CYCLING UK’S NEW STRATEGY Page 40 On
Plus
CYCLING BACK IN TIME
ALUMINIUM ALL-ROUNDERS
RIDING THROUGH THE NIGHT AND MUCH MORE
KONA SUTRA SE ALT HANDLEBARS
CHALLENGE TYRES
ENDURA SHORTS & MORE
JUNE/JULY 2024
“The past is a foreign country,” wrote LP Hartley in The Go-Between, “they do things differently there.” He wasn’t writing about cycling, of course, but the sentiments apply. Many things in the cycling world have changed enormously as the decades have rolled by.
The incremental differences are easy to miss when you live through them. Yet if you set the date in your mental time machine to, say, the 1970s and pull the metaphorical, Wellsian lever, you emerge into a very different place.
The cars were smaller and there weren’t nearly as many of them. Those are upsides we’ve lost today, along with the freedom of children in particular to get around by bike. But the bikes themselves were largely worse in the 1970s. Choppers. Ten-speed racers. Small-wheel shoppers.
The bike I rode around Cannock Chase in the 1970s, long before the first mountain bikes had crossed the Atlantic and even longer before Cannock became a trail centre, was an everyday Raleigh whose only concession to off-road terrain was (eventually) a retrofitted wider handlebar. My first road bike, meanwhile, was a five-speed ‘racer’ with suicide brake levers.
Rob Ainsley discovered his own pros and cons in the article you can read in this issue. He also found confirmation of something that long-time cyclists know instinctively: the challenges, opportunities and technology may change as time passes but one thing remains largely the same – the joy of cycling.
34 Cycling back in time
An old bike and no gadgets: 1970s’ touring in 2024
40 The way ahead
Your first look at Cycling UK’s new five-year strategy
50 Dusk ’til dawn
The joys of cycling through the night
20 Shop Window
A cross-section of new products
22 Gear up
Components, accessories and books
60 Aluminium all-rounders
Dolan RDX and Kinesis R1 road bikes on test
66 Kona Sutra SE
A steel tourer that’s adventure ready
69 Alternative handlebars
Multi-position flat bars for long ride comfort
DAN JOYCE Editor04 Freewheeling
Bits and pieces from the bike world
07 This is Cycling UK
On the cover
How and why to become a Cycling UK trustee; Inclusive Cycling Experience programme; Create Streets report on active travel investment; our new long-distance routes; and more
18 You are Cycling UK
Cycling UK member Stephen Phillips
31 Letters
Your feedback on Cycle and cycling
47 Weekender
Coast to coast across Devon
54 Cyclopedia
Questions answered, topics explained
73 Travellers’ Tales
Cycling UK members’ ride reports
CYCLING UK: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX E: cycling@cyclinguk.org W: cyclinguk.org T: 01483 238300. Cycle promotes the work of Cycling UK. Cycle’s circulation is approx. 51,000. Cycling UK is one of the UK’s largest cycling membership organisations, with approx. 70,500 members and affiliates. President: Jon Snow Chief executive: Sarah Mitchell. Cyclists’ Touring Club, a Company Limited by Guarantee, registered in England No 25185, registered as a charity in England and Wales Charity No 1147607 and in Scotland No SC042541. Registered office: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX. CYCLE MAGAZINE: Editor: Dan Joyce E: editor@cyclinguk.org Designer: Christina Richmond Advertising: Jacob Tregear T: 0203 859 7100 E: jacob.tregear@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk Publisher: James Houston. Cycle is published six times per year on behalf of Cycling UK by James Pembroke Media, 90 Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BG. T: 01225 337777. Cycle is copyright Cycling UK, James Pembroke Media, and individual contributors. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from Cycling UK and James Pembroke Media is forbidden. Views expressed in the magazine are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the policies of Cycling UK. Advertising bookings are subject to availability, the terms and conditions of James Pembroke Media, and final approval by Cycling UK. Printed by: Acorn Web Offset Ltd, Loscoe Close, Normanton Industrial Estate, Normanton, WF6 1TW T: 01924 220633
Help us create new long-distance routes by donating today. Together we can develop more awe-inspiring routes in 2025
Since 2018 we’ve created several breathtaking adventure cycle routes across the UK, inspiring thousands of riders like you to connect with our rich history and stunning natural landscapes, enjoying the very best of the UK’s historic landmarks.
