Cycling Plus -julkaisun December 2016 -irtonumeron sisällysluettelo

The frame is a cracker... ... No, we don’t mean it’s going to break. Orbea’s OMP carbon is a rung below the stuff the pros ride, but still makes for a very nice frame that weighs a bit over a kilo, and it’s paired with a natty, full-carbon fork. Specwise this bike is nothing special – the wheels are basic and the own-brand brakes aren’t quite as nice as the groupset-matching 105 option – but the chassis is genuinely excellent, and worthy of some serious component upgrades down the line. The ride quality is springy and exciting, and it’s a fearsome climber. The Orca is definitely a race bike and you’ll feel the bumps, but road buzz is well controlled and it’s a precise and rewarding steed. It looks the…

Handmade in London? Yep, this was Tig-welded from Columbus Zona steel in the downstairs workshop of Cloud 9 Cycles in WC1. Cloud 9 has three bikes in its custom-built range, and this is the Street Racer that belongs to Adam, one of Cloud 9’s owners, hence the oldish spec. It is designed for a head-up riding position for visibility and to be nimble for city traffic. This was built with an ENVE fork, SRAM X9 shifters and Shimano XT brakes. Builds range from £2499.99 to £5999.99, with a frameset – including Chris King headset and Whisky fork – costing £1699.99.…

If you do most of your riding on the road we’d go for slicker tyres or better gravel ones Supremely capable, infinitely adaptable,’ says Genesis of its Croix de Fer, which is made from a steel named after the Norse god Thor’s hammer (‘Mjölnir’), so the British outfit clearly likes a little hyperbole. Genesis also describes the Croix de Fer as the ‘original gravel bike’. (Wikipedia calls it ‘an early incarnation’ of the genre and as it dates to 2009, it is in the mix.) The Croix de Fer has a chromoly frame and fork. This is a material that has stood the test of time, and if looked after should outlast you and me, and it can also be repaired more easily than aluminium. But it’s not going…

We reckon TRP Hy/Rd is the best nonhydraulic disc braking system around The heron-crested British brand has been on a roll the last few years, its bikes consistently scoring well in our tests. The Elite is the second most expensive in the Mustang range, and comes with SRAM 1x11 and hybrid brakes. According to Raleigh, Mustangs ‘live on a diet of tarmac, potholes, mud and gravel’, which makes it ideal for this test. Road during the week, onand off-road adventures out of working hours. It’s also the lightest here by a good kilo or so. The TRP Hy/Rd brakes combine cable actuation at the levers with hydraulic reservoirs at the brakes. While we had reservations when we first tested the setup – reservoir placement, potential cable softness – none…

£753.47 › Can Campagnolo overpower Ultegra? FOURTH IN LINE BENEATH CAMPAGNOLO’S Super Record, Record and Chorus mechanical groupsets, Potenza (Italian for power) benefits from trickle-down technology. It’s made from aluminium, with the lever bodies and parts of the rear mech made from what Campagnolo calls Technopolymer, which is reinforced with carbon fibre. Potenza’s Ergopower levers have familiar ergonomics but with a more rounded ‘horn’ and new Varicushion rubber hoods to improve vibration absorption and grip. There are alloy brake levers and composite shift levers, the inner thumb lever following the downswept EPS style, which improves control over Ergopower’s original right-angled design. The right-side lever’s Power Shift mechanism allows three upshifts (inboard) at once, but only one downshift. The left shifter maintains its trim function, with an extra click between ring…

Core training is crucial to performance insists Jo McRae, trainer and author of RideStrong: Essential Conditioning For Cyclists (Bloomsbury, £18.99) GET ON THE BALL These exercises target muscles that are weakened by the cycling position. A crucial piece of kit is a Swiss ball, which helps stimulate your core to become active because of its inherent instability. It makes demands on core muscles before the drills begin. Use it for coretargeting exercises such as hip extensions, which are great for strengthening glutes and back. BUILD AN EXTENSION For hip extensions, lie on the floor with your legs on the ball and your arms outstretched at your sides, level with your shoulders. Push down with your legs and lift your hips and chest as high as you can, drawing your navel…

MAKE A CALL If there are indoor training options I’ll often save a road ride for a dry day. If I do head out in the wet or with rain forecast I wear my hi-vis gear. Rain is a real leveller making visibility poor for both drivers and cyclists so a bright, breathable jacket is a must. I’ll wear a cycling helmet with closed vents, or you can use a cap, one with a peak will keep rain out of your eyes. Alternatively get some eyewear that changes according to the light conditions. THINK AHEAD I’m no fan of riding when there’s ice, and even slightly wet weather makes me ride slower and more warily. If there’s been a lot of rain I avoid big climbs, as these mean big…

