Incycle25

£7.95 I SS UE 2 5 SUM M ER 2017 INSIDE THE WORLD OF ELITE PERFORMANCE CYCLING BROUGHT TO YOU BY SADDLEBACK

R OA D E D I T I O N

C H A S I N G T H E P E L O T O N | E X P L O R I N G W I T H 3 T | M A S T E R T H E 1 0 - M I L E T T | I N S I D E L E T O U R | S TA G E S D A S H G U I D E

£7.95 I SS UE 2 5 SUM M ER 2017 INSIDE THE WORLD OF ELITE PERFORMANCE CYCLING BROUGHT TO YOU BY SADDLEBACK

M O U N TA I N B I K E E D I T I O N

T H E M 2 9 P R OJ E C T | B I K E S B AC K T H E N | H OW T R A I L S A R E B O R N | T R OY L E E ’ S B E S T H E L M E T S | F O R T W I L L I A M

I N CYC L E BY SA D D L E BAC K

Whether at work or play, passion for cycling runs through everything we do at Saddleback. During our nine-to-five, we’re lucky enough to work with the world’s best elite performance brands. Meanwhile, mornings, evenings, weekends and lunch hours are devoted to riding for number-crunching performance, stay-fast fitness or just to soak up the exhilarating feeling of the great outdoors.

Incycle magazine is the result of that complete dedication to cycling and our expression of love for the sport. It’s our goal to share content that brings you closer to riding, encapsulating everything that gets our hearts pumping from the exhausted jubilation of conquering a col to the pulserocketing thrill of taming a tough downhill run and everything in between. We hope you enjoy it.

3 T C YC L I N G / A LC H E M Y B I C YC L E CO. / C A S T E L L I C YC L I N G C H R I S K I N G / E N V E / I N T E N S E C YC L E S / R OTO R B I K E CO M P O N E N T S / S I D I S I L C A / S TA G E S C YC L I N G / T R OY L E E D E S I G N S

CONTRIBUTORS

EDITOR IN CHIEF / DESIGN NICK COX

EDITOR

TOM BALLARD

SENIOR WRITER DANIEL OAKSHOTT

CONTRIBUTORS

TOM BALLARD, NICK COX, DECLAN DEEHAN, KIM VAN DIJK, DAN DUGUID, ROSS GRIMMETT, ANDREW HOOD, TROY LEE, RICHARD MARDLE, RIC MCLAUGHLIN, JAMES MCKNIGHT, DANIEL OAKSHOTT, BEN PLENGE, BENJAMIN SHARP, JEFF STEBER, PAUL TYSALL

PHOTOGRAPHERS

ARD ROCK, GEORGE ACTON, TOM BALLARD, JAMES BOWDEN, NICK COX, LAURENCE CROSSMAN-EMMS, DARTMOOR CLASSIC, MARC GASCH, JERED GRUBER, NATHAN HUGHES, IAN LEAN, SVEN MARTIN, IAN MATTESON, JOBY SESSIONS, TIM DE WAELE

PRINTED BY

APPLE COLOUR, BRISTOL UK, ON RECYCLED PAPER

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS

JEFF STEBER

The Intense founder talks the rise, fall and rise of the 29er downhill bike.

T R OY LEE

The man himself picks out five of his favourite custom helmet paint jobs.

ANDREW HOOD

VeloNews’ European correspondent looks back on 21 years at Le Tour.

RIC McLAUGHLIN

MTB journalist Ric delves into the dark art of trail and pump track building with Duncan Ferris.

I N C YC L E .CO. U K | S A D D L E B AC K .CO. U K S A D D L E B A C K L I M I T E D 1 2 A P O L L O P A R K , A R M S T R O N G W AY, YA T E , B R I S T O L B S 3 7 5 A H

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JAMES MCKNIGHT

Writer and racer James ruminates on MTB exploration when bikes were less than perfection.

EDITOR’S WELCOME

I SS UE 25 S U MM E R 2 01 7 INSIDE THE WORLD OF ROAD AND MOUNTAIN BIKING BROUGHT TO YOU BY SADDLEBACK

We’ve come a long way in the past four years. From starting out as a slim booklet informing UK bike shops of the latest products and reviews, we have grown into the fully-fledged publication you hold in your hands today – content that’s all empowered by Saddleback.

Incycle was born out of a desire to inform and inspire through the brands that we look after. We’re lucky enough to work with the very best in the road and mountain worlds – 3T, Alchemy, Castelli, Chris King, ENVE, Intense, Rotor, Sidi, Silca, Stages and Troy Lee Designs.

It’s a prestigious list that makes us confident to tell it like it is as we share our excitement and love for all things cycling with you.

So it is that we present Incycle 25: built on a four-year heritage, but something new and special. You’ll find the latest products, news, insider knowledge and features written by some of the leading journalists in the cycling industry, brand creators and our own cycling experts.

No matter if you’re a mountain biker or a roadie, there’s plenty here for anyone who loves cycling and maybe even something to tempt you to ‘the other side’. Let’s face it, the lines are now blurring between road and mountain. Road to train – mountain to thrash; road to race – mountain to let off steam. The bottom line: if you’re on two wheels you’re bound to be smiling!

So, whether you’re on your sofa, coffee-shop chair or workshop stool, sit back and gorge yourself on all things elite performance cycling.

N I C K COX E D I TO R - I N - C H I E F / D E S I G N

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Nick and Richard bond at the playground during this issue’s Style Guide photoshoot (p44)

CONTENTS

ON THE COVER

Jack Moir – Intense Factory Racing Photographer: Nathan Hughes Mont-Sainte-Anne 2017 Chris Froome – Team Sky Photographer: Tim De Waele Tour de France 2017

08 T H E G A L L E R Y

44 S T Y L E G U I D E

58 I N S I D E L E T O U R

104 S TA F F R I D E

TOUR DE FRANCE WINNING, 3T EXPLORING, SUNSET DREAMING: OUR FAVOURITE RECENT CYCLING IMAGES

WHETHER YOU’RE A DIE-HARD ROADIE OR A DIRT-SEEKING DOWNHILLER, LOOKING GOOD IS IMPORTANT

FROM TELEGRAPHS TO SMARTPHONES: HOW TDF COVERAGE HAS CHANGED THROUGH THE AGES

TECHNICAL PRODUCT SPECIALIST ROSS GRIMMETT SHOWS OFF HIS BRAND-NEW 3T EXPLORO TEAM

18 N E W S R O U N D U P

48 T E C H

66 T H E G R E AT E S C A P E

106 S TA F F C O L U M N S

INTENSE RACING UK’S GB CALL-UP, CYCLING HISTORY AT THE ROULEUR

SERVICING CHRIS KING HUBS AND SETTING UP A STAGES DASH – WE

SADDLEBACK ADVENTURE SEEKERS TAKE 3T’S GO-ANYWHERE EXPLORO

RICHARD, DECLAN, NICK AND TOM TALK SELF-CONSCIOUS CYCLING NONSENSE

CLASSIC, AND MORE

SHOW YOU HOW

BIKE INTO THE SCOTTISH WILDS

IN THIS ISSUE’S STAFF RAMBLINGS

20 F O R T W I L L I A M

52 F O O D

74 B A C K T H E N

108 I N S TA G R A M S

MTB JUNKIE DECLAN DEEHAN IS ON CLOUD NINE AS INTENSE TEAMS LIGHT UP FORT BILL

SLOW ROAST TOMATOES AND FLAT MUSHROOMS WITH A POACHED EGG, WILTED SPINACH, TOASTED MUFFIN, AND BACON LARDONS

THE THRILL OF ALPINE EXPLORING IS AN ENDURING ONE, BUT THE MODERN MOUNTAIN BIKE’S EVOLUTION HAS MADE IT A LOT EASIER

A SELECTION OF BEAUTIFUL SQUARE PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF SADDLEBACK’S BRAND PARTNERS

54 T R A I N I N G

80 T H E M 2 9 P R O J E C T

SMASHING YOUR 10-MILE TT THE INTELLIGENT WAY, PLUS CORE TRAINING FOR MOUNTAIN BIKERS

JEFF STEBER CHARTS THE COURSE OF THE 29ER DOWNHILL BIKE, FROM A DISCARDED 2009 EXPERIMENT TO A RACE-WINNING REALITY

MOUNTAIN BIKE PHOTOGRAPHER AND ALL-ROUND NICE GUY, STEVE BEHR, SHARES WITH US WHAT IT TAKES TO GET THE PERFECT SHOT.

24 A R D R O C K E N D U R O ROSS GRIMMETT HEADS BACK TO ARDROCK FOR ITS AWESOME RIDING AND AMAZING ATMOSPHERE

28 D A R T M O O R C L A S S I C JULY SAW THE SADDLEBACK CREW LOAD UP THEIR VANS FOR ONE OF THE UK’S MOST POPULAR SPORTIVES

86 O U R T O U R AT THIS YEAR’S TDF, SADDLEBACK BRANDS WERE WITH THE WORLD’S BEST RIDERS EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

32 F R E S H P R O D U C E HOT, NEW AND BEAUTIFUL BIKES AND GEAR FROM OUR ROAD AND MOUNTAIN BIKING PARTNERS

94 T H E D I G G E R TRAIL-BUILDING EXPERT DUNCAN FERRIS DISCUSSES THE DARK ART OF DIGGING AND CREATING THE MAGICAL THING THEY CALL ‘FLOW’

40 T O P F I V E TROY LEE CASTS A FOND EYE OVER HIS FIVE FAVOURITE CUSTOM-PAINTED MTB HELMETS

100 S H O P F O C U S

41 AT H L E T E S U C C E S S

ANDY ROWLANDS OF CARMARTHEN’S CRANC CYCLESPORT TALKS BIKE

OUR INTENSE RACING UK TEAM’S ACHIEVEMENTS SINCE JUNE 2017

FITTING, OTT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND BRINGING HIGH-END TO WEST WALES

42 T W E N T Y Q U E S T I O N S PARALYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST TURNED 3T EXPLORER KIM VAN DIJK TELLS ALL

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109 F I N A L T H O U G H T

110 N E X T M O N T H A QUICK TEASE OF WHAT TO EXPECT IN OUR NEXT ISSUE – OUT IN DECEMBER

CHRIS KOVARIK – INTENSE CYCLES KOVARIK GETTING LOOSE ON THE NEW INTENSE CARBINE PHOTO: LAURENCE CROSSMAN-EMMS

THE 3T EXPLORO BIKE FIRE TOWER, MONTANA, USA PHOTO: MARC GASCH

CHRIS FROOME – TEAM SKY RIDING TO HIS FOURTH TOUR DE FRANCE VICTORY PHOTOGRAPH: TIM DE WAELE

JACK MOIR – INTENSE FACTORY RACING PRACTICE DAY AT MONT ST ANNE PHOTOGRAPH: SVEN MARTIN

ENVE THE SUN SETTING ON A BEAUTIFUL BIKE PHOTOGRAPH: IAN MATTESON

NEWS ROUND UP

NEWSROUNDUP

JUNE - AUGUST 2017

A QUICK SPIN THROUGH THE NEWS FROM SADDLEBACK’S WORLD XC

LAST FIRST IN 20 YEARS

Stages athlete Annie Last won the Lenzerheide UCI World Cup XCO event – the first British woman to win an XC World Cup since 1997.

ENDURO

TRI

SLOPESTYLE

GOSSAGE TAKES 4TH IMUK

GILL ON TOP IN CANADA

TLD athlete Martha Gill of Team Marin topped the podium at the EWS Crankworx in Whistler, winning the under-21 cat by 3:53.50.

Pro triathlete and cancer doctor Lucy Gossage is now on Stages and scored her fourth IMUK victory and third win at 70.3 Staffordshire.

SEMENUK WINS CRANKWORX

Troy Lee Designs athlete Brandon Semenuk smashed the Red Bull Joyride at Crankworx Whistler, taking the win for the fifth time.

PRODUCT LAUNCH

ENVE LAUNCH AT BPW With the help of Saddleback, ENVE held the global launch for its latest mountain bike wheel range at BikePark Wales in August. The awesome trails, infrastructure and fully-loaded coffee-shop made BPW the perfect venue to present the wheels, which feature new widths and rim protection tech to all but eliminate pinch flats, as well as giving dealers and the media the chance for extended rides on a variety of fast, technical trails.

SADDLEBACK

GO-KARTS A GO-GO

PHOTO: 3T CYCLING

PHOTO: NICK COX

Saddleback’s end-of-year is traditionally celebrated by a summer staff outing – and for 2017 we took to the race track for some Le Mans-style go-karting. Each team of five had to complete the most laps possible within two hours. Despite brand director Richard Mardle setting the fastest laps of the night, the winning team was Sarah and the Skidmarks, captained by company founder and director, Sarah Wigmore.

EVENTS

SADDLEBACK TO HEADLINE ROULEUR CLASSIC

BRAND NEWS

This year’s Rouleur Classic, taking place on 2-4 November at Victoria House, London, will offer an even more monumental celebration of road cycling than usual thanks to Saddleback’s exclusive History of Elite Performance exhibition.

Attendees will be invited to take a trip through the racing history of our brands in a special area of the show highlighting the sport’s most important technological advancements.

Castelli, Sidi, 3T, Stages, Rotor, and Chris King will all be featured along with some kit used by famous names from the peloton. The History of Elite Performance exhibition will be integral to this year’s show, combining with the roster of cycling royalty and the sport’s most prestigious brands to create a truly luxury showgoing experience.

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3T FINDS A NEW HOME AT SADDLEBACK Building on over 50 years of racing heritage, 3T has chosen to take its next steps with Saddleback as the Italian marque seeks to explore cycling’s boundaries with exciting new products.

“3T is one of cycling’s most innovative companies,” said Richard Mardle, Saddleback’s brand director. “We look forward to working closely with the 3T team as the brand enters an exciting new phase of product launches and development.”

PHOTO: IAN LEAN

NEWS ROUND UP

CONTENT SITE

RACING

GB CALL-UP FOR INTENSE RACING UK STARS

SADDLEBACK JOURNAL COMING SOON We will soon be launching Saddleback Journal, the new online home for all of our original content. We’ll be bridging the gap between issues of Incycle by covering the latest news from our brands and athletes, bringing you the best new gear, reporting on our favourite cycling events, providing fresh product guides and giving you an archive of all the excellent features you can read in this very magazine. The site will be found at www.saddleback.co.uk/journal.

As if Intense Racing UK hadn’t enjoyed a successful enough start as a brand-new team on the national circuit, we were thrilled to find out that two of our riders – Charlie Hatton (elite) and Joe Breedon (junior) – had been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, held in Cairns, Australia, this September.

NEW FACE

“Charlie and Joe have been riding amazingly well this season, so it’s incredibly rewarding for them to get the call-up to the GB team,” said team mastermind and Intense / TLD brand manager, Martin Astley. “It’s also massively satisfying for us that we’ve been able to help these guys get the support and exposure they deserve to achieve this in our very first year as a team. Regardless of the result in Oz, just the fact they’ve been selected is a real validation that we’re going about things in the right way.”

ANDREW MASSEY JOINS SADDLEBACK Andrew Massey has joined Saddleback’s wheel-building team where he’ll work with fellow builder Charles Coleman. Andy joins us from Mud Dock in Bristol, where he served as head mechanic and workshop manager – gaining several years’ ENVE and Chris King wheel-building experience along the way.

FOR OUR DEALERS CITRUS-LIME

Saddleback is now partnered with Citrus-Lime’s Supplier Integration Module (SIM), making it even more convenient for Citrus-Lime users to range our elite performance brands. Rapid product import, automatic product information, easy updates and at-a-glance stock levels are just some of the features on offer.

MEDIA SITE

Saddleback’s media site is now up and running.

Packed with high-resolution product and lifestyle images, catalogues, marketing materials, brand guidelines and more, the media site is the place for dealers to find the brand support they need.

To receive access, email mediasite@saddleback. co.uk with your details and we’ll get you set up.

PHOTO STUDIO

Saddleback has invested in a new, fully kittedout photo studio at our HQ. This facility will help us to produce striking lifestyle imagery as well as giving us the ability to address product photography where none is provided by our brands. Such photos will also be shared through our new media site, giving easy access to assets.

FOR THE LATEST NEWS HEAD OVER TO WWW.SADDLEBACK.CO.UK

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EVENTS

FORT WILLIAM DH WORLD CUP 2017 MTB junkie Declan Deehan is on cloud nine as Intense teams light up Fort Bill WORDS: DECLAN DEEHAN PHOTOS: NICK COX

In early June, Saddleback returned to Aonach Mor for the fourth consecutive year for undeniably the most exciting mountain biking event on the UK calendar, known to most as Fort Bill. This year was going to be different though – we had more space, more brands, more to give away and our own race team in the form of Intense Racing UK. Everything was set for a great event.

The vans were packed with X-Gloos (also known as fancy blow-up event tents), mannequins, show bikes, show kit, prizes, sofas, copious quantities of beer and Haribo and seven humans full of methane. Then we were on the road. Between the coffee stops taken, repeated shotguns called by our head of creative, Coxy, and unending flows of opinion back and forth as to whether 29ers were going to rule in the Highlands, we were rolling into the familiar town before we knew it.

Regardless of whether you’re working at the Fort Bill World Cup or visiting as a spectator, it’s impossible not to get excited when arriving in this small town, which swells to many times its normal population for the race – especially when you know a white pudding supper is going to be had. Seriously, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!

Hard work on Wednesday evening meant setup was soon mostly out of the way, so what next? A staff ride, that’s what. You simply can’t come to Fort William and not take advantage of the trail delights on offer; having done so, it comes as no surprise this neck of the woods produces so many great riders.

On Thursday, we finished off our massive Saddleback stand, which consisted of two segments: an exhibition area showcasing the hottest products from Intense, ENVE and TLD; and our chillout zone where every man and his dog were welcome. The main attractions were the sofas – perfect for kicking back and speculating about results – and the plentiful supplies of chilled beer and snacks. Frankly, it was awesome.

Oh, and I mustn’t forget the lighting. We had what I think is a world first for absolute outdoor decadence – our ENVE and Chris King chandelier. If you tell me that’s not the coolest thing ever, I won’t believe you.

