Tabla de contenidos para April 2021 en Cyclist

Admit it, you’re thinking about getting a new bike. Of course you are. Every cyclist is always thinking about getting a new bike, but lockdown means we’re thinking about it more than ever. First comes the boredom. Long periods trapped indoors means there is little else to do but browse websites and read magazines (by far the superior option) that draw us inexorably into a dreamworld of wind-tunnel-optimised carbon and gleaming componentry. Look, that bike’s got nano-particles. My bike doesn’t have nano-particles. Surely I deserve nano-particles? Next comes desire. I don’t just want a new bike, I need one. How can any self-respecting cyclist be expected to continue riding a bike with exposed cabling or undropped seatstays? We’re not animals for pity’s sake! Then comes rationalisation. The money saved from…

Are your cranks too long? There is growing evidence that shorter crank arms can make you faster because the smaller turning circle means there’s less flexion at the knee and a more open hip joint. This is often more comfortable and hence can help riders sustain more aggressive positions. Bradley Wiggins, for example, went from a 177.5mm to a 170mm crank for his Hour record, and then to a mere 165mm for his 2016 Rio Olympic gold. FSA certainly believes in shorter cranks and has included them as options in its latest chainset. The all-new Gossamer Pro is still available in standard issue 175mm, 172.5mm and 170mm lengths, but now has a further six sizes, which go as short as 145mm. We’d recommend visiting a professional bikefitter before switching cranks,…

Cycling shoes have a particularly difficult job to do. In a perfect world they would be an imperceptible extension of the foot, offering a snug, sock-like fit that supports the medial arch during power transfer while also preventing unwanted movement that may cause discomfort. This needs to be achieved without strangling the foot and occluding blood flow. That’s no easy task, especially given everyone’s feet are different. Fizik has taken an innovative approach to this in its latest Vento Stabilita. The Dynamic Arch Support 2.0 strap, attached to the upper Boa dial, is anchored in the cutaway carbon sole (Fizik’s stiffest yet) directly under the medial arch of the foot. As the Boa dial is tightened the strap pulls the upper in to wrap under the plantar fascia and provide…

’I raced mountain bikes in the mid-to-late 1980s and did the Grundig World Cup series. The prize for winning the dual slalom was a Grundig Betamax player. You needed a van to take it away! I’m from a sort of old-school background and that’s what the majority of bikes we build draw upon.’ Darron Coppin is speaking to Cyclist from his workshop in Dorset where he moved 12 years ago, selling up in London to finally make bike building his full-time occupation. It’s a dream to which many of us aspire but one Coppin has now realised in Technicolor, with Sven (his middle name) Cycles shipping all over the globe. Yet like all dreams, the road to reality wasn’t easy. ‘Any framebuilder who says this isn’t a tough business… it’s…

UAE-Team Emirates missed a trick when they failed to announce their latest recruit with the accompaniment of Bonnie Tyler’s song ‘Here She Comes’. Geddit – Hirschi comes? Never mind. Marc Hirschi’s controversial arrival from Sunweb raised eyebrows, coming as it did after a mysterious contract severance that required a non-disclosure agreement. We can only speculate, but a hefty pay hike may have played a part. And so the man who made ripples on his Tour debut last year will join the man who won it on his own debut, with the stylish Swiss putting his personal ambitions on hold in support of Tadej PogaČar. The Slovenian sensation will have extra support in the form of Rafa? Majka (from Bora-Hansgrohe) and Matteo Trentin (from CCC) as UAE beef up their roster.…

Well, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. I’m in the north of Spain, it’s July, and normally I’d bet my house on the weather at this time of year being close to perfect. An already searingly hot sun should be beaming down from a cloudless sky. Yet as I open the shutters of my room I can barely make out the building across the street. A frigid mist has enveloped the town of Riaño while I slept. The morning has dawned eerily quiet. Any sounds emanating from a town bustling into gear and readying for a new day are dampened by the creeping fog, which has turned the end of every street into a murky haze. Big puffs of cloudy vapour roll down past my window and I feel…

Sarto is an Italian custom frame fabricator and this is the disc version of its enduring climber’s frame. It uses classic tube profiles to balance light weight with rigidity and when I first rode it in 2018 it was one of the only disc brake bikes at that time that didn’t incur a weight penalty over rim brake designs (as pictured this bike weighs 6.99kg). That’s less rare now, but the Asola Disc still manages to hold its own as a consummate climber. Sarto has been smart in balancing the bike’s aggressive characteristics with a high degree of comfort. There is clearance for 32mm tyres to add cushion and grip and the stack is a little taller than you’d expect for this frame size. That meant I could create an…