BE MORE THAN SMART “Goals always need to take you outside of your comfort zone – but chiefly they should be bounded by time, so ‘I will achieve X by Y’ and it should be difficult but possible,” says Rob Wakefield, coach with propello.bike. “Ask yourself, what level of success am I looking to achieve and when by? Then grab a diary to use as a training journal and flick forward to the date, race or event you want to have hit that goal by.” FIND YOUR TIME FRAME “Work back from that goal in the diary and plan out how each weekly and even daily session will look in order for you to achieve your target. Keep a note of what you eat and how you sleep too. Tear…

With Father Christmas already having to dish out the overtime to his elves in an attempt to keep ahead of the game, it’s time we all started thinking about what we might want the old chap to pop down our chimneys and those of our loved ones this year. In an effort to make that process a little easier, we’re here to offer you a wide selection of what we think are some of the very best gift ideas for the cyclist in your life (even if that person is you). And with prices ranging from £2.50 to £8499(!), there is surely something for every budget……

HAPPY BOTTOM BUM BUTTER £18 Chemical-free, 100 per cent natural, vegan-friendly chamois cream that uses clove oil for pain relief, vegetable glycerine and Egyptian geranium oil to help repair damaged skin and tea tree oil for its antiseptic properties. It is claimed 100ml will see you right for 7000 miles in the saddle, but its manufacturer rates it a zero as a shark-repellent. charliethebikemonger.com RAPHA BODYWASH £12 What other shower gel makes you smell like Provence on a beautiful summer’s day? With its scent inspired by the aromatic herbs and plants found on the slopes of the Mont Ventoux, Rapha’s just might. Plus the cactus and black oat extract will get you clean and rehydrate your skin after a long day on the bike. rapha.cc FIT SKINCARE TRIPLE FACE PACK…

DAVE RAYNER FUND/PRENDAS SUPPORTERS CAP £7.50 Made in Italy to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Dave Rayner Fund – which helps young UK cyclists pursue their dreams of turning pro on mainland Europe – in 2014, these cotton caps are a great way to show your support. prendas.co.uk EDDY MERCKX CYCLING CAP £10 The greatest cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx clocked up 525 race wins during his career including all three Grand Tours, all five Monuments and the world championships (hence the stripes…). Pay homage with this classy cap from Look Mum No Hands. lookmumnohands.com MADISON SPORTIVE CHEVRON COTTON CAP £12.99 Made in Italy from a polycotton blend to aid moisture transfer, this distinctively patterned cap will protect your head from the elements and ensure that you stand…

Gale force winds and heavy rain the forecast said, issuing a severe weather warning. As we feared that one 60mph gust could blow us directly into the path of a lorry, we made the decision to cut our Scottish Borders cycling trip short, and drive straight to Edinburgh for a city break instead. But as our B&B porridge came the next morning Scottish-style, with a pinch of salt, we thought that’s how we should take the forecast. Outside was windy, yes – but ‘severe weather’? It was only what we used to call ‘weather’. We were in Jedburgh, not Hurricane Alley. And we’d come to cycle, not walk up the Royal Mile dodging bagpipers. Lorries threatened us in theory more than practice. On the empty back roads thus far, sneaking…

Snappy enough for urban riding, and comfortable enough for more adventurous rides It’s almost as if Trek created its CrossRip range especially for this test, flagging it up as a bike for ‘workday commute to weekend adventure’, a machine for ‘any surface, any weather, any ride’. Yikes, that’s quite a lot to live up to. We tested the least expensive in the three-bike range, the CrossRip 1 with Sora shifters and mechanical disc brakes. If you’ve got the cash to splash, the range is topped by the £1650 CrossRip 3, complete with Shimano 105 and hydraulic discs. The geometry is typically touring-/commuting-/gravel-friendly, with even the smallest model having a wheelbase well over a metre long, and much shallower head-tube angles than a typical road bike, all of which serves…

The Sequoia’s braking is head and shoulders above the rest L ike Cannondale, Specialized is now probably best known for its high-end exotica – and for its attempts to achieve worldwide cycling ubiquity – but its original sport-tourer Sequoia dates back to 1981. The 2017 incarnation is a very different beast. Down-tube shifters have long since vanished, and sidepull brakes have been supplanted by hydraulic discs. But it’s still essentially a ‘sports-tourer’, albeit in a more modern gravel bikeinspired design. And it’s made from good ’ol chromoly, so some things never change – though we doubt ’81-era Spesh would have released a bike in ‘California white sage’. Or very pale green to the rest of us… The Sequoia’s contact points are comfortable, and they’re colour coordinated too – a…

