Cycling PlusMay 2025的目錄

Each issue, with her ear to the world of UK cycling infrastructure, Laura reports on the setbacks our community faces – and how we’re fighting back It didn’t look like much – acres of empty field with a few solitary men in hi-vis roaming about – but in a village on the outskirts of Cambridge, a revolution was taking place. One cold January morning I set off, with a handful of other kerb nerds, from Waterbeach station to the flat fields beyond the (for now) small village. New cycle paths lay marooned between temporary fences, and we followed them across the flat landscape to the first completed corner of what will be a groundbreaking new town. Almost-finished houses appeared in front of us, on brand-new streets, all empty of residents.…

A new, bigger wheel size has been introduced, called 750d. With brands having largely settled on 700c rims for road and gravel bikes, except for a few exceptions using smaller 650b wheels, why do we need this new standard? I set out to analyse the theory behind it and find out how these new wheels ride. The theory When 29-inch wheels (700c rims with bigger tyres fitted) entered the world of mountain bikes, the internet melted. Although they promised more speed and better rolling over roots and rocks than traditional 26in MTB wheels, many riders decided they hated them before they’d even tried them – as with most new standards in the cycling world. Eventually though, the benefits became clear, 29ers were widely adopted – first by the Lycra-clad cross-country…

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Weight 21.14kg (L) Frame Hydroformed 6061 aluminium alloy Fork SR Suntour NX1-32, 80mm travel Motor Shimano STEPS EP600 Battery Orbea internal 630Wh Drivetrain Shimano Cues 10-speed with KMC eGlide chain (40t, 11-48t) Brakes Magura AT2 Wheels Alloy, tubeless Tyres Schwalbe Marathon 700c x 50mm Finishing kit Orbea alloy 31.6mm seatpost, Selle Royal Vivo Ergo saddle, Orbea integrated stem (60mm), Orbea Urban handlebar (720mm) Orbea have softened the mountain bike influence found on the previous Kemen (now called the Kemen Adventure) on the new Kemen Tour, instead providing a specification more suited to tarmac. In fact, comfort-focused components and increased battery capacity have turned this e-bike into a full-on tourer. The front end of the 6061 aluminium frame is smoothly hydroformed (shaped using pressurised fluid), with a flattened and kinked top…

Weight 10.96kg (M) Frame 6061 aluminium alloy Fork Carbon fibre Drivetrain Shimano Deore M6100 (12-speed) with Marin 40t crankset, KMC X12 chain, SunRace 11-51t cassette Brakes Tektro HD-R285 Wheels Marin alloy Tyres WTB Riddler, 700c x 45mm Finishing kit Alloy 27.2mm seatpost, Marin DSX saddle, Marin alloy stem (70mm), Marin MiniRiser handlebar (690mm) Marin’s DSX 2 combines a mountain bike drivetrain and brakes with a sleek, lightweight hybrid frame and fullcarbon fork, fitted with rack and accessory mounts. The question is, does this combo make it ideal for commuting and leisure rides, or the worst of both worlds? To find out, I tested it on my daily five-mile commute to work, as well as by taking my two-year-old to playgroup and using it on family bike rides. The DSX 2…

Getting there ● There are numerous flight options to Adelaide from the UK. We flew from Heathrow to Adelaide, via Doha, with Qatar Airways. From Adelaide, McLaren Vale is around 1hr by car. Where to eat ● Entry to RADL GRVL includes a meal and drink ticket for one of the food trucks at the finish. It’ll be enough to take the edge off your hunger until you get back to Adelaide, at which point the vast restaurant options of the city come into play. At the lower end, Sunny’s Pizza on Solomon Street is an institution. At the higher end, Fugazzi on Leigh Street, a New York-inspired Italian-American bar, will blow you away with its small plates, pasta and grills. Their gnocco fritto starter is incredible. Where to stay…

CamelBak Chase hydration vest £100 The Chase Race 4 sits above your jersey pockets and can hold 1.5l of liquid in its reservoir plus has plenty of room (an additional 2.5l) for tools and food, allowing you to increase the distances you can go between stops. Topeak Ratchet Rocket Lite NTX £77 A multi-tool is a must, and this 240g set from Topeak includes a carbon fibre-friendly torque wrench. The two tyre levers will help you out of a pinch if your tubeless setup fails, and there’s a pocket to carry glueless patches too. Albion Ultralight insulated jacket £175 Perfect for on and off-bike wear, Albion’s unisex insulated layer weighs less than 100g and will take the chill off on colder starts, long downhill sections or when you’re cocooned in…