FRAME COMPETITION

Last year we gave away an Intense M16 frame; this time around one lucky person would be walking away with a brand new second-generation Tracer 275 frame. We set up an Instagram competition – pap an Intense rider at the event and post on Instagram with the hashtag #FortWilliamIsIntense. We had some amazing posts and it was a seriously fun competition.

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What was more, we had none other than Jeff Steber himself calling out the results. The Californian legend announced the winner as Lewis Chatwin, who had posted a beauty of a shot. Lewis was overwhelmed to have won – and had been wanting to upgrade from his hardtail for a long time. When asked to say a few words he simply said, “I’ve never won anything – I can’t believe it!” We couldn’t have been happier to send such a deserving winner away with the brand-new Tracer frame.

THE BUSINESS OF RACING

When it came to the business of racing, meanwhile, we were in for a treat of the highest order. We had our own Saddleback Intense Racing UK team represented by Charlie Hatton in elite, Joe Breeden in junior and the DH team mechanic Andy Lund along for pit duties. The team is only just over six months old at this stage and a national – not a factory – team, but the boys have been racing their socks off all season and pulling in some unbelievable results. They had earned this opportunity to be shooting it out with the big guns – so we couldn’t wait for them to get in front of their home crowd.

Joe suffered a mechanical with a pedal strike, bending his axle and hindering pedalling for the motorway. He still came over the line in fifth which was unreal. This lad is hooking at the moment and it won’t be long until he puts that winning run together. He was a little disappointed, but confident that he had more to give. Needless to say, we were immensely proud.

When it was Charlie’s turn to take the stage, I had to pinch myself again. This is his first year in elite and he’s had the most incredible season, winning his local DH races, winning BDS rounds and just off a top 20 in the last World Cup in Lourdes. In short, this guy has a bright future in the sport.

Charlie started on pace but got a little caught up in the atrocious muddy section in the woods, lost his momentum and had to completely dismount.

After getting back on the bike and finishing, he still, unbelievably, made it into 24th overall. What a result! He also made the live event footage, which is always a sign of things to come.

As the top-10 riders came down, we had the likes of Greg Minnaar, Danny Hart, Loris Vergier and Aaron Gwin sitting in the hot seat. It was all going to come down to that wooded section.

Intense Factory Racing rider Jack ‘Shark Attack’ Moir set off in the heat of the action after qualifying in third. Riding a new Intense prototype 29er downhill bike (see page 80 for more) on its maiden World Cup voyage, he looked comfortable. A little down on Gwin, he cleaned the woods and came across the line 0.820 ahead of him. What a result for the Australian who has shown real promise this season.

As the final two riders prepared for their runs, we were still recovering from shouting for our boys and could hardly deal with the suspense. Loris had issues, falling past Jack’s time and then it was just Mr Minnaar to come. He is just so good at Fort William and proved once more that he’s the man to beat in the Highlands.

We still had plenty to celebrate with Jack’s best ever finish at a World Cup, the success of the 29er DH race machine and great results for Intense-, TLD- and ENVE-sponsored riders. With the Intense Factory Racing team alongside our own Intense Racing UK, the buzz for our brands was massive. Until next year, Fort William!

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ARD ROCK ENDURO Ross Grimmett heads back to Ard Rock for its awesome riding, amazing atmosphere and a pang of nostalgia WORDS: ROSS GRIMMETT PHOTOS: ARD ROCK

In January 2017, Saddleback unveiled to the UK’s mountain bikers their first off road team since before Enduro was a thing. Five riders were handpicked for Intense Racing UK, representing Saddleback and our brands for the 2017 racing calendar in both downhill and the E-word.

After the sad news that there would be no National Enduro series for the team to campaign in this year, it was decided that of the many standalone events that would be running in ’17, Ard Rock would be a rather large pin in the team’s calendar. Even the downhill team riders were keen to race their Intense Tracers at this event.

As has become common place, the Ard Rock event sold out almost instantaneously early on a cold and dark January morning. This led to eight months of social riding with, “Were you one of the lucky ones who got in?” inevitably dropped into the conversation somewhere – Ard Rock has become that big.

In fact, for 2017, the main arena had been essentially doubled in size. What had previously been a huge circle of bike brands, trade stands and food vendors was now going to be a loop within a loop; keeping the event village tight and comfortable while adding more space. The brilliant bolt-together pump track in the event village was a fantastic addition. It offered a place for all the future generations to ride whilst their parents were out riding the event, with the youngsters making way for the grown-ups to compete in timed and pursuit challenges in the evenings.

In the days after the event, it was so easy to see why various commentators in the cycling media were calling it a cycling festival now, and the words ‘Glastonbury’ and ‘Enduro’ were being used in the same sentences. When riding along the land atop the long wall of crags and scree slopes that is Fremington Edge, looking southwards on the event, the organisers had essentially created a temporary village in the fields of the Dales that dwarfed the visible nearby conurbations of Reeth.

We worked with the event organisers to secure a pitch in the main arena that was double the size of last year, the same as our Fort Bill stand. Of our two huge inflatable dome tents, the first was to showcase the latest bikes and colours of the Intense 2018 range along with the ENVE and TLD kit our Team rides and races in. The other dome would be home for our team and mechanic, with sofas, space and no barriers – so anyone one at the event could wander past and come sit and chat with us and talk lines and kit.

The TLD kit both our teams compete around the world as well as the wheels they campaign on were also there for people to handle and admire.

The legend that is Andrew Titley brought his M16 race rig, complete with National Champion jersey he’d won seven days before.

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For the team, the whole event was destined to be a great one. Most of the crew was there – and the enduro guys were eager to give the DH squad a schooling. Friday’s practice of stages one, two and six let the riders work with their mechanic to get their Tracers set-up exactly how they wanted – and the tell-tale latex on the grass showed a fair few tyre swaps had taken had gone down too. With the team, the wrench and the Saddleback staff who also came, the total was up to nine. We were very lucky that this permitted some Saddlebackers to play at racing our own bikes too.

Heading out on Friday’s practice, I was lucky to be able to get out at the same time as some of my oldest riding mates, several of whom had also managed to get into previous Ard Rocks too. Hitting stages one and two, it was apparent the stages were familiarly unfamiliar. The stages ran on the trails of previous years but the lines were new and the features evolved.

One of the myriad reasons why this event is held in such high regard is the atmosphere. It’s difficult to define exactly which combination of hundreds of things that the organisers have done right are the ones that create this atmosphere – but trust me, the feel to this event is everything you may have heard and more.

Even by the time you have rolled on from the finish of stage one, I had lost count of how many riders we had chatted with. Shared experiences and ‘nearly’ moments were relayed, and questions about setup nonchalantly asked – always looking for the slightest way to improve your own game.

Swaledale is stunning. It’s that simple. Wide open, it features vistas and a feeling of exposure that you don’t get from rattling through the combes and woodlands at home. The wind, too, is something I forget about each year. If it’s sunny with blue skies, the prevailing winds appear from nowhere and can buffet you about all day long. If it clouds over and touch of drizzle appears, the winds magic away. That’s the North Yorks moors for you.

Upon their return from five-plus hours out on the hills and more than 17 minutes of timed race stages, the team gathered a third, a fifth, two sixths and an eighth place across the categories that they’d entered. The compilation of these times and places, brought the crew the ‘best team’ trophy, which was a fantastic recognition of all the gang’s hard work!

Being of a certain age (just a little behind Titley) and having been around bikes long enough to have several Malvern Classics number boards on the garage wall, it’s easy for similarities to be drawn. Even with my highly polished rose-tinted glasses firmly on the bridge of my nostalgic nose, those events punctuated the summers of my late teens in a way that will remain with me forever.

Ard Rock capitalises and captures on all that was great about those ’90s events – use of otherwise inaccessible private land; rideable and rewarding courses for 99 per cent of riders that can still be raced to the max at the sharp end; parents of all ages our riding with kids of all ages; fields and fields of camper vans; amazing volunteers who really care. It really felt that if the Malvern Classics had never been retired in ’97 then 20 years later Ard Rock is the sort of thing it would have organically evolved into – and that’s the greatest compliment I can give.

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EVENTS

THE DARTMOOR CLASSIC The weekend of 2 July saw the Saddleback crew load the vans and head to Newton Abbot for the 2017 Dartmoor Classic WORDS: DANIEL OAKSHOTT PHOTOS: DARTMOOR CLASSIC

The Dartmoor Classic is undoubtedly one of the most popular sportives in the UK. That’s demonstrated by the speed at which its 4,000 places sell out – this time round they were all snapped up within 24 hours of the online entry opening in October.

There’s good reason for such enthusiasm from the cyclists who come from many countries to get a piece of the action on Dartmoor. With its choice of three routes through the most stunning moorland scenery, the slick organisation and the convenient location of the start, finish, registration and welcome village in the spacious Newton Abbot Racecourse, this event ticks the boxes for both participants and supporters.

THE ROUTES The Grande route travels 173km, taking in just over 3,000m of climbing, while the Medio route is 109km with 1,800m of ascending. The Piccolo route – 57km with 880m of climbing – has been introduced in the past couple of years and has proved very popular among first-time sportive riders or those who don’t feel up to the challenges of the longer routes. With a neutralised start, marshals (150 in total) on every junction, superbly organised and stocked feed stations and mechanical support, the rider experience is second to none as far as UK sportives go.

For those who require even more to challenge themselves, a special Strava segment, on a closed section of road, was introduced two years ago, complete with starting flags and a finishing arch. The Strava-donated prize for the KOM and QOM on the day is fiercely fought for, with the winner of the KOM prize this year coming all the way from Switzerland.

SADDLEBACK X CASTELLI CAFE To offer event riders something to remember the Dartmoor Classic by, Saddleback designed and supplied the official event T-shirts, which every rider received at the finish. As well as the shirts, Saddleback designed and supplied the official 2017 Dartmoor Classic Castelli Marathona Jersey, which was available at the event village, through the Castelli Servizio Corse custom kit programme.

Alongside the official event clothing, Saddleback brought along a pop-up Castelli Café shop, which proved to be hugely successful over the course of the weekend. In fact, Saturday was a non-stop, five-hour scrum! The shop was restocked for the Sunday and, despite that being the day of the ride, was still

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incredibly popular because of the nature of the route distances and mixed rider abilities. While it’s obviously great to be able to get more riders into Castelli clothing, it was just as much of a pleasure being able to chat face-toface with enthusiasts who love the brand.

BIGGER AND BETTER This was the eleventh year that the Dartmoor Classic has been run, and it seems to get bigger and better every year. Guy Langworthy, chairman of the event committee, told us he is proud of the high standards to which the event is run.

“This is due to the commitment, dedication and enthusiasm of our 300-plus volunteers, all of whom go the extra mile to make sure the Dartmoor Classic is enjoyable, safe and provides a challenge for riders of widely varying abilities through beautiful countryside,” Langworthy said. “We are delighted to have had Saddleback as sponsors for the 2017 edition, and their provision of the event T-shirt along with the premium brands they represent has certainly helped to raise the profile of the event and enhance rider satisfaction.”

GUEST OF HONOUR The activities and fun at the event village are enjoyed by participants and spectators alike. A tireless commentator keeps everyone amused throughout the day providing safety advice to the riders waiting to start, updating friends and family on conditions on the course and then interviewing riders as they return to the village at the end of their rides.

This year British ex-pro Dean Downing was the guest of honour and he rode the Medio route with fellow participants. Dean’s experience with pro cycling meant he was a great source of advice and encouragement for the other Medio route riders along the way.

WORDS: DANIEL OAKSHOTT ALL PHOTOS: JOBY SESSIONS

FRESH PRODUCE

TROY LEE D3 GREY STARBURST 2017 The D3 from Troy Lee Designs isn’t just a beautiful looking full-face helmet; it’s packed full of features to keep you safe and comfortable. From the carefully positioned chin bar shock pads to the EPS and MIPS technology, there’s no question that the D3 has got you covered in case your ambition outweighs your abilities. Meanwhile 14 intake passages and six rear exhausts ensure optimal airflow, while the choice of six size options allow for the perfect fit. The D3 comes with a set of two visors, washable liners and a specific D3 helmet bag.

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FRESH PRODUCE

STAGES DASH Harnessing power output is the ultimate way to improve performance on the bike and Stages Dash is the key to taking your training to the next level. When coupled with a power meter and Stages Link online portal, Dash is an incredibly powerful tool with the functionality to display anywhere between one and 16 customised metrics on the screen at any time – giving you the option to see relevant sets of information depending on the training you’re doing – as well as second-by-second interval prompts.

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FRESH PRODUCE

CASTELLI ALPHA ROS JACKET AND JERSEY The introduction of the Castelli Alpha Rain or Shine jacket and jersey means worrying about the weather forecast is a thing of the past. The new RoS range of garments is developed to give the ultimate performance in fine conditions while keeping you dry if the weather does take a turn for the worse. By only taping the necessary seams and using waterproof membranes where absolutely needed, the garments perform uncompromisingly when it’s dry, yet offer functional protection in the rain to ensure absolute comfort.

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FRESH PRODUCE

3T AERONOVA The Aeronova isn’t just your average compact drop bar. 3T has designed it with aero-section tops in order to offer minimal drag on when fitted to the latest aero road bikes. With longer reach than a standard drop bar, you can sit comfortably in an aerodynamic position, and the six-degree flare ensures plenty of wrist clearance. The Aeronova is available in three options – aluminium, carbon fibre and a high-modulus carbon fibre – each with either a 40, 42 or 44cm width. The Aeronova LTD is the lightest of the three, weighing in at 205g.

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FRESH PRODUCE

SIDI SHOT AND TIGER The Tiger was launched as an aerodynamic, lightweight and stiff off-road shoe with a massive 100g weight saving compared with previous models. The centrally located dials deliver a perfect fit, but also keep hardware away from rocks and roots. Road riders will be no stranger to the Shot, shoes which have adorned the feet of four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome. This year, Sidi has updated the Tiger and Shot range with the launch of new matte-finish colour options, giving the shoes a beautiful, modern aesthetic.

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FRESH PRODUCE

ENVE SPEED RELEASE FORK As road cycling continues to evolve, ENVE strives to keep on top by meeting the requirements of the sport’s latest advances. The Speed Release fork does so by being disc brake-specific, allowing for 32mm of tyre clearance and wielding the Mavic Speed Release system – a setup that enables quick release of a 12mm thru-axle. Internal hose routing and the fact the fork is a one-piece design from the steerer to the dropout mean the Speed Release Fork is truly a thing of functional beauty.

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FRESH PRODUCE

ROTOR BLACK ON BLACK Q-RINGS These limited-edition aero Q-Rings look fast and stealthy – a big factor in riding fast and stealthy! Jokes aside, the Q-Rings have been designed to increase your performance by maximising strength and minimising weak points in every pedal stroke. As every rider’s stroke is slightly different, five Optimum Chainring Positions (OCP) allow fine-tuning so you get the most out of the Q-Rings system. At only 173g per set and CNCmachined with a rigid, aerodynamic design, the black-on-black Q-Rings are an ideal performance upgrade.

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FRESH PRODUCE

INTENSE CARBINE The Carbine is an all-out race machine designed to give you the confidence to go above and beyond what you thought was possible on a mountain bike. A longer reach means you can ride harder and faster than ever, and the 29in wheels will roll over anything in their path. The JS Tuned suspension system features, as it does on all Intense bikes, and the Carbine is available in either a standard carbon frame or the 200g lighter SL carbon model. The two frame types are split across five different builds, which offer a wide choice of componentry.

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TOP FIVE From downhill to MX and Daytona, Troy Lee casts a fond eye over his favourite custom-painted helmets 3

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$100 BILL

“Oh man, this helmet. I almost cringe a bit looking at it, pretty inappropriate looking back, but that’s mountain biking for you – just a bunch of guys having a good time racing bikes and breaking rules. This was just a hand sketch of life on the World Cup at the pubs, but a lot of it was one particular night at Interbike in Vegas… always a good time with Steve. We are painting a new one right now for a movie he’s working on that’s gonna be real cool. Like McGrath, I’ve painted and designed so many helmets with Peaty and a lot of signature models too that always sold well.”

“I did this one recently for my son Max – he qualified for Loretta Lynn’s (the biggest amateur MX race in the country) and I was really proud of him working so hard, so I wanted to do a cool helmet for him. Max has a lot of cool ideas of his own and I’d love for him to carry on the Lee family tradition, but I surprised him with this one, just did some gold leaf on top. Not too wild, just some bold colour blocking and even breaking the rules of which colours to mix together – sometimes just mixing certain colours can be considered wild.”

“I’ve painted a lot for MC – probably painted for him the longest, and so many.

This helmet was from when Jeremy was way into what he called ‘led sleds’, lowrider cars with the candy paints, hydraulic suspension and wild upholstery. Jeremy kept saying the term ‘led sled’, so I remember we checked the internet and just saw pics of Mexican low rider cars… later on, to carry on that theme, I added the big tail lights in the back of one of his helmets to look like a 60s Caddy, Pontiac kind of style. MC showing up to supercross with these was always a big deal.”

“Painting for Scott was always fun, because he let me just play around and go wild all the time. We started doing the feathers with him, but also made sticker kits for people to create their own custom helmets – back when helmets were all white.

At some point, we put a fin on one of Scott’s helmets for Daytona. We hand made it just to have some fun, but it also helped the cueball look of a road racer helmet. Man, our phone rang off the hook that Monday after Scott won the race. We eventually made those fins as an add-on accessory and people loved them.”

“This was around the time Jeremy wanted to tattoo his ‘nac-nac’ trick on his leg.

We had Guillaume, our artist (who is now back working for us) make a little character that we put on the back of this helmet. I always tell these racers, “If you want to put a tattoo on yourself, let’s try it on your helmet first and see if you get sick of it.” The $100 bills I kinda stole from Evel Knievel who had $100 bills on his gas tank. So we put two real $100 bills on there, candy gold with some chrome and the always present ‘showtime’ across the back.”

