Indice dei contenuti per July 2015 in Cycling Plus

SPECIFICATION Weight 8.96kg (L) Frame 6061 aluminium Fork Carbon/alloy steerer Gears Shimano 105, BTwin chainset 50/34, 12-28 Brakes Shimano 105 direct mount Wheels BTwin Finishing kit BTwin stem, bar and seatpost, BTwin Comp saddle, 23mm Hutchinson Equinox tyres If we hadn’t known the price we’d have sworn this bike would be nearer £1000. It has everything you’d expect at around a grand – carbon fork, tapered steerer, sub-9kg weight, Shimano 105, internal cabling – and its lifetime guaranteed triple-butted frame, whose geometry leans towards endurance comes with the UCI seal of approval. The ride is on the firmish side, though not unduly so, but other than that the negatives are few and far between. The Hutchinson tyres are average and we’re not sure that a non-aero road bike gains from…

1 Garmin holder The K-Edge XL is designed to work with any Garmin GPS unit, with the same twist-click mount system within its alloy body. 2 Safe and secure A satisfying click locks your Garmin in place, and the insert is designed to be sacrificial, so if you crash it will break away rather than tearing the back off your expensive GPS. Replacement inserts are 99p. 3 Space saver Things can get busy on the bar of a modern bike; once you’ve got a Garmin, light and possibly a camera, your cockpit looks less sleek road bike and more mobile surveillance vehicle. The Combo has a universal action camera mount on the underside so you can attach a GoPro, Garmin Virb or other camera as well as your GPS. 4…

With hydraulic disc brakes, there’s no mistaking that this is a modern machine SPECIFICATION Weight 9.78kg (54cm) Frame 3Al/2.5V double butted titanium Fork Carbon Road disc Gears Shimano 105 Brakes Shimano BR-RS785 Wheels Mavic Askium One Disc Finishing kit Genesis Road saddle, Continental Grand Sport Race 25c tyres, Genesis Road Compact bar Genesis’ capable and incurably British designs are ubiquitous on our city streets, and they have a presence in virtually every sector of the cycling landscape. The Equilibrium first appeared as a budget steel machine, which, with keen pricing and provision for mudguards, became a popular second string to the bow of riders seeking a steed for less clement weather. Since then, innumerable variations have been added to the line-up, with various tubesets and component specs on offer. The…

The Great Divide is finished to some of the highest standards we’ve seen from a titanium frame SPECIFICATION Weight 7.96kg (58cm) Frame 3Al/2.5V titanium Fork ENVE 2.0 Gears Shimano Ultegra 6800, 52/36 chainset, 11-25 cassette Brakes Shimano Ultegra 6800 Wheels Campag Neutron Ultra Finishing kit Zipp Service Course SL stem and seatpost No.22’s Great Divide gets its name from the geographical boundary that separates water flowing to the Pacific Ocean from that which ends up in the Atlantic. It follows the line of the Rocky Mountains, and like the mountains, No.22 crosses borders, designing its bikes in Canada but getting American craftsman to build them. The Great Divide bike is finished to some of the highest standards we’ve seen from a titanium frame. It combines traditional elements like the round…

CASTELLI FREE X13 £14 WITH 13CM CUFFS, these are tall socks. The foot is topped with an open weave mesh split at the mid-foot by an elasticated support band. The Meryl Skinlife material contains silver ions within the fibres that are claimed to prevent accumulation of bacteria, and flat seams ensure they’re superbly comfortable, but not exactly top value. ENDURA FS260-PRO £18.99/2 PAIRS ENDURA USES MERYL Skinlife, so the FS260s never get too wiffy. The thick sole has a comfortable cottonlike feel, while the open weave tops wick moisture well and keep your feet cool. An elastic mid-foot support band keeps them in place, and flat seams on toe and heel mean no irritation. BEST ON TEST GIRO HRC TEAM £16.99 LIKE OTHERS HERE, Giro also uses Meryl Skinlife fibres…

While climbing is a physical pursuit, as with so much in sport, at least part of the battle is played out in your head. A positive mental approach to the hills is essential, so rather than focus on how far is left to go, think about how far you’ve come. Ben Swift says: “There is definitely a mental aspect to climbing as well as physical because there’s no hiding on a climb, you can’t freewheel otherwise you’ll slow down and you’ll have to go hard to regain that speed. There’s no rest, and you have to accept that and relax into it. The end will come.” McCallum has this advice, and whether you want to wear headphones on the road will be a personal choice, you can recreate the power…

