Índice para March 2018 em Cyclist

£2,680, roues-rar.fr RAR takes its name from rouses artisanales – French for ‘handbuilt wheels’ – but the title seems somewhat understated for these highly exotic hoops. Surgical levels that are not only trued to within a hair’s breadth, but also balanced to offset any valve-induced wobbles. The rims are made in Germany, and these Exalt 40s are on trend with their aero profiling and wide 26mm outer width and 21mm internal rim bed. The hookless and tubeless-compatible rim weighs a claimed 375g, impressively light for 40mm depth, and we weighed the complete wheelset at 1,231g (557g front, 674g rear), just a whisker over the claimed 1,200g. RAR makes its own Eso hubs in France, using a 36-tooth ratchet-style freehub (like that of DT Swiss) for the most efficient engagement. And…

£389.99, zyrofisher.co.uk It might look like you are paying for more hole than saddle, but Selle Italia claims the radical design of its new SP-01 saddle has genuine merit. According to the Italian brand, separating the left and right sides of the hull at the rear of the saddle allows the two portions to flex independently. The effect is to ‘support the movement of your pelvis without compromising pedalling stability’, which the company dubs ‘suspension link movement’. We aren’t sure of the difference this will make out on the road, but it seems logical to suggest that the design will offer additional compliance compared to regular saddles, plus anatomic cutouts in general have been proven to reduce perineal pressure for most riders. If you can stomach the £389.99 pricetag, the…

1 OLFI ONE.FIVE ACTION CAM £149.99, olfi.co.uk Olfi stands for ‘One life, film it’, which isn’t necessarily something to take literally. For example, in a film about our lives, today’s high point would be one person making coffee while two people queued in silence behind him. Yet for those times when we do jump on a bike the One.Five looks to be a well endowed action cam for not a great deal of cash, ready to capture your adventures in glorious 4K style. 2 SILCA BORSA AMERICANO WALLET £45, saddleback.co.uk Upcycling isn’t just riding up hills – it also means taking something that would have otherwise ended up in landfill and turning it into something else. In this instance that’s old inner tubes and wetsuits, which Silca has turned into…

It’s nearing dusk on a bitter winter afternoon in Aigle, the Alpine base of the International Cycling Union (UCI). An icy wind blows along the vast valley from Lake Geneva and, as the sun sinks behind the peaks, funnels down with fresh intensity from the summit of the snowy Col des Mosses high above. None of this bothers David Lappartient as the recently elected UCI president, with chattering teeth, poses gamely for portraits in front of his federation’s headquarters. After five minutes watching his new president shiver and grit his teeth, the press officer calls time and we scurry back into the warm and upstairs to the president’s spacious office. Lappartient has a big desk, a big mandate and a big job. Cycling expects great things of a man who…

MODEL: GT Grade Carbon Pro GROUPSET: Sram Force 1 GEARING: 40t chainring, 10-42t cassette WHEELS: Stans No Tubes Grail Tubeless TYRES: WTB Exposure tubeless, 700x32c FINISHING KIT: GT Droptune RS handlebars, GT alloy stem, GT carbon seatpost, WTB SL8 Pro saddle WEIGHT: 7.85kg (55cm) PRICE: £2,900 CONTACT: cyclingsportsgroup.co.uk STU’S SUMMARY GT was ahead of its time when it produced the Grade more than three years ago, when barely anyone had heard of gravel bikes. Its age only really shows in the fact that it has slightly less tyre clearance than the current crop (35mm maximum). Its off-road potential is arguably diminished as a result, but if you’re not keen to get too muddy then that won’t hold you back. What appeals about the design is that it can hold…

The brass rod wavers in my hand as I try to direct it into the millimetre gap between the nozzle of the brazing torch and the steel tubes that will, one day, become my new bike. I mentally run through the checklist from my brazing tutorials, aware that if I spend too much time thinking about the process I’m likely to overheat the metal and damage it. Tilt the flame, angle it into the join between the two tubes, a little bit more on the thicker tube to even out the temperature. Wait… not too soon with the brass rod or it won’t melt. Hold it steady, gently tease it into the join, wait… wait for it to give… there. Now move! Bring the torch round a touch, don’t let…

