Sanny sets off to prove that bikepacking need not involve long periods of misery and discomfort. When it comes to tales of adventure and derring-do, there is a strong correlation between achievement and suffering. Whether it is Andy Kirkpatrick and his wife sitting out a…
premium
Issue 142 Column: Mirror Mirror
Anders struggles to match aspiration to reality. Words & Illustrations Anders Engberg This is not fun. The thought has dug in, made itself comfortable and is not going anywhere. My local trail is treating me with a warm, dappled light that finds its way through…
142 Bike Test – The Big Short
Benji ponders the meaning of ‘short’ as he rags these three not-long travel bikes round his local trails. What is short travel? Too short? Short enough? Shorter than what? What is the average travel of A Mountain Bike in 2022 anyway? It’s hard to say.…
Review: Cotic FlareMAX Gen4
The Cotic FlareMAX Gen4 is reviewed in Issue 142 Bike Test – The Big Short. Gen4 means fourth generation. This is the fourth iteration of Cotic’s shorter travel (125mm) full suspension bike. As with most Cotic bikes, although there are preset complete builds available, a…
Review: Giant Trance Advanced Pro 29 1
The Giant Trance Advanced Pro 29 1 is reviewed in Issue 142 Bike Test – The Big Short. The Trance has been in the Giant line-up for a long time now and the Trance Advanced Pro 29er is the most recent incarnation. Designed as a…
Issue 142 Singletrack Kitchen: Chipps’ Stag Breakfast
When Chipps got married last year, inevitably there was a stag gathering in the mountains with bikes. Much to everyone’s relief it was a rather civilised affair with lots of good wine, many cheeses, and acoustic music from Chipps’s personal troubadour ‘Jazzy Brian’. No one got shaved or tied to…
Issue 142 Pete’s Pro’s: Rachel Atherton
Pete takes in laps and baby naps with Rachel Atherton on her home turf. Of all the routes I’ve travelled to go for a ride with those who make their living from riding push irons, few are as familiar to me as the run that…
Classic Ride 142 – The Glorious Peaks
Words & Photography Chipps Chipps takes on a tour around one of Yorkshire’s iconic Three Peaks with a couple of similarly iconic characters. The other Peaks Planning a decent bike ride can be a hard job. You need a great route in mind, obviously, but…
Issue 142 Interview: Going Downhill
Steve Chapman chats to the unassuming Pearces who have shaped UK downhill racing. Words Steve Chapman Photography As Credited If you look at the movers and shakers of UK mountain bike events, it’s a small, close-knit pool of people. If you then dial in the…
Issue 142 International Adventure: Costa Del Climb
Amanda goes on a beach holiday, turns her back to the sea and rides inland to find trails and adventure. Given the opportunity of a cheap flight, a lift from the airport, and free accommodation, there aren’t many destinations I wouldn’t manage to get inspired…
Issue 142 International Adventure: Nice to see you, to see you… NICE!
Sanny loses himself in the sun and dusty trails of Southern France. Words & Photos: Sanny Sometimes you just have to accept that things don’t always go quite how you hoped. Case in point. A recent trip to the South of France to ride bikes…
Issue 142: Last Word | My Ride Pal
Hannah has found a new friend to ride with.I have a new ride buddy. I’ve known him all his life and when he was younger he rode quite a lot, but somehow life got in the way and he’s only quite recently got into mountain…
Meet the Singletrack Big Hitters
This article is from Issue 136 of Singletrack World. Hannah crosses the paper/internet boundary to unearth some of the truth behind a few of the Singletrack Forum personas we know as ‘The Big Hitters’. Words Hannah Photography Various If you’ve hung around our Forum for…
Editorial: The Eternal Suffering Of The Spoke
I was once on a Mavic press launch, somewhere in the French mountains. Our merry band of bike journalists was augmented by some of Mavic’s sponsored riders, including Jérôme Clementz and the flamboyant Frenchman Cédric Gracia. As we stopped for lunch at an outdoor café,…
UK Adventure: Far From The Maddening Crowds
Fed up with the same old, same old of trail centres? Sanny reckons he has found the perfect antidote just a few miles down the valley from Glentress and Innerleithen. Words & Photography Sanny Ask what ‘Tweed Valley’ means to most riders and you are…
International Adventure: Rocks And Hard Places
Tim Wild packs a bike and his sense of adventure and takes part in the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival in Arizona. Words Tim Wild Photography as credited I’ve watched too much YouTube and now I’m going to die. The cliff face – a 400ft plunge…
Pete’s Pros: Hattie Harnden
Pete Scullion talks fun, work and sleep with the multidisciplinary bike racing dynamo. Words & Photography Pete Scullion Despite being a classic mountain biking destination, I’d never once stopped in Great Malvern. I’d certainly seen the signs from the A50 on numerous outings to South Wales over…
Singletrack Kitchen: Charlie’s Cheesy Chilli Cakes & Roasted Red Soup
This is a nice winter recipe that will warm you through on one of those ‘can’t feel my toes, but can see my breath’ days. Really, it’s just cheese scones turned up to 11, with cayenne pepper adding a constant warmth throughout, and the red…
Singletrack Issue 141 kit essentials: Insulated jackets
Chipps and the team venture out into the chill winds to bring word of the best insulated jackets out there.
