cycle THIS ISSUE INSPIRING CYCLING IN BIKE WEEK
cycle THE MAGAZINE OF CYCLING UK
J U N E/J U LY 2 0 1 6 £3 OR FREE TO CYC L I N G U K M E M B E R S CYC L I N G U K .O R G
SADDLED WITH PAIN £500 TOURING BIKES ON TEST RIDING THE PARIS-ROUBAIX PAVÉ TOURING ON ONLY £1 PER DAY TUBELESS ROAD TYRES
INSPIRING CYCLING
WHYTE E-BIKE REVIEW
BIKE WEEK: EVERYDAY CYCLING FOR EVERYONE
Plus WOM EN’S SADDLES: A SORE POINT TOURING ON ONLY £1 PER DAY J U N E /J U L Y 2 0 1 6
RIDING THE PARISROUBAIX PAVÉ BUDGET TOURING BIKES ON TEST
OFF THE FRONT | PAUL TUOHY
Chief Executive
NAMING OUR SUCCESSES
PAUL TUOHY Chief Executive
The recent rebrand is already bearing fruit with the bike industry, Government, and the Inland Revenue. Chief Executive Paul Tuohy explains
The Big Bike Revival secured a further £500,000 in funding
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’M WRITING this on the train home from Bath after a great day presenting our new-look Cycling UK to the cycle industry. Virtually every well-known brand name in cycling was there. The purpose was to show them our relevance today as cycling grows in popularity. I took them through our history from 1887 to 2016, showing them we are the cyclists’ champion now just as we were then. A key objective for us this year is to engage with new partners and promote the inclusive world of cycling that Cycling UK represents. We no longer wish to be cycling’s best-kept secret. Cycling is not all about sportives and races; it’s about people who want to ride for leisure, commuting, and touring. The take-up we’re getting for ride leader training is astonishing – over 800 last year. Meanwhile, the Big Bike Revival fixed 24,000 bikes, helping the public to re-engage with cycling. The Cycling UK name is getting a lot of
“It would help us tremendously if you could vote for our new name”
influential people interested in what we’re doing and wanting to know more about us. When they see what the name stands for – CTC, Big Bike Revival, Space for Cycling, campaigns, magazines, forums, training, engagement with cycling, and more – they realise that we’re an authoritative voice.
CHANGING UP A GEAR It’s been an incredible two months since we announced our new look in the April/May issue of Cycle. The Department for Transport in England said they wished Cycling UK had been around 10 years ago, because they are finding it much easier to convey to ministers our importance to cycling now. ‘You do what it says on the tin and there’s no long-winded explanation needed to say who you are,’ they said. Then £500,000 arrived to do more work to get people cycling! The following week in April, I had a meeting with the Scottish Government with Heads of Cycling Development Suzanne Forup (Scotland) and Ian Richardson (UK). We presented the findings of the Big Bike Revival we ran in England last year and they said they now want it in Scotland. Watch this space. All this justifies the major rethink that my Trustees asked me to deliver: modernising
and positioning Cycling UK to continue to support our membership but also to attract new supporters and to further our mission. That mission is: ‘To make a lasting difference to the lives of individuals and communities by championing cycling for everyone.’ That’s not being competitive, it’s being inclusive. As a charity, we are governed by a Board of Trustees who voted by an overwhelming majority to overhaul the way we are governed. It may have served us well in the past but it needed updating. You agreed, endorsing the governance review by voting 85% in favour of it at the AGM in Derby. Finally, you will see in this edition that there is a ‘poll of the club’ on the new name, Cycling UK. It would help us tremendously if you could vote in favour of our new name, which as you will read in this edition of Cycle is helping us massively to further our mission in cycling. It was the trump card the Inland Revenue couldn’t ignore after a fruitless battle trying to get Gift Aid as CTC. Gift Aid will make every penny you give us go further. CTC remains the touring wing of our cycling groups, and we’re proud of the club mentality that runs through all our groups. But the CTC name is not by itself representative of everything we do. I appreciate that some of our more seasoned CTC members may struggle with the change, but rest assured: CTC is alive and cycling, and will grow and become more relevant in the 21st century. Summer’s just upon us. Make it a good one and get out on that bike!