Despite what some manufacturers will claim, there really is no such thing as one bike to do it all. All bikes sit somewhere on a spectrum. Take this month’s trio. At one end of the spectrum you have NeilPryde’s aero Nazaré SL for a visceral thrill of speed. Move along a bit and you come to the Wilier Cento10NDR, a road bike with added bounce for rough surfaces. Finally, at the other end of the scale is the Specialized S-Works Diverge, made for muddy off-road adventures. Not sure which one is right for you? Simple. Get all three.…

THE SPEC Model NeilPryde Nazaré SL Groupset Shimano Ultegra R8000 Deviations None Wheels Fulcrum Racing 5 Finishing kit NeilPryde Aeroblade one-piece handlebar/ stem, Nazaré Aeroblade carbon seatpost, Fizik Arione saddle Weight 7.57kg (56cm) Price £2,800 Contact  neilprydebikes.com Don’t they make wetsuits?’ says the man who’s looking my bike up and down, having just ridden up alongside me on the Sunday club run. Yes, NeilPryde does make wetsuits, so he’s not wrong, but I can sense the condescension in his voice. His statement is accompanied by an audible ‘phffff’, and I can tell he has already dismissed NeilPryde’s credentials as a bicycle manufacturer. The company is probably used to it. Some people will always believe a brand that’s built its name in watersports has no business crossing over into the world…

Few countries can offer so much varied riding terrain in such a condensed area as Switzerland. It is a place of stunning depths, imposing heights and rare beauty, and over the following pages we showcase five spectacular rides that give a taste of what this incredible country has to offer. We start in the canton of Lucerne, where the monolithic peaks play host to cobbled passes, classic films and glacial marvels. Then we travel west to the canton of Bern, whose mountainous giants enclose rolling hills and spectacular lakes, where the atmosphere is laid back but the riding so inviting you won’t want to leave the bike alone. A short hop south takes us into the canton of Valais, where the Rhône River winds and wends down between 4,000m snow-capped…

Leave Interlaken on the main road, route 6, and follow it all the way clockwise around Lake Brienz until you see signs for Giessbach Falls and the Grandhotel Giessbach. Go through the Grandhotel car park and take the gravel path by the terrace down to the jetty, then take the ferry back to Interlaken Ost. Head west back through town and onto the Beatenbergstrasse. Follow the natural road through Beatenberg and down onto Justistalstrasse. The road doubles back on itself by a farm next to a small bridge, and it’s here a spectacular detour can be made by taking a right up the narrow but paved path until the valley opens up some 2km later. Retrace steps back to Justistalstrasse, carry on through Sigriswil then take a right signposted Aeschlen/Tschingel.…

Apparently hotelier Ceasar Ritz was born just down the road from here in a town called Niederwald back in 1850. Its population at the time was 100, and that’s 40 more people than it boasts now. The villages here in Goms are as sparsely strewn as they are diminutive, yet just as they’ve produced the world’s most famous hotelier, so too have they bred world-famous cows, tamed world-famous mountains and – in the case of the Hotel Nufenen’s proprietors in Ulrichen – fostered what must surely be world-class hosts. Since our arrival late last night we’ve been treated like family by owners Martin – himself a passionate cyclist – and wife Vrony, who really understand the preparation needed for the kind of ride we have planned today. And that’s food,…

£189.99, extrauk.co.uk Winter cycling leaves you with a difficult choice. Do you go for a chunky winter boot or a fiddly overshoe? Fizik seeks to address this Sophie’s Choice with its new Artica R5 winter shoes. Thanks to a Microtex Shell and internal ‘Speed Lacing System’, the brand claims they provide the protection and insulation of winter boots in a neat set-up that’s far simpler to don than overshoes. A carbon sole keep stiffness on a par with summer shoes and the Artica’s 380g per shoe means they don’t weigh much more either.…