Singletrack Issue 141 UK Adventure: Pilgrim’s Regress
Adam Boggon returns to his childhood haunts in this reflective ride through Fife. Words Adam Boggon Photography Peter Munnoch The King sits in Dunfermline toun, Drinking the blude-red wine, ‘O whare will I get a skeelyskipper, to sail this ship of mine.’ It’s carved into…
Behind The Scenes: The Art of the Photograph
Why are Pete Scullion’s photographs so great compared to your own trail shot efforts? Is it the subject, the method, or a big pile of kit? Words & Photography Pete Scullion Social media has made even good photos quickly forgotten. Only the ones that are…
Singletrack Issue 141 – The Joy of Flex
Welcome to Benji, our new Technical Content Manager. He has opinions and he’s not afraid to share them. As the person who’s just been hired to be In Charge Of All Things Tech at Singletrackworld I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but… I don’t know…
Chris Hinds – Unexpected Hero
How much physical and mental strength does it take to finish, let alone win, the 1,800km Great British Divide? More than we could ever imagine. Words & Photography Chipps & Chris Hinds How does that kitsch saying go? To truly appreciate the heights, one must…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 141 Bonus Content: Great British Divide – Chris Hinds’ Day By Day Diary
Bonus content! This is Chris Hinds’ full diary from his Great British Divide 2021. We’ve used a lot of images to try and illustrate the enormity and repetition of the ride, so you’ll likely find this article is best viewed on a desktop or laptop,…
Classic Ride 141 – Wye Valley Wanderings
Jon Woodhouse takes us on a tour of this gem on the Welsh-English border. Words & Photography JON WOODHOUSE Sitting at the easternmost edge of the Forest of Dean, it’s easy for mountain bikers to overlook the Wye Valley – after all, it’s not as…
Singletrack Issue 141 bike test: Going to unextremes
The Singletrack team tests out three hardtails that sit somewhere in the midst of the ride style continuum.
Pipedream Sirius S5 review
The Pipedream Sirius is no match for carbon in terms of power transfer or weight, but the angles on it make it a pleasure to pedal.
Sonder Dial GX Eagle review
The Sonder Dial is marketed at riders wanting more confidence than a gravel bike and a more direct feel than a trail bike.
Trek Roscoe 9 review
As a gnarly trail shredding bike, it won’t surprise anyone that the Trek Roscoe is biased in favour of the rowdier type of riding.
MTB Culture: Meet The Minehead Mentors
Chipps takes a ride with the Minehead mountain bike club that’s just for youngsters. Words & Photography Chipps Saturday mornings are busy for parents, with many different demands on both their time and their mum/dad taxis with myriad choices for youngsters to spend the hours…
Last Word: Information Threshold
Rhys blinds Amanda with science, but she’s busy looking at the sun. I’m sitting in the passenger seat of the van, watching the rolling hills wake up to the morning sun. The frosty cover from the night before is melting before my eyes, revealing golden…
Classic Ride 140 – Land’s End to Lizard
Sam takes us on a long ride on some new-old trails that will make for a great weekender, or a really big day out. Words Sam Jones Photography Jordan Gibbons and Stef Amato The last time I ‘turboed’ anything was more than 20 years ago in the student…
Classic Ride 139 – Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain An evening leg stretcher on Salisbury Plain gives Dean and friends a classic southern ride of rolling hills and lengthening shadows. Words Dean Hersey Photography Trail Creatives I love the buzz you get from the anticipation of a ride almost as much as…
UK Adventure: Wrongpacking At Helvellyn
Amanda, Rhys and James head up Helvellyn in an effort to see whether a stiff climb for tea and an enduro descent for breakfast is a recipe for fun. Words: Amanda Wishart Photos: James Vincent Bikepacking, touring, camping… it’s not a new activity, but it’s…
International Adventure: Kiwi Beervet
A point-to-point, 450km off-road adventure, joining together the finest remote New Zealand country pubs with great riding, great mates and a lot of beer. Words & Photos: Tony Hutcheson Kiwi Beervet is the product of too many midweek whisky sessions. Spitballing ideas with mates, a…
Classic Ride 138 – Cakes and Ladders
Barney takes a trip around the shivering mountain to see if some favourite old trails still pass muster on new bikes. Words & Photography Barney Marsh There is absolutely no point in prevaricating about this – if you’ve been mountain biking for more than, say,…