The geometry is dialled, hewn over a lifetime of Ernesto Colnago making custom bikes for pro racers There’s a part of me that thinks he does this kind of thing for everybody. He’s well into his eighties, with a noticeable stoop and even more pronounced comb-over, but this is a man who wrenched for Eddy Merckx, partnered with Ferrari, presented gold-plated bikes to Popes and won multiple Hour records. Ernesto Colnago is not above a bit of showmanship, and right now that extends to the sudden ‘back of a beer mat’ sketch he is scribbling then pushing into my hands like the Eucharist. The sketch explains the workings of Colnago’s very own crimped tubing, the polygonal-shaped hallmark that debuted in 1982 on the Colnago Nuovo Mexico and which is still…

‘Manufacturers are in a bind. Is this just a flash in the pan or should they build more factories?’ For years we never knew how good we had it. Internet leviathans drove prices low and kept stocks high; tyres cost peanuts and the new helmet you bought online showed up in 24 hours with a little pack of Haribo. But then Covid happened. Factory whistles blew to usher in the Chinese New Year holidays, then the country’s government stepped in and ordered employers not to reopen in a bid to contain the viral spread. In the biggest bikeproducing nation on the planet, production had ground to a halt overnight. Yet for a while the cheap inner tubes still flowed, while here in the UK bike retailers couldn’t believe their luck.…

‘As a kid Kent Eriksen had a rubber eraser in the shape of an alligator,’ says brand spokesperson Jon Cariveau. ‘One day these bullies on the school bus took it from him and poked a hole in its head. When Kent got it back, as he squeezed its little head it called out what he thought sounded like “moots”. He named this little guy Mr Moots and it went with him everywhere. ‘It became somewhat of an imaginary friend for him. When he got to junior high he started drawing Mr Moots in cartoon adventures for the school newspaper. Mr Moots hiked, skied, rode bikes… After high school Kent toured the US, ending up in Steamboat Springs. He went to work for a ski shop, which was a bike shop…

1 ScottFoil10p124 A model that created the template for the aero road category back in 2017 gets a facelift – but is this at a cost to a bike that previously rode brilliantly? 2 BianchiArcadexp128 This historic brand is looking to the future with its first carbon gravel bike. In fact it’s so futuristic that one of its key features hasn’t arrived yet… 3 CondorBaracchi p132 Handbuilt in Italy, Condor’s latest endurance bike has a classic feel to it – quietly brilliant in all conditions and with a racy spring in its step…

For most brands a 79g saddle would easily be the lightest in their range. But Schmolke isn’t most brands. Its SL 79 saddle is only its third lightest, behind the TLO 65 and TLO 55 at, you guessed it, 65g and 55g respectively. The extra weight of the SL 79, says Schmolke, allows for a less aggressive shape than its lighter siblings, making it more comfortable. The hull promises plenty of flex to offset the lack of padding, and the brand suggests its raised rear helps keep the rider planted on the saddle.…

This tiny bottle holds just 59ml of lube, which works out at 54p per millilitre, several times the cost of most wet lubes – but Silca insists it’s worth it. The oil-based lubricant derives from F1 technology and claims to reduce friction to the point where it almost completely eliminates wear in metal components. It works by creating a protective layer on the chain links called a tribofilm when tungsten disulphide is combined under pressure with another secret ingredient. The result, boasts Silca, is a 98.1% efficiency rating at 250 watts. What that means in real terms is hard to quantify, but it’s easy to apply and one bottle should keep you running smoothly for up to 20,000km.…

Go back to the beginning of the 1800s and the closest thing you could get to a waterproof jacket was made of oiled cotton, which was not only heavy and uncomfortable but smelled pretty terrible too. Later on, rubberised waterproof garments such as the Mackintosh appeared – equally smelly – and were in turn followed by oilskins, waxed jackets and eventually PU-coated nylon jackets. They all had their drawbacks: some were heavy, some were flappy, some made the wearer wetter from sweat than the rain would have made them. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the first truly breathable, waterproof jackets arrived when WL Gore came up with Gore-Tex, which employed a patented membrane that allowed water vapour to escape whilst repelling water droplets. Since then Gore-Tex has become the…

Cyclist: When did you first realise that Covid-19 would affect the 2020 Tour? Pierre-Yves Thouault: The ASO [Amaury Sport Organisation] runs many races including Paris-Nice, so we realised in early March. The authorities updated us on the situation and we had to impose more restrictions during the race, and by the end we had no choice but to cancel the final stage. Shortly after that France went into total lockdown. Cyc: What did you do during lockdown? PYT: We worked flat out to establish a revised calendar. We organised ourselves into working groups – I dealt with the sport aspect, working with Professor Xavier Bigard, UCI medical director, plus the cycling federation, team doctors, sports directors and riders. [Tour director] Christian Prudhomme worked with the politicians from the stage towns,…