BLOOD FLOW The stomach requires blood to allow us to digest food. When exercising, the blood is required in other parts of the body. This is why any nutrition taken on needs to be the least stressful on the digestive system. On the bike, the body isn’t under as much stress when compared to running (lower heart rate etc) so the body can digest more solid items. INTENSITY Now this leads us on to the intensity of the exercise, because as the intensity increases the harder it becomes to digest. The best time to consume bars is when intensity is low. As levels increase you can move to gels and drinks, which will be easier to digest at that point. WHAT’S NEEDED? You need your energy to be released in…

DON’T STOP Amy: “Keep drinking and eating on long rides – I usually just take cereal bars – because you need a lot to keep your energy up. I don’t train with gels, though I do use them when I'm racing, but otherwise how I eat in training and racing is pretty similar.” REWARD YOURSELF Chloe: “On-the-bike food is the time when you can have fun. My coach said to me if you’re going to eat carbohydrates eat them on the bike. Quite often I will avoid eating gels or bars. I’ll make banana bread or rice cakes or I’ll buy sponge rolls with cream, or Haribo. Maybe these aren’t the best but it helps you to not over-indulge off the bike.” TIME WILL PASS YOU BY Chloe: “I have…

BUILD UP LONG RIDE DURATION For the first phase of this plan, aim to do two road rides per week on flat or varied terrain, avoiding big hills. Start at 60 mins in Zones 1-2 for the first session and 75 mins for the second session. Get used to using your gears and maintaining a good cadence (90rpm). Don’t be in a rush to increase the duration, add 15 minutes a week to the first road ride, so 75 mins in week two, 90 mins in week three and back to 60 mins in week four (recovery). Start the next phase (week five) at 75 mins and continue to add 15 per week. In week seven you will be riding for 105 mins and by week 11 you’ll be at…

THE TOUR DE France is every young cyclist’s dream. With its history, past winners and culture it’s undoubtedly the biggest race on earth. But for the women’s peloton there is no Tour de France, no Grand Tour, no huge event to dream of, so to be able to race along the Champs Élysées, one of the most famous stages of the Tour, was incredible. I’ve watched the Tour de France for as long as I can remember and it was a dream come true to be a part of the buzz. My team, UnitedHealthcare, and I arrived in Paris after a two-week stint in Girona, in the north of Spain. Fortunately the UHC men’s team weren’t racing at the time so we were able to use the amazing team bus.…

SPECIFICATION WEIGHT 7.57kg (56cm) FRAME Noah SL high modulus carbon FORK High modulus carbon GEARS Shimano Dura-Ace, 52/36, 11-28 BRAKES Shimano Dura-Ace WHEELS Zipp 60 FINISHING KIT 4ZA Cirrus bar, 4ZA Cirrus stem, Ridley Noah carbon seatpost, 4ZA Cirrus Pro saddle, 23mm Continental GP4000S II tyres £5399.99 It has proper brakes Fancy aero brakes, hidden under the chainstays and behind the fork, have become a popular marginal gain for aero road bikes. However, the small drag savings are offset by patchy performance and awkward servicing, prompting a backlash. The Noah SL is one of several new aero bikes to return the brakes to their traditional locations. We think it’s a good call. Unlike the Noah FAST, the Noah SL uses a regular seatpost – albeit one with an aero shape…

Round about now, it’s Bike Week. For most of us, every week is Bike Week, but I’m happy to participate, though most events are really aimed at encouraging new or returning cyclists. The best of Bike Week is the breakfasts, prevalent in London, generously provided and staffed by volunteers from the local campaign, perhaps sponsored by a local shop. They’re great places to snag a free coffee’n’croissant, local bike maps (useful wrapping paper for cyclists’ presents), and promotional snappy metal ankle bands that only end up being used to entertain small children briefly. You can meet campaigners, catch up on bike-facilities gossip, and maybe get your brakes and gears tweaked by Dr Bike (the queue will be longer than the one for homemade brownies). In London we used to do…

