Cyclistの August 2021 の目次

In a remote corner of the eastern Pyrenees in the South of France, the D9 road weaves its way up a rocky escarpment towards the Col de Saint-Louis. At one particularly steep section of hillside, the road maintains its agreeable 5% gradient by writhing around and over itself in a full 270° loop via a beautiful stone bridge, before performing another 180° about-turn to continue its way upwards. This short stretch of road performs such elegant spirals that the locals have dubbed it l’Escargot – The Snail. Plainly we weren’t the only people in the cycling world to have discovered this little gem, as the Tour de France will pay its first visit to The Snail this year on Stage 14, the day after subscription copies of this magazine land…

With the dominance of Garmin and Wahoo in the bike computer market, it’s easy to forget there are several other equally well-equipped options out there. Bryton’s Rider 750 is one such example. The Rider 750’s price puts it squarely in competition with Garmin’s Edge 830 and Wahoo’s Elemnt Bolt, but thankfully Bryton’s design has all the key functionality of its rivals and a few nice extras that help set it apart. The key differentiator is voice search navigation, which lets the rider instruct the computer, Alexa-style, to find the name of a destination as opposed to trying to type it in manually, although equally that shouldn’t be a huge ordeal considering the unit’s 2.8in colour touchscreen. The device connects to and records everything you’d expect from a premium bike computer…

Poc’s new Omne Eternal helmet has a built-in light that turns on automatically and self-charges from any light source. It’s like living in the future. By itself, the Omne Eternal is a lightweight, comfortable and safe helmet. It has plenty of ventilation, is fitted with an advanced EPS liner for impact absorption and has Poc’s Spin padding that, like Mips, protects against rotational forces in a crash. This latest technological innovation, however, takes it to a whole new level. Integrated in the rear of the helmet is a light with Powerfoyle technology, which converts any light source, even artificial indoor light, into electrical power. On top of that, it’s fully automatic, switching on by itself when it gets dark or when you put the helmet on, and switching off when…

‘I was sitting at home one morning and just pressed the video button. He answered and was sitting in an office in a factory in China. Without a break in the call he took me down a flight of stairs and walked me into the factory to show me around.’ Ian Crocker isn’t new to the bike industry. Having raced cross country mountain bikes at club level in Cornwall in the 1990s he went on to climb up the hierarchy at one of the UK’s biggest bike retailers. After 15 years there he left to start a motorsport business but five years on – at the start of a global pandemic – bicycles came calling again. When Crocker first had the idea to start a custom bike brand he was…

The more you cycle, the stronger you get. But all that time on the bike can also be detrimental to your body, resulting in aches and pains that prevent proper training or spoil your ride. To combat this, more cyclists – amateur and pro – are turning to yoga, which can help improve flexibility and balance, release tension and correct muscular imbalances. Why do cyclists need yoga? Cyclists hold one basic posture that allows for minimal lateral or rotational movement: hips flexed, spine rounded, chin forward, arms out in front. It’s similar to the seated posture we adopt for much of the day (especially if you sit at a desk), except we increase stress on this fixed position by adding strength, power and long duration with repetitive motion from the…

To download this route go to cyclist.co.uk/116pyrenees or scan the QR code. From Prades, follow the D619 north for 54km to Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet. Continue north, now on the D7, to the Gorges de Galamus, at the head of which is a cafe, La Casa de Galamus, with good coffee and incredible views. Turn left onto the D14 at Cubières-sur-Cinoble, go over the 4km Col du Linas and then south on the D45 and D9 to Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes via The Snail spiral. Turning right, the D117 gives a chance for some brisk progress before you take a left towards Axat on the D118. After the gorge, fork left onto the D17 and the Col de Jau, then turn left after 6km of climbing to make sure you don’t miss the summit 12km away.…

‘This year the market has been strangely early. If anything, with Covid I’d have expected it to be later. It’s damaging the sport and the riders. If I’ve got a rider who I know is going to be paid until 31st December and his agent is putting his name out to other teams and he signs a contract in March or April, is that rider going to perform at his best all the way through to October? It depends on the character, but I suspect not. ‘I know there’s a rule from the UCI about transfer negotiations but I don’t think it’s applied that strictly. It would be fair if there was a gentleman’s agreement between teams. If not, let’s tighten regulations or even sanction teams for moving too early.…