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AT H L E T E S U C C E S S

Charlie Hatton celebrating his second place at the UK National Downhill Championships

ATHLETE SUCCESS INTENSE RACING UK JUNE – AUGUST 2017

CHARLIE HATTON 24th Elite Men – Fort William World Cup RD2 30th Elite Men – Leogang World Cup RD3 1st Elite Men – Rhyd Y Felin BDS RD3 17th Elite Men – Vallnord World Cup RD4 66th Elite Men – Lenzerheide World Cup RD5 2nd Elite Men – National Champs 79th Elite Men – MSA World Cup RD6 JOE BREEDEN 5th Junior Men – Fort William World Cup RD2 6th Junior Men – Leogang World Cup RD3 2nd Junior Men – Rhyd Y Felin BDS RD3 6th Junior Men – Vallnord World Cup RD4 2nd Junior Men – Lenzerheide World Cup RD5 2nd Junior Men – National Champs 3rd Junior Men – MSA World Cup RD6 OLLY MORRIS 17th Elite Men – Rhyd Y Felin BDS RD3 19th Elite Men – National Champs

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JESS GREAVES 6th Elite Women – Rhyd Y Felin BDS RD3 2nd Elite Women – Pearce Cycles RD4 10th Elite Women – National Champs ANDREW TITLEY 1st Veteran Men – Rhyd Y Felin BDS RD3 1st Veteran Men – National Champs 5th Veteran Men – Ard Rock Enduro SAM FLOCKHART 4th Elite Men – Tweed Love 2nd Elite Men – Dunoon SES RD2 51st Elite Men – EWS RD5 3rd Elite Men – Ard Rock Enduro AJAY JONES 101st Elite Men – EWS RD5 8th Elite Men – Ard Rock Enduro

Kim van Dijk pilots Kathrin Goeken to the gold medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London

TWENTY QUESTIONS

KIM VAN DIJK 2012 Paralympic gold medallist turned 3T Explorer Kim van Dijk faces our 20 questions

Who is Kim van Dijk?

I am a 32-year-old woman from the Netherlands; a passionate woman in everything I put my mind to. I come from a family of four girls. I was raised in Groningen in the flat, windy northern part of the Netherlands, which is where Bauke Mollema started his career as well. I studied sports management.

What piece of cycling kit couldn’t you live without?

Helmet! I could get naked on the bike but would never ever ride without my POC helmet. I also tap my on my head when I see people riding without them, I think a helmet gives you a safe feeling.

What’s the fastest you’ve ever been on a bike?

I think my fastest is just over 94kmh on a tandem during the 2016 World Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland. We got third there because of my crazy F1 skills downhills. Love it!

How did you find your way into cycling?

After trying to be the best speed skater in the world, I met my husband, cyclist Jos Pronk, who is from a famous Netherlands cycling family. He saw my frustration at trying to be the best speed skater, but also that my qualities in cycling were pretty OK as well. He suggested I start time trialling – and a new career was born. I have a 3.5cm difference in leg length because of a fracture I had as a kid in my lower leg. It always stopped me from skating hard with the right technique, but with cycling, I had no problems any more (at that point).

After starting my career as a solo rider, I got asked to pilot once on a tandem.

That was in 2009 and after that, my addiction of riding tandem was born.

What’s your favourite training session?

I must say, I didn’t really love to train. But when I did well afterwards, I was always happy. Training in foreign climates and heat always makes it easier. Just let me do races and I was happy.

Who’s your cycling hero / heroine?

My cyclist heroine was Leontien van Moorsel. The passion she has about cycling, her beautiful appearance – she always looked good on the bike – and of course, her success.

How would you describe yourself as a rider?

I am a very calm rider on the outside. But in my head, I have things clear and I am somebody who can ‘read the course’ very well. I always ride smart in races, and can ride myself into the red easily. It’s even easier for me to go deep on a tandem than it is riding solo. I am not a sprinter, more a TT rider or for long breakaways. Now I have quit professional cycling, I love to ride for hours and enjoy nature in gravel riding.

Which is your favourite season for cycling?

My favourite discipline is road or gravel riding, so it must be in a warm season. I get cold very quickly.

What can you do better than anyone else you know?

I think it’s always hard to say this about yourself, but I have immense trust and belief in myself to make things happen. I am very passionate and with this, when I put my mind to things I always push to get the best. Visualisation is one of the things that’s helped me a lot to make this happen.

What inspires you to ride?

My inspiration as a former pilot was being an Olympian. Nowadays I am a 3T Explorer and explore the world on my bike – I ride because it makes me the happiest woman in the world. I love to ride and – even more – to go downhill.

It gives me the ultimate feeling of freedom.

Are you a data junkie or prefer to ride by feel?

In racing, I defo ride by feel. But in the weeks and months in training I was always riding on watts and heart rate. After races I always checked my progress.

What’s your proudest cycling moment?

Winning the gold medal during the London Paralympics.

What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you on a bike?

It’s not often been really scary on a bike for me. I think I just don’t take those risks. Once though I was in Mallorca and a van touched our tandem. We didn’t crash, but that was a bit of a scary moment.

What’s your all-time favourite movie?

My favourite movie? Oh, that’s so hard. Love Actually is always good. I’ve seen Titanic 1,000 times, and I am a Disney fan. But Santa Claus is also something I love to watch. I just love winter times and cosiness in the house and movies you don’t have to think with. I’ve just seen Dunkirk. That did nothing for me; too emotional. I’d rather be happier and see Titanic for the 1,001st time!

Where’s your favourite place in the world to ride and why?

That’s a hard one. I love warm temperatures but I also love what’s linked in my vision to the moments of happiness at those times. For example, the London TT Paralympic race: I can still remember every corner, the feeling in my legs, what moments I had to shift, and who was cheering me on what part of the course. And of course, the success! It’s all my memories that made it special.

Also, my first three-day 3T trip to Sicily riding around Mount Etna: a fully packed 3T Exploro [gravel bike], three days of rain, coldness, lightning storms.

But just the total experience made it the best trip I have ever done. I never thought riding packed could give me this feeling of freedom and I can’t wait to be out for new adventures – Vietnam is on my bucket list.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

That’s a question you can read in two ways. In body or as a person in behaviour? Body-wise: I have my differences in leg length and this held me back a lot in riding fast. I had three surgeries on my veins and this stopped me from riding hard and being more enthusiastic about riding. If I didn’t have these problems, I would still be a pro I guess. It’s just not possible any more. Mentally? Stop being this hard on myself! I have a high standard towards myself, which must be because of the cycling, but hope to let this go a bit more and just enjoy life.

What’s the best thing about cycling?

You can just go everywhere, especially on my new gravel bike for 3T. Tarmac, hills, forest, beach – freedom!

What’s your ultimate post-ride meal?

Italian focaccia with rocket salad, olive oil, salt and parmesan and pomodoro tomato soup. Oh, and tiramisu!

What’s your favourite bike?

I must say I had a lot of bikes and brands because I raced for some teams. I also love my custom build Parketa Tandem. But because of the limitations of all these bikes, my favourite, number one and baby is my current Exploro. I know off-road you should ride it with a wide bar, but I just have my 38cm race bar on it and love it! I also adjusted my crank length for my left leg (made it 5mm shorter), so this bike is completely ‘made for me’.

When you’re not on your bike, where’s your favourite place to be?

There’s not a specific place I could point out, more a feeling I want to create.

Sometimes that’s just in the house on the couch with a cup of tea. But it could be walking in a town I don’t even know, or an early morning experience, just being aware of that moment of freedom like on the bike – those are my favourite places.

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STYLE GUIDE

WORDS TOM BALLARD PICS JOBY SESSIONS

STYLE GUIDE

No matter whether you’re a die-hard roadie or a dirt seeking downhiller, looking good is important LIKE ALL WALKS OF LIFE, FASHION IS SIMPLY AN INTERPRETATION OF PERSONAL LIKES AND DISLIKES.

The driver in our small corner of this world is the professional sport. For decades in both road and mountain, the perfect look – on and off the bike – has been styled by our cycling heroes. Whether inspiration comes from Coppi or Fairclough, Cancellara or Peat, we’re aspiring to that lifestyle of Alp-topping glory or So-Cal cool.

Then, we dress to the ride: covering the gamut of mild to wild. The café run is all about style, elegance and performance. The fast, weekend smash-up brings out hints of boldness though colour. If legs are humming with power, we break out the ultra-loud neons; if not, subtle tones to blend in with the pack. It’s the same story off road. All-day casual is perfection for post-ride pubgoing. A flash of flair creeps in when we’re racing our mates. Primary tones blaze loud as we scream down a black run.

As riding dominates our lives, we’re truly blessed at Saddleback to be involved with the very best – and bestlooking – cycling kit in the world. Here are are our choices for sartorial sophistication.

TLD A1 HELMET £110 / SKYLINE JERSEY £55 / SKYLINE SHORT £85 / SPRINT GLOVE £25 / SPEED KNEE SLEEVE £55 / CAMBER SOCK £20 CASTELLI FLUSSO JERSEY £TBC / PREMIO BIBSHORTS £175 / SIDI SHOT BAHRAIN £350 / SIDI POWER SOCK £12 ALL PRICES UK RRP INCLUSIVE OF VAT

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STYLE GUIDE

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STYLE GUIDE

TLD D3 COMPOSITE £300 / SPRINT JERSEY £50 / SPRINT PANT £115 / AIR GLOVE RRP £27.50 / CAMBER SOCK RRP £20 / TLD OAKLEY GOGGLE LIMITED EDITION CASTELLI ALPHA ROS JERSEY £210 / LW BIBTIGHT £125 / SIDI SHOT BAHRAIN £350 / GREGGE 15 SOCK £15 ALL PRICES UK RRP INCLUSIVE OF VAT

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STYLE GUIDE

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TECH ROSS GRIMMETT | TECHNICAL PRODUCT SPECIALIST

HOW TO SERVICE YOUR CHRIS KING HUB CHRIS KING PRODUCTS HAVE LEGENDARY LONGEVITY – HERE’S OUR QUICK GUIDE TO KEEPING YOUR HUB RUNNING SMOOTHLY In this tech guide, I want to outline the quick, basic service you can carry out at home on your rear R45 hubs. This will keep them running sweet, especially if your hubs see a lot of wet-weather riding. This guide is intended for owners of new hubs or rear wheels with King hubs in. If you follow this guide from the off, then your box-fresh hub will run hassle-free for a long time. Use the exploded diagram to familiarise yourself with the parts in your hub, so you

You will need 2.5mm and 5mm Allen keys, a clean, lint-free cloth, and a medicine syringe to put 2ml of 10w synthetic engine oil in (I use an old disc brake bleed syringe, but I have also used a child’s medicine syringe available from chemists).

First, remove the cassette from the hub – giving you a chance to clean your cassette too.

5 Push the axle through from the nondrive side – the outboard drive shell bearing will come out still seated on the axle. Pull and rotate the drive shell anti-clockwise to extract it from the hub shell. Your hub runs on engine oil, but anything more than just dirty oil and traces of water in the hub and we’d recommend a fuller service from your King dealer.

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Hold the drive side of the rear axle stationary with your 5mm key and undo the 2.5mm bolt on the nondrive side adjusting clamp. Loosen the bolt; no need to remove it. Don’t use a ball-end Allen key in this little bolt; you may round the bolt head.

Drop the Allen key into the ‘helper hole’, next to the bolt you just undid.

Use the Allen key to completely unscrew the adjusting clamp from the axle, and slide it up until it stops against the hub’s QR insert.

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Take your cloth and clean the dirty oil from the inside of the drive shell helical splines on the drive shell – an old soft-bristled toothbrush can be used to clean the helical splines of the drive shell, and if required, a little WD40 sprayed on to the dirty oil can help break it down to allow it to be wiped away.

Continue your cleaning routine by making sure the axle is free of all oil and water traces. This will ensure the hub mechanism stays free from contamination for as long as possible until your next service.

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4 Still holding the Allen key on the drive side, use the now free-floating adjusting clamp to pull the QR insert from the end of the axle.

8 Next: more cleaning. Treat the interior of the hub shell to a thorough wipe-down. Then, with a clean part of your cloth, wipe down all the visible black O-rings.

Once cleaned, dry off all the visible surfaces with another clean rag.

PHOTOS: GEORGE ACTON

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know what to expect when you take it apart. Bear in mind that sealing any hub from all water ingress, while permitting fast and free spinning, is almost impossible. King hubs are designed to cope with a little water ingress and run just fine – but not indefinitely. This quick basic service will see your hubs right. King’s own very detailed manuals can be found at: https://chrisking. com/manuals and are definitely worth a read when you get chance.

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A = QR INSERT B = O-RING C = ADJUSTING CLAMP BOLT D = ADJUSTING CLAMP G = HUB SHELL J = DRIVE RING K = DRIVEN RING N = O-RING O = DRIVE SHELL U = AXLE

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Now it’s time to apply fresh oil, and put your hub back together. Take your syringe with 2ml of 10w oil and apply a tiny spot onto both the O-rings on the axle, and the O-ring on the QR adapter. With your finger, run this spot of oil around the entire O-ring.

Next, apply a tiny spot of grease to the threads on the axle, then run the grease around the threads with your finger. This is essential for smooth operation of the hubs.

Finally, apply few spots of oil to the helical splines on the drive shell.

Lay these parts down carefully on a clean part of your work area.

The remaining approx. 1.5ml of oil in the syringe should be slowly and carefully applied to the zone between the drive and drive rings. I use the 2.5mm Allen key to open up this gap to let the oil in more easily. Once applied, I use the Allen key to give the drive ring a prod to rotate and it to move the oil around.

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Back together time! Drop the drive shell back into the hub, pushing it squarely and evenly back into place; turning it in a clockwise motion will help to pull it solidly back home.

A lovely solid click noise will let you know that it’s fully seated in place and engaged.

Insert the axle back through the now installed drive shell so that the bearing engages back into the outboard end of the drive shell.

Screw the adjusting clamp onto the re-greased threads, and turn by hand until it stops. Squarely and evenly, push the QR insert back into the axle until it stops. If you meet undue resistance, pull it out and try again.

Drop your 5mm key into the drive side axle. Rest the Allen key on your work surface or clamp it in a vice.

Press firmly down on the hub shell, feeling the hub compress until it stops. Use your 2.5mm key to wind down the adjusting clamp on the axle threads until it stops against the bearing in the hub shell. Then nip up the bolt in the adjusting clamp.

Give your hub a spin, and listen to your rejuvenated ‘angry-bee’ noise! Once your wheel is back on your bike, give the rim a wobble up near the seatstays. Any play means more preload needs adding to the adjusting clamp (remember to undo the little bolt first!). If there is any binding or roughness detected, back off the preload a little.

ONE MORE STEP… LET YOUR RIDING FRIENDS KNOW VIA SOCIAL MEDIA THAT YOU JUST SERVICED YOUR REAR CHRIS KING HUB WITH THE TAG #CHRISKINGBUZZ – AND DON’T FORGET TO MENTION @SADDLEBACK_LTD IN THERE TOO!

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THE NEWS

TECH DAN DUGUID | BRAND MANAGER & EX-ELITE RACER

HOW TO SET UP A STAGES DASH SWITCHING HEAD UNITS CAN BE SOMETHING OF A CULTURE SHOCK – SO HERE’S OUR COMPREHENSIVE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO HELP YOU GET UP AND RIDING WITH YOUR NEW STAGES DASH

Stages Sync. Choose your platform – Mac or Windows – download, install and log in using your Stages Link details. Then plug in your Dash using the supplied USB cable. A pop-up will appear with details of your Dash – just click the drop-down box to find your name and associate your Dash with your Stages Link account.

TURN IT ON

When first turning on your Dash, you’ll be prompted to answer some basic setup questions including language, time zone and measurement units. Your Dash will also ask if you use power and heart rate while riding – this will help configure the most useful data screens for you. If you don’t know your threshold power or heart rate, don’t worry – you can perform a test as part of your training plan You will also be asked for your Stages Link details. If you’re already signed up, enter your details; if not, you can add them later.

SET UP YOUR DASH SETTINGS

Back on Link, the Stages Dash tab will now be populated. There are plenty of options here to get your teeth into once you get to know your Dash a bit better.

Your Dash has come a long way to reach you, and it will initially take a few minutes to find a GPS signal. Leave the device on a window sill or a safe place outdoors, checking the screen periodically as it may prompt you to continue searching.

The Settings screen is where you can create and manage your activity profiles. Each one has its own settings so you can customise exactly what you need in each. At the top of the Settings tab, you can enable or disable the profile so that you only have the most commonly used profiles active and easy to find. Profiles you use less can then be activated on Dash or in Link when you need them.

ADD SENSORS

Before clipping in, you’ll need to add your sensors by heading to Main Menu > Sensors > Add Sensors. Here you will be prompted to add the sensor ID or you can search for nearby ANT+ or Bluetooth sensors that are awake. When adding sensors, your Dash will ask if you’d like to pair the sensor to the current activity profile or all profiles. You can also use add-to-all for sensors of the same type (multiple power meters for example) and your Dash will only pick up the active one at the start of a ride – a bit handier than having to manually pair if you’re swapping between bikes a lot.

KEY PROFILE SETTINGS TO CUSTOMISE

Listed under Data Recording, Sensor Pause mode will pause your Dash automatically when paired sensors – such as power, heart rate and cadence – all read as zero. Or, you can just push the start-stop button. This is ideal to avoid problems with GPS interference or for when you want an instant off-the-line start, such as in a time trial.

If you’re creating a profile to use on the turbo, then under Data Recording, the Continuous with GPS off option will mean the GPS chip is turned off, maximising battery life.

RIDE

We recommend doing your first ride with the default Dash settings.

This way, you’ll get an idea of what data you’d like to add or remove as well as getting used to navigating through menus and changing.

Before setting off, make sure the GPS logo is visible on the home screen and power/HR sensors detected.

On the Orientation screen, you can specify a landscape or portrait screen setup. The former is perfect for plenty of at-a-glance data while the latter is ideal to squeeze between your tri-bars. Don’t forget you’ll also need a different mount for the TT setup.