The 3Al/2.5V frame is a stout thing with chunky stays and a tapered head-tube SPECIFICATION Weight 9.16kg (M) Frame 3Al/2.5V titanium Fork Carbon CX disc Gears SRAM Force CX 1, SRAM Force CX1 42t chainset, 11-32t cassette Brakes SRAM Force CX1 hydro disc Wheels Planet X Disc rims and hubs Finishing kit Planet X Strada bar, Planet X CNC stem, 35c Continental CycloX-King tyres On-One is a name well known to those who dabble in cycling’s grimier disciplines, but most roadies will be more familiar with sister marque Planet X. The company’s cyclo-cross models are shared between the two, and the Pickenflick is a proper racer built around a titanium chassis. The 3Al/2.5V (that’s an alloy with 3% aluminium and 2.5% vanadium) frame is a stout thing with chunky stays…

The Industrial Mill finish on our test model has a luxurious, muted splendour to it SPECIFICATION Weight 10.14kg (M) Frame 3AL/2.5V titanium Fork Lynskey Carbon Endurance Disc Gears Shimano 105 derailleurs, 11-28t cassette, ST-RS685 shifters Brakes Shimano BR-RS785 Wheels DT Swiss R23DB Spline Finishing kit Easton bar, stem and seatpost, Freedom ThickSlick 28c tyres Lynskey Performance Designs has a longer history than most in titanium bicycle manufacturing, having started production in Tennessee under the name Litespeed in the mid-’80s. Litespeed was sold in 1999 and still exists as a separate company, but since 2006 the Lynskey’s been back in the business, making frames that bear the family name. The Sportive Disc is built for long distance comfort and as the name implies, disc brakes are the order of the day,…

£349.99 HIGHS Durable hub design and wide rims LOWS Weight and price is fair not good Construction The Veronas are sturdy looking things, with wide, boxy rims and substantial hubs that house decent sized cartridge bearings. The rear hub uses a Shimanostyle sealed freehub unit made of steel, and with a steel axle too it’s a chunky affair that’s built to take some abuse. A large, inward-spaced nondriveside flange makes for a good spoke tension balance, another bonus for longevity. Also encouraging were very even spoke tensions all round, reducing the chances of breakage. The wheels are built with basic plain gauge, straight-pull spokes, along with aluminium nipples. Weights and measures Weighing in at 760g for the front and 1065g for the rear (plus 116g for skewers), the Veronas aren’t…

£69.99 › Everyday style and protection TIFOSI IS KNOWN for high-value, highperformance sports glasses, so the new Hagen is a bit of a departure. The styling is reminiscent of Oakley Frogskins or Smith’s classic Chemist, but with a slimmer, squarer lens shape. The frame uses stiff sprung metal hinges that keep them in place well, backed up with arms featuring hydrophilic (water loving) rubber inserts that keep them stable even when you’ve worked up a sweat. The polarised lenses are made from scratch resistant and shatterproof polycarbonate, and offer full category three protection from harmful rays. You can get the Hagens with DirectFit prescription lenses through your local Tifosi dealer. They wouldn’t be our choice for fast, bumpy rides, but they won’t let you down on your commute or weekend…

OUT OF THE BOX WEIGHT 10.84kg (M) FRAME Aluxx-Grade aluminium FORK Giant Composite, Aluxx steerer GEARS Shimano Sora, 50/39/30 & 11-32 cassette BRAKES SRAM BB5 Road mechanical disc WHEELS Giant S-X2 FINISHING KIT Giant Connect XR Ergo-Control bar, Connect stem and seatpost, Liv Connect Forward saddle, 32mm Giant P-RX2 X-Road tyres HIGHS Wide gear range, versatility LOWS Disc brakes lack power, cable ‘routing’ Liv is Giant’s women’s range of bikes – not just a woman’s name but an exhortation to get out there and... do something. The Invite 1 is an invitation to hit the trails as well as roads, its wide knobbly tyres and low gearing are designed to help you travel on gravel (and not unravel?), which is one reason I chose it for my new longterm test…