Cyclist : Before joining British Cycling in 2017 you managed the world-beating GB sailing team. What new ideas will you bring to cycling? Stephen Park: Hopefully I can bring a different perspective. Having been involved in the Olympic environment I have a good understanding of what it takes for athletes to be successful. But every sport is different, so I don’t come to British Cycling thinking I know how to automatically deliver medals. We have a huge number of people with a great range of skills and a bigger cohort of high-quality athletes than ever before. I hope to bring some perspective to the leadership of that team. Cyc: Where do you look for new ideas? SP: Once you are a learner, you become a lifelong learner. Do I…

‘We tailor the courses to the student, so if they really want to become a framebuilder we aim to gauge what their capacity for it is – do they have a space, will they be able to practise? ‘Every so often we get someone who has quite an unrealistic aspiration and is talking about jacking in their job immediately. I feel it’s my responsibility to give them an appraisal of whether that’s sensible and guide them towards a better approach. For example, we might suggest they try to build up a portfolio of some bikes, see to what extent they enjoy it and feel proficient at it, then look at scaling back their working life. ‘However, occasionally someone has already quit their job. Then I do everything I possibly can…

THE SPEC Model Specialized S-Works Diverge Groupset Shimano XTR Di2 M9050 Deviations Shimano R785 Di2 levers, RS805 hydraulic disc brakes, Easton EC90 SL Carbon chainset Wheels Roval CLX 32 Disc Finishing kit S-Works Carbon Hover Drop handlebar, SL alloy stem, Specialized Command Post XCP seatpost, Specialized Phenom Pro saddle Weight 8.50kg Price £8,500 Contact specialized.com The new Diverge is an interesting, albeit somewhat confusing, sign of the times. It sits in a space between road bikes and... just about everything else. With wide 38mm tyres, a suspension unit in the steerer tube and even a dropper seatpost, the S-Works Diverge is an abomination to the road bike purist. Sometimes, though, the rules have to be broken. When the original Diverge was released in 2014, Specialized saw it as a niche…

Size Matters Kask Mojito helmet, £119 velobrands.co.uk Oakley Radarlock sunglasses, £165 uk.oakley.com Bontrager Race Windshell vest, £39.99 trekbikes.com Bontrager Specter jersey, £69.99 trekbikes.com Bontrager Specter bibshorts, £79.99 trekbikes.com Bontrager Velocis socks, £12.99 trekbikes.com Specialized Expert shoes, £185 specialized.com True Grit Giro Synthe helmet, £249.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Scott Spur sunglasses, £74.99 scott-sports.com Giro Chrono Sport jersey, £64.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Giro Chrono armwarmers, £29.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Giro DND gloves, £26.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Giro Chrono Pro bibshorts, £199.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Giro HRC+ socks, £21.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Shimano S-Phyre XC9 shoes, £299.99 madison.co.uk Giro Synthe helmet, £249.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Oakley Radar EV sunglasses, £150 uk.oakley.com Sportful Giara jersey, £75 c3products.com Sportful NoRain armwarmers, £27 c3products.com Sportful Fiandre NoRain Pro bibshorts, £120…

From the town of Andermatt, cradled in the Saint-Gotthard Massif Mountains in Switzerland’s Lucerne region, every road points skyward – which is saying something given that it’s already 1,457m above sea level. In winter this makes it a popular base camp for skiers, but when the blankets of crisp winter snow melt into verdant summer pastures, the area reveals itself as one of the most incredible destinations for cycling in Europe. Roads are silk-ribbon smooth, terrain awesomely steep and the sheer number of peaks to conquer almost overwhelming. One could spend a week here and barely scratch the surface. As it is, we just have today, so pointing our wheels west we head out of Andermatt to discover three of the region’s most iconic climbs. The road out of the…

This route is a point-to-point effort beginning in Ulrichen and ending in Unterbäch to the southwest. From the Hotel Nufenen, head south over the Rhône River and follow the signs for the Nufenenpass. Make the climb – which is the only road – then turn around at the summit and descend back from whence you came. Follow the Rhône and Route 19 southwest all the way to Visp, where the Moosalp begins. Look for signs to Zermatt and Grächen and follow that road south as far as Stalden. Take the main road through town then turn right where the road you’re on, Kantonstrasse, intersects with Törbelstrasse. Follow the natural path up, keeping an eye for signs to Plattjistein Guesthouse, which is at the Moosalp’s summit. From there it’s a straightforward…