LINK AND SYNC SETUP

On the Pages tab, you can set-up multiple screens with up to 16 data fields on each. This is where Dash really shines. You can duplicate or edit screens. Once editing you can change the field size (we recommend working left to right) and choose data for that field.

Grab a recovery shake and your laptop – it’s time to get up and running with Link with this one-time setup procedure. Visit stagescycling.com/link to set up your Stages Link online account.

You’ll have to answer a few setup questions to get your user profile up and running. Again, don’t worry if you don’t know your threshold power or HR. New Dash users have two months of Stages Link Premium included for free. Premium offers a host of training prescription, performance analysis and tracking features to get the most from your riding. It’s like having a 24/7 online coach.

Once you’re done, hit save, plug in your Dash and Stages Sync will update all the settings to your head unit. Alternatively, you can also use the Stages Link App. Just download it from the App Store and log in using your Link username and password. You can also use this to upload your activities post-ride wirelessly – more functionality is in the pipeline for full Dash management.

GETTING TO KNOW STAGES LINK

There are four main screens: Calendar – see your training and rides; Performance – analyse improvements over time; Power Meter – monitor your PM zero offset and battery; and Stages Dash – set up your head unit. If you open the Stages Dash tab, you’ll get a message letting you know that you’ve not associated your Stages Dash with your account yet – so let’s get on that.

STRAVA AND TRAINING PEAKS SYNC

If you are a Strava or Training Peaks user, you can share activity data to these sites automatically after each sync. Head to your username button at the top right of the Link website, select Account, then Connectivity. Here you can connect your accounts to automatically update after syncing each ride in Link.

SET UP STAGES SYNC

Stages Sync is the Dash syncing portal for your desktop computer.

When on the Stages Link web page, select your account name at the top right of the screen and on the resulting drop-down menu, select

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PHOTOS: STAGES CYCLING

It’s worth mentioning the terminology here. To see current speed for instance you will need to select Average in the totalling column and Instant in the Span column – this will give your current speed. For distance covered in the ride so far, you will need to use Total in the totalling column and Ride in the Span.

TECH

FOOD DECLAN DEEHAN | MARKETING MANAGER & EX-CHEF

PRE-RIDE BREAKFAST

PHOTOS: JOBY SESSIONS

SLOW ROAST VINE PLUM TOMATOES AND FLAT MUSHROOMS WITH A POACHED EGG, WILTED SPINACH, TOASTED MUFFIN, AND BACON LARDONS

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

PLUM VINE TOMATOES

We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day – not just for its nutritional value, but also for the mind. Here’s a little something to tick both boxes that can be mostly prepped the day before to give you a head start in the morning.

Normal salad tomatoes can also be used.

FLAT MUSHROOMS

Or if you want to jazz it up Oyster mushrooms work well and take less cooking.

FREE-RANGE EGGS BACON LARDONS

Smoked or unsmoked –your choice. I personally like smoked.

BABY SPINACH

STEP 1

STEP 3

Time to poach your egg! Ensure your egg is cold from the fridge as this will help to keep its shape. Crack the egg into a small receptacle like a coffee cup. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add a pinch of salt and about a tablespoon of white wine vinegar – this will help to seal the egg when it hits the water.

Remove the root of the mushroom, peel off the outside layer and place on a baking tray. Slice your vine tomatoes in half and place on the tray along with the mushrooms and bacon lardons.

Drizzle a little olive and season with salt and pepper to your preferred taste.

Use a slotted spoon and give the water a gentle stir and pour the egg into the centre. It should wrap itself into a loose ball shape. Soft-poaching will take anything from four minutes depending on the size of your egg. Don’t be tempted to try cooking two at once!

STEP 2

STEP 4

Slow roasting is the key here, so bake at 150C for around 80 mins. This can all be done the night before to save time and can be reheated in the oven in the morning.

Set the muffins to toast then blanch the spinach in seasoned boiling water for 10 seconds before removing and draining well.

STEP 5

Plate up get stuck in while you plan the day’s route or prep for your day on the trails.

BREAKFAST MUFFIN

This is optional if you are watching the carbs.

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Pic credits

THE NEWS

TRAIN BENJAMIN SHARP | STAGES POWER EDUCATION EXPERT

HOW TO PACE A 10-MILE TIME TRIAL RIDING A SHORT DISTANCE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE IS MORE COMPLICATED THAN YOU MIGHT THINK. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO SMASH YOUR NEXT 10-MILE TT

THE TIME TRIAL IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS ‘THE RACE OF TRUTH’. ON THE SURFACE, PERFORMING WELL IN A TT IS SIMPLE: COVER THE SET DISTANCE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. HOWEVER, ACTUALLY ANSWERING THE QUESTION OF ‘HOW TO COVER THE SET DISTANCE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE’ CAN BE QUITE COMPLICATED.

EDUCATE YOURSELF DURING THE RACE

As the power education specialist and unofficial resident coach at Stages Cycling, it’s my aim to pass along a few tips to those of you that toe the line at your weekly 10-miler. Whether it’s your first race against the clock or you’re a seasoned veteran, here’s how to best execute on race day.

LAP DURATION –

KNOW THE COURSE

better way to know, in absolute terms, how far I have to the finish.

With a Stages Power meter and Stages Dash head unit, you can gather information on the fly. The Time Trial profile on my Stages Dash head unit has the below metrics displayed. I like to keep the screen tidy but each metric serves a purpose and helps me execute the best race I possibly can.

How long I’ve been racing. This allows me to check in with my perceived effort and ask myself, ‘Can I maintain this workload for the X number of minutes that remain?’ My answer will potentially influence how I ride the rest of the race.

LAP DISTANCE – As time trials are based on a set distance, there’s no

Thanks to GPS computers and the internet age, in-depth course reconnaissance is just a few key strokes and button clicks away. If your local time trial utilises a course that has been used previously, there is a very good chance that someone has uploaded the course onto a ride-tracking site such as Strava (www.strava.com) or MapMyRide (www.mapmyride.com).

I know that when I’m going faster than 20kph, the biggest factor I have to overcome is wind resistance. If I’m climbing at a pace below 20kph, I can sit up, out of the aero bars with little performance penalty. In fact, changing positions might help some fatigued muscles rest so I when I get back into the aero position, I can more effectively put out more power.

CURRENT SPEED –

I suggest browsing these sites to see what kind of intel you can acquire. A course profile should be available and if one doesn’t exist, you can make your own. In addition to course details, you might see performances from previous competitors, give you a benchmark to aim for and possibly an idea about of long the race should take you.

CURRENT HEART RATE – This will most likely mirror perceived effort

and serves as a check for how my body is responding to the workload (power). For example, if I find that my heart rate is running particularly high for me (relative to the training zones I have set up based on threshold hear rate) in the early portions of a time trial, I might back off just a touch.

KNOW YOUR ABILITY

By now, you should know your threshold power – or FTP. All things (fitness, altitude, temperature and so on) being similar to when you tested, you can create a goal average power output for the time trial based on your known threshold power. As a starting point for a 10mile time trial, I recommend a general goal of averaging 105-110% of your threshold power. The shorter the duration of the time trial, the higher above your threshold power you can set as a goal. Conversely, if it’s expected to be slow conditions due to terrain or weather, you might consider a slightly more conservative goal power output.

3S AVERAGE POWER – This is the power that I’m currently producing,

in real time, with three-second averaging. This three-second averaging smooths out the feedback I’m getting on my head unit and keeps me from focusing on making micro adjustments to my power output and instead, focused on how my power is trending over a three-second period.

LAP AVERAGE AND ADJUSTED POWER

The idea of attempting to average a specific wattage for the duration of your time trial sounds great, but what if the course isn’t pancake flat and in a vacuum? In other words, what about the real world?

There is an axiom related to time trial pacing to which I absolutely subscribe. That is, the slower you are going, the harder you should be going. Think about it, increasing your power output by 5% while going 30kph will have a much bigger impact on your time than if you increase your power output by 5% while going 50kph.

Remember that the effects of wind resistance compound as you increase speed, so changing power while going slowly changes speed more dramatically. So, if you’ve studied the course, you should get a pretty clear picture of how variable the course will be. Are there hills on the course? Is there a prevailing wind you should anticipate? If so, you will want to adjust your pacing strategy so that you are ‘resting’ in the faster sections (downhills, tailwinds) and working harder in the slower, uphill or headwind sections.

For my pacing strategy, I will take both numbers into account when trying to figure out how likely it is I can continue at this pace for the remaining duration of the event. If I have a very high adjusted power, but I know that the remainder of the course is fast (downhill/ tailwind), then I’m probably not going to be overly concerned if I’m running a bit above my strategy. However, if I know there is a significant slow feature (uphill/headwind) coming up and my average or adjusted power is higher than anticipated, I will potentially back off the power just a bit with the hope of being able to recover in time to be able to produce high power in the slow portion of the time trial.

If your curiosity about pacing is piqued, I suggest taking a look at Best Bike Split (www.bestbikesplit.com), which has a modelling tool that will allow you to create a pacing strategy with all of these factors – and many more – in mind.

Executing a great 10-mile time trial is unique to each individual and nuanced for each course. However, if you do a little bit of homework before the event, set up a reasonable pacing strategy and give yourself the tools to execute that strategy, you will set yourself up for success.

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PHOTOS: FLICKR

I put these fields right next to each other on my Stages Dash head unit. They afford me the opportunity to compare the average work to the adjusted (or normalised) work I’ve done for the race duration.

Adjusted/normalised power is a calculation of power that accounts for variability in the effort. In a perfectly flat time trial, I would expect the average and adjusted power to be very close to each other.

However, the more variable the power output required for a course, the more average and adjusted power will stray from each other.

CREATE A PACING STRATEGY – BUT BE FLEXIBLE

TRAIN

THE NEWS

TRAIN BEN PLENGE | MTB STRENGTH FACTORY

MTB CORE TRAINING A STRONG CORE MAKES A STRONG AND FAST RIDER. HERE ARE SOME ESSENTIALS DRILLS TO KEEP YOU STRONG NO MATTER THE TRAILW

and to learn to control your body position. This initial training will also teach you to properly brace yourself for more difficult exercises to come.

CORE TRAINING IS A FAMILIAR TERM TO MOST PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN FITNESS, OFTEN CONJURING UP IMAGES OF ENDLESS CRUNCHES AND ABDOMINAL EXERCISES. IN FACT, TRAINING YOUR CORE IS ABOUT GETTING YOUR WHOLE BODY TO WORK AS ONE, COORDINATED UNIT, FROM YOUR HANDS TO YOUR FEET WITH EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN WORKING TOGETHER AND MAINTAINING TENSION OR BODY POSITION.

Once you are proficient in the first phase and can hold the press-up position plank for two minutes with good form then consider moving to the ‘Trail Ready’ phase where the movements become more bike-specific and involve higher levels of control and more dynamic, whole body movements.

In terms of mountain biking, a strong core should let you spend longer periods on the bike without lower back pain. It will also help you to stand in your riding position for long descents while resisting rotational forces through fast corners. A strong core leads to a strong and stable riding posture, and enables you to transfer power to the handlebars and pedals to sprint the bike down the trail. It is therefore essential to train your core for mountain biking, especially if you spend Monday to Friday sat behind a desk.

Finally, the ‘Race Ready’ phase features the most demanding exercises; the sort of thing I use to train the World Cup DH and Enduro World Series racers on the Intense Racing UK team.

They require full concentration and for you to have good levels of strength and body awareness to do them at high intensity.

Before you get started, remember to warm up properly and to build up gradually. If your lower back hurts, then you are not bracing enough and will need to squeeze your bum and stomach harder to prevent arching. If in doubt, seek help from a coach to get the positions just right.

Below are three levels of training to work through. You should start with ‘Strong Foundations’ to build your initial strength

STRONG FOUNDATIONS

1• Aim for 2mins duration.

PRESS-UP POSITION PLANK, AKA PUPP

• Make sure your back is flat and your bum squeezed tight.

• Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, with shoulder blades pulled down and lats engaged.

• Breathe!

2 • Use a band or cable and stand with soft knees PALLOF PRESS

and squeeze your bum.

• As you push forwards the intensity increases and you must resist the rotation.

• Keep an upright posture.

• Move slowly and smoothly for three sets of 10 reps on each side.

TRAIL READY

3 • Assume the PUPP as before and then reach PUPP WITH REACH

forward slowly with alternate arms.

• Keep your hips and shoulders level. Imagine you have a cup of tea on your back and you don’t want to spill it.

• Move slowly and smoothly for three sets of 10 reps on each side.

4 • Adopt a side plank position on the sides of SIDE PLANK REACH THROUGH

your feet with your hips up.

• Reach under and behind yourself, moving slowly and with grace.

• Return to start position.

• Move slowly and smoothly for three sets of 10 reps on each side.

5 6 • Adopt the PUPP on either rings or a suspension • Kneel down with the knee closest to the wall in PUPP ON SUSPENSION TRAINER/RINGS

1/2 KNEELING BALL PASS

trainer with your palms facing back.

• Keep your arms vertical and don’t pull them underneath you.

• Brace, breathe and try and hold for three 1min sets, with 1min rest in between.

Stop if your lower back hurts.

the forward position.

• Pass a light medicine ball of 4-6kg explosively across your body, bouncing it off the wall.

• Catch it and repeat.

• Keep hips facing forwards and squeeze bum.

Be aggressive and try to kill the ball!

3 x 15 reps per side.

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PHOTOS: GEORGE ACTON

RACE READY

THE NEWS

TRAIN

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FROM TELEGRAPHS TO SMARTPHONES

HOW TOUR DE FRANCE COVERAGE HAS CHANGED THROUGH THE AGES WORDS ANDREW HOOD PICTURES JERED GRUBER

1996 Tour marked the end of a different era – in which big print dailies, especially the French sports paper L’Équipe, dominated the race narrative – and the beginning of the rise of digital media.

PARIS — IT WAS LATE JULY 1996. WE WERE TERRIBLY LOST IN A MAZE OF STREETS IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS. THE FINAL STAGE OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE WOULD BE UNFOLDING SOON, AND WE WERE ABOUT TO MISS THE WHOLE BLOODY THING.

I was lucky that summer. I was among a new wave of journalists who covered the Tour, not for a major newspaper like the New York Times or the Guardian, but rather for websites. I was sent packing to Europe with a small per diem and a daily rate by a nascent website that would later morph into ESPN. And I haven’t stopped coming back since.

It was my first year covering cycling’s biggest show as a newbie journalist, and I had no idea where I was. Panic was starting to creep in when my colleague and I spotted a car emblazoned with Tour de France decals. It was an official car from the race organization, ASO. Like wannabe James Bonds, we snuck in behind it, counting our lucky stars for our serendipitous guide back to Planet Tour. The driver drove with purpose, expertly weaving through Parisian traffic, and blasting past intersections.

Surely the driver was heading to the race! After about 15 minutes, however, the car abruptly pulled over. The driver quickly approached our window and asked: “Are you following me?”

HITCHING A RIDE

The Tour’s colourful and dramatic history reaches back more than a century. And how the race has been recounted and documented has evolved as well. From the early dispatches over telegraph lines at the turn of the last century, to the high-tech realtime updates of smartphones of today, journalists have been essential actors in the annual summer melodrama on two wheels.

“Yes – we are following you to the Tour,” I stammered in the best French I could muster.

“Well, you are wrong,” he laughed with French haughtiness. “I am going to my mother’s house for lunch! You are more than welcome to join me, but I can imagine you want to see the final stage. Look there,” – he pointed to the Arc de Triomphe hulking on the horizon – “there you will find the Tour.”

Media has always played a vital role in the Tour.

In fact, the race itself was born 1903 as a publicity stunt in a heated newspaper war in the early 1900s.

The owners of L’Auto — the forebears of today’s L’Équipe — created the race purposely to boost newsstand sales. Early journalists covered the first Tours by train, hopping ahead to each finishing town. In those days, single stages were up to 400km long, giving scribes plenty of time to reach the next stage’s finish line. Stories were sent by telegraph back to editing offices in Paris, and editions were printed overnight, and delivered by train back to each day’s start across France. Readers ate it up.

Circulation for L’Auto tripled, saving the paper, and assuring the Tour’s future.

This was 1996. Cellphones were in their infancy.

GPS was for sailing. Online map services still hadn’t been born. Our Michelin atlas was useless in Paris.

We kept a bead on the Arc, dumped the sad excuse of a car into an alley, and made it to the ChampsÉlysées in time to witness the final laps.

That 1996 Tour de France represented a race in transition at many levels. Not only did the peloton see the end of the Miguel Indurain era; one young rider from Texas named Lance Armstrong would drop out in the first week, only to come back three years later as a cancer-beating conquering hero. But for journalists covering cycling’s biggest race, the

The advent of radio and television altered the media landscape just as much as the internet would more than a half-century later. In the late 1920s, radio reporters would follow the race on motorcycle, with dust-covered announcers calling the exploits of the pedalling heroes to avid listeners. The first

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FROM THE EARLY DISPATCHES OVER TELEGRAPH LINES AT THE TURN OF THE LAST CENTURY, TO THE HIGH-TECH REAL-TIME UPDATES OF SMARTPHONES OF TODAY, JOURNALISTS HAVE BEEN ESSENTIAL ACTORS IN THE ANNUAL SUMMER MELODRAMA ON TWO WHEELS TV broadcasts came in the late 1940s, with grainy images capturing the final tours of Fausto Coppi.

By the 1970s, a fleet of motorcycles and helicopters would follow the Tour to beam it live across Europe and eventually the world. Today, the Tour is broadcast in more than 200 nations worldwide.

it to Paris. On the eve of the race, one of the team cars for France’s top team was caught packing a vast haul of performance-enhancing drugs. France had recently passed new laws against doping in sport, and the police were intent on making an example.

The ensuing scandal, which played out on front pages over the next four weeks, would reveal just how depraved cycling had become. For journalists covering the Tour, it was the story of the decade.

Press photographers also had a rough time before the days of digital imagery. Veteran shooters like Graham Watson and John Pierce would shoot film, have rolls helicoptered off the top of l’Alpe d’Huez, and couriered to London and Paris within hours to be developed, edited, and placed in the next day’s editions. Today, photographers like Tim de Waele post real-time photos on Twitter accounts and send them directly to clients before the race is even over.