The Department for Transport has welcomed the rebrand
CYCL I N GU K . OR G CYCL E 7
QUICK RELEASES
News, views, & events
QUICK RELEASES THIS MONTH GREAT NEWS ON GIF T AID MEANS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS IN EXTRA FUNDING. PLUS: A POLL OF THE CLUB & SUMMER EVENTS Finance
CYCLING UK WINS GIFT AID! The taxman said yes: you can now Gift Aid your membership and help Cycling UK raise £500,000. Matt Mallinder explains how us claiming tax back on the money that you’ve paid on donations (such as your membership).
Photo: You Can Bike Too
WHY CYCLING UK IS CHARITABLE
The Inland Revenue agrees: it’s charitable promoting cycling for all
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FTER LENGTHY negotiations with the Inland Revenue, Cycling UK has won the right for our members to have their membership fee Gift Aided, such is the public benefit of enabling, developing and supporting people to cycle. That’s more money for training, touring, campaigning and inclusive cycling promotion. Gift Aid is worth an extra £8.35 every year to the charity for a standard £43.00 adult membership – at no cost to you. It gets better: we can also retrospectively claim Gift Aid back to the time we became a charity in 2012. So that could turn your £8.35 into £33.40. If just a quarter of the membership signed up to Gift Aid, this could be worth £500,000.
WHAT IS GIFT AID? Gift Aid enables a charity to claim 25p for each £1 of your donation. This is equivalent to
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Your membership provides you with a range of personal benefits, such as third-party insurance, but your membership fee also pays for a wider range of charitable services that benefit both you and wider society. You support our campaigning work to get funding for cycling and improved cycling infrastructure, both nationally and locally through our Right to Ride network. That improves your cycling environment and that of every other cyclist. So that’s charitable. The 13,000 rides that our Member Groups put on every year are open to all newcomers to experience the social, wellbeing and fitness benefits of cycling together. That’s charitable. Every pound of your membership fee can be doubled through statutory funders, grants and corporates to generate funding for our local cycling development projects. In the last year alone, we’ve helped 95,000 people overcome barriers – physical, mental, economic and social – to take up cycling. That’s charitable.
WHAT IT’S WORTH Gift Aid could be worth somewhere in the region of £100,000 to £200,000 every year to Cycling UK. Since we can retrospectively claim back to the time we became a charity in 2012, that would quadruple Gift Aid savings
Stay in touch CYCLECLIPS: free weekly email newsletter – email your membership number to membership@cyclinguk.org CAMPAIGN NEWS: monthly campaigns bulletin. Sign up at cyclinguk.org/ subscribe-to-cyclecampaign-news
I T ’ S E A S Y, N O T TA X I N G Am I eligible for Gift Aid? Anyone paying income tax in one calendar year equal to the value of the gift to the charity – e.g. £8.35 for adult membership of Cycling UK – can claim Gift Aid. This could be tax paid on your personal salary or on your pension income. You can Gift Aid as many charities as you support, as long as you paid the corresponding income tax. Self-assessment taxpayers can claim Gift Aid on donations too, and higher-rate income taxpayers can claim even more Gift Aid by virtue of paying more tax. See www.gov.uk/donatingto-charity/gift-aid for further details. HOW TO SIGN UP FOR GIFT AID There are five easy ways to sign up: Complete the personalised Gift Aid form that will be sent to you via email in the next few days. Visit www.cyclinguk.org/giftaid and log on to the website using your membership number, then complete the online form. Complete the paper declaration included with the separate address sheet in this magazine. Phone 01483 238301 and speak to one of the membership team. Complete the Gift Aid form with your letter of renewal or when you renew online.
for the first year. It would make a huge difference in the level and volume of our campaigning, to the support and development that we could give to our group network, and towards getting the UK cycling. There’s no additional cost to you, and the Gift Aid form takes only moments to complete online or by post. Thank you for your consideration.