1 RIDE THEN DECIDE Wear your heart rate monitor on regular training rides, and see how your heart rate reacts to different intensities of riding. To find your resting heart rate put on the monitor’s strap first thing in the morning, taking the lowest figure you see. Do this every day for a week and work out the average. Be as relaxed as you can and avoid measuring when you’re ill or stressed to get the most accurate results. 2 HAVE AN AVERAGE “A key aspect for improving fitness is to use the average heart rate as your guide,” says Paul Mill, coach with www.elitecycling. co.uk. “Keeping this steady for over 30 minutes is a great way to work in a more aerobic nature. The longer you can hold this…

PROBLEM AREAS Hot spots and numbness are usually temporary and related to footwear. Symptoms that persist off the bike suggest a different condition. Plantar fasciitis causes pain usually found 4cm in front of the heel and is classically worse in the morning. It’s caused by repeated small injuries to the ligament that runs along the sole. Metatarsalgia causes pain around the ball of the foot and can be caused by bunions, foot deformities or Morton’s neuroma – a problem with one of the nerves. ASSESS THE PROBLEM Persistent numbness, heat or cold can be caused by systemic illnesses such as diabetes or circulatory problems and should be assessed by a doctor. Plantar fasciitis is confirmed by examining the foot, with a tender area on the sole in front of the…

I appear destined never to ride up Box Hill like normal people do. Last October, in what was my first visit to the hill, I ‘Everested’ it, or at least attempted to, riding 40-plus ascents of the famed Surrey climb before giving in to fatigue, fading light and boredom. In April I returned, well, sort of. This time it was virtual Box Hill, a replica in both distance and gradient, but digitally plastered onto a wall in a basement gym in the City of London. I’d come to Athlete Lab with dep ed Paul to take part in a Haute Routethemed training session organised by one of the event’s ambassadors, David Cooper Boileve. Like many of Athlete Lab’s clients, he balances a career in London (as a management consultant) with…

When Noah’s ark set sail? The fight scene at the end of The Matrix Revolutions? There aren’t many events, biblical or fictional, that could match the deluge that hit the first Tour de Yorkshire Ride. Who’d be a sportive organiser? Months of rigorous planning marred by horrendous weather. Credit where it’s due, though, opening your curtains to monsoon weather minus the warmth would be enough to send most athletes scurrying back under the duvet, but cyclists are a hardy bunch, and 3740 of them donned their waterproofs and survived a gruesome day in the west Yorkshire hills. You’d have to be some sort of masochist to truly enjoy cycling in such conditions, but the real satisfaction comes afterwards, knowing you made it through. Personally, I had little to be pleased…

BEING A CYCLING fan can be bloody hard work. Following the sport is complex, bedevilling, occasionally disappointing, always nuanced. It requires a different kind of open-minded, alert viewing. We are the most sophisticated sporting audience out there, I am sure of that. But that’s because the erupting history of doping (and its continuing aftershocks) inform us that we have to be. One of my most vivid memories in 12 years of covering the Tour de France was an encounter I had with Floyd Landis, round the back of a grubby hotel somewhere in the Alps. He’d tried to sneak out of a side door, specifically to avoid people like me, but, for once, I was in the right place at the right time, and I nailed him. “What’s the plan…

Warren Barguil One third of France’s “grand triumvirat” of potential future Tour champions, along with Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet, Barguil is the only one of the three never to have ridden the Tour, and will have to fight for elbow room with Giant-Alpecin’s star sprinter, Marcel Kittel, on his race debut this year. Rohan Dennis A former UCI Hour Record holder, Dennis could one day challenge for overall honours in the Tour de France. At the very least, if he debuts at the Tour in July, Dennis will contend for the first yellow jersey of the race in Utrecht before lending BMC team leader Tejay Van Garderen support in the mountains. Simon Yates Unfairly bracketed as the “less talented” of the Bury-born Yates twins, Simon has impressed as much…

STAGE 01 SATURDAY 4 JULY UTRECHT (ITT) DISTANCE 14KM CATEGORY TIME TRIAL After a hiatus the individual time trial returns to the opening stage of the Tour de France. In 2013 and 2014 the race kicked off with road stages, ideally suited to the sprinters, but the 14km test around the centre of Utrecht in the Netherlands will see the specialists such as Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) and home favourite Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) do battle for the first yellow jersey, but the fight for seconds between the General Classification riders will be keenly contested too. STAGE 02 SUNDAY 5 JULY UTRECHT—ZÉLANDE DISTANCE 166KM CATEGORY FLAT The terrain might be flat but if the wind picks up as the race heads south-west and towards the coast then crosswinds could split the…