“I remember getting a message on my mobile phone as we took the overnight ferry from Cork to France,” says veteran Guardian journalist William Fotheringham. “We knew about it in Ireland, we just didn’t know how bad it was going to be.”

Covering the Tour as a newspaper journalist morphed with technology as well. In the 1980s, Australian journalist Rupert Guinness became one of the first English-speaking journalists to cover the still very Eurocentric peloton. He recalls sitting on a kerb before the start of a race to chat with Stephen Roche or interviewing Greg LeMond in the team hotel after a stage while he was having a massage.

These days, riders hide inside team buses, and journalists are never allowed into team hotel rooms.

Guinness once had to get dropped off at a bar to dictate a story back to Australia, only to be nearly left behind for good.

That was the first Tour, Fotheringham, recalls, when journalists worked late into the night. “You’d have your dinner, and then have to write an update,” he says. “A lot of it was working the phones. There were a lot of rumours going around. Had there been social media, it would have been even worse. It was impossible to substantiate them all. Back then, it was much easier to pin things down because you had more time.”

Fotheringham would have plenty of interrupted dinners over the subsequent decade as professional cycling was roiled by one doping scandal after another. After Festina came Marco Pantani’s expulsion from the 1999 Giro d’Italia, followed by more raids at the Giro, Operación Puerto in Spain, the 2007 Tour with the ejections of Michael Rasmussen and Alexander Vinokourov, followed by Riccardo Riccò in 2008. Fotheringham had a frontrow seat for most of it.

“Back before the web, updating breaking stories on the Tour was a challenge,” Guinness says. “Finding the phone and dictating my story was the easy part, but not so getting a ride. Suddenly, I realised I may well be stranded without a ride. My last option was the voiture balai – or broom wagon – which I hailed down by literally standing in its way and holding up my press accreditation for the driver to see.”

“You’d file your story at 7pm, go off to dinner, and while you’re off to dinner, Reuters is reporting this and that, so you’d have to file updates until the deadline that night,” Fotheringham said. “Back then, you were still filing for the print edition. [In

DAWN OF THE DIGITAL ERA

The 1998 Tour de France descended into chaos with the infamous Festina affair – and nearly didn’t make

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JOURNALISTS AT THE 2009 GIRO WERE IN A QUANDARY. WE TRIED TO BOYCOTT ARMSTRONG’S TWITTER COMMENTS, REFUSING TO PUBLISH THEM UNTIL HE SPOKE TO JOURNALISTS AFTER EACH STAGE. THAT EFFORT LASTED ABOUT TWO HOURS 1998], the website was still primitive. Today, when something big happens, we cover it 24 hours, updating it online every time something breaks.”

“We started using Snapchat at the Tour de France in 2015 to reach that younger audience,” Fretz says.

“The goal was more to humanise our writers than to truly cover the race, pointing the camera more at us and the crazy experience of covering the Tour than at the riders themselves.

THE AGE OF TWITTER

Cycling journalism changed permanently during the 2009 Giro d’Italia. Lance Armstrong was making his much-hyped comeback, and I was part of a media horde tracking his every move.

“It worked,” Fretz goes on. “We pulled in thousands of viewers, most under the age of 25, a demographic that is half the age of our print readers. The audience loved the mix of humour and reporting, they connected with our writers and the brand, and they didn’t have to leave the social platform they were already using every day. We weren’t linking them to our site with every post, or any posts, but that didn’t matter. We were putting the brand in front of the next generation in a way they enjoyed.”

Midway through the race, however, Armstrong wasn’t agreeable to the type of questions he was fielding. Not only was he annoyed by people questioning his fitness; he was also getting a few snarky questions about doping allegations.

Armstrong suddenly stopped talking to the media, and only communicated via Twitter.

Back in 2009, Twitter was a vanguard app riding the new wave of smartphones that was quickly disrupting industries from taxis to apartment rentals to media. For journalists on the ground, we were in a quandary. We tried to boycott Armstrong’s Twitter comments, refusing to publish them until he had spoken face-to-face to journalists after each stage. That effort lasted about two hours, until an editor from one of the major wire services told his reporter to use the Twitter comments in their reports.

The media landscape has changed as well. Prolific bloggers and an active Twitter community often drive the conversation. Defining the narrative is no longer the monopoly of established journalists.

Also, teams are more sophisticated about controlling their media messaging. Big stars can completely go around the media if they want to, using Facebook, Twitter and other apps to communicate directly with their fans. Sky’s Chris Froome did not hold rest-day press conferences during this year’s Tour de France, breaking a longrunning tradition of huddling with the TV and print media on rest days. Instead, Team Sky posted scripted videos on Facebook.

The Twitter age was born, and cycling journalism hasn’t been the same since.

Today, social media has usurped websites and print newspapers as the go-to source for information.

Add Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other platforms. Today’s journalists cannot just rely on their pen and pad anymore.

Today, big WorldTour squads can have a halfdozen people working their media departments, with a team spokesman on the ground, as well as photographers, someone dedicated full-time to managing the team’s social media accounts, and someone else working up official press releases.

Caley Fretz, senior editor at VeloNews, says he now communicates stories using a combination of video, photographs and words across a number of different platforms.

The day-in, day-out grind of a journalist covering the Tour hasn’t changed much, however. We still get

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THE STORIES OF THE PELOTON ARE WHAT MAKE CYCLING THE WORLD’S MOST COMPELLING SPORT. FANS AND JOURNALISTS ALIKE ARE CLOSER TO THE PROS THAN IN ANY OTHER SPORT. YOU CAN RIDE UP THE COL DU GALIBIER HOURS BEFORE FROOME AND QUINTANA EXCHANGE BLOWS up every morning, pour down some bad French coffee and drive to the start. After chasing some reactions and quotes from the day’s protagonists, we make the long three-to-five-hour drive to the finish. We watch the race on TV, and then head to the finish line, trying to talk to as many riders and sport directors as you can. You end each night with bad French food and maybe some good wine. And hit the repeat button every day for a month.

media to such an extent that they don’t have email addresses except to sign up for things. It’s not how they communicate, ever. Your newsletter will never find them. You have to go to them.”

And today’s fans often know what happened the same time journalists do. Between live feeds – both pirated and paid for – fans all over the world can watch the race in real time. No one needs L’Équipe or Cycling Weekly to tell them who won the race.

What they do want is context, depth and analysis.

The challenge today’s journalist face is telling a compelling story that puts all the tweets, updates and headlines into context.

What has changed over the years is the idea of a deadline. In today’s media landscape, the story never ends. It evolves.

“We live and work in a 24-hour news cycle,” says Fotheringham. “When a story breaks, we are constantly updating it with reactions. Sometimes a story will play out in hours, whereas before it would kick around in the newspaper for days. Imagine the Festina affair breaking in with social. That would have been wild.”

And that new challenge is what keeps me going back to Paris every July. The stories of the professional peloton are what make cycling the world’s most compelling sport. Fans and journalists alike are closer to the professionals than in any other sport. You cannot kick the ball around Bernabéu stadium two hours before Real Madrid play a match, but you can ride up the Col du Galibier hours before Froome and Quintana exchange blows.

What haven’t changed are the stories. The Tour de France continues to deliver surprises and drama on a daily basis.

In many ways, social media has forced journalists to become storytellers again. For a long time, news was the currency. Cycling reporters were in a race to beat each other to post the latest news or tidbit up onto the website. If you had a juicy quote from Alberto Contador or a breaking race result, that’s what counted, getting it up first. Today, Twitter does that instantaneously. When Contador announced his retirement, he didn’t have a press conference, or wait for the newspapers to come out the next day.

Instead, he posted a short video message on Twitter.

These days, when I drive into Paris, I don’t get lost anymore. Thanks to GPS, I never make a wrong turn. And thanks to Twitter, I know what’s happening in every instant.

But at the end of any Tour de France, the mix of emptiness, exhaustion and an odd sense of loss remains as it’s always been. The drama and delirium ends as quickly as it began. Literally hours after the winner crosses the line, the podium is packed into trucks, the fencing is dismantled, and there’s little physical evidence to prove the race ever happened – except maybe some trash or stray copies of L’Équipe.

“There are young audiences out there that we struggle to reach on more traditional platforms,” Fretz said. “It feels a bit odd to think of a website as a traditional platform, but it absolutely is. We’re talking about young people who live inside social

Andrew Hood is the European correspondent for VeloNews, and has covered 21 editions of Le Tour.

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T H E G R E AT E S C A P E

THE GREAT ESCAPE Adventure-seekers Richard Mardle and Ross Grimmett flee the city to take on Scotland’s captivating countryside WORDS RICHARD MARDLE PHOTOS MARC GASCH

As adults, the life we enjoyed as children often fades into dim and distant memory. Growing up as a boy in the British countryside, school holidays were spent with true friends out on bikes exploring the world around us. Individual summer days lasted for what felt like weeks. It was stress-free and exciting. I had almost forgotten those carefree feelings – but an XPDTN3 adventure in Scotland, courtesy of 3T, brought them all rushing back.

3T to order some very new, very shiny Exploros. The frame’s versatility means there’s virtually no such thing as a right or wrong build. I chose the Exploro Ltd with 2x 11-speed, Shimano Ultegra Di2 and 700c wheels. Meanwhile Ross went for the Exploro Team with a matching Lauf fork, 1x SRAM Force and 27.5 wheelset – promising a smoother ride.

With Ross building and tinkering in the workshop, the builds, which looked so good on paper, soon emerged. Both were jaw-droppers, the muscular lines of the Exploro’s frame taking a final opportunity to shine cleanly before hitting the Scottish wilds.

With the Italian brand having just joined Saddleback, Ross, our technical product specialist and I were invited to join Marc Gasch, 3T’s go-to explorer, on one of the three-day expeditions, designed to showcase the go-anywhere abilities of the Exploro gravel bike. The smile I cracked on receipt of the email was as broad as the Exploro’s down tube. The prospect of bikes, friends new and old and adventure sparked a response so fast as to set an internet record!

After the short flight from London to Edinburgh, we arrived on the Royal Mile to check into our hotel the evening before the off. Bikes were unpacked, luggage stored by intrigued staff – and then it was off to meet Marc for the first time. We discussed the trip over some high-end Scottish food and fine wine at Angels with Bagpipes – and I think it’s fair to say that at this point, we were a long way from roughing it.

Two weeks before the red-circled date on our calendars, we still had it all to do. The call went into

LEFT TOP: Rolling over one of the route’s many bùrns with bike-packed Exploros LEFT BOTTOM: Ice creams soon became the go-to mid-ride refueller

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TOP: Marc’s well-travelled calves soak up a brief spell of Scottish sun BOTTOM: Away from humanity and smashing down a woodland track

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DAY 1: 86KM – 5HRS OF PEDALLING

obligatory bottle of Irn-Bru, we flicked gravel behind us up the long driveway and rose out of the grounds, heading back into the hills for the remaining 40km to our hotel. Long grassy climbs, fast gravel roads and sun-baked singletrack took us all the way into the lovely little town of Melrose and a chance to sample its famous ice cream – we had built up quite a calorie deficit after all.

Bike bags packed with the bare essentials – Castelli weatherproofs, evening wear and trunks (just in case) – Ross and I rolled down out of the city to meet Marc in Portobello, down on the coast. It felt slightly odd at first; a frisson of nerves thrilled through me and it took a little while before I realised it was the feeling of freedom… and on cue, but unbidden, Braveheart quotes rattled around my head…

Frozen dairy produce consumed, we rolled, weary but buzzing, to our hotel on the outskirts of Melrose where we hoped for a comfortable stay. Instead, sadly we found ourselves in the clutches of a Fawlty Towers-esque establishment that seemed to have spent more money Photoshopping its website than on the upkeep of the building. It was truly horrific.

If you’re thinking of taking on this trip yourself, we would recommend finding a hotel in the centre of Melrose – a gorgeous little town – instead.

Down by the beach, the sun beat down from a clear, purple-blue sky and the temperature had already climbed above 20 degrees. We picked up Marc and hit play on the route, slowly navigating our way out of town – three amigos, the adventure beginning. The trails ran alongside gently rippling burns, flowing paths leading us away into open countryside, which grew wilder as we pedalled deeper into spellbinding landscapes.

DAY 2: 75KM – 5HRS OF PEDALLING

Dusty farm tracks, disused railway lines and tiny lanes led us onto small gems of singletrack – made even more fun by the Exploro’s drop-bars – before popping us out through gaps in tall stone walls and back onto roads and into villages. Making the most of our trip, we set a mixed pace, chatting and enjoying the rises without being able to resist hammering some of the flats and downhills.

Riding out in the morning, putting Fawlty Towers firmly behind us, we headed back into Melrose for some light bike shop aid – fresh sealant and tyre inflation from Hardies Bikes – while I grabbed the essential caffeine that would keep us going after a less than satisfactory night’s rest.

Back on track, mist and drizzle made the previous day’s Scottish summer feel a long time ago. We skirted the River Tweed and cruised along quiet lanes before a day of testing our Exploros against fields, gravel roads, singletrack trails, forests and lots and lots of gates. It’s a strange thing to find joy in so simple a thing as a smooth-swinging gate, but given the number we had to take on, it’s one of the abiding memories of our adventure’s second day.

About 35km in, the route rolled into the hills and moorlands, crunching gravel trails sometimes weaving through the beautifully managed grounds of country estates. We waved to gamekeepers as we took in, with wide eyes, the stunning views.

The sun was now out in force, 28 degrees of Scottish heat beating down on our Castelli-clad backs. As we sweltered, the chat became more childlike as we regressed into an infant state of wonder, smiles fixed on our faces at the beauty of the country and the progress of our boys’ own adventure.

Even so, the wide-open countryside presented some amazing views to distract from the distance accumulating in our legs, while the trails changed constantly. Long-grassed bridleways gave way to dense, fragrant forests. The truly stunning woodlands hide houses, manors and other stone buildings that pop up when least expected, providing reminders of the wealth of history in the area – although we were more interested in chasing the edge of grip around the twisting singletrack, coming out smiling as the Exploros took it all in their stride.

Descending from the hills and into the valley near Lauder, we dropped into what at first looked like Disneyland Scotland as Thirlestane Castle’s turreted magnificence loomed above us. But while that was a sight to behold, it was the inviting sign to the tea rooms that really grabbed us. After a proper refuel of sandwiches, crisps, cakes, more cakes and the

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TOP: Rolling hills and farm tracks were no match for our Exploro explorers BOTTOM: Richard gets into the Scottish spirit along the way LEFT: Beautiful bridge crossings in the heart of the countryside contrasted with Edinburgh’s stunning architecture

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Out of the woods, we crossed vivid-green grasslands and pedalled up into a sea of purple heather and a pressing headwind, the singletrack gently heading up towards a trio of imposing cairns standing sentinel atop the moorland.

caffeine hit of great hand-pressed espresso and sweet, sanity-replenishing cakes.

The route then took us along fields and bridleways before climbing back onto the moors and over some seriously steep hills. The challenge was to not push as the cadence dropped and legs burned from the effort. Our hard work in cresting the climbs was rewarded by some of the best views of the trip – a panorama of Edinburgh’s old-world architecture sprawled around Arthur’s Seat, with bridges and hills visible off to the west.

Freewheeling off the moor and into the mountain heartland of the 7stanes mountain bike trails just east of Peebles, we enjoyed some epic singletrack on the Exploros. There is something special about getting airborne on a fully laden all-terrain bike that puts a massive smile on your face! As we sprinted into Innerleithen we found a very cool café for lunch.

The team at No1 Peebles Road displayed a real love of good coffee and fresh wholesome food that was extremely welcome to our weary legs and empty rumbling stomachs.

After we’d feasted on the stunning scenery, we took on the fast, technical descent that opened up before us. Fuelled by the thrill of speed, we screamed along the singletrack trails by instinct, and just a dash of luck, jumping rocks and gaps across the moorland as we dropped altitude.

Once refuelled, we headed back out with the expectation of a downpour – the light fingerprints of rain tapping against the cafe window. Pinging along on farm tracks leading back onto the moors, we climbed higher into the mist and cloud. No matter the majesty of the landscape, there comes a time when you all start to think, ‘Why?’ and the next section of the ride prompted just such a response.

As isolation slowly gave way to civilisation and we returned to the land of other people, we stopped in at the Corner Café, a nice little find just outside Currie on Landark Road, for a spot of lunch. Reviewing the route, we realised we were on the home straight and then it dawned – we’d soon be returning to real life.

The adventure was almost over.

As the route turned into wildly overgrown paths of ferns and heather, the trail vanished. Following the GPS alone, we had to dismount and tackle the terrain on foot. Needless to say, none of us enjoyed the pushing and carrying. But with great effort came great reward – after an hour of guessing our way through the mist, we found our way onto some incredible singletrack that ran us all the way down into Cardrona and the Macdonald Cardrona Hotel, our home for the night. Here we rejuvenated ourselves with a sumptuous dinner and an altogether more relaxing night than the previous one.

Somewhat subdued, we sped back into Edinburgh along a network of old railway lines converted into cycle paths, following the rivers and canals into town. This gave us a great view of the Scottish capital as seen by locals – less so by its massed tourists. As the buildings grew taller and the green retreated in favour of tarmac, we arrived back into the centre of Edinburgh and onto the Royal Mile, right where all the fun began.

Bikes parked up and still in our kit, the three of us sat in the hotel bar reminiscing about the 238km we’d covered. It had been three amazing days out in the wilderness and, back in the heart of the city, we reflected that so much of the magic came from the fact that it had just been us out there; just us who’d been navigating through the beautiful Scottish countryside, exploring hidden trails and gorging on the views. We’d left the stress of real life behind and recaptured that sense of childhood adventure, even if just for a while. Memories made.

DAY 3: 77KM – 4.5HRS OF PEDALLING

Our final day kicked off with the breakfast of champions – multiple runs to the buffet, knocking aside puzzled tourists – before suiting up ready to depart with quenched hunger covering our fatigue.