’The 25th Tour de France started in Eaux-Bonnes, at the foot of the Col de l’Aubisque,’ reported Le Miroir des Sports on 11th July 1931. ‘Until then, like all previous years, it had been nothing but a joke. From Paris, frankly speaking, we had been bored to death; but, all of a sudden, what change and what compensation!’ The journal was referring to the fireworks that had lit up the race three days earlier. The first of two days in the Pyrenees, Stage 9 was 231km from Pau to Luchon and featured ascents of the Aubisque and Tourmalet before a sharp descent into the Campan valley and a 95km blast along flatter roads to the finish. Magne would leaf through letters, opening only those he knew to be from family…

Travel Cyclist flew into Oviedo with Vueling from London Gatwick. Expect to pay around £200 return plus £40 each way for a bike. It’s about 120km southeast to Riaño from the airport so renting a car is recommended, but leave the car parked once you arrive. The town is lovely to explore on foot and the Picos are a mere 18km bike ride to the north. Accommodation Cyclist stayed at Hotel Presa, one of many pleasant options in Riaño’s town centre. The rooms are cosy and breakfast is an authentically hearty Spanish affair of tortillas and chorizo with plenty of fresh fruit. Thanks Alberto Bosque Coello from the Castilla y León Tourism Board deserves thanks for organising Cyclist’s stay at Hotel Presa. For more information about the Castilla y León…

The bike is now in its fourth iteration and every time BMC has been able to add without taking away The BMC Teammachine gets my vote because in a particularly refined and competitive category the brand has shown it can not only pioneer the blueprint of a modern all-round race bike, but consistently improve on it as well. The Teammachine is now in its fourth iteration and every time BMC has been able to add without taking away. By definition all-rounders are an exercise in compromise, so for BMC to keep mixing ingredients into the Teammachine dish without spoiling its already delicious flavour gets ever more impressive with each update. Released 10 years ago, the Teammachine quickly built a reputation for its light weight, sharp handling and stiffness. It also…

Before we continue, let’s take a moment to recognise again the incredible Pinarello Dogma. Its first Tour de France victory was less than auspicious – Óscar Pereiro was awarded the 2006 title after Floyd Landis was retrospectively stripped – but since then it has notched up 11 Grand Tours and counting. Save for 2014, that’s at least one every year since 2011. But yet that’s not quite enough to steal another win here. For one thing, the other bikes here have laudable palmarès themselves. Cadel Evans propelled a Teammachine to glory on the Champs-Élysées in 2011; Mark Cavendish notched up multiple wins and a green jersey with Columbia/HTC between 2008 and 2012, while Simon Yates gave the Scott Addict a red jersey at the Vuelta in 2018. Then Colnago won…

I only packed lights for the trip as a last-minute ‘just in case’ inclusion, reasoning that I wouldn’t need them in the middle of summer with so many daylight hours. It was a good job I did though, given how dark and gloomy many of the days were, and I couldn’t have asked for better than the Supernova Airstream 2. First up, its sleek design fitted perfectly with the aesthetics of the Black Inc one-piece bar/stem on my Factor bike – an important consideration for someone like myself, who needs everything to be just so. What about performance? German-designed and manufactured, it is everything you’d hope for from a premium light. Built with an internal 2,500mAh lithium-ion battery and weighing just 165g it has a brightness of 205 lumens and…

Scott’s first Foil Disc, released in 2017, was arguably the blueprint for what we now judge to be a modern aero race bike. The platform moved exclusively to disc brakes long before most of its main competitors, and Scott also broke with the aero mantra of ‘speed at all costs’ by making virtues of practicality and comfort. This latest Scott Foil Disc was released in 2020, three years and a full developmental cycle after its predecessor, but it takes a second glance to realise this isn’t the same bike. Scott’s response is that it got the Foil Disc so right the first time that Foil Disc #2 required only minor refinements. After a few weeks riding around my local roads on it, I’m inclined to agree. It’s the inside that…

1 MONOPOLY COURSE €50, monopolystore.be Originally entitled The Landlord’s Game, Monopoly was invented by leftwing activist Elizabeth Magie to teach the ills of income inequality. Today it’s responsible for more family feuds than Brexit and has spawned more than 1,100 editions including Monopoly Course, which swaps Mayfair for the Muur and is endorsed by Philippe Gilbert. But wait, only second prize in a beauty contest? Phil, you’ve been robbed. 2 MORSA MOUNT KIT £39.99, gonebikingmad.co.uk Once we were happy just drawing round our hands in ochre on cave walls, but then we got jobs, inboxes and team leaders called Nigel, and life just got complicated. And so it was with handlebars, until there was Morsa. With multiple changeable adapters, Morsa mounts a variety of bike computers up top and lights…