I know that sunglasses are the ultimate pro accessory, but I’ve never really got on with them, finding them either uncomfortable over long periods or misting up when I get hot. Thankfully there were no such issues with the SunGod Vulcans. They sat comfortably on my nose without slipping, and allowed for plenty of airflow to prevent fogging. Admittedly for much of the time in Scotland they doubled up as goggles to protect me from the rain, but by the time the real summer weather came they were priceless for offering pinpoint clarity in bright sunshine. One of the best features is that you can customise the Vulcans, picking from a wide variety of colours on the frames, logos and lenses, ensuring you get a bespoke look. This is in…

Liv is Giant’s sister brand, producing a full range of women-specific bikes right up to WorldTour-level race bikes for its Liv Racing team. The newly redesigned Langma race bike sits at the top of the product tree, and at the top of the 11 models in the new Langma lineup is this Advanced SL Disc, which has already been ridden to victory by Lotte Kopecky at Le Samyn des Dames in March and the Belgian National Championships in June. The eagle-eyed will notice this latest model shares a number of traits with its cousin, the recently redesigned Giant TCR. The tube shapes and silhouette are very similar, as are the skinny fork and the seat tube/seatpost cluster. But that doesn’t mean the Langma is just a ‘shrinked and pinked’ version…

I’m exhausted and can’t continue much further. For several days it has felt like pedalling through treacle. The relentless onslaught of mangled metaphors and clunky similes has drained me. My spirit wilts as the writer’s body ‘blossoms with tiredness’. Even if I make it to the end, there are still four – four! – pages of ‘Author’s acknowledgements’ to read. I put the book down, wondering how the adventures of amateur cycle-tourers evolved from ripping yarns to misery memoirs. It wasn’t always this way. The book that inspired me as a cyclist was Two-Wheel Trek by Neil Clough, published in 1983. Geography teacher Clough had previously only cycled to his local pub in Lancashire and back when he announced to friends that he planned to ride 10,000 miles to the…

SunGod’s latest performance glasses, the Airas, are fully frameless specs with a claimed weight of just 27g and what the brand calls ‘the most advanced lens technology on the planet’. Built from 2mm nylon, the 8KO cylindrical lens not only allows for a full field of view without sacrificing strength and durability but, SunGod claims, provides more clarity than the polycarbonate used by other leading brands. If frames are your game though, the Airas are also available with a bottom frame for an extra £25.…

The G-One R is the gravel tyre for achieving road-like speeds, says Schwalbe. The tanwall carcass doesn’t just look fantastic but is apparently also the key behind this claim. Schwalbe says the carcass allows for a more supple tyre, thereby creating less rolling resistance. The G-One R’s ‘boomerang profile’ tread apparently also facilitates speed, but more prominent side lugs boost cornering grip off-road. Schwalbe’s well-regarded V-Guard puncture belt helps ensure the rider can go fast every day and not just on race day. The tyres are tubeless, of course, and come in 40mm and 45mm widths.…

It has been a long time since knitted garments were the sole preserve of your nan. Knitted fabrics have been used to make shoe uppers for almost a decade in sports such as football and athletics, and have been gaining in popularity in top-end cycling shoes since 2018. Compared to cycling shoes made with conventional uppers of synthetic leather, those with knitted uppers tend to come with a set of bold performance claims – better breathability, improved comfort and reduced weight among them. So how are they able to boast such advantages? ‘The uppers are created with electronic knitting machines which link loops of yarn on needles,’ says Fizik product manager Giovanni Fogel. ‘The machines are able to seamlessly change the yarn direction to create different stitching patterns within the…

It’s a simple question but the answer is anything but straightforward. Energy expenditure, and therefore how many calories you need, is affected by many factors including age, gender, muscle mass, environment, fitness, quantity and intensity of exercise and NEAT – non-exercise activity thermogenesis, which is basically how much you move around or even fidget outside of exercise. For example, if you carry greater muscle mass you’ll have a higher basal metabolic rate, which is the number of calories required to keep your body functioning at rest. If you train at higher intensities you’ll burn more energy. If you’re very active you’ll burn more energy. This isn’t just about calories either – the type of calories matters too, in terms of macronutrients and the quality of your food. Measuring energy expenditure…