There is a lot more to Switzerland than meets the eye. Or more specifically, the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park in the Central Valais region is a wonderfully juxtaposed marvel. When we set out this morning from our base in Unterbäch, Anthony, an experienced guide from local outfit Kudos Cycling, had promised some spectacular terrain, but nothing could have prepared for me for this. We begin pedalling crisply tarmacked roads hewn into sheer granite escarpments, on whose upper reaches snow still clings, like an ongoing project to stifle the peaks before they puncture the sky. Down here in the valley the air hangs thick, enveloping lungs and tickling skin like a wet feather as we dip in and out of the shadows. It feels like the Mediterranean one moment, lizards darting and…

With the Olympic Museum on your left, head out of Lausanne along the shore road, through Paudex and Lutry before making a left onto Route de la Petit Corniche. Follow the road for 12km until you reach Le Deck restaurant at Le Baron Tavernier hotel. After coffee, head north on route 140 through Puidoux-Gare, taking a right at the sign for Palézieux. Pass through Les Thioleyres, take a right at the roundabout signposted Vevey then head south through Bossonnens, Attalens and towards Vevey. Follow signs to Saint-Legier-La Chiesaz and Blonay. Take the Route de l’Alliaz northeast, which makes a half turn at the summit then segues into the Route du Vallon, heading south and down to Montreux via Chamby. Hug the coast to Villeneuve before following signs for Roche, Versvey…

I told her if that’s a genuine concern then we need to take this right out into the alley, push it over and get that out the way. If you’re not going to ride it in the way it’s intended, what’s the point?’ Tim O’Donnell, the man behind Shamrock Cycles and one of the fastest-talking, wisest-cracking framebuilders in the business, is responding to the question of whether or not his latest steel creation is too nice to ride. It seems the woman who commissioned it is worried about spoiling the bike’s beautiful finish by using it for its intended purpose: gravel racing. O’Donnell explains that, thanks to her diminutive size, he has been able to build this frame from standard, rather than oversized, steel tubes while keeping things stiff enough…

The Col de l’Iseran lures cyclists on a relentless, zig-zagging ascent into the heavens, rising high above ski lifts, through wreaths of wispy cloud, and past pools of snow lying like scoops of ice cream in shaded craters, until even the wings of paragliders and eagles can be seen circling in the valley below. So perhaps it is only fitting that when I finally edge over its celestial summit, gasping in the oxygen-starved air, I glimpse the face of God. Or, at least, the kindly smile of one of His ambassadors on Earth. At the top of this colossal peak in the French Alps lies the pretty stone and slate Chapelle Notre-Dame de Toute-Prudence (the Chapel of Our Lady of All Prudence to you and me) and standing serenely in…

Where does road end and off road begin? It’s not always clear-cut. Some roads are deeply cracked and scarred, with surfaces disintegrated practically to rubble, while some forest trails are almost as smooth as the boards of a velodrome. But herein lies the attraction of gravel bikes – they are versatile enough that you don’t need to care much either way. ‘Gravel bike’ has become the catch-all term used to describe them, but its definition is as loose as the terrain you may encounter while riding one. They retain the drop handlebars of road bikes, but beyond that the options are varied. Some brands have pushed the boundaries of this category more towards the spec of a mountain bike, including suspension and smaller 650b wheels to facilitate the use of…

MODEL: Scott Addict Gravel 10 GROUPSET: Sram Force 1 GEARING: 42t chainring, 10-42t cassette WHEELS: DT Swiss PRC 1400 Spline 35 TYRES: Schwalbe G-One, 700x40c FINISHING KIT: Syncros Creston SL Flare carbon bars, Syncros RR1.5 stem, Syncros Carbon FL1.0 seatpost, Syncros FL1.0 saddle WEIGHT: 7.46kg PRICE: £5,999 CONTACT: scott-sports.com PAUL’S SUMMARY The Scott has more in common with a road bike than I was expecting in terms of its handling and ride quality. It’s super-responsive in the way it both accelerates and changes direction on the smoother trails. The weight, or should I say lack of it, also puts it pretty much on a par with my road bike. I can only assume Scott is targeting a customer who likes to go fast, rather than someone who wants a…

