Table of contents for Issue 6 2019 in Bicycling

DAVID GUETTLER, HEY, BIKE SHOPS, P.80 My worst day on the bike was during a February ride in California. We rode down the Big Sur Coast through what was essentially a hurricane. Swirling, gusting headwinds that at one point blew us off the road. I learned to not eat a marijuana brownie for breakfast before rides like that. ALSO: My Spurcycle bell is my favorite piece of gear. It’s saved my ass many times and is a true musical instrument. Beautiful tone, which is great, because I have to hear it a lot. KATIE FOGEL, GO BANANAS, P.72 Try out a few different saddles before you buy one. They’ll all get uncomfortable after a few hours, but it shouldn’t be that bad. I learned this way too late in the…

We’ve all been there: You head out for a long ride stacked with elevation. Things seem to be going great, until the road tilts up, you start climbing, and boom—a sharp twinge in your knee fires as you press through the pedals and forces you to slow down. Know that you’re not alone. Knee pain is one of the most common lower-body issues among cyclists, and it often stems from overuse, according to a 2010 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Riding longer or harder than your body is conditioned for strains your connective tissues and causes inflammation and pain. Often, these crank-stopping aches that seem to come out of nowhere are actually the first noticeable symptom of a long-brewing problem. But no matter how long you’ve been…

Interval training, especially high-intensity interval training (HIIT), has been an annual “hot training trend” for 15 years now and shows no sign of falling out of favor. HIIT’s hot streak started in 2005 when, in a study published in Journal of Applied Physiology, exercise scientist Martin Gibala, Ph.D., reported that two weeks of regular sprint interval training didn’t just make riders better sprinters, it also improved their endurance by doubling time to fatigue. Since then, dozens more studies have solidified interval training as the fastest way to improve nearly all aspects of performance. Yet to this day, when riders come to me for training advice, and I ask if they do intervals, I inevitably get the same answer: “No, not really.” But here’s the thing: Everyone who wants to feel…

1 / MAVIC KSYRIUM PRO UST DISC / $1,100 The Ksyrium is a workhorse aluminum wheelset with bladed aluminum spokes. It’s tough, versatile, and feels quick. It’s also tubeless-ready (tires are included) and compatible with centerlock disc rotors and thru-axles. 2 / HED ARDENNES BLACK RIM BRAKE / $1,580 One of the nicest aluminum wheels going, the Ardennes is a wide (21mm internal), tubeless-ready rim with a treatment on the brake track claimed to reduce wet stopping distances by 70 percent. Other premium details include bladed straight-pull spokes and a carbon front hub. 3 / STAN’S NO TUBES CREST MK3 WHEELSET / $679 A light (1,579 grams for the 29er) and reasonably priced wheelset with Stan’s reliable tubeless profile. The hubs provide tool-free axle cap and drive body swaps, and…

“Do you race?” It’s the question I’ve been asked the most since I started riding a bike, and for years, my answer has remained the same: “Nah, I just ride for fun.” While I certainly have a competitive side, I’ve always resisted the race bug out of concern it might quickly kill the joy I get from riding. For me, the pressure of a structured training plan or the expectation of a desired result can sometimes make a liberating endeavor feel more like a chore. And though I’ve felt race-curious at times, I’ve never seriously considered rolling up to a starting line. Instead, I’ve been content to test myself on solo rides or be the first to crest a climb on all-day adventures with friends for the pure pleasure of…

BEST SEALANT Muc-Off Tubeless Sealant | $10 (140ml pouch) This long-lasting sealant deserves an award for its deliciously fruity scent in addition to how well it performs. We’re digging how robustly it seals tires and quickly fills holes and tears. CLEVER TOOL STORAGE OneUp EDC Tool and Stem | $59 (tool system), $115 (stem) OneUp’s EDC tool kicked off the in-frame tool craze—recently adopted by Trek and Specialized, which now offer their own tools tucked into stems. But OneUp’s system, which hides in the fork’s steerer, is still the best. And the new EDC stem makes the system even easier to install. A BETTER BELL Knog Oi Luxe Bell | $40 The cleverly designed Oi Luxe is pretty with a cheery tone. Its elegantly slim profile fits against the stem…

105 Calories in your standard medium banana THREE Typically, the number of bananas in a pound 4011 THE PLU CODE FOR YELLOW CAVENDISH BANANAS 41 The average number of bananas eaten per person in 2016, which makes them America’s most-consumed fresh fruit 1 The number of grams of protein in your average banana 7"-7⅞" THE USDA’S CUTOFF FOR A “MEDIUM” BANANA 19 thousand The number of bananas that 6,700 riders chomp down over the weekend-long Pan-Mass Challenge, a charity ride that benefits Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute thirty-three The record for most bananas eaten in one sitting 114,000,000 TONS OF BANANAS GROWN GLOBALLY IN 2017…