An eight-page document was issued to the Team Jumbo-Visma riders as they headed off for their training camp in Alicante in January. In some detail these pages told the 52 riders and 68 staff members how to wash their hands and how to disinfect the doorknobs of their bedrooms. They were ordered to not shake hands with teammates, to disinfect their airline chair before sitting on it, to not use any pens provided by supporters to sign autographs, and to avoid public toilets. In the Bonalba Hotel and Spa, which was taken over by the world’s number one ranked team, the Jumbo men’s, women’s and development squads were on different floors, ate in separate parts of the hotel restaurant and even left for training rides at different times. They had…

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What was the first road bike you ever owned? Turn over the page and we’ve given you a space to draw it and five lines underneath to describe it. Ask a responsible adult to cut out the page and send it in a stamped addressed envelope to: Cyclist, 31-32 Alfred Place… Only joking, although drawing bikes is a very nice way of passing the time, something to which our secondary school teachers will grudgingly attest. And closing one’s eyes and remembering that first road bike does rather bring into question the idea of ‘all-rounder’, because at some point we all had our first road bike, which by definition meant it was at the time our only road bike and so, de facto, was an all-rounder because it did everything, right?…

Forty years is a good age. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that a mere 30% of businesses survive past their 15th year, so by making it into its fifth decade Moots is something of an outlier. More impressive still, it has made it to 40 without losing touch with its roots. ‘What we’re doing here isn’t rocket science,’ says Moots’ brand spokesman Jon Cariveau. ‘It’s making the best product out of the best material that we can.’ Moots has built a reputation for hand-crafting beautiful, rugged, uncomplicated bikes from titanium tubing, and Cariveau is well placed to explain the company’s ethos, having now worked here for just shy of a quarter-century. As such he’s Moots’ longest-serving employee, and when he arrived in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in the mid-1990s,…

I awake to the depressingly familiar sound of rain hammering on the motorhome roof. My heart sinks. I had gone to bed last night with a glimmer of hope that I’d awake to brighter skies than those I’ve been trapped under for the past few days. Alas, all hope is quickly extinguished amid the continued squalls of driving rain. While I wait for the kettle to boil I question my mental resolve and the ability to cope with another 200km in the wet, least of all on my birthday. To make matters worse my shoes haven’t dried from yesterday’s deluge. I try to focus on staying positive, reminding myself that riding my bike is an experience to be enjoyed, but try as I might my mind soon fills with voices…

Riding from one end of Britain to the other is a major undertaking, and Cyclist had help from a number of sources. Firstly, thanks to komoot (komoot.com) for help with creating a route that takes in many of the best parts of the country for riding a bike. The ride took place during the period just after the first Covid-19 lockdown so we couldn’t use hotels or B&Bs, so many thanks to Bailey of Bristol (baileyofbristol.co.uk) for the loan of an Autograph 74-4 motorhome, which proved to be an excellent moving base for the trip. Thanks also to Mercedes (mercedes-benz.co.uk) for the loan of a Marco Polo campervan, as used by our photographer for the duration of the ride. Good kit choices are vital on a challenge such as this…

The process of reviewing a bike begins the first second I lay eyes on it. As I unbox I’m seeking out neat or unique features, or any interesting quirks that might stand it apart from its competitors. In this regard the Bianchi Arcadex stopped me in my tracks. When I unpacked the Italian marque’s latest gravel machine (and its first dedicated gravel bike in carbon) my eyes were first drawn to the head tube, a beefy yet shapely construction that is more like a sculpted vase than a bicycle’s tube form. Then appeared a big, black, hexagonal plug on top of a mass of carbon at the junction of the down tube and seat tube. My first thought was: surely not? It looked suspiciously like Bianchi had utilised a frame…

They say you eat with your eyes, so a good first impression of the Condor Baracchi naturally coloured my initial ride home. I picked up the Baracchi from the Condor shop on London’s Gray’s Inn Road, where the company has been located since 1948 and where it still gets to remain open, being an ‘essential service’ in these times. Each shift of the AXS groupset was crisp and the discs set up true and properly bled. No mismatched lever travel here. All in all it rolled in smooth testament to the mechanics who put it together and I felt instantly at home, with no creaky, mistuned barriers to deny entry to the wonderful world of new-bike. I was taken. But then I got home, the weather turned crap and I…

Adusty relic arrives from my friend Myles in Northern Ireland. Anything from Myles – who raced 10 editions of Ireland’s fearsomely tough stage race, the Rás, and now designs cycling kit for the Galibier brand – is always worth attention. He appreciates cycling heritage with all the reverence of an oenophile uncorking a 1982 Petrus Bordeaux. His gift does not disappoint. It’s a copy of Cycling And Mopeds dated 3rd August 1960 and the black and white cover photo sums up everything that is beautiful and mythical about our sport: a rider in two-tone woollen jersey and leather mitts is bent over the bars and grimacing with a suffering that is almost tangible. The bike he rides is a wafer of anorexic steel tubes, its simplicity and efficiency betrayed only…