FEW FIRST-YEAR PROS settle into the sport as seamlessly as Adam Yates did in 2014. The 22-year-old from Bury was a winner at the Tour of Turkey and a threat in many other races, and impressed with both his ability to go toe-to-toe with the world’s best climbers and his nose for hard racing. Both Adam and his twin brother Simon turned pro with Australian team Orica-GreenEdge, spurning the home comforts of Team Sky for a team that has, almost certainly, given them more responsibility than Sky would have at this stage. That will be emphasised, form and fitness permitting, with a debut for Adam at this year’s Tour de France. “The plan is to go,” he tells us from his Girona base in April, where he was recovering from…

ROAD TEST This month I’ve been switching between the decades, testing steel bikes that hark back to their 80s heyday, alongside cuttingedge 2015 carbon from Germany’s Storck. Warren Rossiter, senior technical editor ROAD TEST & KIT Over the last few weeks I’ve been trying out Giro’s latest featherweight Empire SLX race shoes, while thoroughly testing Look’s Power pedals for an upcoming issue. Robin Wilmott, technical writer NEW KIT Some tasty titanium has been a welcome change, and it’s been interesting to see what Mavic has to offer with its first entry into the high-end road disc wheel market. Matthew Allen, technical writer RATINGS EXPLAINED EXCEPTIONAL A genuine class leader VERY GOOD One of the best you can buy GOOD It’ll do the job very well BELOW AVERAGE Flawed in some…

BRAKE THROUGH Are disc brakes set to become commonplace in pro cycling? The UCI has green lit their use in two races this summer, further testing next season and if all goes well, into the top level World Tour by 2017. SMART ALEX Alex Dowsett became the first Brit since Chris Boardman to hold the Hour record. The Movistar rider covered 52.937km to add 446m to the mark Aussie Rohan Dennis set in February. NEW FRONTIER Is the front derailleur dead? Well, no, but SRAM’s new single-ring drivetrain, Force 1 and Rival 1, is a new option for roadies. It’s expected to be useful to cyclo-cross riders, criterium racers and leisure riders looking for simpler shifting. NOT FARE Ryanair’s delivered a slap in the face to cyclists. Despite lowering sports…

We love the Tripster range from Decade, the titanium dropbar ATR is one of our senior tech ed Warren’s favourite rides. The ACE takes the concept to the city streets with this lightweight disc equipped flat-bar commuter with its big tyre clearances (it runs 40c all-terrain rubber) and good ground clearance. The frame can take full guards and a rack so it’s a great year round commuting bike, and the finishing kit of 2x9 Sora gearing and hydraulic brakes give it plenty of stop-and-go performance. The ACE is available for £799.99…

HARDKNOTT PASS Share your favourite climbs – email cyclingplus@immediate.co.uk This Lake District monster could contest a ‘Britain’s Best Walls’ poll. Fred Whitton Challenge riders have reason to loathe it, given they must tackle it from the harder west side with over 100 miles in their legs. From this Eskdale side it averages a savage 12 per cent over its 1.6 miles, but it’s very uneven, with the sections at 33 per cent giving it a claim to the title of the UK’s steepest. Especially tough is how exposed Hardknott is, which means not only can you get battered by the elements on a cold day, but you can see the scale of this behemoth stretched out ahead of you. There’s also no respite once you get to the top. The…

When you ride with friends you help each other out and you develop social bonds I’m riding the Tour de France route just 24 hours before the pros The project is called ‘Le Tour - One Day Ahead’. I will be riding in a group of 20 and we will cover 2078 miles in three weeks. Right now, all I feel is fear. I took up cycling after suffering from leukaemia in 2003 When I went into remission I was determined to raise money to make sure other people survive too. In 2005 I cycled the route a couple of days before the pros and raised £250,000 for Cure Leukaemia. This year we’re hoping for four times that. Lance Armstrong was my inspiration He’s not so popular now but when…