MAN, A 13-POUND disc road bike is a helluva drug, I thought to myself as I crested the climb. I was on the third hard ride in as many days, and yet I still had this urge to smash every hill on Canyon’s new Ultimate CF Evo Disc, a bike that is as absurdly niche-y as it is pricey. The Evo is based on the existing Ultimate CF Disc. It shares the same mold but uses a different blend of carbon fiber to cut weight (a medium frame weighs just 641 grams, claimed). Canyon tops it off with a svelte build kit based around SRAM’s Red eTap AXS groupset to create a bike that is jaw-dropping light—just 13 pounds in our size-small test sample. Buyer beware: There is little com-promise…

IN THE EARLY 1980s, Cannondale developed innovative, oversize aluminum frames that were radically lighter and stiffer than the steel frames of the day. And even though the brand’s top-of-the-line road frames today are made of carbon, its CAAD aluminum bikes have remained a benchmark of value and performance. So it’s a big deal when the company rolls out a new version of the frame. The new CAAD13 is more aerodynamic and smoother than the CAAD12 it replaces, says Cannondale, and it’s more versatile, too. The company boosted tire clearance up to 30 mm (on disc models) and added hidden fender mounts. Despite those changes, the 13 shares geometry with Cannondale’s new SuperSix Evo race bike; this bike is designed to move like a race bike, not a pillowy endurance model.…

I had one jersey when I came to Bicycling in 1991. I had one bike, too, and one pair of shorts (not bibs, not back then), and one pair of shoes, one pair of gloves, one helmet. I had two water bottles. I rode in the same stuff every day, washing the jersey and shorts at night. I’d been at a job that I loved but that couldn’t fund things like a telephone or a bed. The little cycling gear I owned had come as hard-bought extravagances. Sometimes I wouldn’t get to washing the jersey, so I’d ride the next day in a T-shirt, and when I did that, I lied and told people the tee was a trick I used to make sure I would ride easy enough to…

Among the manufacturer claims we evaluated in our recent smart trainer test: “virtual silence.” Using a decibel meter, we recorded the latest Wahoo Kickr at 69 dB as Test Editor Bobby Lea rode at 15 mph—not silent, but about as loud as standing atop a Woodway treadmill set at jogging pace. Test editor and 3x Olympian Bobby Lea tried HVMN Ketones for a 100-mile bike race to see if it would make him faster. As a pro, I trained my body to burn fat at high intensities for as long as possible, saving my glycogen stores for when I really needed them. But I retired three years ago, and my metabolic efficiency isn’t what it used to be, so I tried HVMN Ketone Ester—natural, drinkable ketones—to save my glycogen stores…

For road or mountain cleats, lightly grease the cleat bolts before installing. Set the cleat on the shoe and install the bolts finger-tight. Then set up the position. For lateral cleat angle, align the tip of the cleat to the apex of the toebox (the farthest-forward point on the sole). You can use a small ruler to line up the cleat. For cleat fore-aft, position the cleat so that with the cleat over the pedal (don’t clip in yet), the pedal spindle sits just behind the ball of the big toe but in front of the ball of the little toe. This spreads your weight evenly over the pedal body. Tighten the cleats, and search for the most comfortable position—this is where a professional fitter can be especially helpful. If…

Not long after my friend Gina outfitted her Pivot trail bike with a new set of DT-Swiss carbon wheels, she took it to a shop for a tune-up. During service, the mechanic noticed distortion in the front rim, so she emailed DT-Swiss’s USA office and was told it was most likely caused by exposure to exhaust while transporting her bike on a hitch rack. That got me thinking. I had noticed something similar happening to my carbon wheels. Twice, after just a 10-minute commute, the rim closest to my car’s exhaust was warped or buckled. Until now, neither Gina nor I considered our car’s exhaust, specifically the location of it, to be the culprit. And if we didn’t know, it made me wonder how many other cyclists aren’t aware of…

This January, 37-year-old New York City lawyer and Tour de France superfan Jonathan Canfield became the first American selected to join Team Alpecin, an amateur branch of Alpecin Cycling. With the backing of the German caffeinated-shampoo brand (Alpecin has supported cyclists for seven decades), the 100-mile-a-week cyclist received all the perks of the pro peloton—a spring training camp in the Italian Dolomites, elite-level gear, nutrition, individualized training, and a slot in this year’s L’Étape du Tour. Held on July 21, the course followed the Tour’s Stage 20 between Albertville and Val Thorens—a grueling 14,600 feet of climbing over 83 miles. So what happens when a self-described mortal winds up on the legendary Alpine climbs of the Tour de France? Canfield, in his own words, recounts the grueling and rewarding experience.…

