Tabla de contenidos para Issue 3 2021 en Bicycling

CANYON AEROAD CFR, P.29 My favorite piece of gear is a good pair of cycling glasses. I’m a person who wears glasses; I take pride in a stylish pair of shades. ALSO: What inspires me to keep riding is the fact that my race is so underrepresented in the culture. I feel I owe it to us to keep going and bring awareness to Black cyclists. Hopefully it inspires a kid to start earlier than me.…

PHOTOGRAPHER “WORLD’S WORST MOUNTAIN BIKER” PRODUCTS I’M USING RIGHT NOW 1 / L1 Spin Indoor Bike $449 Paired with Peloton’s Tabata and HIIT workouts, this has kicked my ass and kept me in shape during badweather season. 2 / Flying Embers Kombucha $30/12-pack Raw, probiotic, and a healthy(-ish) alternative to postride beers. 3 / Chrome Niko Camera Backpack $200 Not just for the photographer, but for the everyday commuter or explorer who cares about keeping their stuff secure. My Go-To Recovery Routine: SAUNA, FUZZY ALOE SOCKS, THERAGUN, THE SIMPSONS. BIKING FOR BIT TERBALLEN When visiting my friend in Amsterdam, she introduced me to bitterballen, a traditional Dutch snack made with meat and gravy. On my last day, we set off on a “bitterballen ride,” riding from shop to shop to…

In this challenging year, when so many things are difficult, we’re here to make finding your next bike easier. Our annual Bike Awards are the culmination of a year’s worth of rigorous testing, during which we evaluated hundreds of exciting new models and rode them as you would—on the trails, up double-digit grades, on bike paths, to pick up dinner, or to find solace. We looked closely at their performance, value, availability, and how the components on each measured up against those on similar models. Whether you’re looking for a new road, mountain, gravel, or city bike—or just dreaming of something fresh—one of these 50 will be right for you.…

WHAT IS IT? It’s one of the oldest and simplest suspension systems, historically having been used on short-travel mountain bikes and endurance road bikes. But it’s getting new life on rugged gravel bikes and mountain bikes with as much as 150mm of travel, like the Spot Mayhem in this issue. Engineering flex into chainstays and seatstays (as is the case of Cannondale’s Topstone) or using simple leaf springs instead of complicated pivots (like the one on the Lauf True Grit’s fork) reduces weight and maintenance because there are fewer moving parts or bits to wear out. However, with built-in designs like these, there’s no way to adjust the spring for different-weight riders or replace it if it breaks. WHY IT MATTERS Because engineered-flex designs are so light, they make good…

ARGON 18 SUBITO E-ROAD, P.39 A good chamois is only half the battle! Finding the right saddle, making sure your sit bones are where they should be and in the right position, changes so many aspects for riding longer and more comfortably. ALSO: I remember one downhill race in Crested Butte when I crashed in a rock garden, got back up, and rode one of the fastest speeds on a section of the course and won a prize. That was memorable because sometimes even when a ride can be defeating or challenging, good things can come from it when you keep going.…

VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER PRINT YOUR PICTURES PRODUCTS I’M USING RIGHT NOW 1 / Anza Bag Company Tool Roll $40 I’m a prepper, and this handmade tool roll can fit everything I need. 2 / Portland Design Works Full Fenders $120 I like a road bike set up with full fenders for when the ground is wet. If someone is riding behind me, they’ll appreciate it, too. 3 / All-City Cycles Zig Zag 105 $2,599 My favorite details: the frame pump peg, hidden fender mounts, and ample tire clearance. BEST ADVICE I’VE RECEIVED If you unclip left, lean left. RIDER WHO INSPIRES ME My 10-year-old son, Jimmy. He’s not concerned with average speed, frame materials, or how much your bike weighs. He reminds me that bikes are about fun, adventure, and…

RIDE OVER METAL ROAD OBSTACLES SAFELY Cruising across train tracks, grates, steel plates, or cattle guards feels like no big deal—until the day your rear wheel starts to fishtail on a leaf-covered plate and you lose all faith in your bike-handling skills. These road hazards are easy enough to navigate most of the time, but hit them at the wrong angle or in wet conditions and you could very well wind up crashing. Josh Miller, a League of American Bicyclists certified instructor located in Seattle, is no stranger to rain-soaked roadways. He shared his tips on how to best approach any metal road obstacles you might encounter on a ride. HIT IT PERPENDICULARLY // Road features like railroad and trolley tracks, cattle guards, and some sewer grates have gaps that…