• Traws Eryri weaves 196km through one of the UK’s most dramatic mountain landscapes. With sweeping descents, gnarly climbs and rugged terrain throughout, the route promises to show you the best of the wilds of North Wales.
• The Rebellion Way is a 373km cycling adventure through Norfolk. Meandering along a mix of quiet and mostly flat back roads, byways, cycle paths and bridleways under huge panoramic skies, it’s a fantastic introduction to multi-day, on- and off-road adventuring for anyone.
In 2025 and beyond, we want to create more of these routes for you and for future generations so that more cyclists can enjoy and explore our spectacular landscape. This time we need your help to make it a reality. We’re raising funds to finance our work on new routes. Your donation today will bring new, awe-inspiring cycling adventures to life. It also helps to encourage sustainable tourism and support local businesses along our routes. You can be part of this adventure: donate today to make our new routes a reality for you and others like you.
• The Cantii Way takes its name from the Celtic tribe that inhabited the area during the Iron Age. Combining quirky coastal towns and dramatic chalk cliffs with the rolling hills of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, this is a 237km adventure to savour.
• The West Kernow Way takes in many of the highlights of the western half of the Cornish peninsula over 238km, including the Botallack tin mines, the Bronze Age monument Mên-an-Tol, Land’s End, St Michael’s Mount and Lizard Point. Expect spectacular coastal scenery, hedgerows bursting with wildflowers and ancient tracks across isolated moorland.
• King Alfred’s Way is a 350km circular offroad adventure route through 10,000 years of history, connecting some of southern England’s most iconic sites.
What’s more, your support will go further right now thanks to a generous matched funder. For every £1 you donate before the end of May, the Gill Foundation will kindly match your gift so you can double your impact. (Donations after the end of May are still welcome!) Scan the QR code or visit cyclinguk.org/longdistance-routes-appeal
As a member-driven charity, we’re deeply grateful for the support of our members and route lovers who have already given to our long-distance route appeal. We cannot continue work like this without the generosity you have shown. Thank you to those who have already supported us by raising £21,066 (as of 7 May). Your help can allow more people to enjoy the breathtaking British countryside.
We want you to be the first to know how our next route is developing. With your donation we will give you insider access. You will:
• Receive regular updates on the development of our route series
• Get early access to order the route guide
• Be sent the plotted route via GPX file on the day of launch
The Gill Foundation
Julie and Martin Gill from The Gill Foundation explain why they have supported and generously match funded our long-distance route appeal.
“We have been cycling for about 20 years, initially commuting then riding various organised sportives in different places, and then starting our own cycle club. Moving on from single-day rides, the appeal of seeking new horizons
SAM ROBERT
GREG KROLAK
In 2021 we embarked on the newly launched King Alfred’s Way. What followed was a week of epic weather and company on what was our first long-distance bikepacking adventure. A group of misfits with all sorts of kit and dubious fitness levels, navigating by photocopied map pages and coming together to enjoy a part of the UK we’d never experienced. Highlights were sleeping in beautiful meadows, getting close to Stonehenge, feeling the aura of the Avebury stones, talking a pub landlord into letting us camp in the beer garden, and experiencing a beach in the Surrey Hills. The memories will always live with us, and I personally cannot wait to make more. Thank you, Cycling UK!
encouraged us to undertake longer journeys both in the UK and Europe. Multi-day trips from Devon to London, around the Cotswolds, London to the South of France, NC500 and Norway to Spain opened our eyes to the joy of riding through amazing scenery, meeting new friends and keeping fit.
“We stumbled on some of the Cycling
After discovering and cycling the whole Cantii Way on my own, I decided to invite a couple of friends on a weekend bikepacking adventure. A group of friends, fantastic views, varied and interesting trails and lot of laughter – good times! We are all planning the next trip.
UK long-distance routes from watching GCN coverage and have now ridden King Alfred’s Way, the Cantii Way (several times) and the Rebellion Way. The Rebellion Way was a particular joy and is forming the basis of our cycle club’s spring tour this year!