GRINDURO A combo of Gran Fondo–style mass start, gravel race, and mountain bike enduro, it’s part festival, part race with food, art, and music accompanying timed segments. Locations: Scotland, Canada, Japan, California THE DEERFIELD DIRT ROAD RANDONNÉE Laid-back camping and BBQ vibes set the tone for one of the hardest, most scenic, most enjoyable days on a bike you’ll have all year. Location: Deerfield, Massachusetts ROOTED VERMONT With two different route options, this mullet-style event boasts a celebratory atmosphere (think: live music, delicious food, and local brews). Location: Richmond, Vermont RAPHA PRESTIGE SERIES Prestige challenges small amateur teams to finish an unsupported adventure, with an emphasis on teamwork over hard racing before cheers-ing at the finish line. Locations: global BELGIAN WAFFLE RIDE BWR is known as much for the epic…

THEY THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD. She lay face down, the left side of her face planted on the pavement, her body motionless, blood trickling from her nose. A teammate scanned frantically for help. Another rider jumped up and down, screaming, spinning her arm overhead like an ambulance beacon. Somebody shrieked, “Somebody!” Racers picked themselves up, straightened their bikes, shook off the impact. Others howled with pain. But at least they were howling. Ina was not doing anything. Ina may wonder why this story has to open this way. She wonders why a story about her needs writing at all. That cold gray day in March 2013 at a small Dutch race called Drentse 8 van Dwingeloo should have been just another entry in one of the longest and winningest careers…

CLIF Nut Butter Filled in Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter / $19 for 12 The classic cycling snack gets a dessert-like revamp. Aloha Banana Protein Powder / $30 What it’s got: 18g of plant-based protein and no weird sweeteners—just right for ride recovery. Go Raw Banana Flaxseed Sprouted Bar / $12 for 10 Six ingredients is all it takes for a bar that tastes like Mom’s banana bread. Mamma Chia Chia Squeeze in Strawberry Banana / $22 for 16 Banana puree is an easy, squeezy way to load up on fiber and omega-3’s. Science in Sport GO Energy Bar in Banana Fudge / $38 for 20 Packed with a high-carb mix of dates and bananas, these bars will beat the bonk.…

Sports Garage Cycling Boulder, Colorado Instead of swag-filled “ladies’ nights,” this gravel and mountain bike shop founded the Women’s Offroad Cycling Congress. The gatherings, now in three cities, use breakout sessions to gather feedback for bike brands on what female-identifying consumers want. From the top: “I remind my employees: No one comes to our shop because we have the coolest bikes. They come because we’re nice.” —Elorie Slater, co-owner District Bicycles Stillwater, Oklahoma Just two years after its 2011 opening, District launched the now globally recognized gravel race, Land Run 100. Their public RideWithGPS page offers GPS files for local gravel rides, categorized by difficulty. From the top: “We want to be a gathering space for our community. We have an area by the service department with a bar and…

IF YOU WERE to characterize the previous generation of BMC’s endurance road bikes, you might say they were all-purpose road-racing bikes with a little extra tire clearance. If you wanted an endurance road bike that accommodated an aggressive position, one of those models would have likely worked for you. But the new Roadmachine is more like other contemporary endurance road bikes: high stack, short reach, big tire clearance, and a softer ride that doesn’t compromise performance. At first glance it looks almost indistinguishable from the company’s racier Teammachine, which is cool if you want an endurance road bike with more of a race aesthetic. On the road it gives you exactly what you’d expect from a road bike. It’s light, nimble, and stiff when you stand on the pedals, yet…

PINARELLO’S DYODO IS one of the lightest electric bikes you can buy. It’s a class 1 e-bike—assist cuts off at 20 mph—with a 250-watt rear-hub motor (40Nm peak torque), and a 250 watt-hour integrated battery. Pinarello claims the Dyodo has enough juice to get you up Alpe d’Huez with its highest assist. And you can add more range with an optional ($650) 208Wh battery that slips into a bottle cage. The Dyodo looks a lot like, and shares geometry with, Pinarello’s Prince, a high-end endurance bike. The hub motor is small, and operation consists of a single button on the top tube. The rear-hub motor means the Dyodo can use a standard road 2x drivetrain—the trade-off is that changing a rear flat means dealing with the hub’s power connector. The…