MADISON ISOLER ROUBAIX THERMAL Madison’s ultra-light Isolers are fine on their own on mild days, and thin enough to wear as an inner when the temperature nears zero. The silicone print palm is grippy and the hi-vis yellow with reflective detailing is great for low-light rides, but you do need to take them off to work a touchscreen. PEARL IZUMI SELECT SOFTSHELL LITE Pearl’s thin, lightweight gloves feature an effective windblocking fabric, grippy plams and conductive material in the fingers for touchscreen use, but the thinness of the material means that you’re always aware of the prominent-feeling seam that runs from the wrist and across the palm. NORTHWAVE POWER 2 The Power 2s may look black, but they have reflective strips on the back and middle finger, and conductive index…

AS BUILT WEIGHT 8.4kg (53cm) FRAME RLT 9 hydroformed aluminium FORK Niner carbon GEARS SRAM Rival HRD 52/36, 11-32 BRAKES SRAM Rival hydraulic disc WHEELS Reynolds ATR carbon clinchers FINISHING KIT Bontrager Race X Lite IsoZone VR-CF bar, Deda stem, Merida carbon seatpost, Bontrager Paradigm RL saddle, 28mm Hutchinson Sector 28 tyres, Speedplay Pavé stainless pedals Apart from acting as test mule for a few different disc wheels, including the Shimano RX830s [1] it’s wearing now, the RLT9 has been languishing of late and it’s time for that to change. While it’s a great looking and seriously versatile machine, I’ve never felt that its ride quality quite lived up to the promise. It’s decidedly firm and off-road it can be a somewhat bruising mount, particularly if you aren’t exploiting the…

Cycling Plus takes on a 24-hour team race around the infamous Nürburgring circuit in Germany, aka The Green Hell WHILE NOT WELL KNOWN IN the UK, Rad Am Ring is a weekend-long festival of cycling with 5500 competitors and hundreds more supporting, spectating, enjoying the atmosphere and running the expo and bike demos. Loads of races run simultaneously; the main event is the 24-hour road race for solo riders or teams of two, four or eight, for men, women or mixed. Then there are shorter races of 25, 75 and 150km, a one-lap time trial on the Friday evening to kick things off and a pro race on the Sunday afternoon to wrap it all up. The mountain bike version of the 24-hour race shares some of the road course…

THE BENEFITS The nitrate in beetroot helps to reduce the oxygen cost of sub-maximal exercise, and has seen around a 2.8 per cent improvement in time to completion in a 16km time trial, which can be the difference between first and second place. New studies also suggest beetroot postevent can aid recovery. Emma Stevenson PhD, professor of sport and exercise science at Newcastle University, says: “We’ve conducted a series of studies looking at the role of beetroot juice in facilitating recovery following intense exercise. Consuming beetroot juice for three days after a hard bout of exercise can enhance recovery. Participants have reported reduced muscle soreness and, in many cases, a faster recovery in muscle power.” TAKING IT ON BOARD To get the most out of beetroot you would find…

Cycling is therapeutic and challenging. I feel better after I’ve been out on my bike Heaviest: 14st (88.9kg) Now: 12st (76.2kg) WHAT WAS YOUR LIFESTYLE LIKE BEFORE CYCLING? “I struggled with depression and anxiety. I wasn’t drastically overweight but like a lot of men my age I had put on a bit of a ‘spread’ over the years and was having trouble losing it.” HOW HAS CYCLING CHANGED YOUR LIFE? “I basically turned a hobby into a way of life, lost two stone and four inches off my waist. It did wonders for my mental health too. In addition to cycling to work, which is 11 miles there and back each day, I now ride longer distances twice a week. I’ve got a collection of bikes now and I’m…

Callum, Daniel, Jørgen and myself had known each other for a while before we’d even ridden together. We met through one of the dustier, more niche corners of the internet, Reddit’s cycling forum reddit.com/r/bicycling/. Despite coming from varied cycling backgrounds, we all had an appreciation and a longing for that one challenge that would test us. So when a Cycling Plus reader suggested Land’s End to John o’Groats, I pitched the idea and without hesitation they said yes. For months the challenge didn’t feel real, even while trying to solve the arduous logistical puzzle of organising a week-long journey for six people. Then suddenly there I was, standing outside my front door with Jørgen awaiting the imminent arrival of our home on wheels that carried the rest of our…