‘When your frame came to us, it had a touch of corrosion because it had sat for a while, so we sand-blasted it to make everything smooth. The next step is to “key” it – adding a texture using abrasives so that we can get a mechanical bond. We then give it an epoxy primer and allow it to cure for three days before keying it again so the primer bonds with the paint. ‘After painting we add a transparent base coat where the graphics will go. We custom cut the stencils for graphics, stick them on and heat them to remove any bubbles. For this frame we dusted two or three coats of white for the graphics. We remove any stencils, mask up areas such as dropouts, then seal…

The road up the western flanks of the Serra da Estrela to the highest point in mainland Portugal is probably the toughest climb you’ve never heard of. The statistics are chilling enough on their own: the climb drags on for 27km at an average gradient of 7% but with regular, sustained sections at twice that, and occasional ramps of more than 16%. But the raw statistics are only part of what makes this climb – or any climb, for that matter – so hard. The other half is all the variables: how you’re feeling on the day, what the weather is like, how many kilometres you already have in your legs by the time you reach it. Seeing the road tilt steeply skywards without any warning or gentle preamble –…

THE SPEC Model Wilier Cento10NDR Groupset Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9170 Deviations None Wheels DT Swiss ERC 1400 Spline 47 Finishing kit Wilier Barra bars and Stemma stem, Ritchey Pro Carbon seatpost, Selle Italia Novus saddle Weight 7.72kg (medium) Price £9,300 Contact  hotlines-uk.com Hands up who remembers the Raleigh Activator 2 mountain bike? My mate had one and I was obsessed with it for a time, because unlike my Falcon, it had full suspension. There were other full-sussers around in 1994, but none that anyone I knew could afford, and certainly none that were advertised on TV and available in Halfords. It was another five years before I realised how terrible that Raleigh was, when my dad bought me a second-hand Specialized Rockhopper with RockShox Indy C forks. The difference, I…

On another day you’d struggle to find anything quite so blue and inviting as Lake Brienz. Yet today it has company, a rival if you will: the sky. Scanning across the distant horizon, there’s not a wisp of white interrupting a palette that ranges from a deep and lustrous azure high above us to a paler shade conjured by the reflecting sun off snow-dusted peaks. We’ve barely covered four kilometres from our hotel in the centre of Interlaken on the road that hugs the shore of Lake Brienz, but already it’s time to stop for a moment to savour the landscape. It would be churlish not to.That said, we can afford to. This morning is set to be a delightfully leisurely 20km spin around the lake, followed by a ferry…

Leave Unterbäch in a westerly direction on the Kantonsstrasse, passing through the village of Eischoll, where the road’s name changes to Bränner. Follow signs to Turtmann, head north over the Rhône then ride along the road that follows the river bank before joining back up with the Kantonsstrasse. Follows signs to Sierre, cross the Rhône heading south and follow signs to Vissoie, Saint-Jean and Grimentz. Retrace your steps towards Sierre, looking for signs to Chippis. Head west from Chippis on the Route de Chippis towards Chalais. Eventually you’ll hit a roundabout signed Evolène, Hérémence, Dixence. Follow the signs to Dixence, via Hérémence, before heading up to the Dam proper – there is only one road to the Grande Dixence Dam and it is well signed. From here, retrace your steps…

There are surely few places more fitting to begin a ride out of Lausanne than the Olympic Museum. A collaboration between Mexican architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez and Swiss architect Jean-Pierre Cahen, this striking building was named European Museum of the Year in 1995, just two years after its conception, and today houses the largest collection of Olympic artefacts in the world. It’s a true totem to sporting endeavour, but like so many buildings in this area it runs the risk of being upstaged by its own view. Opposite are the opaque waters of Lake Geneva, so still this morning as to appear like blue china. To tear ourselves away and focus on the journey that lies ahead to the wineries of Aigle is a difficult business, but my legs feel…