Table of contents for March 2018 in Cycling Plus

NEW BIKES AND KIT My test riding this month has seen me cover onand off-road miles on Specialized’s Diverge Comp (p16), plus putting time in on Zipp’s 302 carbon wheels (p66) and Selle San Marco’s Shortfit saddle (p72). Robin Wilmott, Technical writer NEW BIKES AND KIT I’ve ridden and rated the Genesis Zeal (p20), Tifosi CK7 (p23), Vitus Mach 3 Metrea and Cannondale Quick CX2 (p24), as well as dinging half a dozen bells (p68) and testing a dozen mid-priced shoes (p86). Simon Withers, Technical writer BIKE TEST I have been checking out what £500 can get you in our six-bike shootout (p42). If you’re confused by what tyres to run I’ve also put together a guide to clinchers, tubeless and tubular rubber (p112). Guy Kesteven, Freelance writer RATINGS EXPLAINED EXCEPTIONALA…

THE HUB RIDING My Eddington Number, is 66: on 66 days I did at least 66 miles Science nerds know Eddington: the 20th century British astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington, whose 1919 eclipse observations confirmed Einstein’s relativity theories, and who once calculated all the protons in the universe. Strava nerds also know Eddington. A keen cyclist, he devised a measure of cumulative long distance, now called the Eddington Number. He just referred to it as ‘n’ – nothing to do with ‘n+1’, famously the ideal number of bikes to own where n is the number you currently have. Your Eddington Number is the maximum n such that on n days in your life, you cycled at least n miles. (Strava won’t calculate n, but apps such as VeloViewer will.) Looking over…

PINNACLE LATERITE 1 £420 We’ve reviewed the £500 Laterite 2 from Evans Cycles and it impressed us enough to suspect that the cheapest bike on test wouldn’t automatically be the least popular. A tidy, versatile frame with some neat design tweaks plus a well thought out spec means we weren’t wrong. But is the Pinnacle good enough that the extra kit you could buy with the £80 in your pocket make your overall ride better? B’TWIN TRIBAN 520 £499 It wasn’t an accident that one of the brand managers from the big brand names who didn’t want to provide a test bike told us: “If you want a decent £500 road bike start with the DeLorean from Back To The Future, if not, Decathlon is just down the road.” But…

The choice of a triple chainset might seem odd to more experienced riders SPECIFICATION Weight 10.21kg (54cm) Frame B’Twin Sport 6061 alloy Fork B’Twin Sport carbon legs, alloy steerer Gears Shimano Sora 50/39/30, Sunrace 11-25 Brakes Tektro dual-pivot Wheels B’Twin Sport Finishing kit B’Twin Sport bar, stem, seatpost and Ergo fit saddle, 25mm Michelin Dynamic Sport tyres Bikes from B’Twin have been under some of the pro WorldTour peloton, but where they really win is delivering awesome value at an affordable level. That’s the case here with the Triban 520 delivering a package that doesn’t just kill on price but performance too. The fact that this is the only bike here with a full Shimano Sora transmission is the immediate headline, but there’s a lot to savour before you even…

The base of the seat-tube is oversized for pedalling stiffness SPECIFICATION Weight 10.38kg (58cm) Frame 6061 doublebutted aluminium Fork Carbon, alloy steerer Gears Shimano Claris, FSA Tempo 50/34, 11-32 Brakes Tektro R312 Wheels RSP AC1.0 Finishing kit RSP bar, stem and seatpost, Raleigh R1 saddle, 26mm Kenda Kontender tyres Raleigh is at a price disadvantage compared to the other bikes here as it’s the only brand selling into normal shops rather than its own high street or online outlets. The unavoidable extra margin has been offset in the best way it can, by concentrating on providing the best frame possible, rather than going toe to toe on kit cost. The good news starts up front, with the larger bottom bearings of the tapered head-tube and fork adding steering and tracking…

UPGRADE WE SAY Ideal for those who want to stay low with more comfort SAN MARCO’S SHORTFIT SADDLE CATERS for riders whose seated position doesn’t change much while riding. This Racing model features San Marco’s waved profile, where the saddle’s top line curves by more than 5mm. Although its claimed width is 144mm, ours measures just over a still wide 140mm, but its 250mm length is short compared to an average saddle’s 275mm or more. The ‘big hole’ in the saddle is 173mm long and between 12mm at the front and 38mm wide towards the rear. That equates to a large portion of the carbon fibrereinforced nylon shell’s surface area, and along with the Xsilite rails keeps weight to 205g. The wedge-like shape means that you immediately find your seating…

W e need to talk about gravel. It’s not that long ago that for road cyclists gravel was the enemy. ‘A loose aggregation of small waterworn or pounded stones’ – as the dictionary would have it – was up there with black ice and wet manhole covers when it came to putting an unsuspecting rider on their arse with holes in both Lycra and cheeks. Now it’s something that both the bike industry and cycling media like ourselves and BikeRadar, feel that we should be embracing. Gravel – or adventure road or ‘groad’ – bikes are definitely a thing with most brands now boasting a bike that promises to reach the places that an ordinary road bike won’t, but that most definitely isn’t a cyclocross or mountain bike… Like those mountain…