Heading back into Peebles on the cycle path alongside the Tweed, we detoured ever so slightly to grab a coffee from a small café just off the green, Nashy’s No.2, where we were furnished with the

LEFT TOP: Fragrant woodlands interspersed the route’s hills and moors LEFT BOTTOM: Coffee stops were essential to maintaining high spirits

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BACK THEN THE THRILL OF ALPINE EXPLORING REMAINS AS STRONG AS IT WAS AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENIUM. THANKFULLY, THE MOUNTAIN BIKE HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE THEN WORDS JAMES MCKNIGHT PICTURES JAMES BOWDEN

THE NEWS

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BACK THEN

IN MY EARLY DAYS OF EXPLORING THE MOUNTAINS OF EUROPE, WHERE I NOW LIVE, CHAIRLIFTS WERE NECESSARY TO HAUL CLUMSY 45LB BIKES UP MOUNTAINS.

The bikes that my friends and I (and many like us) rode across mountain ranges were bulky beasts, overbuilt in a bid for longevity yet draped with exceedingly flimsy components. The solid frames fought their lightweight alter egos as the sport trudged through a battle with the forces of nature, attempting to do the impossible and create something useably lightweight yet hardy enough to take on everything a mountainside could throw at it. Bearings exploded, linkages failed and parts disintegrated on a daily basis. It would be hard to convince me that things were better back in the day…

Of course, those bikes were clearly labelled for ‘downhill’ use; their bulkiness could perhaps be excused. They weren’t meant to be ridden up, around and over hills and mountains like we were doing. But that was and still is the excitement of riding in the Alps – the adventure of getting high into the hills and riding far away from home – and downhill bikes were our only choice: realistically no other style of bike available at the time would have been worth entertaining. While there were lightweight setups on the market, their geometries and angles were terrible and they wouldn’t have survived the first metres of the trails we wanted to ride.

DOWNHILL BIKES WEREN’T MEANT TO BE RIDDEN UP, AROUND AND OVER HILLS AND MOUNTAINS LIKE WE WERE DOING. BUT THAT WAS AND STILL IS THE EXCITEMENT OF RIDING IN THE ALPS – THE ADVENTURE OF GETTING HIGH INTO THE HILLS AND RIDING FAR AWAY FROM HOME

LEFT: Back in the day, getting up a climb more often than not meant getting off and pushing rather than pedalling

My friends and I had grown up racing downhill, getting into the competitive side of things mostly by accident, if I’m honest. In the UK at that time (the late 90s, early 2000s), really the only real way to regularly ride new terrain was at a race. Trail centres and the like were still very much a contemporary idea, and if you wanted an uplift service, jumping in the back of a cattle truck at a race was your only option. But as soon as we discovered the Alps, and in them a place where we could tear around the mountains discovering a world of rides, an instinctual searching was sparked.

We’d pack our bags for the day – full to the brim with baguettes, plenty of spare inner tubes and probably a derailleur too – and head off for long days of singletrack hunting. At that point, we often found ourselves crawling down cliff sides on walking trails as the quest for new turns took us to increasingly unlikely slopes.

Over the next years, the search went deeper into valleys increasingly far away, and we were forced to haul our beastly bikes up inclines between lifts, trams and buses while melting under the harsh Alpine sun. Our full suits of heavy body armour and complement of entirely inappropriate kit and equipment only added to the sweaty carnage.

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BACK THEN

In reality, we weren’t going far at all and weren’t exactly achieving feats of exploration, but two wheels and a bit of suspension were fuelling our sense of adventure, always looking for new tracks in different surroundings. Mountain bikes were conceived as machines built to tackle all terrains so our instinctual searching was unsurprising; the sport was founded on the principles of having a lot of fun bombing down hills while being able to propel oneself back to the top.

Back then, while taking breaks from slow progress up hills or while reflecting on the day’s ride from the pub, we’d dream up visions of a bike that could do everything – something that could climb hills and bomb back down them without breaking and open up vast areas of mountains we currently couldn’t access.

This seemed like total fantasy – if it were to be strong enough to deal with our riding it’d be too heavy to pedal, surely? Light and strong didn’t yet exist at this point, not to mention that the notion of a seatpost that automatically changed height seemed laughable.

RIGHT: While the bikes of the day weren’t up to the task, the spirit of adventure in their riders was more than willing

But the joke is on our former selves; dropper posts have been arguably the most important component in the recent and radical evolution of the sport, and bikes are now light, reliable and a hell of a lot of fun to ride everywhere. In less than a decade the bikes we, and the majority of mountain bikers, ride have taken on a new meaning, opening the sport to an endless world of possibility.

NO MATTER WHAT TITLE IT IS GIVEN – ENDURO, TRAIL, ALL-MOUNTAIN, TWO-WHEELED OFF-ROAD CAPABLE VEHICLE – IT IS APPARENT THAT THE MODERN MOUNTAIN BIKE HAS FINALLY BROUGHT US TO THE UTOPIA WE ONCE IMAGINED

Now when I roll out the door my bike ride can take me to the peak of just about any mountain, I can comfortably pedal it on a road or throw it around on a set of jumps, I can meander along a peaceful singletrack or riot through the bike park. Although I could have the luxury of changing bikes reasonably regularly thanks to my job in the industry, I tend to stick to only one bike for everything – simplicity and reliability make a life on two wheels so much better.

No matter what title it is given – enduro bike, trail bike, all-mountain bike, two-wheeled off-road capable vehicle – it is clear that the modern mountain bike has finally brought us to the utopia we once imagined, where stuff doesn’t break in unreasonable circumstances, hills can be both climbed and descended, seats go up and down without having to get the tools out, and snakebite punctures are a romantic throwback to days gone by. Wheel size and suspension travel are now luxuries of choice – most bikes are now amazingly capable in all situations.

Never relenting in its technological developments since inception, the sport of mountain biking stuck to its promise of making an all-terrain bicycle and here we are, a few decades later with bikes that do just that.

This wonderful sport has taken a simple mode of transport – some metal bars and a couple of rubber-clad circles – and made it a leisure pursuit, a sport, a hobby, a passion, an obsession and a full-blown global community. The mountain bike is now truly realised.

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THE NEWS

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THE M29

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THE M29

THE INTENSE M29 PROJECT T H E

N E X T B I G P A R T 1

T H I N G

WORDS JEFF STEBER PICS INTENSE CYCLES

Innovation through racing has always been our way at Intense: the natural progression of developing products using the highest level of the sport. Ideas proven on the race track trickle down through the product line and define the heart and soul of our brand. Racing, we believe, is our true north.

It’s where our company was born and our brand was built. By using the world’s best riders under the fiercest conditions, we are able to develop world-class products and achieve reliability and consistency – ultimately maximising performance on the race course.

We solved the fork issue by using a reduced travel (180mm) Manitou Dorado upside-down fork, which worked pretty well.

We found the biggest 29 trail tyres available at the time and built up some massive, sturdy wheels. Everyone who rode it walked away amazed at the possibilities. In our minds, the project was a big success.

We only built a couple – they got raced at some of the US GRT series but it didn’t make any sense to go to production with the bike as there wasn’t much in the way of forks, and there were no DH-specific tyres or wheels that would support such a bike. So we moved on – but the project always stayed on my mind.

Just like racing, R&D can be unpredictable. Often times it goes that the products reaching the production floor aren’t the same ones we set out to create. Case in point – the M29. We started playing around with designing a 29er trail bike in 2009 and went down the rabbit hole, ending up with a project we called the ‘2951’, which was basically a bigger-wheeled 951 (longtime followers may remember the 951 as a light-duty DH bike intended mostly for park use). It was actually pretty simple to take the 951 platform and just fabricate one up using the larger wheel size. Remember at this point, 27.5 wasn’t even on our minds so this was a very big jump.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING I will skip the historical details in the years that passed, which encompass the industry’s shift to the 27.5in wheel size, and its resulting dominance on the DH circuit. But let’s just say that 27.5 quickly became the wheel size of choice for downhill racing. And that paved the way back to the 2951.

Because 27.5in wheels were now an industry standard, it was a much easier, less radical (and kind of obvious) progression

Racing, we believe, is our true north. It’s where our company was born and our brand was built. By using the world’s best riders under the fiercest conditions, we are able to develop world-class products

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THE M29

to a 29 DH bike. This is not to say that 27.5 is dead, or even dying – at any given World Cup this season you could count at least 18 M16s in the pro field, including all the privateers and support programmes and half the Intense Factory Racing team, running them. 27.5 wheels are still very relevant, but our job – or responsibility – to our sport, and to our riders, is to continue to push the envelope and come out with cool, new stuff.

In the meantime, some of the fork and wheel manufacturers, including our friends at RockShox and ENVE, were working on compatible parts that would finally make the big-wheel DH rig a viable reality.

So, we returned to the 2951 project but we knew this needed to be a completely new bike, designed from the ground up specifically for 29in wheels. We teamed up with Cesar Rojo of Cero Design, who had helped us develop the new Tracer, and were off and running. We had learned a lot from developing longer-travel 29ers like the Carbine, and knew the proper relationship of fork offset and head angle would be key to good handling. Low centre of gravity was also going to play a big role in order to take advantage of having some BB drop now. There was a lot more to consider than just putting bigger wheels on a 27.5 bike.

The architecture of the frame would need to work with the suspension kinematics to allow for reasonable chainstay lengths.

We configured the bottom linkage concentric around the bottom

bracket to have more room to play with chainstay lengths. The weight bias between front centre and chainstay length is critical to the overall feel of the bike.

We decided 200mm of travel would be plenty with the big wheels.

Before long, I was cutting tubes and welding the first prototypes and by October 2016, we had a first rolling frame – a completely new design.

Initial test riding by Intense Factory Racing tech director, Chappy Fiene, proved we were on the right track. Next, I built an identical 27.5in-wheeled version and we fitted both bikes out with like parts and ergonomics so we could do more accurate side-byside comparisons. At that point, we still didn’t know if the racers would prefer the 27.5 version – only getting the boys out to ride would tell the whole story.

RISKY BUSINESS It was decided that Intense Factory Racing veterans Jack Moir and Dean Lucas would be the riders to champion the 29 DH project and, if all went well, would race the prototypes during the 2017 World Cup season – a bit of a risky proposition to say the least. Jack and Dean would be asked to race a completely new, unproven design and new wheel size at the very highest level of competition on one-off prototypes (including forks, wheels and tyres). This is not something for the faint of heart, and it’s part of the reason we chose them for the task.

Not to say that 27.5 is dead, or even dying... but our job – or responsibility – to our sport, and to our riders, is to continue to push the envelope and come out with cool, new stuff

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THE M29

TOP LEFT: Chappy puts the finishing touches to a DH 29er prototype TOP RIGHT: It’s not exactly a simple welding job MIDDLE RIGHT: Jeff fettles Jack Moir’s 29er at Fort William BOTTOM: Jack Moir puts Intense’s creation to the test

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THE M29

TOP: Jack Moir is one of the first racers to embrace a DH 29er MIDDLE LEFT: Prototyping is essential when pushing MTB design to its limits MIDDLE RIGHT: Jeff with the original 2951 BOTTOM LEFT: Cesar Rojo builds the future in Intense’s R&D department BOTTOM RIGHT: Jeff shows off a custom paint job at Fort William

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THE REAL TEST We wanted to start the season off at Lourdes, France, but some of the key components for the race bikes were not quite ready in time. After some debate, it was decided that leg two of the World Cup at Fort William, Scotland, would be the debut of the M29 prototype. It’s no secret that, as tracks go, Fort Bill is pretty ideal for a 29er and a few other teams showed up with modified 27.5 prototypes, so was a good break-out event for the new rig.

This wasn’t just a massive undertaking for them, however.

Chappy and I, as well as the rest of the R&D team behind the scenes – Chris Knutson, Chad Peterson and Cesar Rojo – spent endless hours crunching the numbers, 3D-modelling, making one-off CNC parts and trying to make timelines. Every change meant that new prototypes would need to be fabricated as well as some spare parts. This was a bit nerve-wracking at times.

The project also went well-beyond our internal effort as we were working with key sponsors also vested in the 29 DH adventure.

RockShox was supplying the prototype 29 DH fork and new metric Super Deluxe WC Coil shocks; ENVE, prototype carbon DH wheelsets; and Maxxis, World Cup-proven treads in 29 DHspecific configurations.

One of our big concerns was spare parts. We wondered if we would have enough of the one-off tyres and carbon wheelsets to keep to riders rolling through a long week of training and racing on a hellish track. Again, our sponsors came through – ENVE with a fresh batch of carbon rims and Maxxis with fresh rubber.

We were good to go.

We timed all this perfectly for our Intense Factory Racing team camp during January 2017 here in Temecula, California. Cesar came over for a week and we did several solid test days doing multiple timed runs with the same rider and switching bikes, averaging times. We tested at different style tracks to see if any advantages with terrain would favour one size over the other. I had built identical test bikes; setups were the same for each rider on the two bikes so they could seamlessly transition between the two – the only difference was wheel size.

The rest is history. Things could not have gone better with Jack Moir taking second place in elite on an alloy prototype 29er, Greg Minnaar of SC Syndicate taking the top step also on a 29 and three 29ers in the top 10 – so not too bad of a first showing. We knew we had something special with Jack and the new bike – and he secured the number three plate for the series at that point. It was a huge moment for the Intense Factory Racing programme and everyone who had worked so hard to get there. A podium for the rider is a win for the whole team and also the brand.

The test proved the 29er to be consistently superior – averages were generally three to five seconds faster. It was very clear, and everyone was on board. Time to throw some gasoline on the fire!

In part two next issue, Jeff discusses the future of the DH 29er.

Second at Fort Bill was a huge moment for the Intense Factory Racing programme and everyone who had worked so hard to get there. A podium for the rider is a win for the whole team and the brand

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OUR TOUR

OUR TOUR The 2017 Tour de France featured some incredible performances, and Saddleback brands were with the world’s best every step of the way WORDS TOM BALLARD PICTURES JERED GRUBER

WITH ELITE PERFORMANCE CYCLING RUNNING THROUGH EVERYTHING WE DO AT SADDLEBACK, OUR OFFICE IS CHOCK FULL OF SHAVEN-LEGGED CYCLING GEEKS WHO GO GAGA OVER YELLOW EVERY JULY. EACH YEAR, AS THE GRAND DÉPART GROWS EVER NEARER, THE ANTICIPATION RISES PALPABLY AS WE WONDER AND PREDICT HOW OUR BRANDS WILL FARE AT THE TOUR.

It’s an interesting angle from which to watch the sport’s biggest race; keeping an eye on both those riders who are personal favourites as well as those using the peloton-leading products that we’re lucky enough to work with every day.

There’s a frisson of excitement through the office as one of ‘our’ riders leads the race; a wave of elation if a victory is scored; a ripple of anguish if they’re brought down in a crash. It’s just another way to feel closer to the sport.

Given the prestige of the Italian and American brands in our roster, we’ve always got plenty of riders to root for, but Le Tour 2017 turned out to be truly spectacular. Castelli, Sidi, Stages, ENVE and Rotor were all well represented at the very pinnacle of the sport this July and can add yet more top results to their long list of palmarès. Here are some of our highlights.

TEAM SKY ON TOP FROM THE GRAND DÉPART

When we learned that Castelli would be partnering with Team Sky for the 2017 season, we couldn’t hide our elation. The British squad hasn’t just dominated the tour for the last half-decade, but the organisation’s legendary attention to detail meant the reinforcement of Castelli’s position at the cutting edge of professional cycling. For the Tour, Sky riders would also swap out their customary black for a special white kit that made the team stand out throughout the race.

Close work between the Italian brand and Team Sky meant that in addition to the added speed of the existing range – including the Aero Race 5.1 Jersey, Climber’s 2.0 Jersey and the San Remo 3.2 Speed Suit – the athletes would benefit from Castelli’s legendary ‘unfair advantage’ thanks to innovative prototype designs.

The Stage 1 time trial got people talking from the off as the Castelli Body Paint 4.0 Speed Suit made its Grand Tour debut and helped put Geraint Thomas into yellow. In the midst of claims that the speed suit’s superior aerodynamic edge was indeed unfair, Castelli’s industry-leading innovation was vindicated by the garment’s official UCI seal of approval. It was a well-deserved win for the fan-favourite Welshman, whose dry sense of humour lightens any post-stage interview.

After 3T-sponsored Stefan Küng (BMC Racing) claimed second, Team Sky’s Vasil Kiryienka also took third, Chris Froome sixth (first of the pre-race favourites) and Michal Kwiatkowski eighth – a real show of strength to open the Tour with and a testament to perfect pacing using their Stages power meters.

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Saddleback interest included Team Sky, Marcel Kittel, Dimension Data, BoraHansgrohe and BMC Racing

Geraint Thomas enjoyed his first ever spell in yellow; one of only three riders to wear it this year

CLAD IN CASTELLI KIT, TEAM SKY LOOKED IMPERIAL WHILE SIDI HELD THE TOP-THREE GC FROM STAGE 5 ALL THE WAY TO PARIS

Dimension Data’s Edvald Boasson Hagen fought throughout the race and finally secured a win on Stage 19

Marcel Kittel took five stage victories before abandoning following a crash on Stage 17

The Tour always has its casualties, but Mark Cavendish had a particularly brutal exit from this year’s race

SIDI AND SILCA STEP IT UP

With Thomas safely in yellow for the first time in his career, our focus moved to the sprinters for Stage 2. With Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) representing Sidi; Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) riding with both ENVE and Rotor; and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) powered behind the scenes by Silca, loyalties in the office were split when urging riders to the line.

In the end it was Kittel, the German screaming over the line in the first of an incredible five stage wins at this year’s race. We only had to wait 24 hours to celebrate another win as world champion Peter Sagan, bolts tightened and tyres pumped to PSI perfection by Silca, took the stage.

While Sidi rider Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) took second on Stage 4, we were concerned about Cav and Sagan’s coming together in the final and the ensuing exits of both riders – a blow for any fan.

ARU SHOWS HIS CLASS

The next day, Fabio Aru took an emphatic victory on La Planche des Belles Filles wearing his Sidi Wire Carbons while Chris Froome took the lead from his teammate wearing his Sidi Shots. From this point in the race, Sidi riders would occupy at least the top-three GC positions until Paris.