Premium viewing Tour de France 7 July 2024 ● Yellow jersey holder Tadej Pogačar perches on the start line ahead of stage 9 of last year’s Tour de France, under a giant television screen. Sadly, TV coverage of the pinnacle of the racing calendar – and the wider cycling season – is shrinking, for UK viewers at least. Not only will live broadcasts of the Tour be lost from free-to-view TV from 2026, but this year’s Grand Tour races are moving to TNT Sports’ Premium tier, at £30.99 a month. Previously, you could watch on Eurosport UK (included with many TV bundles) or Discovery+ Basic (£3.99/month).…

On its best days, the Cotswolds area is a joy to roam on two wheels, despite its numerous, punchy out-of-the-saddle climbs. With its chocolate box villages, stately homes and lush meadows, many would think of the region as the apotheosis of England, or perhaps how England thinks of itself. Its reputation extends worldwide, making it a must-visit destination, as is evident in the coach parks on the edge of many of its most pictueresque villages. Heavy tourism (a billion-pound industry here) is an oft-cited black mark against the area, whether you’re a cyclist or not, so it’s vital to pick your moments for your rides. Yet, even on busy days, the bike is the best way to beat congestion. Beautiful destinations such as Bourton-on-the-Water, Bibury and Broadway can have the…

Sir Chris Hoy’s glittering track cycling career ended with six Olympic gold medals and 11 world titles – but it all started with the film E.T. and Hoy’s first bike, refurbished by his dad to look like a BMX. That bike didn’t last long – “Inevitably, I snapped it,” the Scotsman says – but it started a journey in cycling that took him to the BMX World Championships as a teen, before dalliances with first mountain biking and then road cycling, and on to his calling on the track. Hoy’s maiden Olympic title came in 2004, when he stood atop the podium in Athens, at a time when cycling barely registered on the British sporting consciousness. It marked a turning point in his career – with the race he’d won,…

GFNY Bahamas 9 November ● A stay in the Bahamas was enough to persuade Michael Caine to take part in the terrible Jaws: The Revenge, but he had a wonderful time nonetheless. You will too on this fast, flat 100km double loop of part of the island, similar to the Cozumel formula. GFNY Puerto Rico 23 November ● For those who want a workout for the thighs, there’s far more climbing on this 130.8km (81mi) course, which follows a largely out-and-back route. It ascends both sides of the same climb, from sea level up to around 800m, creating 2,637m elevation. GFNY San Luis Potosí, Mexico 7 December ● A new event for 2025, and the third in Mexico, this one takes place in the heart of the country. Riders of…

Redshift Shockstop £279.99 (Pro Endurance model) Clever vibration-smoothing design Weight 503.7g Lengths 280mm or 350mm Travel 35mm Redshift’s Shockstop post comes in three versions – Endurance (£229.99, 35mm travel), Pro Race (£299.99, 20mm) and this Pro Endurance model. Dual coil springs provide the travel, while on the Pro posts, two elastomers provide some tuneable damping. Setup is simple. A medium (red) elastomer is pre-installed, along with a soft (green) one, which can be swapped for a second red elastomer(provided) for a stiffer feel. You then use the preload dialatthepost’sbase to set it up for your weight. This takes some experimentation, and the post needs to be removed every time you want to adjust it. Floaty feeling The parallelogram linkage design ensures that your saddle falls backwards when you hit something…

Smart trainers have exploded in popularity in recent years, but with more options available than ever before, knowing which one is right for you is tricky. Why are these machines so popular? They allow you to control the resistance you feel at the pedals to replicate hills, headwinds and drafting effects on indoor cycling apps such as Zwift, Rouvy or TrainerRoad, giving you a realistic ride feel in your own home. You can also connect most of them to a compatible bike computer to follow pre-planned workouts. Having ridden and rated more than a dozen smart trainers across a range of prices over the past few years (you can check out the additional reviews on BikeRadar), we’ve chosen those we feel offer the best bang for buck at budget, mid-range and…