WHAT IS IT? A mountain bike with a mix of wheel sizes—typically 29-inch up front and 27.5 in the rear (like the Canyon Spectral:ON in this issue). Though the concept isn’t entirely new—brands like Specialized and Trek were experimenting with different wheel sizes in the early 2000s—it’s coming back in style. WHY IT MATTERS Proponents of mixing wheel sizes claim it gives you the best of both worlds. Up front, you get the enhanced stability, increased traction, and smooth rollover that a larger wheel provides without sacrificing the more playful feel of a lighter, stiffer, smaller wheel in the rear.…

ROCKY MOUNTAIN ALTITUDE CARBON 70, P.62 My mom used to take my brother and me through the arroyo by our house. We’d ride our BMX bikes and complain the entire 10-minute “climb,” but then bomb down ahead of her once we got to the top. I still remember the rush I got the first time I passed some guy on a mountain bike—and also how much it hurt when I got those two front pegs stuck between rocks and was sent over the bars. ALSO: I’ve had a lot of good days, but I feel my best performance has yet to come. It’s definitely something I’m working toward.…

LITTLETON, COLORADO JUST KEEP MOVING My Style in Three Words: PEDAL MASHING MOTHERF*****! HARDEST RIDE OF MY LIFE The MS 150 back in the ’90s. We rode 107 miles and hit the mountains of Brown County at the 60-mile mark. I stopped having fun at that point! The crazy thing is I drove back to Indy, then drove back to the starting line and rode 53 miles the next day. I did this with very little training. It hurt me. GREATEST RIDE OF MY LIFE… A random Saturday morning ride in Indianapolis. My friends and I rode up the White Water Trail to Broad Ripple for beer and tortilla chips, then back down the Monon Trail, hammering as hard as we could to get to 10th Street and back to…

No matter how experienced a rider you are, accidents can happen—and quickly. But a little knowledge and a few precautions can make all the difference, says Greg Martin, an engineer firefighter and advanced EMT who performs backcountry rescues in Ketchum, Idaho. Here’s what he says you can do to minimize the damage. TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEAD // “Head injuries are always a cause for concern,” says Martin. “Someone falls and hits their head, and they shake it off. Then later they don’t feel well, and it turns out they have bleeding on the brain. That can kill you. You always need to take an impact to the head seriously.” Call 911 if you or another rider experience: • A cracked helmet • A headache • Loss of consciousness •…

WHAT IS IT? After years of watching bike makers iterate complex tall and pointy tube shapes and trying to mitigate the trade-offs and weaknesses of those shapes in pursuit of aerodynamic gains, we’re seeing signs of carbon frames returning to rounder, smoother, simpler tubes. Open’s MIN.D. and the Specialized Aethos are two carbon examples. In some ways, this trend is reverting to old-school tech: Metal bikes, like the DeAnima O.Q.O.C and Litespeed Watia, primarily rely on round tubes, and always have. WHY IT MATTERS Besides the inherent unfussy looks of a round tube, the shape is extremely efficient. Equally strong and stiff in all directions, it’s a proven way to make a light and robust tube. That makes it easier to build a bike that’s both light and stiff—and cyclists…

WHAT IS IT? It’s the logical next step for e-bikes. Like most new technology that tends to start big and inefficient and over time becomes smaller and more efficient (think: computers, TVs, phones), the e-bike motor is no different. A couple years ago, Specialized introduced its SL1.1 motor in its Turbo Creo road bike, and later in its Levo MTB and Vado commuter. The smaller motor—a whopping 1,100 grams lighter than the brand’s standard Turbo—was about half the size of a typical mid-drive motor and a lot less powerful, yet provided a more natural pedaling feel. Shimano’s new EP8 motor is 10 percent smaller and 380 grams lighter than the E8000 it replaces, yet produces 21 percent more torque (85Nm max vs. 70). And the trend doesn’t apply only to…