PRODUCT NEWS | SHOP WINDOW
Rally round
Product news
SHOP WINDOW
There will be a touringoriented trade show at York Rally on 18-19 June. For more details, see yorkrally.org
EDITOR DAN JOYCE PREVIEWS A SELECTION OF NEW CYCLING PRODUCTS AVAILABLE IN THE SHOPS, ONLINE, OR COMING SOON
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DAN JOYCE Cycle editor
KIBO 1STANFORTH DIRT DROP £1,995
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This is the drop-bar version of Stanforth’s retro-style 26in-wheel steel tourer, which I saw at Bespoked. I’d prefer a threadless headset, an Allen key being lighter than two big spanners on tour. stanforthbikes.co.uk
2 SHIMANO METREA
Shimano’s Metropolitan Real sports-hybrid groupset may have risible marketing but it’s bringing us usefullooking bullhorn-style H-bars and STI levers to match. bit.ly/risible-metrea
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BIKEPACKING 3 ORTLIEB SEAT-PACK £110
The waterproof bag manufacturer has turned its attention to bikepacking. The seat-pack weighs 430g, holds up to 16.5L, and keeps its contents and your backside dry. ortlieb.de
SYZR 4 SPEEDPLAY STAINLESS PEDALS
£189.99
Speedplay’s new two-bolt, walkable-cleat pedals promise 10 degrees of float, easy entry, and secure foot retention. Is it better than SPD? We’ve asked for a set to try. i-ride.co.uk
ULTIMATE UK CYCLE 5 THE ROUTE PLANNER £9.95
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Fancy a traffic-free or quiet roads tour but aren’t sure where? The 3rd edition of this UK map is ideal for early-stages planning. Rail and ferry information adds usefulness. excellentbooks.co.uk
6 KIFFY FLASH
£2160
This curious, leanable little cargo trike is now available with 20in wheels rather than the rarer 18in. The front half detaches for storage or for trolleying cargo on foot. kiffy.fr & spacycles.co.uk
DUAL PRESSURE 7 BBB BMP-39 £59.99
It’s a shock pump and tyre pump in one; it switches between high pressure and high volume(ish) inflation. At 206g, it’s a weight-saver for mid-ride suspension fettlers and off-road ride leaders. bbbcycling.com
REVIEWS | GEAR
PROS + Versatile load
Carry Freedom
bed
+ Hitch fits any
Y- F R AME LARGE
bike
£269.99 carryfreedom.com
CONS - No box/bag supplied
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CARGO TRAILER is the budget option for loads too big for panniers. I've used more than a dozen over the years and still have a couple: a lightweight Burley Nomad that's good for groceries and soft luggage; and a cheap box trailer of forgotten provenance. This Carry Freedom Y-Frame is the most useful trailer I've tried. Part of that is down to the 700×500mm load bed. The 13mm-thick plywood base has four big holes cut into it to provide mounting points for straps. So you can firmly attach a box, a bag, or anything else that will fit (mostly) on. Grip tape on top helps stop the load moving about, and two Velcro straps are provided. I had more success with 'proper' luggage straps with metal cam buckles.
EASY ATTACHMENT You could drill directly into the base if you wanted to fix something to the trailer semipermanently. I was tempted to do that to fit a Thule Freeride 532 bike rack to the trailer in order to carry a bike. Since I don't own this Y-Frame, I made a framework of 2×2in wooden batons, cable-tied that to the trailer, and drilled into that. It worked fine. The trailer's attachment bracket should fit to just about any bike. It bolts to the outside of the dropout – left or right, as the towing arm can fit either side. So it won't interfere with a disc brake or the reaction arm of a
drum brake or hub gear. It's a simple chunky peg with a hole for a retaining pin.
QR AXLE IS A SLIGHT HITCH The bracket works better on a solid axle. It's rated for higher loads that way: 90kg versus 50kg. And the peg prevents a quick release lever opening fully, so it's awkward to tighten a QR rear wheel securely. The trailer's Lollypop (sic) hitch only just clears a QR lever too; I nearly levered off a thumbnail a couple of times when attaching the trailer. A solid axle also doesn't require a little washer to centre the bracket on the axle. The trailer hitch is a lollipop-shaped elastomer bolted into the aluminium towing arm. This dulls any jerkiness between bike and trailer and it's flexible enough that you can lay the bike down with the trailer upright. Whether that will fatigue the elastomer remains to be seen; a spare costs £35.99. The Y-Frame Large has quick-release 20in wheels, so it's easy to store. It comes with reflectors, a legal requirement, but (drilling aside) has no obvious mounting point for a rear light. I managed to fit an Exposure Flare.