Back on the flat, Kittel took victories on Stages 6 and 7. The latter victory was so close that the judges had to view the finish line photo to declare the German first over the line ahead of Dimension Data’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, whose ENVE wheels missed out by the slimmest of margins.

Having protected the lead from day one, Team Sky looked imperial – and immaculate in their new white kit. Thomas was comfortably holding second behind the defending champ until falling victim to the twisting descent of the Col de la Binche on Stage 9 – a stretch of winding tarmac that also claimed 3T-sponsored BMC Racing leader Richie Porte. On the same stage, Rigoberto Uran (CannondaleDrapac), another Sidi star, took the win, underlining his race-challenging form.

Another two sprint stages followed – cue another pair of wins for Marcel Kittel, whose speed was proving unbeatable in July – and another close call for Boasson Hagen, who took third.

FROOME UNDER PRESSURE

Stage 12 provided excitement aplenty as the leaders duelled on the steep finish in Peyragudes. Skinnyframed Romain Bardet (AG2R) cranked his Sidi Ergo 4s over the line in first, with Uran second and Aru

SIDI’S SHOES DOMINATED THE 2017 TOUR DE FRANCE, RATCHETING UP EIGHT STAGE VICTORIES

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STAGE 1 GERAINT THOMAS 1ST CASTELLI, STAGES STEFAN KÜNG 2ND 3T STAGE 2 MARCEL KITTEL 1ST SIDI GERAINT THOMAS IN YELLOW CASTELLI, STAGES STAGE 3 PETER SAGAN 1ST SILCA GERAINT THOMAS IN YELLOW CASTELLI, STAGES STAGE 4 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF 2ND SIDI GERAINT THOMAS IN YELLOW CASTELLI, STAGES STAGE 5 FABIO ARU 1ST SIDI CHRIS FROOME IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES STAGE 6 MARCEL KITTEL 1ST SIDI CHRIS FROOME IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES STAGE 7 MARCEL KITTEL 1ST SIDI EDVALD BOASSON HAGEN 2ND ENVE, ROTOR STAGE 8 CHRIS FROOME IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES GERAINT THOMAS 2ND OVERALL CASTELLI, STAGES STAGE 9 RIGOBERTO URAN 1ST SIDI CHRIS FROOME 3RD, IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES

OUR TOUR

STAGE 10 MARCEL KITTEL 1ST SIDI CHRIS FROOME IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES STAGE 11 MARCEL KITTEL 1ST SIDI EDVALD BOASSON HAGEN 3RD ENVE, ROTOR STAGE 12 ROMAIN BARDET 1ST SIDI RIGOBERTO URAN 2ND SIDI STAGE 13 FABIO ARU IN YELLOW SIDI CHRIS FROOME 2ND OVERALL CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES

third. The Italian national champion’s 20-second lead over Froome meant yellow was finally wrested from Team Sky for the first time in the race.

As Sky’s Mikel Landa put another Sidi, Castelli and Stages rider into the top-five on Stage 13, Aru’s stint in yellow would prove short-lived, the Italian losing time during the accelerations of the sprinters’ trains on Stage 14, putting Froome back into the maillot jaune. Meanwhile, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) took second on the stage and Boasson Hagen had another close call, coming third over the line. It wasn’t long before the Norwegian was competing for the win again, taking second two days later.

Uran led the favourites across the line in second on Stage 17, but the Izoard took its toll the following day when only Froome could keep with Bardet, who came in third. The Colombian lost 22 seconds while Landa dropped 32 on the mountain’s legendary slopes.

BOASSON HAGEN STORMS TO VICTORY

With Paris almost in sight, time was running out for Boasson Hagen to make good on his clearly superb form. In a gutsy attack 2.2km out, the Norwegian stomped down on his Rotor crankset and whirred his ENVEs up to speed to drop all competition and take a much-deserved five-second victory on Stage 19, giving Dimension Data its first stage win of this year’s Tour.

THE RACE OF TRUTH

STAGE 14 GREG VAN AVERMAET 2ND 3T EDVALD BOASSON HAGEN 3RD ENVE, ROTOR STAGE 15 CHRIS FROOME IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES FABIO ARU 2ND OVERALL SIDI STAGE 16 EDVALD BOASSON HAGEN 2ND ENVE, ROTOR CHRIS FROOME IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES STAGE 17 RIGOBERTO URAN 2ND SIDI CHRIS FROOME 3RD, IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES STAGE 18 ROMAIN BARDET 3RD SIDI CHRIS FROOME IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES STAGE 19 EDVALD BOASSON HAGEN 1ST ENVE, ROTOR CHRIS FROOME IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES STAGE 20 MACIEJ BODNAR 1ST SILCA MICHAL KWIATKOWSKI 2ND CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES STAGE 21 EDVALD BOASSON HAGEN 3RD ENVE, ROTOR CHRIS FROOME IN YELLOW CASTELLI, SIDI, STAGES

By the morning of Stage 20, a mere 22.5km was left between Froome and a fourth Tour de France victory. After putting so much work in during the mountain stages, Michal Kwiatkowski was allowed to fly, with his Castelli speed suit helping the Pole to second place. He lost out by just one second to countryman Maciej Bodnar, whose Bora-Hansgrohe team mechanics ensured mechanical perfection thanks to Silca.

Despite not being able to take advantage of Castelli’s aerodynamic expertise, Froome still managed a fantastic ride to come third on the stage, extending the lead to his rivals and clinching his fourth – and third consecutive – Tour de France win. Mikel Landa also put in a solid performance to secure fourth in the GC, just one second behind Bardet.

PODIUM POWER

It was awe-inspiring to see Team Sky sipping champagne and riding arm-in-arm, celebrating what had been a true team victory. While members of the British squad could use their ride around gay Paris as a victory lap, there was still a stage win up for grabs. Once again, Boasson Hagen showed his class in taking third.

Then, that was it; another edition of the Tour was over. While in other years the post-race blues might have been threatening to set in, our spirits couldn’t have been higher thanks to the incredible results from our brands. The overall win for Castelli was made all the sweeter by the fact that Team Sky won the team classification for the first time ever.

Stages can also take huge pride in Team Sky’s accomplishments, the brand’s contribution crucial when pacing climbs, judging bluffs from real attacks and going on the offensive to distance rivals – all while reinforcing the product’s relevance at the sport’s very highest level.

Sidi simply had a dream race, holding one-two-three in the GC from Stage 5 and the top five from Stage 16 onwards. As if having the best five GC riders in the world wearing its shoes wasn’t enough, the Italian brand could also bask in the glory of a staggering eight stage wins including five sprint victories from Marcel Kittel.

After Cavendish left the race on Stage 4, ENVE and Rotor hopes seemed pinned to Edvald Boasson Hagen, who was up there in almost every sprint, coming away with three third places, two seconds and that all-important win on Stage 19. Finally, Silca can also celebrate a fantastic race with Bora-Hansgrohe riders scoring two stage victories: Sagan on Stage 3 and Bodnar on Stage 20’s time trial.

All in all, it was an action-packed spectacular that provided drama, excitement and its fair share of chaos, all the while proving the quality of Saddleback’s brands time and again at the sport’s most prestigious and important race. Chapeau!

BY PARIS, SIDI RIDERS HELD THE TOP FIVE WHILE CASTELLI AND STAGES COULD CELEBRATE 17 DAYS IN YELLOW, THE OVERALL WIN AND THE TEAM CLASSIFICATION 92

Fabio Aru was one of the most exciting riders in this year’s race and the only non-Team Sky rider to hold yellow

THE DIGGER

THE DIGGER

Good trails don’t simply spring from the earth; they have to be mined, excavated and sculpted. Duncan Ferris is one of the UK’s leading experts in this dark art, and in the magical thing they call ‘flow’ WORDS RIC MCLAUGHLIN PHOTOS SVEN MARTIN & MIKE LUSMORE

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THE DIGGER

Talking about wheel size has become for mountain bikers what talking about road directions is like for older motorists. There’s a sort of prosaic, numbing quality to it, yet we all have our own experiences and opinions; A54 or B5227 vs 650B or 29in.

These are observations made partly by a rider who has been racing since 1998 and partly as a rider slightly more in tune to what a track is doing than most. Along with founder Phil Saxena, Duncan is one-half of Architrail, a company that specialises in trail building solutions. The last decade has been turbulent for his chosen discipline, 4X, however. Since disappearing from the UCI World Cup calendar six years ago, the four-up format has forged its own destiny and Ferris doesn’t believe that it’s yet realised its full potential.

Some people’s opinions matter just that bit more than others, however.

Duncan Ferris is not only one of the country’s premier trail builders; he is also the holder of back-to-back national 4X titles. His first came on a 26inwheeled bike and the second on board a 27.5 machine – a real rarity in the world of gated racing.

“At the minute, there aren’t many new 4X tracks in the pipeline,” he concedes.

“I’d love to see more crop up in terms of track building. They need to be wider – not just with bigger jumps like everyone seems to think. We’ve already got pretty big jumps. Big corners are important too but so are straight straights.

A lot of straights have a slight kink in them and that just results in people getting inline. We need more spectacular, spectator-friendly features too.”

“The bigger wheels worked better on some tracks than others,” Duncan admits. “They were slightly harder to gate and accelerate up to speed but once they were there, they were a lot more stable.”

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Having raced and been involved with builds for the final stanzas of the UCI World Cup schedule, Duncan takes a second to summon up his favourite ever tracks. “I guess it would always have to be Schladming,” he finally grins.

“It was always amazing to race on. It had good dirt and was really steep.

Val di Sole too; it was always good racing there and there’s plenty of scope for overtaking.”

“I think the British trail centre model is right up there with any in the world,” he continues. “It works really well and is starting to be copied all over the place. But if the trail you build is a success, more people will ride it and it will need more maintenance to be sustainable. Maintenance is a huge part of it.”

The latest generation of British mountain bikers are without doubt spoilt for choice when it comes to year-round riding, but the truly great trails have that special flow which takes a trained eye like Duncan’s to recognise and massage into a sustainable prospect.

Away from the full-throttle world of race tracks, however, man-made trails are booming and Duncan believes the UK boasts some of the finest. But he remembers a time when they took a bit more effort to locate.

“In terms of trail centre trails, people often don’t understand the sheer amount of planning and then earth works that have to go into them,” he says.

“You have to dig away a lot of ground to get a trail in but do it in a way that the surrounding area can grow back in around it again.”

“Back in the day, you just heard through word of mouth that there were trails somewhere and you hacked into the forest and went and found them for yourself,” he recalls. “Now, it’s a lot easier for people to just turn up and ride.

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Back in the day, you just heard through word of mouth that there were trails somewhere and you hacked into the forest and found them for yourself.

For Architrail, the remainder of 2017 looks to be a busy one as the team gets to work developing and expanding the existing compact network around Cathkin Braes in Glasgow. They will also be putting in a new skills area and a pump track to boot. Perhaps one of the biggest post-trail-centre success stories of recent years has been the proliferation of pump tracks cropping up not only around the UK but all around the world. Architrail also operates as Velosolutions UK, the British arm of legendary Swiss DH racer Claudio Caluori’s pump track building empire.

By Duncan’s reckoning, there are now over 50 ‘VS’ pump tracks globally and as many as 25 went in last year alone. As with building mind-bending singletrack, constructing the perfect pump track is a dark art – but one that Duncan really relishes. “If someone needs a pump track building then we work with Claudio in the design process and then go and build it,” he says.

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It’s important that a track rides creatively as every rider is different. Some people like corners, some like jumps and it’s important to cater to that.

“It’s a really satisfying process but just really hard work,” Duncan goes on. “The hardest bit is, without doubt, laying the tar. Tar is great to work with but it needs to be put in place quickly before it cools so you end up wheelbarrowing back and forth without a break for hours. We recently built a pump track in Inverness which involved 10 people manhandling nearly 170 tons of tar into place over just three days. We were basically running around like headless chickens.”

Like all great artists, however, he admits that it’s very much a labour of love.

“I love building pump tracks!” Duncan smiles. “It’s great to watch them come together with all their lines and rollers. Pump tracks have become really popular with councils and local authorities because lots of different wheeled sports can use them and you can fit one in just about any area. They can fit into parks and be really flexible things.”

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So what kind of design elements are taken into consideration when planning a fresh pump track? “A lot of people think that when it comes to building a pump track you just start digging and work it out as you go. But we do lots of site visits, we do a lot of measuring; it’s really more construction-based than people think. A lot goes into it. You have to factor in digging in drainage solutions and places for water to soak away to otherwise it’ll just break up.”

“Once you know the rough shapes and lay out then that makes the features themselves a lot easier to build. Velosolutions tracks always have good flow and we always try to create different transfer lines and options; it’s important that a track rides creatively as every rider is different; some people like corners, some like jumps and it’s important to cater to that. It’s funny, when you start building it, there are always lines that start to come out of it. New lines and options always come out of it.”

One of Velosolutions Global’s biggest challenges came during the construction of its pump track in Brooklyn. New York City is subject to massive fluctuations in weather and temperature which resulted in the track there being essentially constructed to the same standards as a road in order to withstand them. But the fabled flow can be even harder to construct and that’s where the experience of a rider and racer like Duncan becomes invaluable.

“We have a template which helps us work out roller spacing,” he says.

Man-made trails aren’t for everyone but there’s no doubting that they bring more and more people into mountain biking and provide year-round options for just about everyone. What is cool about the very best examples, however, is that there are people as proud and passionate about creating them as Duncan Ferris. As long as he and his ilk are wielding the shovels, we’re all in a pretty good place.

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C R A N C C YC L E S P O R T

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C R A N C C YC L E S P O R T

SHOP FOCUS CRANC CYCLESPORT FOUNDER ANDY ROWLANDS TALKS BIKE FITTING, OTT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND MAKING HIGH-END SUCCESSFUL IN WEST WALES WORDS AND PICTURES TOM BALLARD

IN A DIGITAL AGE OF INTANGIBLE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES, CRANC CYCLESPORT IN CARMARTHEN EXEMPLIFIES THE RELEVANCE OF THE LOCAL HIGH-END CYCLERY. WE MET FOUNDER ANDY ROWLANDS TO CHAT ABOUT THE VISION BEHIND THE BUSINESS AND HOW INTEGRITY, SUPERIOR SERVICE AND BRAND BUILDING HAVE CREATED A DESTINATION STORE FOR CYCLING CONNOISSEURS IN WEST WALES AND BEYOND.

“My love of cycling started when I was five or six years old. My father used to ride road bikes in north Wales – this was in the early 80s – so I got a road bike at a very young age; a five-speed Raleigh Micron. So while my mates were on BMXs and subsequently mountain bikes, I stayed on a road bike. I also come from a swimming background, which led into triathlon in the early 90s.

“After coming out of the army in 2014, I still had a huge passion for cycling.

I went into a bike shop one day and had a bad experience as a customer. I couldn’t believe the way I’d been spoken to. I went home and I said to my wife, ‘I’ve got a good mind to open my own place.’ My wife runs three businesses so she said, ‘Go on then!’ Honestly, that’s what happened!”

Andy’s quick to point out that anyone in customer service can have a bad day, but the interaction was the catalyst for considering how he would run a bike shop – starting with what would mark him out from others in the region.

“While you have a passion for something, clearly you have to have a business head too. We needed a unique selling point. For me, that’s bike fitting; I’m the only Retül bike fitter in Wales at the moment. It’s a huge investment, but I guess in everything that I do, I don’t deal with mediocrity very well. It’s either full-on or I’m not doing it – and I believe that Retül is the best system in the world.

“I think in cycling through the last 30 years, you accepted being uncomfortable on a bike because it’s all part of the suffer. But I believe that in order to get people to enjoy cycling, it’s their position governs performance, endurance and enjoyment – comfort is the base for all of it.

“I get a great deal of satisfaction from seeing someone who comes in with a horrific position and watching them leave after a bike fit. What’s worrying is that people have often had a bike fit before, but the feedback we get is priceless really. I had one guy who had to unclip his shoes from his pedals after an hour because he had so much pain in his knees. Now he’s done a six-hour 100 miler, so it’s completely changed his cycling.

“From a business point of view, yes, it is a convoluted way of establishing a relationship with that customer, but I think once you give them that experience, you’re invested in one another. They might not buy a £10k Colnago this year, but if and when they do decide they’re going to invest in a bike, I think and I hope that they will want to have that experience here.

“I always describe myself as a bike fitter who sells bikes as opposed to a bike shop that does fitting. Fitting is what I started doing and it was my vision to provide a service for bike fitting in this part of the world.”

Through Cranc, Andy has not only made that dream a reality but gone so much further, creating a high-end destination store that majors not only on bike fitting but on building long-lasting customer relationships. Based on the outskirts of Carmarthen, the original site of Cranc was a humble cowshed – a suitable simile for Andy’s fledgling business, which began in his garage – but the new purpose-built showroom, workshop, cafe and fitting studio feels anything but rural.

Step inside the bright, modern space and rows of Castelli outfits and Sidi shoes welcome you in bespoke displays while ENVE, Silca, Stages and Rotor each take their place alongside gawp-worthy carbon finery from Colnago, Look and Argon18. This ground-floor showroom area opens onto the fully-stocked workshop that’s kept in full customer view and exceptional order, Andy’s team well-drilled in meet and greet.

Glass-panelled steps and the intoxicating aroma of freshly-ground coffee lead you up into the warm and comfortable cafe area. Here, cycling prints adorn the

LEFT TOP: Andy stands proud in the shop he’s built from the ground up LEFT BOTTOM: High-end Castelli and Sidi POS bespoke from Saddleback

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C R A N C C YC L E S P O R T

“I THINK THE CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT WE OFFER HERE IS MAYBE A LITTLE OVER THE TOP SOMETIMES, BUT MOST PEOPLE APPRECIATE IT – AND I HOPE THAT IN YEARS TO COME PEOPLE REMEMBER IT”

walls and enthused, shaven-legged patrons sip from steaming Cranc-branded cups. Beyond this bustling space is the heart of the business: the spacious, laboratory-like fitting studio complete with Retül Muve bike rig, LCD display and the robotic-looking Retül camera.