The 555mm effective top-tube length makes for a racy ride position SPECIFICATION Weight 9.53kg (M) Frame 3Al-2.5V titanium Fork Carbon Gears Campagnolo Veloce (50/34, 11-25) Brakes Miche Performance Wheels Campagnolo Mega G3 Finishing kit Selle Italia X1 saddle, 25c Vittoria Rubino tyres, Miche Primato cranks, Cinelli DNA stem, bar and seatpost The Duro’s butted titanium frame is finished with satin main tubes and logos that stand out in a contrasting mirror polish. The oversized tubes give the CK8 rigidity, so designers haven’t resorted to an oversized tapered head-tube or bottom bracket shell to retain some life and spring to its ride. The carbon fork has mudguard eyes (and the CK8 comes with full guards as standard). At the rear there are mudguard eyes, rack mounts and a neat threaded brake…

Most titanium bikes look good, but this one is particularly nice and well appointed SPECIFICATION Weight 9.64kg (54cm) Frame 3Al/2.5V titanium Fork C-Six full carbon disc Gears Shimano 105 Brakes Shimano RS785 Wheels Mavic Aksium One Disc Finishing kit Enigma bar and stem, Continental Gatorskin 25c tyres In the relatively short time it’s been building bikes, British brand Enigma’s earned a reputation for producing capable machines in steel and titanium. The Etape’s its audax-oriented design, tested here in the mid-priced 1.2 build option that gets you up-todate hydraulic disc brakes. (The frame retails for £1299.) Most titanium bikes look good, but this one is particularly nice and well appointed with a full complement of eyelets and bosses, and full mudguards (albeit without mudflaps) mounted as standard. In design terms, the…

HIGHS Light, comfortable and breathable LOWS Upper stiffness isn’t as fixed as some WITH THIS ULTRA-LIGHT version of the modern-retro styled Empire, Giro has taken its weight watching to another level. The most important piece of the puzzle is the carbon fibre sole courtesy of Easton. The new EC90 SLXII carbon outsole is thinner than ever yet still retains impressive stiffness; titanium bolts have even been used to hold the replaceable heel rubber in place. The stack height (how much material is between the bottom of your foot and the ground) is a minimal 6.5mm for a shoe that feels directly connected to your pedal and not sitting above it. The second part of the equation is the uppers’ minimal design along with the low tech, low weight retention system.…

£89.99 WE SAY This fin-style structure increases the helmet’s structural integrity HIGHS Breezy and very comfortable fit LOWS No alternative padding THE NEW DIAMOND lid sits five models below the range-topping Victory Supreme, but includes a lot of LAS’s latest design technology. There’s a large diamond-shaped central vent at the front with 10 large forward facing vents. The remainder of the total 22-vent count is reserved for smaller exhaust vents at the rear. The large frontal vents channel air in and across your head making the Diamond a comfortably cool lid. The tip of the large diamond shaped vent runs the full length of the helmet top. This finstyle structure increases the helmet’s structural integrity to evenly disperse impact forces around the EPS foam core. All the design work is…

OUT OF THE BOX WEIGHT 6.69kg (M) FRAME Ultimate CF SLX FORK Canyon One One Four SLX GEARS Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, 52/36, 11-28 BRAKES Shimano Dura-Ace WHEELS Zipp 303 Firecrest carbon clinchers FINISHING KIT Canyon H18 Ergo CF bar, S13 VCLS CF seatpost, V13 stem, Continental Grand Prix 4000S II tyres HIGHS Straight line speed, surprisingly comfortable, sporting gear range LOWS Braking in wet, but that comes with the territory weight Outside of testing, my first ‘competitive’ outing on this new Canyon was the Tour de Yorkshire Ride, which was kind of like bringing a gun to a knife fight. This is the frameset that helped Nairo Quintana to Giro glory last year and has a spec that’s just as dreamy as the Colombian’s Campy-kitted machine. So why on earth…

TIME RESTRICTIONS Timing your toughest training sessions and choosing race times that are synced to your body clock could lead to outstanding results. But how do you discover the best time of day for you? University of Birmingham research suggests that endurance athletes perform better in the late afternoon than in the early morning – but each athlete’s circadian phenotypes or body clock is different. LARK OR AN OWL? “Best performance times differ between circadian phenotypes,” explains lead researcher, Roland Brandstaetter. “Your internal biological time is the most reliable predictor of peak performance time. The difference between morning and evening performance can vary by 26%.” Body temperature is crucial. Those performing at their peak registered much ‘warmer’ than at their poorest times. CHANGE THE CLOCKS Lifestyle factors mean we often…