There's a good range of accessories but some, such as the mudguards, longer towing arm, and surfboard support, aren't readily available in the UK. Nonetheless, this is an adaptable and well-constructed trailer suitable for a wide range of bigger-thannormal cycling loads. It weighs 7.5kg. Dan Joyce
Above: The Whyte Coniston (p68) made an excellent trailer tower for loads this large
OTHER OPTIONS
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SURLY BILL TRAILER £649.99
Huge chrome-moly cargo trailer with 16in wheels and a 161×61cm load bed. Note that the hitch is extra – £239.99!
ison-distribution.com
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AVENIR MULE £129.99
A budget trailer with a hard base, its fabric sides and top make it less suitable for outsize loads. Chainstay clamp.
raleigh.co.uk
D E TA I L S WHERE: UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar TART/FINISH: From LiverS pool to Gibraltar DISTANCE: 3,359 miles ICTURES: Gene Krasko P (main photo) & Steven Primrose-Smith (others)
HUNGRY FOR MILES | GRE AT RIDES
Great rides
HUNGRY FOR MILES
Foraged fruit was a key part of the daily diet. Everyone lost weight
Travel writer Steven Primrose-Smith and three companions set off to ride from Liverpool to Gibraltar with a budget of £1 each per day
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ow much money do we need each day to tour by bike? I think I’ve discovered the answer but I found it the hard way. Between 2011 and 2013, I cycled 22,000 miles around 52 capital cities in Europe (see UniCycle50.com) and had a wonderful time – a wonderful, expensive time. I finished the ride with a bank account emptier than an election manifesto’s promises. But I wanted to do another tour. Poverty shouldn’t be a barrier to touring, I thought… There are tales of adventures done for nothing at all, but these involve either blagging, bin-diving or taking advantage of people’s generosity. I wanted a self-sufficient tour that wasn’t funded by others. I figured I could cycle from the north-west of England to Gibraltar and by supplementing carefully selected store-bought purchases with foraged food and deliciously fresh line-caught fish, I could do it on a budget of £1 a day. Yes, just £1 a day. Unfortunately, I knew next to nothing about foraging. Nor fishing.
GETTING STUCK IN On the 16 June 2015, four of us – Dave, Joe, Sabby and me – assembled in Liverpool, all complete strangers. Internet advice suggests
it’s not a good idea to tour with people you don’t know well. The jury was out on that. We set off under perfect skies and had our first cooked meal – porridge – in the grounds of Flint Castle on the north coast of Wales. The weather was so glorious that Dave badly burnt his legs. To make matters worse, he had a habit of smashing his pedals into his calves whenever he pushed his bike anywhere. His legs were a right mess. Sunburn and slashed legs weren’t Dave’s only problem. His back wheel had collapsed the night before we set off, suggesting a cavalier approach to pre-ride maintenance. It also didn’t help that his bike weighed approximately the same as a Mini Metro even without the dozens of bags strapped haphazardly to it. With his Gandalf beard, Dave was what you might call ‘a character’. The roles we would fulfil throughout the entire trip crystallised organically that first day, without discussion. Joe was our navigator and bike mechanic. Sabby with his culinary background was our chef and chief forager. I became the fixer, negotiating our nightly accommodation, usually a farmer’s field. And Dave was, well, Dave. We had each started the ride with a bagful of provisions – flour, sugar, rice, pasta and
Do it yourself
SHOESTRING TOURING A daily budget of £1 is doable – barely! – but just adding a couple of pounds each day would improve your experience immeasurably. However, if £1 is all you have, research the range of fruit, nuts, berries, leaves and mushrooms you can forage. But don’t play at this; there are plenty of things out there that can kill you or make you very unwell. To eat better than we did, learn how to fish properly. And if your adventure is UK-based, shop at the larger supermarkets. Their budget lines are 30% of the price you’d pay in Western Europe.