“Talking through the enjoyment of riding these routes with family and friends, we felt
we wanted to support Cycling UK in its campaign to create a series of new UK based multi-day routes. These should allow riders to explore new parts of the country by cycle, enjoying historical sites and seeing incredible views from quiet roads and gravel and MTB trails. So there should be something for everyone. The routes should also open new sections of lost by-ways or closed access to make for new adventures.”
Five decades after his first cycle tour, Rob Ainsley tries 1970s touring in 2024: a gadgetless coast-tocoast journey on the Way of the Roses
Cycle touring is all about different places. But I wanted to travel in time, too. In April this year I did the Way of the Roses old style. I rode the 170 scenic, hilly, back-lane miles across northern England, from Morecambe to Bridlington, on a 1978 bike, with kit of the period, doing only what we could do then.
So: no Lycra; no gadgets; toeclips not cleats; saddlebag not panniers; paper maps not GPS; call boxes not mobiles; cash not cards; a 35mm SLR camera with black-and-white film; asking strangers for local information. Hmm... what about food and drink? Lager rather than cask ale? Could I have avocados or banoffee pie? Here’s how my ride through Britain’s least favourite decade worked out.
BEST OF TIMES, WORST OF TIMES: THE 1970S The 1970s’ reputation is dire. A murky decade of power cuts, strikes, inflation, casual racism and sexism, dull muddy football, smoky pubs that closed in the afternoons, terrible fashion (flares! kipper ties! comb-overs!) and dog poo on pavements (sometimes, strangely, white).
But for me as a teen, it was also an exciting time, a coming of age: first romance; first disappointment in romance; first job; first sacking; first proper bike. It also saw my first ever bike tour: a weekend from Hull to York via Selby, staying in youth hostels, on my new Raleigh Clubman. It rained, we met a magician, slept on a barge and had great fun.
Could I recapture some of that excitement today? First I needed to find myself a period bike. I scanned eBay, which mostly yielded rusty shed-finds wanting massive refurbishment. I checked supermarket small ads and saw one-careful-owner old rarities. I browsed bike restorers’ websites, finding meticulously reconstructed 1960s' racers costing my annual earnings, and perhaps destined for a fund manager’s wall.
But at Resurrection Bikes of Harrogate, which recycles donated bikes for charity, I struck gold. Or rather, silver: a 1978 Claud Butler Jubilee in very good nick, mostly original, for £150. Reynolds 531, Weinmann centrepulls, quick-release hubs, Brooks B17, down tube shifters, large flanges (whatever they are). My test ride brought back vivid memories of Seventies' bikes: taut, springy, narrow handlebars, with the knife-edge gliding momentum of a tall, slender ice skater.
Not everything was authentic. I was quite happy to have modern puncture-resistant tyres and the triple chainset that had been added at some point. It still had the ‘de luxe’ rack it came with, but to modern eyes it looks as flimsy as a coat hanger. Anyway, I wanted to try saddlebag touring, and Carradice kindly supplied me with a Nelson Camper Longflap, newly made but to the traditional pattern:
a capacious Gladstone bag of a thing, strappy and accommodating.
Cycling friends lent me lights, maps and a cycling cape of the era. Lock? I vaguely remembered having a padlock and chain back then, so replicated the setup from a local hardware shop.
I was ready to set off, heading for nearly 50 years ago.
The Way of the Roses is lovely – arguably England’s most popular long-distance leisure cycling route. Much of the attraction is the timeless business of quiet roads through thrilling scenery, with a pleasing balance of remoteness, café-stop villages, handsome old towns, honeypot York, and seaside resorts (with train access) at either end. Some people do it in a day; others, like me, take a more leisurely four.
For such trundlers, dawdling through the hills, classic stopovers are Settle, Ripon and Pocklington, making four consistent days of 40 or so miles.
SAM WALLER
Cycling UK brand, marketing and communications manager
CYCLING UK’S NEW FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY LAUNCHES THIS SUMMER. SAM WALLER OUTLINES WHAT WE’LL BE DOING TO FULLY REALISE CYCLING’S EXTRAORDINARY POTENTIAL AS A FORCE FOR GOOD
From improving our health and wellbeing to tackling climate change and creating more pleasant places to live and spend time, cycling delivers an extraordinary range of benefits. As we get ready to launch Cycling UK’s new five-year strategy, we are focused on fully realising the vast potential of cycling to help people and society.