SANTINI UCI HOODIE €89 Relax post-race or down the pub in comfort with this warm, thermofleece hoodie from official UCI partner Santini – featuring the rainbow stripes on the pocket trims and hood as a nod towards your cycling credentials. santinisms.it ENDURA FLIPJAK REVERSIBLE JACKET £99.99 The perfect winter jacket whether you are scooting around town on two wheels, strolling on two feet, or mixing the two, the Endura FlipJak is reversible so you can switch between high-vis and a more subtle black (or blue). Windproof and showerproof with PrimaLoft insulation to keep you warm, and style to keep you cool. endurasport.com RAPHA MERINO CREW NECK KNIT £120 The natural breathability and odour-free properties of merino make this a perfect riding jumper, while a mesh stitch on the back adds…

GARMIN VIVOMOVE SPORT £139.99 The Vivomove is a stylish, conventionallooking watch that can be worn all day, any day, but which is subtly tracking your movements. In the classic-looking dial are two bars: one keeps track of your steps while the other gives an at-a-glance warning that you’ve been inactive for too long. It also tracks your sleep, and syncs with Garmin Connect. It comes in Sport, Classic and Premium models: all work the same, but the later ones add more style touches such as a leather strap and full steel casing. garmin.com/en_GB FITBIT SURGE £199.99 An everything-inone-place fitness watch that includes a wrist-based heart rate monitor, multisport tracking, GPS, sleep-tracking and allows you to see call and text notifications and control music from your mobile playlist. It also syncs…

LAVAZZA A MODO MIO MINÙ COFFEE MAKER £67.50 Yes, there are more ‘authentic’ ways to make an espresso, but when you want a quick caffeine hit before your ride, or where space is at a premium, a capsule coffee maker fits the bill. And in a market dominated by a certain Swiss manufacturer, this Lavazza model adds a touch of Italian coffee class. johnlewis.com KENWOOD SMOOTHIE 2GO BLENDER £29.99 You can spend a lot of money on a smoothie maker, but this compact 300W blender comes with two speed settings and an ice-crushing feature for under L30. It also comes with two 0.5-litre travel mugs (with lids) so you can take your smoothie with you. johnlewis.com MOLTENI-ARCORE CUSHION £16 Just what every sofa needs, a 14in cushion in the classic…

Bikes are beautiful to look at, especially classic steel Italian racing bikes, but also beautiful in concept I’ve been a cycling fan since I was five years old when my dad took the training wheels off my first bike. The fandom intensified 30 years ago, when I got tenure at MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and could turn my mind to other things besides academic research. Cycling is popular at Harvard University. It’s more so among the students than the faculty, though there are a few clunkerriding commuters. I like exercise where scenery moves past you. Gyms are tedious. Hiking, jogging and kayaking are better, but the motion is clunky compared to the swift linear glide of a bicycle. My main cycling destination is Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where…

You may not need the granny gear often, but when you do, you and your knees will appreciate it Ridgeback’s Voyage is every inch the classic touring bike, from its chromoly steel frame and rear rack to its triple chainset and… wait for it… cantilever brakes. Blimey, first time we’ve seen them for a while, and while they look passé, fitting them does allow Ridgeback to kit out a bike based around Shimano Sora, with mudguards, pump and a rear rack, while still hitting a lower price than any of the other bikes on test… In many ways the Ridgeback is a step back in time, but there have been subtle changes from the bikes of yore. Thirty years ago steel tourers would have been made in their tens…

Cannondale is best known in Cycling Plus for its aluminium road bikes and exotic racing machines. But its very first bike was actually a tourer – and our tester rode his (later stolen) Cannondale tourer 3000 miles in three months in four continents back in the day, and rarely stops talking about it… The 2017 Touring 2 comes with a triple chainset, a rare sight in Britain on road bikes though less scoffed at in Europe. And on bikes made for versatility and practicality they still make sense. On a bike weighing 12kg the third chainring’s extra weight is neither here nor there, though depending on what you’re planning on using the bike for, we don’t feel that Cannondale has made the most of going triple. It has paired…