Rapha Pennine Rally 27-31 May 2025 (TBC) In this introduction to unsupported events, daily checkpoints mean you’re not completely isolated on the five-day, 500km, mixed-terrain route from Edinburgh to Manchester. www.rapha.cc North and South Downs Escapade 29 May 2025 The three-day cut-off makes this lumpy 480km loop of the UK’s South East quite punchy, but you’re never far from somewhere to restock supplies. https://greatbritishescapades.com The Capitals 20-25 July 2025 Spain is fast becoming the European hub of unsupported events, and The Capitals takes in 830km of epic Catalan gravel and tarmac roads. https://pedalma.cc…

In the early part of the 21st century, we witnessed an arms race in the building of flyweight carbon fibre frames. Manufacturers such as Cervélo, Storck, Scott, Canyon and many others strove to create the lightest bike, shaving timber from their framesets, gram by gram. The brand credited with firing the starting gun, however, were Cannondale, with their SuperSix model. This all-carbon bike came from a firm who’d built a reputation with innovative aluminium work. It followed on from the likes of the Six13 – a slice of weirdness built on a carbon front end and aluminium rear, when every other company was focusing on the opposite. With the SuperSix, it was time to go full-carbon, however. The design used a revolutionary co-moulding process to produce the tubes – designed for…

01 An aero bike Unless you’re racing or have ambitions of shaving time off your course record, an aero bike might be overkill. While these designs enable you to reach blistering speeds on flat roads, they’re incredibly specialised, and with that comes some drawbacks for everyday riding. Large, aero tubing makes aero bikes heavier, and they can feel slightly sluggish on the hills compared to an all-rounder road bike. These tube shapes often lead to a less damped ride feel too. This can make tarmac feel like a washboard and potholes like craters. Their geometry is also very race-orientated, which is no problem if you’re used to it, but can cause more relaxed riders to develop aches and pains if they’re not familiar with contorting into a race position. 02…

The UCI WorldTour is road cycling’s top-ranking race series, comprising the sport’s 36 most important events. These include stage races such as the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, as well as single-day events including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders and Milan-Sanremo. As the sport’s premier shop window, the riders and teams use some of the best equipment available, typically (although not always) supplied by sponsors looking to promote their kit to the viewing public. From the first WorldTour team to ride bikes from a Chinese brand to the return of Italy’s legendary groupset manufacturer Campagnolo, let’s dive into the big equipment and team changes for the 2025 season… 01 Bentornato Campagnolo! After a year out of the WorldTour, Campagnolo are back. Many lamented the apparent decline…

The morning sun, delicate – for now – rather than devastating, pierces through dense woodland, illuminating the fog of sand and dirt churned up under dozens of tyres barrelling through it. Attempts to breathe in only through my nose and avoid my airways filling with sludge are compromised by the big-ring effort involved, so I resolve to suck it down and cough it up later. Soon enough, we’ll exit the wood and move on to the next lucky dip obstacle thrown at us – very much par for the course in the anything-goes world of gravel racing. I’d begun the day an hour’s drive south of Adelaide, in the McLaren Vale wine region, on the start line of the first edition proper of RADL GRVL (after a successful pilot event…

So you want to step up to an ultra-distance or multi-day event? Just be aware that the amount of support you can expect is a lot less than you’ll have seen at shorter events. Three-(or even four-) figure routes mean organisers can’t be on hand with roving mechanics or endless feed stations, leaving you fully self-sufficient when getting from A to B with your bike. Don’t panic though – there are many tricks for keeping your steed rideable and ready for anything, as I’ve learnt along the way. I’ve also asked Badlands veteran Polly Milsom for her top tips… 01 RECON THE ROUTE The first time you load up the GPX file shouldn’t be on the start line. Familiarise yourself with the course and note down potential stopping points en…

“Nine years ago I had a serious cycling accident that left me with injuries that could’ve easily deterred me from ever getting back on a bike. For many, that would’ve been the end of their cycling journey, but for me, it only marked the beginning of a new chapter. Fast-forward to summer 2024, and I found myself gearing up for the adventure of a lifetime – cycling 2,000km from my hometown of Tynemouth to the Algarve, Portugal. This challenge wasn’t just about pushing my limits though. I wanted to raise funds and awareness for Tyneside Outdoors (TO), a charity providing young people – often from difficult backgrounds – with outdoor skills and learning activities. We (a small team including my trusty friend Paul – yes, another Paul) set out on…