WE DISCOVERED THE HOLY GRAIL OF FORAGEABLES: TREE AFTER TREE OF DELICIOUS SWEET FIGS, SOME JUICY, SOME DRY AS TOFFEE CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E 2 9
Feature
INSPIRING CYCLIN G
PRACTICAL M AT T E R S Everyday cycling requires an everyday bike. Recommend a practical one to friends or colleagues
BIKE WEEK | FE ATURE
early 800,000 people cycle to work in the UK every day. With your help, we’re aiming to swell that number by half a million during Bike Week 2016 and beyond. As a Cycling UK member, there’s every chance you are one of those 800,000 and already appreciate the enormous benefits commuting by bike can bring, whether it’s the healthier lifestyle or the congestion-free journey. So why not spread the word by getting a friend, relative, neighbour or work colleague to join you during Cycling UK’s Bike Week – with a little help from our list of tips? From buddy rides to bike breakfasts, there are a host of simple ideas that can make cycle commuting an accessible and attractive proposition to the many people who might just need a gentle nudge in the right direction. It might also make a difference to your own daily journey. Many people use Bike Week to kickstart their summer as the country enjoys longer days and warmer sunshine. And this year’s event, which runs from 11-19 June, continues the Ride to Work theme that proved so
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Main photo: Selim Korycki. Left: © Pat Tuson / Alamy
BIKE WEEK IS AN IDEAL OPPORTUNITY TO PERSUADE FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES TO TRY RIDING TO WORK. CYCLING UK'S TONY UPFOLD HAS SOME SUGGESTIONS
Show colleagues that riding to work is a way to beat the rush hour
popular last year. We want to enlist the help of Cycling UK members to persuade people they know to get on their bikes, which will hopefully start – or rekindle – a love affair with cycling that lasts the rest of their lives.
BICYCLING BENEFITS The first National Bicycle Week was organised by CTC in 1923. Today, the Bike Week mantra is ‘everyday cycling for everyone’, with the goal of encouraging over 500,000 people to take part in hundreds of events and rides across the country – including their commute to work. Why cycle to work? Firstly, because it’s often closer than you think. Nearly half of all working people in the UK live within five miles of their employment. At a leisurely pace, that is only 30 minutes of pedalling from your front door. When you factor in the National Travel Survey statistic that over five million people cycle three or more times a week, it means there are plenty of potential cycling
commuters out there. We want to give them the message that cycling to work, or school, doesn’t just beat the rush hour, but helps ease it. That means cleaner air and a healthier environment, not to mention the fact it is good for you both physically and mentally. On average, regular cycle commuters take less time off sick – more than one day per year – than colleagues who do not cycle to work. And people who don’t cycle-commute regularly have a 39% higher mortality rate than those who do. It’s also cheaper. A study of 2,000 commuters in 2013 found that fuel, train fares and parking fees totalled around £161 – or 10.5% – out of the average monthly takehome pay of £1,543. So what can we all do as Cycling UK members to get people to rethink their everyday journeys and switch to cycling? Here are a few easy ideas, and one or two testimonies of those who have successfully tried and tested them.
BIKE WEEK BY NUMBERS BIKE WEEK IS THE BIGGEST CYCLING EVENT IN THE UK AND MORE PEOPLE THAN EVER BEFORE WILL TAKE PART TO KICKSTART THEIR SUMMER OF CYCLING. THIS YEAR’S THEME IS RIDE TO WORK. WHY NOT CHOOSE TO CYCLE TO WORK INSTEAD OF TAKING THE CAR OR PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND DONATE THE MONEY YOU SAVE TO CHARITY?
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MILLION Over 5million people cycle three times or more a week
£83 MILLION
Saved by cycle commuters by fewer absences from work
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27
Cycling burns 5 calories per minute (on average)
People in the UK have access to a bike
CALORIES
MILLION
CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E 3 5
D E TA I L S WHERE: Northern France START/FINISH: Roubaix or Busigny to Roubaix DISTANCE: 70km, 145km or 172km PICTURES: Belga Pictures
PARIS - ROUBAIX CHALLENGE | G RE AT RI D E S
Great rides
A SATURDAY IN HEAVEN In April, Cycling UK’s Matt Mallinder rode the ParisRoubaix Challenge, a sportive that takes place in northern France the day before the race Review
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ilmed in 1976 as A Sunday in Hell, the Paris-Roubaix is the most famous of the one-day spring classics, notorious for the crashes on its cobbles. I was first captivated by the race in 1999 when I watched Andrea Tafi win. It wasn’t his victory so much as the brutality of event, the frenetic pace over farm tracks made up of eroded stone setts. One day, I would ride on that pavé. Seventeen years later, I headed off to northern France to take part in a sportive that lets ordinary cyclists do just that. For professional cyclists, Paris-Roubaix is 270km. Its final 170km include 27 sections of pavé anywhere between 500 metres and 4km in length. For the ‘tourists’, there are three route options, all shorter than the pro race, but still with plenty of opportunity to test yourself on the cobbles.