1 GOING TUBELESS Back in issue 300 we looked at how you could repair a puncture without using tools. This time, as you hear the familiar pffft of escaping air you’ve remembered your tyre levers, but are soon left swearing again because you’ve forgotten a spare tube and you don’t have any patches. So, what can you do? 2 RIP IT UP Take the tube out and tear it apart at the puncture. Passers-by will think you’re having a Basil Fawlty moment, but by tearing the tube you will be able to tie a knot in it. Try to use as little tube for the knot as you can possibly get away with because you’ll need to get it back on the rim. If you can zip tie the tube…

TREAD CAREFULLY Although the tread on your bicycle tyre is less important than on your car’s equivalent, wear of the tread is still a good early warning sign when it comes to working out whether your rubber needs replacing. Most tyres will have a small hole pressed into the tread, and when this disappears, think about getting rid. You can ride a tyre without tread pretty safely, but its puncture protection will be compromised and if you start to see the protection belt through the rubber you definitely need a new one. SO SLICK Not all tyres will have tread or wear indicators, with slick summer racing tyres the main culprits, but there are still visible signs of wear to look for. The most common is a flattening of the…

WORTH £1900 Last month senior technical editor Warren Rossiter pitted an aero Merida Reacto 5000 against a Merida Ride Carbon Disc 5000. He came to the conclusion that both bikes were excellent but felt that for most Cycling Plus readers the £1900 Ride Carbon Disc 5000 had the edge. We’re delighted, then, that Merida is offering one reader the chance to win one of these brilliant bikes. Warren said that the Ride Carbon Disc 5000 – which comes equipped with Shimano Ultegra gearing and TRP Hy/Rd cable/hydraulic brakes – is the perfect “sportive-ready bike that stops as well as it goes.” The Carbon Disc 5000 tops Merida’s Ride range of road bikes – which starts at £525 for the Ride 88 – while Team Lampre-Merida also uses (disc-free of course)…

I am no longer the deluded fool I once was. Everything is grinding towards terminal decline and tending inexorably to failure. The cycling gods deserted me some time ago, when they took one look at my puffy face, my nascent paunch and my carelessly rusting chain, leaving me to lurch from disappointment to disappointment. Yes, it’s true: I’m not quite finished, but the credits are starting to roll. It’s not that I was ever any good. Neither is it that I ever thought I was any good. It’s just that I used to be able to pretend. Not anymore, the evidence is stacking up. I’m slowing down, with all the chugging, grunting inevitability of a cross channel ferry approaching Dover. These were the moribund thoughts I entertained recently while riding…

IN A SPORT so shaped by language and its lexicon, a kind of watershed occurs at the moment when a theme or concept first acquires a name. Thus, Britain’s Chris Froome, Spain’s Alberto Contador, Colombia’s Nairo Quintana and Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali were just four of the most talented bike riders on the planet and, between them, the winners of all three major tours in 2014… Until, a few months ago, when the Spanish press dubbed them the “cuatro galácticos” or “four stars”. Galáctico – literally galactic or out of this world – was the term coined by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez to describe marquee signings such as Zinedine Zidane, Luís Figo and David Beckham. In cycling, applied to Froome, Contador, Quintana and Nibali, it now denotes a quartet of…

GERAINT THOMAS Team Sky For years we’ve wondered whether the Welshman would actually become a Grand Tour or Classics contender and this spring we had confirmation of the latter, with his strong displays in Belgium. Thomas remains, however, a man for all seasons and will undoubtedly provide excellent support to Chris Froome. CHRIS FROOME Team Sky The 2013 winner will be looking to bounce back from the disappointment of his crash-strewn defence last year. Daniel Friebe gives the lowdown of Froome and his fellow overall contenders on page 6, but he will need to be at his best to win. The leader of the race’s only British team has had a mixed season so far. SIMON YATES Orica-GreenEdge Adam’s twin has enjoyed an equally prosperous start to his pro career.…