Issue 46

Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine December 2008

In this Issue:
Travel Edition
Living on the Road in Europe
Yorkshire Dales Route Guide
Illness
Soft Shells Grouptest

Cover Picture: Wade Simmon in Sardinia by Marco Toniolo
Contents Picture: By Dan Barham
Spineline: Go in there and sell some pickles!

Editorial

Chipps realises that there is a generation of riders who may never have read an OS map or wandered off the beaten track

UK Travel: The Last Good Day of the Year

Iain Haworth sets out on a road trip to make the most of available daylight.

International Travel: All in a Fay’s Work

Wade Simmons tries to convince us that riding your bike for fun is acyually work. And fails.

Editor’s Choice

The Singletrack teams’ favourite bits of 2008.

Bike Test – How much Travel Do I Need?

120mm, 140mm or 160mm? We take a look at the Gary Fisher Roscoe, Kona One20 and Lapierre Spicy

Gary Fisher Roscoe
Kona One20
LaPierre Spicy

Press Camp

Traveling the world seeing what’s new is one of the perks of the job, we give you the inside scoop on the debauchery.

International Travel: Helvetica on Wheels

One van, two kids, many countries. Life on the road in Europe.

Grinder

If a product’s in the Grinder it’s had a hard life, we tell you what made it and what didn’t.

Altura Attack Waterproof 3/4 Shorts
Spank Royala Timer Stem and Stick Bar
Funn Drop Out Brakes
Gore Countdown Gloves
Bell Volt Helmet
Howies Woosh Jacket
Islabike Cnoc 14
Helly Hansen Lifa Stripe Crew Graphic
Sombrio Forensic Glove
Pace Frame Bearing Lube Kit
Pronghorn PR6
Pinnacle Expede 1.0
Ortleib Messenger Bag
A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer’s Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal and Beauty in Belgium

Mini Group Test – Tubeless

Benji forsakes the way of the tube and lets us know his findings.

Shimano M770 XT Wheelset
Mavic EX823 UST Rims
Stans’ No Tube Flow Rims
Maxxis Ignitor FR LUST 2.35 Tyres
Bontrager Big Earl TLR ARC Wet 2.35 Tyres
Hutchinson Toro Enduro 2.35 Tyres
Hutchinson Protect Ait Tyre Sealant
JRA Wheel Milk
Stan’s No Tube Tubeless Conversion System
Joe’s No Flat Tubeless Conversion System

Column: Blame the Dog

Mike Ferrentino sails the good ship Controversy into port and reveals some uncomfortable home truths.

Gallery

Top tip: Stick our gallery photos over your window and pretend you’re somewhere else. Shots from Marco Toniolo, Gary Perkins and Sheldon Attwood.

Group Test – Soft Shells

What’s a softshell and which one should you buy? We get hot and sweaty in softshell jackets on your behalf.

RaceFace Hoodlum
Sugoi Firewall 220
Helly Hansen Verglas Softshell
Endura Windchill
Rapha Lightweight Softshell
Cannondale Slice
Gore Bikewar Cosmo Plus Windstopper
Polaris Helix
Gore Bikewear Oxygen

Column – Philip Diprose

Mr Diprose tells us about his unusual commute whilst not crashing to corpses and ending up one himself.

International Travel: Alfred the Great?

The most scenic mountain bike race in the world according to the organisers of this New Zealand event. And who are we to argue?

Competition – Win Booze!

Win a bottle of whisky and a Singletrack hipflsk to drink it from.

Long Term Test Bikes

After a year’s worth of riding how have the Singletrack team got on with their long term bikes?

Kona Project Black
Cannondale Prophet MX
Klein Attitude
Orange Alpine 5
Bianchi P.U.S.S.
Turner Flux
Yeti ARC
Giant Anthem Advanced

Fitness – Illness

Matt Hart tells you why satsumas are not your friends.

Column: Nature Boy

Some lesser magazine proclaims ‘Just Get Out and Ride’, but as Natureboy points out, just getting people out is hard enough.

Route Guide: The Whale and the Toblerone

The Yorkshire Dales offer up another classic route to break yourself on.

Easy Route: Lots of options in Gisburn Forest
Medium Route: 37.5km (23.30 miles), 3-5 hours
Hard Route: 37.8km (23.49 miles), 5-7 hours

The Singletrack Awards

The only awards in the industry voted for by the public, so who did you vote for, and who won what?