GRUELLING? NO THANKS I didn’t see it as a test, however, and it certainly wouldn’t be a race. I’m bored of cycling magazines’ tendency to portray sportives as ‘epic’. When did cycling become so hard? I’ll leave that to the guys that get paid to do it.
My Paris-Roubaix Challenge would be an enjoyable weekend of cycling abroad, enhanced by watching the pros duking it out on a course steeped in history. Ah, that course! The unforgiving pavé has witnessed genuinely epic rides from the true champions of the sport: Coppi, Merckx, De Vlaeminck, Hinault, Kelly, Museeuw, Boonen. Cancellara… A list soon to be joined by the name Mallinder? In my dreams! No, this was strictly a jolly, a hop across the channel to drink in the atmosphere and a few beers, and to ride the cobbles. Weeks of carefully planned training had fallen foul of family commitments, lousy weather and general lethargy. As the ‘medium’ route kept being revised upwards by the organisers towards the 145 kilometre mark, I decided to drop down to the 70km short route. I had to be realistic. The short route still promised seven sections of the pavé, including the legendary Carrefour de L’Arbre, one of two sections rated five star for difficulty; the other is the Trouée d’Arrenberg on the longer routes. I met up with my riding companion Duncan the night before the ride in Lille, our digs for the weekend about 6km from the start.
W H AT T Y R E S F OR PAV É? I used a pair of 28mm Vittoria Open Corsa G+ tyres for the event. These build upon Vittoria’s pedigree Pave tyre, a tyre built especially for these conditions and the ‘go to’ tyre for many of the pros in recent years. They incorporate the new wondermaterial, Graphene. The Corsa is built upon a Kevlar cotton Corespun casing – lightweight but highly resistant to nicks and punctures. The rubber bit is four-compound rubber. It boasts great grip and low rolling resistance. All I can say is that I ran the 700×28C version of these at 70psi over some of the worst roads I’ve ever ridden. I suffered no punctures or nicks and they rolled really nicely. They’re staying on the bike. SIZES AVAILABLE: 700×23C, 25C and 28C APPROX WEIGHT: 265g PRICE: £49.99 MORE DETAILS: vittoria.com
I DIDN’T SEE IT AS A TEST AND IT WOULDN’T BE A RACE… THIS WAS A JOLLY, A HOP ACROSS THE CHANNEL TO RIDE THE COBBLES CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E 4 1
FE ATURE | SADDLE SORENESS
Feature
SADDLED W I T H PA I N FOR SOME WOMEN, SADDLE SORENESS IS THE PAIN THAT DARES NOT SPEAK ITS NAME. JOURNALIST THOMAS HENRY WONDERS WHY MORE ISN’T BEING DONE TO ADDRESS IT
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“The pain lasted for days, and the thought of cycling again filled me with dread" 4 8 C Y C L E JUN E/JU LY 2016
stay out of harm’s way. Women sit on them. And that can cause pain, numbness and sometimes physical damage.
AN UNCOMFORTABLE SILENCE I didn’t think about this until recently. My wife isn’t a regular cyclist, and on the rare occasions she rides a bike she finds it pretty uncomfortable ‘down there’. I had dismissed this as her being unused to cycling, and assumed she meant her bum hurt. It was only when I did a 100-mile charity ride with my friend Tess that I came to realise that, for some women, riding a drop-bar bike for any length of time or distance can be seriously painful. After 70 miles Tess was wincing, and after 100 miles she was visibly distressed. It wasn’t her bum that hurt, she explained, it was her ‘lady parts’. ‘When I got home, I inspected the damage,’ said Tess. ‘It was horrific. Swollen, chafed and raw. I really don’t know how female professional cyclists maintain any kind of love-life. The pain lasted for days, and the thought of getting back on the saddle filled me with dread.’ I had no idea that this might be a problem for female cyclists, mostly because I’m a bloke and had never given it much thought. I was horrified that my friend had suffered so much and subsequently discovered there isn’t a huge amount of advice out there about this problem. There is some info available, but you have to dig to find it. At this point, I should probably say that if you are of a sensitive disposition or uncomfortable with discussions about genital
anatomy, you may want to skip to another article. I also have to admit that this was quite a difficult article to write; I am a middleaged, married man and don’t much talk about this stuff with my wife of 26 years, let alone complete strangers of the opposite gender. But this is an important topic. So apologies if this is an uncomfortable subject. It is one that needs to be talked about and resolved if we are to address the imbalance between the numbers of men and women cycling.
