Issue 44

Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine September 2008

In this Issue:
Darcy Turenne Interview
Alaska in Summer
Tough Lakes Route Guide
Yak Attack Part II
Mont Blanc Massif

Cover Picture: Darcy Turenne. By Dan Barham.
Contents Picture: Utah. Red and Blue. By Steven Lloyd.
Spineline: I’ve got sea soil in my shorts

Editorial

Chipps tries to make the best of the sucky summer weather.

Alaska

Dan Barham travels to the 49th State in search of wilderness and singletrack, while avoiding the bears.

DIY 24

Dave Anderson makes his own 24 hour fun by riding favoured local loops day and night.

Interview: Darcy Turenne

You’ll be hearing a lot about this female freerider and (Singletrack cover star) in the next few years.

Bike Test – The Four Corners

Bikes from four corners of the Earth from Morewood (South Africa), Kona (Canada), 2Stage (New Zealand) and MSC (Spain)

2Stage Zed8

Kona Coilair Supreme

Morewood Shova ST

MSC Zion RST

Blame the Dog – Mike Ferrentino.

Our US columnist casts doubt over mankind’s continued evolution.

Gallery

There’s always great riding to be seen in our photo gallery, regardless of the weather outside the window.Photos from Sim Mainey and Bob Hicks.

Cycle 2008

The latest from the UK’s biggest bike show.

A Truly Killer Ride

Simon Evans reckons that old gibbeting spots make ideal riding locations… with views to die for.

Through the Grinder

Products tested through a summer of inclement weather.

Thule 970 Xpress Pro

Superstar GTO Headset

Sunline MTB V1 All Mountain Stem

Sunline MTB V1 Handlebar

Camelbak Podium Bottle

Rapidracer Products Neoguard

Truvativ Noir Singlespeed Crankset

Forumla One Brakes

Gore Freeride Shorts

Fox Talas 32 RLC 15mm Forks

DaKine Sequence

Kenda King of Traction Tyre

Kenda Excavator 2.1 DTC

SDG I-Beam Post and Formula FX Saddle

Hope Three Bolt Wheels

Petzl E+Lite

Sports Haler

Tyre Belt

Column: Roly Lambert

Finding a good bike shop is like a finding a good spouse, reckons Roly.

It’ll Go

Our Matt talks about the ceremony involved in any first descent.

Competition – Win Custom Cycling Kit

Your chance to win a club’s worth of custom kit from Pro-Vision.

Yak Attack – Part 2

Matt Hart completes the Himalayan Yak Attack – the hardest race he’s ever done.

Grouptest: LED Lights

The nights are drawing in – and LED technology is improving dramatically year on year. Benji blasts ten lights into the night.

Ayup 08 Multisport

Cateye R3

Exposure MaXx-D

Hope Vision 4 LED

Lupine Wilma 5

Niteflux Photon Max

NiteRider TriNewt

Exposure Joystick MaXx-2

Hope Vision 1 LED

Shop – Buy stuff!

We’ve got flash new T-shirts and great cycling jerseys for you.

Long Termers

A look at the staff bike shed. This time it’s Ben’s Klein and Evil and Chipps’ Turner and Ibis.

Turner Flux

Ibis Mojo

EVIL D.O.C.

Klein Attitude

In Dorset – Mark would

Card-carrying Northerner, Mark, travels to Dorset to see if the hills match his criteria.

Column: Philip Diprose

Philip looks back on a sun-drenched, dusty summer. Not…

Head to Head – Yeti 575 vs Blur LT

There are few bikes as better suited for our Head to Head feature than these 6in trail machines.

Mont Blanc Massive

Chipps goes up against the challenge of the Tour of Mont Blanc. Five steep days of mountain and map crossing.

Route Guide – The Tough Lakes

The Nan Bield Route isn’t for the faint-hearted and is only the second ever ‘Black’ graded route we’ve ever published. However, we reckon it’s worth the effort.

Easy: 20.1km (12.5 miles), 2-3 hours

Medium: 23.2km (14.4 miles), 3-4 hours

Hard: 42.3km (26.3 miles), 4-7 hours

Outro

If it’s silly and irreverent, it’ll be in here…