A huge amount has changed in the external environment since our previous strategy started in early 2019. We’re proud of the achievements you enabled us to secure during that time: winning vital improvements to the Highway Code; helping hundreds of thousands of people to discover the joys of cycling; creating iconic new routes to help people explore the UK’s stunning landscapes; and bringing you exciting new member
Our vision: happier, healthier and greener lives through cycling.
Our mission: we enable and inspire people from all backgrounds and abilities to experience cycling’s joys and benefits. We speak up for all who cycle to make sure it’s a safe and easy choice for everyone to travel, explore and have fun. Our charity works with diverse partners to maximise our impact.
Our purpose: we improve lives, places and the planet through cycling’s remarkable benefits. We are powered by our heritage and expertise, and the passion of our staff, supporters and volunteers.
benefits. We’re now ready to build on these achievements with a bold and ambitious plan – one that you helped to shape by sharing your views in our surveys and focus groups over the past year.
Among the themes from your feedback was the importance of our campaigning work – from making roads safer to securing more high-quality cycling infrastructure. Another common thread was the desire to see more people cycling, particularly the next generation, with all the benefits that brings. Cycling can be a powerful force for good, a potent solution to some of the biggest problems our society faces. We now aim to fully harness this potential.
Many of you emphasised the value of our support for member and affiliate groups, plus the insurance cover and other member benefits you receive. As a charity we are powered by our members and
supporters, so providing the best possible membership experience is a vital aspect of our new strategy.
We know that there’s one thing that unites us all: we all love getting on our bikes and going out for a ride. It’s our goal to make the UK an even better and more positive place to cycle, no matter where or why you ride, or what type of cycle you use. We are in a unique position to deliver on this mission thanks to you –representing our members for the past 145 years has given us the expertise and mandate to make this change possible.
In order to shape our work for the next five years, we have agreed on five new strategic objectives, which will help to ensure our efforts are focused on the things that will have the biggest positive impact. While there isn’t space to share every detail here, we want to give you a flavour of what we will be doing under each of those objectives.
While we all know that cycling is a force for good, some people view cycling less positively. Research shows us that this is a noisy minority but they can be influential, and these views are widely covered by some parts of the media. Convincing more people that cycling is broadly a good thing is a crucial factor in persuading more politicians and decision-makers to support and invest in cycling.
We will change perceptions by consistently making the positive case for cycling. One of the tools we will use is ‘framing’, which is about the language we use and how we can most effectively
present information and arguments in a way that will engage and persuade our audiences. As part of our new strategy, we will commission research into the ways we can most effectively make the case for cycling. Because we want to see consistent and effective messaging from all cycling campaigners, we will share this research with the wider community so together we can all have more impact.
It’s also crucial that we challenge the perception of who rides a bike. People who cycle come from all walks of life – there is no such thing as a ‘typical cyclist’. We’ll be proving that by showcasing stories from across our supporter base that demonstrate anyone and everyone can benefit from time on a bike.
Shifting public perceptions won’t be easy. It’s a major task and it certainly won’t happen overnight. However, as our director of external affairs Sarah McMonagle says, Cycling UK is up for the challenge: “Improving public perceptions of cycling is a really significant task, but it’s one we’re committed to tackling head-on. We know that if we can build a clear consensus that more people moving about by bike is a positive thing, it will put us in a strong position to secure increased support and investment in cycling. This is crucial to unlocking our other strategic objectives, including enabling many more people to start cycling.
“We won’t be able to do this alone. Developing new partnerships and coalitions with a broader range of organisations that have crossover interests in things like environment, health and wellbeing will be essential. Partnership working is also something you our
Many people would assume cycling in a group is an elite sport for (primarily) male participants wearing Lycra and shoes that make a strange clickety-clackety noise when they dismount their carbon fibre machines to drink double espressos in a trendy café –if they stop at all during their 100-mile blast.
Happily, however, there are now groups working towards encouraging greater participation by people from communities that haven’t, until now, felt as if they ‘belonged’ in cycling at all. Nicola Carass is co-founder of the Cycling UK-affiliated New Forest Off-Road Club, which “centres on the experience of women, trans and non-binary people”, with some riders also at the intersection of perceived barriers such as disability, age or body size.