“Then we do a second bike fit with the customer that takes about an hour and that’s usually just fine-tuning the position. The bike is then finished – brakes attached, cables trimmed and all the rest of it. The customer takes the bike for two to three weeks, then comes back for a free service.

At that stage, if there’s anything that needs to be done to the position, we look at it again.

All in all, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d entered a plush London establishment reserved for the cycling elite. But was this undoubtedly high-end set-up a risk for the location?

“We’ll then send reminders of when servicing is suggested, but to be honest we usually see most people. You’ve given them that good experience and they’ll call in for a coffee or buy something else.”

“It’s always a leap of faith, because we’re not in the most affluent part of the country,” says Andy thoughtfully. “However, I think that if you build it, they will come. If you’re in the market for a Ferrari, you would expect to drive somewhere to see one, it’s a destination. I think we’re seeing that a lot more with bikes. People will drive here to see ENVE wheels, or make the trip to see Colnago. I’ve got customers from North Wales who’ve bought bikes from me, people from the midlands, from Bristol.

It’s undoubtedly a thorough process, but the time and effort involved aren’t really a consideration for Andy and his team.

“The vision I had is, again, like a Ferrari garage or a Mercedes garage. So, you come in and people talk to you. By the time somebody makes a decision to buy a bike from here, they’ve usually been in a few times already. We invite them for a coffee with me and we discuss different options according to their budget.

We then do a bike fit with them on the jig – the Retül Muve – and that allows me to mimic all the frames that are available and gives me a set of measurements to populate an order form of what bits they need.

“Our head mechanic Rob oversees the build of all of those bikes. Rob’s quite anal about making sure the bikes are right so nine times out of 10 he’ll even strip pre-assembled bikes and rebuild them just to make sure.

“Customer service and integrity are the foundations of everything here. No matter what you do, you do the right thing by the customer. As long as I can look myself in the mirror and say, ‘Yep, I’ve not stitched anyone up,’ then I’ve had a good day.

“We won’t sell a bike that doesn’t fit because that’s what our reputation is based on. You’d only do it once. If I mis-sold you a 58cm frame, then sooner or later you’re going to realise – or someone’s going to tell you – that you’ve been stitched up. It goes back to how I started: I’m a bike fitter who sells bikes. So, if I sell a bike that doesn’t fit, I’m not a bike fitter.

“It’s really easy when customer service goes right – but I do feel that when things go wrong, you’ve got to play the long game. We bend over backwards for our customers.

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LEFT: The well-kept workshop opens onto the showroom floor TOP LEFT: The coffee shop buzzes with a welcoming atmosphere TOP RIGHT: Andy is passionate about perfecting each rider’s fit BOTTOM LEFT: Andy is the only Retül-certified fitter in Wales BOTTOM RIGHT: Detail is key – including Cranc-branded cups

“If there’s a problem that’s down to someone not riding their bike properly, I’ll send our head mechanic Rob out for an hour’s ride with them to teach them how to shift properly and avoid cross chaining or whatever.

“One guy’s Look frame cracked. It’s not my fault and certainly not his fault, probably not even Look’s fault. I gave him my bike to ride for four weeks so that he could keep riding over the summer. It’s a big call because it’s mine, not the business’s – I paid for them. But that guy spent £12k here so he kind of expects it.

“I think that’s probably the customer service that we offer that’s maybe a little bit over the top sometimes, but most people appreciate it and I hope that in years to come people remember it.”

Indeed, three years after opening, it seems Andy’s attitude toward the long game is paying dividends. Return customers and word-of-mouth referrals are ensuring healthy growth for the business.

“When we did our business plan, I didn’t think that you could really have a customer base in this industry because you don’t really see people buying bikes year after year. But we’re seeing a lot of it.

“I was surprised how consistent the call is for bike fitting because in this area you would imagine that you’d reach a saturation point where everybody’s had a bike fit, but again, it’s that repeat customer – somebody who understands the value of a bike fit. In a couple of years’ time, they’ll come back because they’re stronger, fitter, more flexible or whatever and they’ll probably want a new bike by then too.”

So what does the future hold for Cranc? Andy has already begun to leverage exposure from the trusted brand he’s created and with amazing roads, mountain biking growing, a newly-resurfaced velodrome opening in the town and plenty of triathletes around, expansion could also be on the cards before too long.

“When we designed the Cranc logo, I wanted it to be a brand in its own right, not just the name of the shop. So, in the future with our website, I’d like people to go to visit not because they want to buy something, but because they want to read about cycling.

“We have our own triathlon team, 11 athletes who’ve got Cranc-branded Castelli race kit. We’ve had great success so far, particularly in national events.

One of our athletes has just won the Welsh sprint triathlon series and we’ve got a couple of guys going to Kona this year. It’s gathering momentum. There are brands that are interested in coming on board next year – perhaps from a sponsorship point of view – and that can only be good for the athletes and us.

“We also do our own sportive event, the Towy Valley Gran Fondo from Nantgaredig Rugby Club. Howies – another Carmarthen brand – did a T-shirt for us and we had stands at the end; so you come back from a long ride to a hog roast, beer and the chance to look at kit. That’s what I’d want from an event so that’s what we tried to provide.

“The ultimate goal would be to have Cranc recognised as the epitome of quality and service; that when anyone who rides bikes sees our logo, they would immediately think of quality, professionalism and a great experience when they go into our shop… or shops in the future.”

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S TA F F R I D E S

S TA F F R I D E TECHNICAL PRODUCT SPECIALIST ROSS GRIMMETT’S 3T EXPLORO TEAM

When 3T created the Exploro, the Italian brand used both its far reaching history in the sport and its unerring dedication to constant innovation to create something truly different – and truly special.

profile of a knobbly tyre, reducing turbulence – it’s also wide enough to hide drinks bottles from the wind.

From the past, the brand took on board the spirit of adventure of an age gone by when even Grand Tours – once just niche displays of foolhardiness – sent riders across dusty tracks and over unsurfaced gravel climbs in search of victory. Inspired by that forging of new frontiers, 3T added modern-day technology – aerodynamic optimisation for speed, disc braking for control, and tyre clearance for ultimate wheel size and rubber choice. The result is a bike that empowers you to ride wherever you want – and to do it fast, too.

The Exploro pictured is the very bike used by Saddleback’s technical product specialist, Ross Grimmett, on his sojourn around tracks less travelled in Scotland (see page 66). Starting with the frame, Ross chose the Exploro Team, resplendent in white and 3T red (or at least it was until he got hold of it). The frame was designed for low-speed aerodynamics, a factor that becomes ever more important as the hours of off-road exploration ware on. The Squaro tubing of the chunky down tube has been refined to match perfectly with the

One of the Exploro’s biggest pluses is its ability to take 700c or 27.5 wheels and, seeking a comfort cruise, Ross chose the latter, pairing the hoops with WTB Byway 47 tyres – fast 47c wide slicks that coped incredibly well on all but the wettest ground – and WTB Ranger tyres – two-inch wide knobblies that took up the slack when grip was the order of the day.

Ross paired the SRAM Force 22 HRD shifter with a 44t chainring and 10-42t spread at the back, giving just about all the cogs needed to get up and over all the Scottish wilds threw at him. In hindsight, Ross says a 40t chainring would’ve been perfect to avoid too much grinding of his hirsute knees.

That brings us to the fork. Yes, in his attempt to tame Scotland’s famous ruggedness, Ross was certainly ‘up for a Lauf ’ with this gorgeous colourmatched Lauf Grit, which is part of the 3T catalogue and available from Saddleback. The design uses S2 glassfibre springs to give 30mm of progressive travel without losing any sharpness of steering input.

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S TA F F R I D E S

FRAME 3T EXPLORO TEAM (LARGE) HANDLEBARS 3T ERGOTERRA TEAM STEALTH 44/47CM GRIPS 3T CORIUS TEAM STEM 3T ARX II TEAM STEALTH 110MM WHEELS DISCUS PLUS C25 PRO (27.5) CASSETTE SRAM 11-SPEED POWERGLIDE 11-42T CRANKSET SRAM FORCE CX1 (175MM) CHAINRING SRAM FORCE XSYNC (44T) SHIFTER SRAM FORCE CX1 HYDRAULIC DOUBLETAP REAR DERAILLEUR SRAM FORCE CX1 TYPE 2.1 LONG CAGE BOTTOM BRACKET BB386EVO FORKS LAUF CUSTOM TEAM GRIT SADDLE WTB VOLT PRO BRAKES SRAM FORCE POST MOUNT HYDRAULIC DISC W/ SRAM 160MM CENTERLOCK ROTOR TYRES WTB BYWAY 47 BAGS ALPKIT

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S TA F F C O L U M N S

S TA F F C O L U M N S SADDLEBACK STAFF SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON TRAVEL, WORK VS PLAY AND THE ETERNAL QUESTION OF HOW MANY BIKES

DECLAN DEEHAN

NICK COX

RIDES INTENSE CARBINE INTENSE SPIDER

RIDES INTENSE TRACER CANNONDALE CAAD10

MOST-LISTENED SONG RIGHT NOW DISCLOSURE FT. LONDON GRAMMAR HELP ME LOSE MY MIND

MOST-LISTENED SONG RIGHT NOW RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE KNOW YOUR ENEMY

MARKETING MANAGER

HEAD OF CREATIVE

What makes us choose the bikes we buy? Whether working in the cycle industry or not, we are all in it for the same reason: we love bikes. It doesn’t seem to matter how many you have or even if you are savvy enough to have secured that one, mystical do-it-all bike. We always want another (or two).

I have a mountain bike but it’s for the full-on stuff so I need something for the long days to mash out the miles, but it’s still got to have some attitude for the descents. Maybe I need a hardtail as well just in case. I have an unloved commuter because I can’t use my good road bike – that would be insane. Plus, I need a winter road bike that’s flashier than my commuter, but not quite as flash as my summer bike. My commuter has semi slick knobblies, but I can’t be seen out on the gravel path on that, so I need a gravel bike, of course – that’s obvious.

After having many conflicting conversations with my conscience, my bank manager, and the wife, I have come to a decision. I need as many bikes as it takes to make me happy – and that’s lots. Do I really need them all? Absolutely not. Do I want them all? I absolutely do. No rationality is required: if that’s what makes me happy, then that’s a perfectly valid reason to me.

How do I decide what to buy and where do I get the advice? Magazines, online, friends, the pros? Well, the funny thing about being a human is we are all very different and this tends to make things interesting. I like poached eggs, my wife prefers scrambled. I like the countryside, my brother loves the city life, I like movies, my work colleague likes books (and bikes, naturally). We are all different and that’s what makes us, us.

The demise of print may seem a certainty but as you scratch the surface of this theory it becomes clear that its obituaries have been hasty. Whilst, of course, there is a use and need for the digital world, people appear to be wanting more; something different and tangible. In 2016 vinyl sales overtook those of digital music for the first time. It was reported that people preferred the ‘outdated’ physical format of music compared to the formless downloading of music. In the same way, print will always have an essential place.

I believe people place more value on a physical object they’ve purchased rather than one they cannot hold or touch. Print – the form itself – isn’t dead; some magazines are dying because they refuse to change, evolve or accept this new, modern world.

In 2015, two highly respected creative directors launched a magazine called C.O.D. (Collection of Documentaries). Both wanted to turn their backs to the web, “to tackle, head first, the stale and exaggerated declaration that print is dead.” If you Google the magazine you will have to sift through a ladder of irrelevant results to even find a page merely thanking their contributors.

So when it comes to bikes, here’s my advice. Choose what makes you happy and not what others think will make you happy. Buy what you want to buy and don’t feel the need to justify your choice. If you get home and do what we all do – put your new steed straight in the living room and look at it from the corner of your eye for the rest of the night – that’s when you know you’ve made the right choice. Just sitting there, enjoying the aesthetically pleasing lines, frame colour, graphics, and spec and not an ounce of justification given to anyone.

Right – I’m off to ponder what will replace my line-up for next year.

Cultural shifts and trends sweep across popular culture in a continuous stream of new ideas, fashions, technology and communication. Where then does print exist in this ever-changing landscape? As soon as something is printed, it becomes instantly dated as the web and social media platforms continue to spew out up-to-date and immediate fodder for the masses. Print is getting left behind, people want ‘the now’ now. Print is dead. Or is it?

This is, perhaps, a little drastic and maybe even unsustainable. There must be a mid-ground. I believe that digital and print both have a place where one can complement the other and be at their most effective – the combination of timeliness online and timelessness in print, the latter’s content wrapped up in that physical object that creates such a unique connection with the reader.

So, the next time you’re at the shops, pick up a magazine, a journal, a book and remember what it was like to read something that isn’t backlit – oh, and then Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp, Snapchat and Tweet that you did it.

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S TA F F C O L U M N S

RICHARD MARDLE

TOM BALLARD

RIDES CANNONDALE SUPER SIX EVO COLNAGO C50

RIDES CANNONDALE SLICE CHARGE PLUG

MOST-LISTENED SONG RIGHT NOW MOANA ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK HOW FAR I’LL GO (NOT THROUGH CHOICE)

MOST-LISTENED SONG RIGHT NOW COLDPLAY SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS

BRAND DIRECTOR

We all find something that we lean towards when in need of a break or some ‘me’ time. Mine is my bike. Whether it’s a 45-minute café spin or a five-hour day out in the mountains, they both have the same effect: a pure cleansing of the mind and soul.

As a creature of habit, I find myself riding the same routes most of the time but once in a blue moon, I head out on a mini adventure – a working holiday with the guys at GPM10 to ride some of the world’s finest roads. Earlier this year, I headed to ‘sunny’ California for four days. Little did I know, or check, that the Californian sun had been replaced by some of the wettest weather on record!

We were based just outside of San Diego, at Torrey Pines, a golf resort hotel that shared an uncanny resemblance to the film Caddy Shack. Long roads, rolling beaches, breaking waves and grey clouds set the playground. The clients were regulars and they knew us well enough to order the pace: two hours up the coast smashing the head wind, followed by one-hour and 20 minutes back with possibly the best tail wind ever! We pulled in at Pannikin Coffee shop for one of my other indulgences – coffee and cake, America style!

Day three was a truly memorable day. Rolling out in rain is never nice, but by the time we hit Palomar Mountain for the long ascent, I had a smile on my face.

Head to toe in drenched Castelli summer kit, my Idro jacket was flapping open in the wind as we climbed into the mist shrouding this epic road. The Beast, Danny Van Haute (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team DS and all-around moustache Idol), came alongside in the car and said, “You love this, don’t you?” He could see the smile, the big kid coming out – my happy place. “Yes Danny, yes, I do!”

By the time we hit the summit, it was almost snowing, but nothing except growing hunger could dent my mood. Fresh kit on, smile still strong, Danny had obviously worked me out by this point, as the words that followed brought nothing but pleasure. “Next stop is Julian, the home of apple pie.”

Sometimes, when the weather is at its worst and the kit is perfect for the conditions, you arrive at that moment where nothing else matters. It’s just you, your bike and complete happiness

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

In May, I returned from five months of cycle touring around the beautiful islands of New Zealand. I’d like to take credit for conceiving and planning such an incredible excursion, but in truth, it was all my wife’s idea. After 10 years of gentle hints slowly transitioning to strongly-worded pleas, it was about time I faced up to my think-the-worst attitude, stopped being petrified of the idea and just got on with it. The adventure of a lifetime was promised by her indoors and, as usual, she was perfectly right.

A pair of gravel bikes, some luggage and a tent saw us through 3,500km around a truly stunning country with incomparable natural splendour. Expectations were high, but from the kindness of the people to Middle-Earthiness of the landscapes and the deliciousness of the pies, they were exceeded at every turn.

Soaring gravel mountain passes ranked among our favourites; leg-breakingly tough with wheels constantly threatening to slip, but rewarded by astonishing vistas of everything from tropical rainforests to yellow grasslands strewn with giant boulders. Then there were the trails – magnificent reclamations of old railway lines dedicated to cyclists, which brought peaceful beauty and ample time for introspection. The trails took us through fragrant forests, alongside sapphire-blue rivers, through dripping pitch-black tunnels, up and over snowdusted mountains and down to golden-bordered surf.

On top of that was the eternal calorie deficit that meant a $5 per day chocolate/ biscuit (or chocolate biscuit) habit was all part of the fun and the days off the bike where we kayaked, rock-climbed or lazed in satisfying fashion. Of course, there were naturally a few low times too – including a headwind that dropped us below working pace, but the highs were so great, that only a few months on, these have been almost completely redacted from our memories.

Jolting back to the real world was initially tricky – the nomadic attitude meant we were ready to find a new place to pitch our tent every night while standing up to get changed seemed like first-class luxury. Since then, it’s been a wild ride of work and tri training, trying to regain the swim and run fitness we’d lost along the way. The weeks have zipped by and the gravel bikes remain sadly boxed. Our New Zealand explorations seem such a long time ago now, but the memories will stay with us forever.

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FINAL THOUGHT

F I NA L T HOU G H T It’s often not as easy as it might seem to get the right shot. Sure, sometimes it is; push the button and out pops the perfectly exposed, perfectly focused, perfectly composed pic, ready for the cover. But usually it takes a lot more work. Lighting, for example. The best natural light for photography is the few hours after sunrise or before sunset – the rest of the time it could use some help. This usually means carrying flash equipment – and knowing how and where to set it up. Other stuff to consider: getting it all to the top of the hill; lying in the muddy ditch; or coaxing the right facial expression when you’re shooting portraits. And then pushing the button at the right time.

It doesn’t end there. Once, film had to be dropped at the lab and developed before you knew you had the shot. At least now you have a vague idea from the back of the camera. Still, shooting RAW means hours at the computer processing to get the shots looking good.

No, it’s not as easy as it might appear; but it’s usually fun and always rewarding. I wouldn’t swap it for the world.

STEVE BE H R

M O UN TA I N BI K I N G P HOTO GRA P HER A N D UK M O UN TA I N BIK IN G HA LL O F FA ME IN DU C T EE

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