ask any mountain biker in any part of the world about their…
Singletrack Issue 1 – Fall Girl
by Myra VanInwegen Mountain biking is risky. Unless you try only the tamest trails and walk even the smallest dropoffs, you will crash. Of course, not all crashes result in major injuries. Most result in nothing worse that dirty clothes, small cuts, scrapes and bruises.…
Singletrack Issue 1 – Bike Test
For the first bike test in Singletrack we decided to do something just a little differently. We’ve not picked three similarly priced hardtails. Nor have we plumped for a range of full suspension bikes. Instead we have three bikes from the best of Britain’s bike…
Singletrack Issue 1 – Long Term Tests
Easton Monkey Lite bars Easton are best known for their aluminium wrangling, but they’ve branched out into carbon fibre rather well in the last couple of years. Carbon posts, carbon road forks (mmm, nice) and these here Monkey Lite carbon bars. I’ve had a pair…
Singletrack Issue 1 Exclusive Test – Maverick, the best climbing bike ever?
Words and pictures by Chipps Chippendale Getting the first review of a Maverick bike in the UK, and possibly Europe, took all the string pulling we could muster. But it was definitely worth the effort. Not only is it one of the most expensive, luxury…
Singletrack Issue 1 – Should I stay or should I grow?
There was a Howies advert once with a tag-line that read: “There are more people alive today than have ever died, being alone is going to get harder.” We’d all like to see our sport get more recognition wouldn’t we? We think it’s great seeing…
Singletrack Issue 1 – The Armchair feature
This is the part of the magazine where we invite you to make yourself a very large cup or coffee, (preferably Costa Rican or Guatemalan), sit back and take some time out to have a read. Too Much of a good thing A speeding ticket…
Singletrack Issue 1 – Dostoyevsky’s Bicycle
By Ben Boney M. Books about bicycling are hard to find. I don’t mean ride guides, maintenance manuals, or ‘how to ’handbooks. I mean good books, books that really capture the spirit of life’s greatest distraction, books with a bit of weight to them, some…
Singletrack Issue 1 – Boys on the Hoodz
“Big fat fingers wrapped up in woollen gloves struggled to maintain a grip on the elegant curve of the brake levers. It only took the slightest slither of winter frosty dirt to turn them into the smoothest, silkiest, non finger-friendly devices known to man. Centre…
Singletrack Issue 1 – Shoes
The subject of shoes seems to stir up some very passionate feelings in people. While you may have many sets of riding clothes, it’s unlikely that you have more than one, or two, pairs of shoes. And as you ride them, you inevitably wear some…