The group has a mission “to increase representation in the outdoors by providing guided, matriarchal experiences” and to supply the tools for others to do the same. ‘How to build community' workshops explain how the group is “dismantling the patriarchy, one ride at a time” and “guide others through how to start their own mission-led vibe”.
Nicola advocates cultivating a culture of community, compassion and tolerance when it comes to attracting people from underrepresented backgrounds to cycling. Her top tips for creating a space where everyone feels confident and connected include the following.
• Remove barriers such as expensive branded jerseys and other cycling kit. Let people to wear whatever they feel comfortable in.
• Don’t comment on or criticise their choice of bike unless it’s unsafe. “Recognise the inequality in bike ownership and make concessions and adjustments where needed.”
• Lead with empathy and vulnerability, focusing on community and opportunities for social contact above the amount of mileage covered.
• Assume everyone is doing their best. All mistakes provide a learning opportunity.
• Create a mission, vision and principles based on a shared mindset that reflects your group’s ethos.
• Equip people with the skills they need to become confident ride leaders, guides and mechanics by reinvesting any surplus funds into the group.
• Recognise that cliques can arise and take steps to ensure that everyone feels included.
• Focus on the pleasure of cycling and “recognise the glory of the matriarchy!”
• Form allyships with like-minded organisations and individuals.
• Celebrate difference and diversity so that people come for the riding but become ‘accidental activists’.
• Establish a network of facilitators from early adopters of the above principles.
Have a culture of ‘smiles not miles’ Create rides around a theme or food, such as a ‘pie ride’
Promote rides with interesting destinations
Take time to learn people’s preferred pronouns
she/her he/him they/them
Cycling UK has a wide range of articles and resources for groups looking to attract a more diverse audience or people who wish to set up their own cycling clubs. From an Introduction to EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) webinar to an EDI officer toolkit to tips on how to set up a new group and welcome people to it, we’ve got it covered. Affiliation to Cycling UK also brings with it the benefit of peace of mind when it comes to having insurance for your activities, as long as they are run in accordance with our guidelines.
cyclinguk.org/local-groups
cyclinguk.org/new-forestoff-road-club
Avoid creating cliques by not only riding alongside people like you
DAN JOYCE
Dan is 177cm tall (5ft 9 1/2in) and weighs 63.5kg (10st). He rides with his local club’s fast group, despite unfashionably high handlebars on all his bikes
Fancy a road bike that isn’t an overly expensive one-trick pony? Dan Joyce tests two from British brands: a Dolan RDX and a Kinesis R1
Road bikes that will take wider tyres, mudguards and a rack tend to be branded winter bikes or commuters.
The implication is that proper road bikes are too thoroughbred and expensive for such tasks. Too expensive might be right; some cost £12,000! But it’s odd to make a virtue out of a lack of versatility. What’s not to like about a road bike that will tackle everything from commuting and club runs through to sportives, lightweight touring and even some gravel rides? The fact that you don’t need a dentist’s salary to buy one is a bonus.
The bikes on test, both from British brands, cost around £1,500. Both have nice aluminium frames, full carbon forks, tubeless-ready wheels, hydraulic disc brakes and decent drivetrains – Shimano 105 and SRAM Apex. They weigh just under 10kg, which isn't too heavy unless you’re a whippet-thin racer,
and they both have a riding position that’s ‘endurance’ rather than ‘race’. For most purposes, that’s better.
The Dolan RDX is offered in four different builds, each of which can be fine tuned further using the configuration options on Dolan’s website. The R1 is Kinesis’s gravel-influenced road bike. Unlike the Dolan – and its own R2 stablemate – it has a 1× drivetrain.
The test bikes are different sizes because, at 177cm tall (5ft 9 1/2in), I’m invariably borderline between M (54cm) and L (56cm). I often pick L in road bikes because that results in a taller head tube, and thus less back strain, and more toe room. The longer reach can be fixed with a shorter stem – one of the options available with Dolan’s bike configurator. The Kinesis comes as it comes. The medium looked like
it would fit me better out of the box than the large. It did – albeit with toe overlap that the large would have avoided.
Both bikes are neatly TIG welded from butted aluminium tubes. The down tubes are biaxially ovalised – vertically at the head tube and laterally at the bottom bracket – to improve strength and stiffness where it’s needed. Although the Dolan and Kinesis tube profiles differ, I didn’t notice any difference in stiffness. Cables and hoses are internally routed, which is both neat and annoying. The Dolan goes further (and fiddlier) in running the rear brake hose and derailleur cable through the chainstays.