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There are climbs that are famous for their place in Tour history; climbs that are famous for their extreme height and savagery; climbs that are famous for the splendour of their surroundings. This climb, however, is famous for its road. No other road on the planet can match its joyous swoops and swirls, or the playful way it loops around and under itself like a tie knot. It’s hard to believe that the enigmatic pattern it carves is determined purely by the contours of the hillside and the practical necessities of constructing the most efficient route from bottom to top. It seems certain that when Italian-Spanish engineer Antonio Parietti was building the Sa Calobra access road in the early 1930s he saw an opportunity to create something magnificent as well…

So where do you go from here? If there’s one thing our testers can agree on it’s that today’s gravel bikes bring something genuinely different and necessary to the cycling canon. A cyclocross bike might be nimble and quick but lacks long-distant comfort and utility; an endurance road bike simply doesn’t have the robustness or the tyre clearance to go deep off-roading; a mountain bike is… well, it’s a mountain bike. What unites the Open, GT, 3T and Moots is their immense across-the-board ability. As Sam remarked, ‘The gravel spectrum is getting wider by the day,’ and although its beginning is still a mere meander along a bridleway, its most extreme end now involves trekking across the Himalayas or performing three-foot drop-offs in the Alps. Sam then declared that one…

Vitus is a near-100-year-old company with a storied past. It has changed names and ownership, nationalities and business models and has even been brought back from the dead. However, throughout all of these ebbs and flows the brand has consistently produced well-regarded bicycles and can boast a number of formative innovations. But for me one bike stands out as a particularly important design: the ZX-1. Released in the early 1990s it was one of the very first carbon fibre frames to be produced using the monocoque (made in one piece) construction method. It had internal cable routing and an aerodynamic form (finished off nicely by the ray-like Corima Manta bars) that still looks radical today. It ostensibly laid the foundations for modern aero bike design and fabrication. This year Vitus…

1 SOMETHING GOOD PACKABLE MEALS £7.95, somethinggood.co Old McDonald is recruiting for a job as head of his farm; it’s a full-time position as CIEIO. And Something Good is recruiting to its cause for sustainable, plant-based ‘just add water’ meals, which are perfect for chucking in a bar bag. Yes, packaging is plastic but it is recyclable, and where possible ingredients are sourced locally from packaging-free sources. 2 SMITH SHIFT MAG GLASSES £189, smithoptics.com Dordogne: famous for prehistoric cave paintings, medieval villages and the annual ‘Flicking a ruler on the end of a desk’ championships. Smith Optics: famous for… well, that’s obvious, but less so is the fact these Shift Mag glasses look like wraparound shades of the massive-lens variety, but are shaped slightly flatter to better fit riders who…

In early June came confirmation of a new race that had long been rumoured. A Tour de France for women – Le Tour de France Femmes – will start in Paris on Sunday 24th July 2022, the same day the men’s race finishes in the French capital. It’s understood that the first stage will be similar to the men’s final stage, if not identical: the traditional circuit race around central Paris finishing on the Champs-Élysées. While there is symbolism in the Paris start – the first ever Tour de France set off from the capital in 1903 – there is not yet much detail about the rest of the race. All will be revealed in October. ‘Today all the women’s races that we organise lose us money,’ says Prudhomme. ‘If…

he modern Tour de France, indeed modern cycling, has a keen sense of the aesthetic. The Champs-Élysées at dusk, Les Lacets de Montvernier, Mont-St-Michel, even a slightly half-hearted stage départ under the Millau Viaduct, all create the sort of visual feast for which the Tour has an insatiable appetite. Even if their sporting value is limited, such shareable, likeable moments are the driving force behind the massive media coverage that makes Le Tour the behemoth it is. In that sense it’s obvious why the 2021 race is using a particular 23km of the route that Cyclist is about to ride at the Mediterranean end of the French Pyrenees. On Stage 14, after 166 of the day’s 184 kilometres, the pros will ascend the Col de Saint-Louis by way of a…