UNDERCARRIAGE ISSUES On a Dutch-style bike with an upright riding position, the sit-bones (ischial tuberosities) and glutes take most of the rider’s weight, and that’s generally comfortable. On a road bike, the rider leans much further forward, the pelvis is tilted forwards, the sit-bones take less weight, and more weight is placed on the soft tissue further forwards: the external genitalia. When a woman sits on a road racing bike saddle, even if it’s for a sportive or other non-competitive ride, her vulva – something that wasn’t designed to be weight-bearing – may be required to take up to 40% of her body weight. For hours at a time. Part of the problem is that in order to adopt the most aerodynamic position, a woman needs to be in the worst possible position for her vulva. This, it seems to me, is a serious problem. Dr Marsha Guess, of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Yale University School of Medicine, published a paper in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2006 entitled ‘Genital Sensation and Sexual Function
Opposite: © Gorfer / iStockPhoto.com
lot has been written about cycling and erectile dysfunction in men. A study was conducted back in the 1990s which seemed to link it to cycling, and since then the saddle manufacturers have been busy making saddles to address this ‘problem’. Perineal pressure was thought to be to blame, so we began to see saddles with cut-outs to relieve that pressure. Subsequent studies have shown that male cyclists are fairly unlikely to experience erectile dysfunction as a result of their saddle, but the issue is out there in the public domain and is freely discussed. But as the song says: it’s different for girls. It’s worse. Seriously, it is. Much worse. And it’s something that no one seems keen to address, or even talk about. Cycling media is predominantly male-centric, and even the women’s cycling websites seem surprisingly coy on the subject. You see, blokes can tuck it up front, out of the way. There may be a bit of side-to-side swing, but mostly the genitals
TA K E A S TA N D Getting off the saddle occasionally relieves pressure but isn't a substitute for good fit
CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E 4 9
BIKETEST | BUDGET TOURERS
Bike test
ENTRY-LEVEL TOURERS
RICHARD HALLETT Cycle’s Technical Editor
Technical Editor Richard Hallett reviews two tourers costing around £500: the Revolution Country 1 and Ridgeback Tour
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TURDY FRAMESET? Check. Heavyduty, thickly-treaded tyres? Check. Mudguards and rack? Check… Ticking all the regular boxes, these two machines are, most definitely, touring bicycles – and at a very reasonable price. So reasonable, in fact, that the seasoned cyclist might wonder whether either of them is truly up to the job of carrying rider and luggage wherever the road – or track – leads. Fear not. Both are properly equipped and built to last. Unsurprisingly, given the cost imperatives of assembling a bicycle at such an unforgiving price point, they are almost impossible to separate on specification or ride experience. They even share the same singular omission, of which more later. Indeed, a choice between the two is hard to make unless on the basis of size suitability or preferred appearance.
FRAME AND FORK Leaving aside their respective finishes, the framesets are hard to distinguish. Both boast a beefy TIG-welded aluminium frame and steel fork with integral threaded bosses to allow the fitting of a low-rider front rack. The Revolution’s 7005 aluminium alloy tubing shows evidence of efforts to enhance its performance: the partially-ovalised down
tube has a reassuring gusset to reinforce the head tube junction, and the stays are given an hourglass-style bend. The Ridgeback’s heat-treated 6061 alloy frame lacks the reinforcement and profiling but doubtless doesn’t need it and both bikes look equally capable of handling serious roughstuff. The Revolution has a third pair of bottle cage bosses under the down tube, but the Ridgeback has a seat-stay pump peg. There are minor differences in rear dropout shaping but both bikes have a replaceable rear derailleur hanger. The usual gear and brake cable stops are present, correct and neatly attached. A slight distinction may be discerned in their geometry, the Revolution using marginally shorter chain-stays and slacker angles to place less weight over the front wheel. Despite having shorter cranks, its bottom bracket is higher and this, combined with a much longer top tube, gives the Revolution a much bigger ‘feel’ than the almost dainty Ridgeback when there’s but 10mm difference in their listed sizes.