First look Versatile, good value road bike with big clearances, 12-speed 105 and à la carte options
Tech spec
without. The Dolan is listed as taking tyres up to 32mm with guards and 35mm without, but my vernier callipers say it will run 35mm with guards and 42mm without – and perhaps wider still.
The Dolan RDX is offered in four different builds, each of which can be fine-tuned using the configuration options on the Dolan website
RDX 12S 105 R7120
Price: £1,509.97 as tested (from £1,449.98, frameset £499.99).
Sizes: 49, 52, 54, 56 (tested), 58cm.
Weight: 9.95kg/21.9lb.
Top: Tubeless-compatible rims but not tyres
Bottom: These are nominally 32mm but plump up to 35mm on the wide Mavic rims
In terms of geometry and frame clearances, the Dolan and Kinesis resemble gravel bikes as much as endurance road bikes. They have: a taller front end, which is more comfortable; a head angle of 72 degrees, which gives a bit more stabilising trail than 73-74 degrees; and room for bigger tyres. The Kinesis will take 30mm tyres with mudguards (maybe 32mm) and 36mm
Both bikes have fittings for mudguards and a rear rack. The Kinesis has mounts for two bottle cages, the Dolan three; there’s an extra set under the down tube. I prefer the 68mm threaded bottom bracket shell of the Kinesis to the Dolan’s press-fit but it’s not a deal breaker. I’d fit a screw-together bottom bracket from (for example) Wheels Manufacturing when the Dolan’s bottom bracket needed replacing. This would keep the bearings aligned and (in theory) problem free.
Like Ribble, whose Endurance SL Disc Sport I tested recently (cyclinguk.org/ endurance-road-bikes), Dolan has an extensive component selection menu. I really like this, not so much because you can add accessories or upgrades –although that’s nice – but because you
Frame & fork: Triple-butted 7005 aluminium frame with press-fit BB, 142×12mm axle and fittings for rear rack, mudguard, three bottles. Full carbon fork with tapered steerer, 100×12mm axle and mudguard fittings.
Wheels: 32-622
Vittoria Zaffiro Pro 2.0 tyres, Mavic Allroad Disc wheels (tubeless compatible 622×22 aluminium rims, 24×2 spokes, Mavic Center Lock hubs).
Transmission: no pedals, 170mm 105-R7100 chainset, 50-34 chainrings, Shimano BB86 bottom bracket, Shimano M6100 chain, Shimano 105 R7100 12-speed 11-36 cassette. Shimano 105 R7120 levers and R7100 derailleurs. 24 ratios, 26-124in. Brakes: Shimano 105 R7120 levers and callipers, 160mm/ 140mm f/r rotors. Steering & seating: 380×31.8mm Deda Zero RHM bar, 80mm×8º Deda Zero 1 stem, Alpina 1 1/8-1 1/2 F35 headset. Selle Italia X3 Boost Flow saddle, 27.2×350mm Alpina setback seatpost. dolan-bikes.com
A flat handlebar gives you one hand position, which isn’t always comfortable. Sam Jones reviews four alternatives with a choice of handholds
Sam is access lead in the Surrey Hills and a keen bikepacker
Alternative handlebars (‘alt bars’) are designed primarily for long-distance off-road riding, where comfort and capability on tricky terrain are key design factors. They’re a subset of the flat bar found on mountain bikes and hybrids, and offer a multitude of different hand positions.
A standard flat bar gives you just one, which works fine for control off road but locks you into that handhold. If you ride for any great length or time, no matter the terrain, being able to change your hand position is always welcome. That’s where alt bars excel.
These bars are often designed with bikepacking in mind. Compared to drop bars, they are more compatible with handlebar rolls and not as restrictive in terms of luggage and accessory space.
If swapping to these bars, it’s worth bearing in mind that their width may mean that you need longer cables, housings and hoses – though that’s less likely if coming from a modern mountain bike with a wider bar.
One bar missing from this test is the On-One Geoff, which is a cheaper copy of the Jones. We’ve reviewed that at cyclinguk.org/geoff-handlebar. (Tester Dan Joyce now has two.)