The Ultravox has been around in this guise for a few years now, so it isn’t part of the wide-tyred, disc-braked, internal-cabled zeitgeist, but it still excels on the smooth roads and massive climbs of the Hautes-Pyrenees, where I live. Those beefy tubes pay dividends in handling precision and power transfer, which is important if, like me, you’re very fussy about such things. The carbon-spoked Mavic R-Sys SLR wheels are brilliant in the mountains – they weigh less than 1,300g as clinchers yet are stiff and brilliantly responsive. Also those black rims are alloy, not carbon, which means descending in the wet isn’t quite as hair-raising as it might be. Built as it is – with an Enve bar, stem and seat-post, S-Works Power saddle, Rotor 2INpower crankset with 50/34…

Gravel, gravel, everywhere, which leads us all to think… is there anything new under the sun? Take Tom Ritchey, he of the eponymous components. As a teenager in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ritchey and his pals were busy riding road bikes – you guessed it – off-road. ‘We were kind of thinking about bikes in the 1970s the way people are thinking about them now – in a more utilitarian way,’ says Ritchey. ‘The tool at the time was a 10-speed bicycle. It was predominantly designed to meet the needs of road cycling, but we quickly discovered we could take it beyond what most people were using it for.’ ‘Beyond’ meant starting off on paved roads before disappearing into the wilderness along firebreaks and up old drovers’ tracks. By…

Having just won a stage of the Giro d’Italia, Peter Sagan is in jovial mood during his post-race interview, when the reporter asks about a potential change of team at the end of the season. ‘It’s mooted that Deceuninck-QuickStep, Israel Start-Up Nation and Movistar are all interested,’ poses the reporter. ‘So you see I have a choice,’ laughs Sagan. ‘I still have to decide.’ The 31-year-old Slovak is out of contract this year, with no sign that Bora-Hansgrohe, his team since 2017, will extend his tenure. Where will Sagan go? We suspect he has already decided but, due to UCI rules on moving between WorldTour teams, public pronouncements can’t be made until 1st August, and even once the season is over riders cannot be seen in their new team colours…

Do you remember that bike company started by that ex-racer? Or that revived 1930s French brand crowdfunding to build new old-school cranks? Or that sports nutrition outfit inspired by their cousin’s dog’s aunty’s great-grandma’s flapjack recipe? Cycling inspires cyclists, and cyclists inspire cycling, and frankly it’s all rather lovely. Which is why I had a soft spot for this bike from the off. The registered name at Companies House might be Oliver Laverack, but the bikes that Oliver and co-founder David Clow have created bear the name J.Laverack: Jack, Oliver’s grandfather. ‘He was a test pilot who flew some of the first military planes,’ says Oliver. ‘And although he was a reserved Yorkshireman he’d occasionally tell incredible tales of flying under pylons or taking his future wife Ada out on…

The Orientales Express p64 Giro Agilis Mips helmet, £89.99 giro.co.uk 100% S3 sunglasses, £169.99 freewheel.co.uk Lusso Aqua Challenge gilet, £64.99 lusso.bike Lusso Momentum jersey, £70 lusso.bike Lusso Momentum gloves, £19.99 lusso.bike Lusso RS19 bibshorts, £95 lusso.bike Lusso Sunday Funday socks, £12 lusso.bike Giro Empire ACC shoes, £259 giro.co.uk Dancing With The Devil p118 Giro Aether Spherical helmet, £269.99 giro.co.uk SunGod Vulcans TF sunglasses, £125 sungod.co Castelli Perfetto SoS vest, £130 saddleback.co.uk Castelli Trofeo jersey, £85 saddleback.co.uk Castelli Chpt3 Last Vuelta baselayer, £65 saddleback.co.uk Castelli Nano Flex 3G armwarmers, £40 saddleback.co.uk Castelli Free Aero Race 4 bibshorts, £150 saddleback.co.uk Castelli Giro 13 socks, £17 saddleback.co.uk Specialized S-Works Recon shoes, £350 specialized.com Bikes p131 J.LAVERACK Met Trenta helmet, £200 met-helmets.com 100% S3 sunglasses, £169.99 freewheel.co.uk Maap Emblem Pro Hex jersey, £140 maap.cc…