COMPONENTS With triple chainsets and wide-ratio eightspeed cassettes, the two bikes offer the kind of gearing range cycle tourists once
THE PRICE IS SO REASONABLE THAT SEASONED CYCLISTS MIGHT WONDER IF EITHER IS UP TO THE JOB. FEAR NOT 6 2 C Y C L E JUN E/JU LY 2016
only dreamed of. Steel is used in place of aluminium for all three chainrings and the aluminium alloy cranks use an old-school (but effective) square-taper axle fitting. Ridgeback has gone for longer 175mm cranks. For all the arguments over this aspect of cycle design, longer cranks suit the lower cadences often chosen by touring cyclists, but unless the prospective purchaser has a preference, it’s hardly a deal-breaker. Shimano derailleurs ensure easy, reliable shifting, operated in both cases through Claris dual-control levers. These are proper STI units, with paddles for the shift to a smaller sprocket or chainring and a neat gear indicator window for those moments when you aren’t sure there’s another gear available. The Revolution’s Altus rear mech has a huge lower jockey wheel, which inexplicably enhances its appearance, but the silver painted finish on the bike’s front mech stands out on a
Above: Both bikes feature inexpensive square-taper bottom brackets, which will likely last longer than comparable external bearing units
BUDGET TOURERS | BIKETEST
RIDGEBACK TOUR Continental Contact tyres are okay for touring but these are 29mm wide not the nominal 32mm
REVOLUTION COUNTRY 1 Shimano Claris shifters are ‘proper’ STI units. No thumb-buttons here
CYCL I N G U K . OR G CYCL E
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Travellers’ tales
David arrived in Trondheim before the spring did
Photos: Pete Smith
Portugal to Norway Brecon Beacons bracken – uncharacteristically dry, like the weather
BRECON B IKING Neil Scarse and his ‘disagreeable’ friends headed to Wales for some summer sun
T
he Disagreeables, many of whom are Cycling UK members, are a group who cycle together most weeks along the quiet lanes of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. A couple of times a year, we go further afield. Last year, we took the mountain bikes to the Brecon Beacons. We knew the trails and scenery would be stunning, we knew the quality of the banter would be high, but we packed for a deluge. Instead of the rain, however, we experienced four days of perfect weather in an area justifiably popular with road and off-road cyclists. Setting out early from our homes in south London, we headed for our base in Talgarth – The Tower Hotel – and stocked up on cycle maps from the Tourist Information Centre. We had an easy-paced afternoon ride at the foot of the Black Mountains.
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The next day was our big ride. Starting from Brecon, we cycled along the canal before picking up the Brinore Tramroad, an early 19th century horsedrawn railway that used to run between Talybont-on-Usk and Trevil. It provided great views of the Talybont Reservoir – and a chance to catch our breath. We had another big climb up to our lunch stop before an even longer, and this time rocky, climb to the top of Pen Y Fan. After a dramatic mechanical, which left our friend Ian with four fewer spokes, no derailleur, and the need for a quick conversion to a singlespeed, we cautiously headed back down to Brecon where a local bike shop pulled out the stops to fix Ian’s bike. The next day was another stunning and tough day in the saddle. Yet we barely scratched the surface of what Wales has to offer. Given its nice cafés and pubs and friendly locals, we’re sure we’ll be back – and I’ll still pack my waterproof, just in case!
FROM EARLY MARCH TO EARLY MAY, DAVID WOODWARD FOLLOWED THE SPRING NORTH ape St Vincent is the south-westernmost point of Portugal, and for me the start of a 3,068 mile odyssey. It would take me 286 hours of cycling on my Thorn Expedition to arrive in Trondheim, Norway. My idea was to follow the spring north, although in Norway I met ice and snow. A quick passage through the Algarve was followed by 909 miles of inland Spain: heat, dust, deserted towns with shutters banging, significant climbing and long, exhilarating descents. My 595 miles through France included the Ardèche, the Rhône Valley and Alsace. Staying in vineyards provided an irresistible opportunity to sample local produce. Germany was full of cyclists, cycle paths and signed routes, but for a long-distance cyclist it proved surprisingly difficult to maintain momentum at times. A ferry took me to a rather drab Denmark, then another took me to my sixth country, Sweden. I was spellbound by the beauty of the lakes and trees, but was too early for the Vatternrundan, a 186-mile cycle ride around Lake Vattern. The Norwegian border was marked by snow falling, frozen lakes, climbing, chilly winds and welcoming saunas.
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