IF YOU’VE USED any of the following words to describe riding your favorite trail, Yeti’s new SB140 may be for you: drift, slide, pop, hammer, power, sketch, nose-bonk, gooooo!, oh no, oh shit, phew, hell yeah! The new trail bike has 160mm of front-wheel travel, 140mm in the rear, 27.5-inch wheels, and a suspension system that is designed for fun. Compared with the new breed of midtravel 29ers, the 140 feels quick, snappy, and playful. The Switch Infinity suspension gets some important tweaks that make it more progressive, meaning it takes increasingly more force to compress the shock at the end of its stroke than at the beginning. That allows the 140 to “use all your travel, but still have a bike that’s poppable,” said Peter Zawistowski, Yeti’s director of…

DAISY HERNANDEZ ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR, RIDING IN STYLE SINGE ’94 1 / Motobecane Le Champion CF Roadster $2,200 This is the bike that turned me into a cyclist, and the first one I’ve ever truly loved. It’s a badass carbon-fiber dream that slices through the air and offers a smooth ride with intuitive shifting. 2 / Giant Rev Comp MIPS $85 When I started riding, a quality helmet was one of the first things everyone told me I needed to have. This Rev Comp by Giant is easy to adjust, fits well, and looks good. Plus, I love the TransTextura Plus antimicrobial padding because it keeps odor at bay. 3 / Neutrogena Beach Defense Body Spray Sunscreen $14 I take few things as seriously as melanoma prevention. This sunscreen is…

1 / TRIGGERPOINT GRID FOAM ROLLER / $35 One of the best foam rollers available, the GRID is great for increasing flexibility and massaging tight IT bands. 2 / CASTELLI THERMOFLEX KNEEWARMER / $40 EACH For temperatures ranging from 45 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, these knee warmers keep your joints warm as you pedal through your training plan. 3 / BIKEFIT CLEAT WEDGES (VARIOUS STYLES) / $25 Correct possible misalignment and potentially improve your pedaling efficiency with these affordable cleat wedges.…

RAKATTACH / $359 (MEDIUM) A RakAttach fits between a hitch receiver and a rack and adds the ability to swing the rack 90 degrees for easier access to the back of a vehicle. It also moves the rack up and out, positioning it farther from the exhaust. KUAT HI-LO / $49 This part fits between your receiver and rack and allows you to change the rack’s position. It can raise or lower the rack more than 2 inches and extend it either 7 or 10 inches—compared with the rack’s position in the receiver without a Hi-Lo. 1UP USA EQUIP-D DOUBLE / $729 Made in the USA and 100 percent metal, the Equip-D is 1UP’s newest hitch rack. Its tiered design positions bikes well above the receiver, and its floating arms…

THE DAY OF 2010 COLLEGIATE ROAD Nationals, on May 7 in Madison, Wisconsin, I woke up to 35 degrees and pouring rain. When the race started, with a 55mph downhill, I almost put a hand up for the support car because I thought my headset was loose, but it was just my shivering that was shaking the handlebar. The weather was so miserable that guys dropped out in the neutral start. By this point, my beloved Cannondale CAAD8 R5000 was about six years old. It probably had 40,000 miles on it, the paint was bubbling, and there was a dent in one chainstay. I’m a Cat 2 on the road, but I never thought of myself as able to compete on a national level. But that bike was something I…

THE SPECIALIZED S-WORKS Turbo Creo SL is like no other e-bike. It’s a ripping-fast electric-assist bike that challenges everything we thought about e-bikes. It has a 240-watt, mid-drive motor, pedal assist that cuts off at 28 mph, an 80-mile range, electronic shifting, hydraulic disc brakes, front suspension, and clearance for up to 42mm tires. It weighs just 27 pounds, a stunningly low weight for an e-bike. A 140Wh auxiliary battery fits in the water-bottle cage and adds 40 more miles of range. But what makes the S-Works Creo SL so different is how much it feels like a traditional bike. Other e-bikes feel like the pedals are the substitute for a throttle. Not the Creo: The assistance builds smoothly and complements a rider’s natural pedaling rhythm. You feel accentuated by…

IF YOU’VE BEEN an electric-bike window-shopper all these years, now is the time to step inside and consider a purchase. The Aventon Pace 350 just made it easier (as in more affordable) to stop wishing and start riding. For a thousand bucks you get a class 2 e-bike (that means it tops out at 20 mph and has a throttle), a 7-speed Shimano Tourney drivetrain, and five levels of e-assist. Aventon claims you’ll get about 30 miles on one charge, depending on how you’re using your Pace 350. To keep the price under a grand, says Aventon’s VP of eCommerce Justin Christopher, the company equipped the 350 with more economical components than the brand’s more expensive ($1,400) Pace 500, which tops out at 28 mph, comes with a Shimano Altus…