£175 Light Hope is one of the few companies who list a theoretical and measured lumen count; in the case of the 110x45x45mm, 252g R2i that’s 1300 and 1000 respectively. On the road that max power seems more, with plenty of reach for high-speed twisting descents as well as clear hedge-to-hedge coverage. Even on low power there’s enough reach and coverage for confident cruising. Head-to-head with the Strada on a comparable three-mode setting the Exposure’s full beam equated to the Hope’s medium and the medium to the Hope’s low. Life This makes a massive difference to the effective battery capacity, and while constant maximum running will only give an hour on cooler nights, toggling between modes was easily enough for two to three hours of solo riding in practice.…

This is the bike bag for those reluctant to travel with their bike. All you need to do is remove the wheels and attach the frame to the in-built metal base. To fit it in, the only adjustment on our size 56cm bike was to lower the saddle a touch. It’s easy to wheel round and despite being fabric, we’ve not suffered any bike damage in numerous flights in the last year. There have been several slight tears to the outer fabric, which is something we’ve experienced with all soft bags over time as they pass through the shadowy world of airport baggage handling. One thing we would change is the hanger protector; it attaches underneath the skewer but its coverage means it protects from impacts from the side, but…

Original price £1529 (frameset) €5352 (as built) AS BUILT WEIGHT 8kg (56cm) FRAME Titanium FORK Carbon GEARS Shimano Ultegra 50/34, 11-28 BRAKES Shimano Ultegra WHEELS FFWD F4R Black Edition carbon clinchers FINISHING KIT VNT Elements saddle, alloy bar and stem, and titanium seatpost, 25mm Schwalbe One tyres Titanium bikes invariably look the dog’s whatsits but the Boreas pulls off the trick of turning heads everywhere I’ve taken it, which is all well and good so long as it has the performance to match. And it does. Brands tend to separate their race bikes from their sportive bikes. However, with the Boreas, Van Nicholas wanted it to straddle both, producing a bike that’s racebike stiff (check) with something you’d want to ride all day (double check). Comfort is partly down…

AS BUILT WEIGHT 5.1kg FRAME Engineered ESP FORK THM Carbones Scapula CT GEARS Fixed gear with Rotor INpower cranks, KMC chain BRAKES THM Carbones Fibula WHEELS Mack hubs, Yishunbike tubular rims FINISHING KIT Deda bar, MCFK stem, seatpost and saddle For this year’s hill climb season I wanted something different and while a fixed geared bike sounds a bit old school, on the right course with the right rider, nothing beats them. A hill climb bike can be a brutally simple machine, no brake or bottle cage mounts and no concessions for comfort, so for this build I had to go fully custom. Bristol-based specialist Engineered Bicycles fitted the bill, and after a couple of meetings with designer David Fong we had a plan. The frame would have no…

Cyclo-cross is fundamentally a simple sport. Buy or borrow a suitable bike, find a local race, enter, pin on your number and join loads of like-minded souls for an intensive, action-packed workout. Aside from the bike, you don’t need much in the way of specialist stuff. If you’re a regular road rider, you should have a helmet and some clothing already. Shorts, a jersey and gloves will do, to which you can add different base layers, arm and leg warmers if needed, and thicker socks for cooler days. Off-road shoes and pedals are items you can’t do without, as you’ll almost certainly have to dismount within the race for an obstacle, and road shoes and cleats just won’t work. Everything else is optional, but we’ve tried to suggest products…

TIME FOR ‘T’ 1 “We have a philosophy at Team Sky based around the three Ts – Timing, Type and Total,” explains Dr James Morton, head of nutrition. “There’s little benefit to consuming the right food, in the right amount but at the wrong time. One of the biggest changes to the pro’s plate is around the types of foods they’re consuming now. DODGE DAIRY 2 Intolerance issues coupled with the fact that many of milk’s nutrients – vitamins A, K2 and omega-3 fatty acids – are found in the fat content (removed to create skimmed versions) has led to a shift. Mark Cavendish is one of a number of riders opting for plant-based versions such as almond or soy milk because dairy leaves him feeling ‘phelgmy’. HOLIDAY ON…

Paraphysiological cramp will affect most cyclists at some time. Characterised by strong muscle spasms causing intense but thankfully short-lived pain, cramp is usually brought on by riding harder or faster than usual. The resulting muscle soreness can persist for up to 24 hours. Cramp tends to be more common in hot weather, with dehydration an influence, leading to electrolyte imbalance, with low magnesium implicated. This imbalance leads to nerve endings in the overused muscles becoming oversensitive, which triggers an attack. FOOT AND CALF CRAMP The position of the foot when cycling, with the toes pointed downwards, contributes to calf cramp. Poor bike set up can be to blame, particularly a saddle that’s too high or incorrect cleat position. If cramp affects the foot, it can be particularly painful. The intrinsic…