Cycle’s test promise
At Cycle, we are proudly independent. There’s no pressure to please advertisers as we’re funded by your membership. Our product reviews aren’t press releases; they’re written by experienced cyclists after thorough testing.
1 Hand positions
Loops, ‘horns’, grip length: all provide more options for hand placement, which is vital to relieve hand fatigue. Bars with a lot of sweep give you more choice in how you sit, from leaning forward to an upright Dutch style (assuming long grips are fitted).
2 Luggage/ accessories
Loops have an additional benefit for loaded riders: making your bar roll more secure without the need for a harness. Additionally, all that extra tubing means room for lights, GPS, bells, baguettes and so on.
Most alt bars are aluminium. Steel, titanium and carbon bars are available,
with different benefits usually offset by increased price. In likefor-like comparisons, non-aluminium bars reportedly soak up more trail buzz.
4 Dimensions
All those tested are 700-800mm wide and have a 31.8mm stem clamp area. Greater width gives control on technical terrain and space for luggage. Too much width complicates tight woodland trails and train travel!
Like a standard riser bar, a bar that curves upwards puts the hand positions higher, sitting you a bit more upright and taking the strain off your back. This can be of particular benefit to taller riders looking for improved comfort on long rides.
Exotic destinations aren’t required for cycling holidays. Mark Siddall had a great family trip near home
We love getting away on long-haul holidays but it is extra special to take a break locally, reducing our carbon footprint, costs and stress levels all at the same time. Bike touring with children and a dog might not sound easy or fun but with the bike paths in our region it’s easily achievable. Home-to-home touring makes life much simpler.
The four of us left from home on the Saturday of February half term on our two Circe Helios tandems, with Biddy our border terrier on the back. One of the tandems has Shimano STEPS electric assist, making it easier to carry spare clothes and wet weather gear. Our route took us through Over to Highnam, all on bike paths. We then took the lanes through Tibberton and Birdwood, where we enjoyed a cracking full English.
After Flaxley and Little Dean, we went on through the Forest of Dean to Park End, where we stayed overnight. The Fountain Inn looked after our bikes and us very well. From Park End we rode on the next day to St Briavels before enjoying Chepstow Castle and a lovely pizza for dinner. The Beaufort Inn kept our bikes nice and safe in the ballroom.
Day three took us over the old Severn Bridge, which has a bike path
along both sides. It was a special experience to be suspended 100 metres in the air above the estuary.
From the Bristol side of the Severn Estuary, we rode back through lovely, wide and empty lanes through Berkeley, where we stopped at a tea room. Our final overnight stay was at the Tudor Inn in Slimbridge. The old skittle alley had no one using it and so we had a really fun evening enjoying pub skittles.
Our last day was on familiar territory, along the canal to Frampton and then back along the lanes through Saul and, finally, home to Quedgeley outside Gloucester. It was a very special time. We always had something to do and experience together. The trip gave us memories to last a lifetime – and with a very low carbon footprint.
Snowdonia’s roads make for a spectacular day out, as Jim Wright discovered
THE WILD WALES Challenge was named after the book ‘Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery’, by Victorian rambler George Borrow. Each August bank holiday for the last 39 years, riders have followed a choice of hilly routes through Snowdonia: long (95 miles this year) or ‘short’ (65). Both have lots of climbing.
Last year I rode the shorter version with my son and daughter. The start was Bala Rugby Club. We meandered down the east shore of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid), tracking the narrow-gauge steam railway. Turning left just before Llanuwchllyn, we started the tough climb up Bwlch y Groes.
The descent into Dinas Mawddwy is long and steep, as the 11 arrows on the OS map confirm. It was a lovely late summer day as we descended into Dinas and then climbed over Ochr y Bwlch to arrive at the first feed station at Brithdir. The route then took us via Coed y Brenin forest among a myriad of quiet lanes, eventually following the Afon Wen towards Pont Aber.
Avoiding Llan Ffestiniog, we stopped to admire the Rhaeadr y Cwm waterfall. Shadows lengthened as we neared Llyn Celyn reservoir, and the sudden drop in air temperature reminded us that autumn was approaching. Back at Bala we collected our commemorative Welsh slate plaques.
For those wishing to try the 2024 version, visit merseysidectc.co.uk/wwc