Classic Ride 137 – The Surrey Hills
Sam Jones sees if he can find a new way to link up the ancient and modern trails around the famous Surrey Hills. Words Sam Jones Photography Rob Spanring Some days everything comes together. The sun shines, the trail suits notoriously fussy Goldilockses (not too…
Singletrack Issue 136 The Future Of MTB Technology
Dean Hersey gets fully crystal ball and looks at what the mountain bikes we ride might look like in the near-enough future. Will we finally get the hover-bikes we were promised? Words dean Hersey Photography Various Editor’s Note: This article was published in issue 136…
Classic Ride 136 – Rivington Pike
Mark takes a trip back to the trails of his youth and remembers why he still loves riding the trails of Rivington Pike. Words Mark Photography Amanda This being the 20th anniversary issue of the mag, it would seem almost planned that this ride would…
Classic Ride 135 – North of Reeth – The Quest for the Holy Dale
Barney explains why the trails north of Reeth are truly classic – especially if your eyesight is up to the task. Words & Photography Barney Marsh The original idea for this Classic Ride was to try to find something as close as possible to Barnard…
Classic Ride 134 – Kirk Yetholm
Kirk Yetholm isn’t a German sitcom character, but a hidden classic Scottish riding location a stone’s throw north of the English border. Words & Photography PETE SCULLION Think bikes and the Scottish Borders and Kirk Yetholm probably won’t even be in the top ten places…
Singletrack Magazine Issue 133 : Bellingham, Washington
The best mountain bike town you’ve never heard of. Words Tim Newcomb Photography various Bellingham, Washington, loves to party in the woods. Everyone’s invited to join. Many do. The growing mountain biking community in the north-west corner of the United States, midway between Seattle, Washington,…
What’s Zermatter With You? Singletrack magazine issue 129
Emma and Carly head off to a different part of the mountains in their home-made camper. This time, it’s Zermatt and the Matterhorn that are getting all the attention. Only now, Carly does the storytelling… This feature was first published in issue 129 of Singletrack…
The Saga of Magnus | Singletrack magazine issue 131
A haphazard retracing of St Magnus’s last journey by bike seemed a fitting farewell to the island of Orkney. Somehow, Adam had neglected to tell his friend Jack that it would be 55 miles of tractless marsh.
Catch My Drift? Singletrack Magazine Issue 131
With Barney Marsh In which your intrepid reporter attempts to get to the bottom of certain mountain biking vernacular using the ancient arts of Flannelling and Hand Waving. This feature was first published in issue 129 of Singletrack magazine. It has been selected as a…
Classic Ride 133 – Nan Bield
Nan Bield Pass Lake District local James Vincent shows us just why this is epic day out is considered a true classic ride. Words & Photography James Vincent “Switchback” Noun: A path, road, or railway that forms very sharp bends from one direction to almost…
Classic Ride 132 – Menteith Hills
Pete Scullion takes us on a tour of the endless, accessible fire roads and exciting singletrack on the very edge of the Scottish mountains. Words & Photography Pete Scullion The Trossachs… A sleepy corner of Scotland where the wide open spaces of the lowlands meet…
Classic Ride 131 – Todmorden and beyond
With travel a little limited right now, we decided to give you a look at some of the lesser-known riding on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border above our Todmorden base. Words Hannah Photography Singletrack They say that Valley miles are worth double: the watershed landscape of the…
Behind the Pencil: Cover Illustrator Interview
Singletrack issue 131 deadline is fast approaching for our next issue of the magazine, and if you haven’t already heard, it’s going to be a special one. The subscription deadline is Thursday 21st May and we highly recommend you subscribe as we are most likely…
Teaser | Singletrack Magazine Issue 131 – Don’t Miss This Cover!
Choosing a Singletrack Magazine cover image is a very lengthly process that the staff often struggle to agree on. Amanda likes landscapes, Chipps has an eye for good lighting and body position, Hannah likes to consider the colour palette, Mark is best at looking at…
Classic Ride 130 – Bennachie Bash
A classic ride in the wide open spaces in the middle of Aberdeenshire. Words Gavin Baxter Photography Alex Doig The deep, dark winter can be a pretty bad time of year for getting out on a big ride. That’s especially true in Aberdeenshire, at 57°…