There is no wasted energy here. With each fall of the blade an idea will be sharpened Chris Boardman is mighty. Like an oak tree, he is a considerable chunk of nature, a thing that requires no further explanation. Two months had elapsed since I’d last seen him. Two months since the moment our director came through to our commentary position on the Tour de France to tell David Millar and myself of the terrible accident involving Chris’s mother Carol, and how he had run (literally) to a waiting car and left France. Now I was readying myself for a pre-arranged encounter, in front of a packed and expectant crowd at The Cycle Show in Birmingham. I was unsettled to be seeing him in these circumstances, so publicly, for the…

SEALSKINZ ROAD THIN MID SOCKS WITH HYDROSTOP £37 Ideal colder season wear for the commute or training ride when it’s chilly but still too warm for overshoes and the rain keeps falling. The Stretchdry material will repel the weather while the Hydrostop taping around the top of the sock stops water running down inside. sealskinz.com BONTRAGER CLASSIQUE 5IN SOCK £16.99 The Classique cycling sock delivers superior performance thanks to its merino construction while giving a firm nod in the direction of traditional style. In white they feature red and blue stripes up the back so you can fly the flag in suitably subtle style. trekbikes.com/gb LOOK MUM NO HANDS MEN’S PODIUM PANTS £25 Give your everyday undies a dash of cycling panache with these yellow, green and polka dot pants…

VULPINE LAPTOP COMMUTER BACKPACK £129 A quality backpack designed to keep your laptop and valuables safe on the daily commute while keeping you comfortable and your back dry, thanks to the unique raised padding that allows air to flow. Inner pockets allow you to separate contents, while subtle reflective panels ensure you’re seen at night. It also comes with a leather carry strap so you can turn it into a briefcase. vulpine.cc HENTY WINGMAN MESSENGER £119 A messenger-style suit and garment bag that allows you to transport work clothes such as a suit or dress by bike whatever the weather. It will also accommodate your laptop, any other devices and your daily office essentials. A heavy-duty inner tube will take care of shoes and other sundries. It is also airplane…

CERAMIC TOUR DE FRANCE COASTERS £25 (set of four) Bling up your coffee table with this set of four ceramic, cork-backed coasters, each featuring an archive poster image from the history of the Tour de France. 1952 is our particular favourite… meandmysport.co.uk RAPHA CANYON//SRAM SNOOD £15 Perfect for riding in cooler weather, this insulating, performance snood (made from thermal PrimaLoft fabric) is versatile enough to be warn around your neck, on your head or pulled up over your lower face. In the colours of the stylish Canyon//SRAM pro team, it also looks the business. rapha.cc LIFEVENTURE THERMAL MUG £13.99 This 300ml thermal mug will keep a hot drink hot for up to four hours, is watertight with vacuum-insulated walls, and fits into a standard bike bottle cage so it’s perfect…

ULTIMATE ÉTAPES £20 Sometime Cycling Plus contributor Peter Cossins takes you on a journey across Europe riding some of the continent’s most iconic roads: from Flanders to Corsica via France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and more, this is both coffee table tome and knowledgeable ride guide in one. quartoknows.com BIG BLUE BOOK OF BICYCLE REPAIR £23.99 Everything you need to know about fixing or upgrading your bike (and those of your friends’ once you get a reputation as a reliable spanner) from Olympic and pro team mechanic Calvin Jones, with help from the repair experts at Park Tool. madison.co.uk EPIC BIKE RIDES OF THE WORLD £24.99 A beautifully presented book of 50 cycling routes in 30 countries across the globe. The rides range from familyfriendly jaunts to backcountry expeditions via city…

100 CLIMBS (2015) £34.99 Simon Warren’s popular 100 Climbs book of the best climbs in Britain comes to life in this turbo training DVD from CycleRecon. Riding all 100 across the eight-disc collection will see you ride 325km and climb 21,287m! amazon.co.uk THE ARMSTRONG LIE (2014) £2.50 Renowned documentarian Alex Gibney suffered a blow to his reputation with the first cut of his Lance Armstrong film. His original aim was to follow the Texan on his comeback to the sport in 2009 but as the house of cards fell, the still unseen film became unworkable because what he was following was a sham. Gibney, accused of getting too friendly with his subject, quickly and radically re-cut it to produce The Armstrong Lie, a watchable film that suffers with the knowledge…