1 STANDING START Stand with the exercising leg on the step with the resting leg’s heel on the floor. The exercising leg should be slightly bent, with the weight on the ball of the foot. 2 PUSH OFF With the heel of the resting leg in line with the toes of the exercising one, push through the ball of the working leg, bringing the heel to touch the step. 3 HEEL HOLD The heel of the resting leg remains in line with the toe on the exercising leg. Perform 12-15 reps on each leg. Repeat for three sets, look to progress by holding some light dumbbells.…

Distance: 100km Grade: Easy, providing the wind isn’t blowing a gale Download: https://www.strava.com/activities/1268225774 NEAREST STATION While the last train to Wisbech left in 1968, there are rumblings about the town one day being linked up to the rail network again. But no firm plans are currently in place, so you’ll need a car if you’re not local. FOOD AND DRINK If you’re looking for refreshments in Wisbech try The Orchard Tea Room on Redmoor Lane or The Octavia Cafe on South Brink. On the route there’s a Spar shop in Long Sutton after just 16km if you need anything. After that the closest we got to an amenity of any sort was in Holbeach. If you want to stop here then as you meet the A151 divert left into town…

Ride well for less It’s pretty hard nowadays to find a bike that we’d class as ‘bad’. No matter your budget you can find some stunning rides. Our £500 bike test this issue is proof of that – tester Guy has ridden some of the most expensive road bikes on the market but he found that half-a-grand can get you something brilliant. Adventurous type All of us know that we should spend time out of our comfort zone to develop as a person. Few of us really do… Rebecca Lowe is one of the few. Against the advice of almost everyone she knew she cycled solo from London to Tehran! Was her journey a nightmare as many predicted? Find out on p106. Get in touch… Don’t forget that if you’ve…

Back in the day this would have been marketed as an audax bike, but this longstanding favourite has been reinvented as a modern all-rounder complete with excellent Shimano hydraulic disc brakes. The tapered carbon fork and front and rear thru-axles deliver impeccable handling and fine braking, while rear rack mounts mean you could take this Tifosi touring. The kit is mainly from brands supplied by Tifosi’s UK distributor Chicken and Sons, with Shimano’s 10-speed hydraulic Tiagra groupset accompanied by a Deda cockpit, Prologo saddle, Miche wheels and 28mm Michelin Power Endurance tyres. It’s a shrewd setup designed for year-round use. The ride is slightly upright, ideal for commuting, winter training and long days, and it’s comfortable too, aided by wide tyres; without ’guards fitted you could go bigger and take…

DUTCH COURAGE Tom Dumoulin will try to defend his Giro d’Italia title this spring. It had been thought the Dutchman would target the Tour de France but will instead go up against Chris Froome in Italy - providing Froome is clear to ride... MADE IN BRITAIN Tom Pidcock will ride for Team WIGGINS in 2018. The prodigious 18-year-old hoovered up wins in 2017, winning both the Junior World TT and cyclo-cross titles. COMMON GOOD Birmingham will host the 2022 Commonwealth Games but due to the lack of a velodrome, London is set to host the track events. The closer Derby Arena doesn’t have the required capacity to meet the Games’ demands. SHARON LAWS 2012 British road race champion Sharon Laws lost her battle with cancer in December. The 43-year-old, who…

THE HUB NEW GEAR This is the first Bora disc brake wheelset, and it’s all new, with asymmetric 24.2mm external, 17mm internal rims using Campagnolo’s own resin, aluminium-bodied disc hubs with ceramic bearings and 24 spokes in each. The £1808.99 wheelset is designed for 25 or 28mm tyres and is claimed to weigh 1509g. ON THE RADAR BIKE TECH OF THE NEAR FUTURE SAY HELLO TO VIELO Britain’s roads are so bad that Gateshead’s Vielo Sports has launched a new bike just to cope with our tarmac. Its carbon V+1 is made for 1x drivetrains and takes tyres up to 42mm. A frameset costs £2999. HEART ON YOUR SLEEVE Wahoo Fitness has just launched a new armmounted heart rate monitor, the Tickr Fit. It claims to combine the accuracy of…

THE HUB INSIGHT I was part of the Lance Armstrong generation, enthused by his exploits but too young to be cynical enough to question As a kid, I desperately wanted to be a pro cyclist. I was very much part of the Lance Armstrong generation, utterly enthused by his exploits but too young to be cynical enough to question. However, the lack of local youth racing at the time and the opportunities to compete with the British Nordic Ski development squad diverted my attentions. By 15, I was preparing for international competitions with the seniors. My love of cycling is at least in part hereditary. Early family holidays were spent in a child seat on the back of my dad’s bike, before I was able to pedal one myself. His…

The Laterite 1 seems determined to impress straight away SPECIFICATION Weight 10.21kg (M) Frame Doublebutted 6061-T6 aluminium Fork Carbon legs, alloy steerer Gears Shimano Claris, Prowheel Ounce 421 50/34, Shimano HG50 11-28 Brakes Tektro R315 dual-pivot Wheels Alloy, double wall Finishing kit Pinnacle bar, stem, saddle and post, 25mm Schwalbe Lugano tyres At this cut-throat price level, every pound counts when putting a bike together. That means it might sound like a suicide mission submitting a bike that’s 16 per cent cheaper than the most expensive option here. Having tested the £500 Laterite 2, we reckoned the entrylevel version could hold its own, and the sorted all-round ride proved us right. The fact it leaves you with cash for a helmet, shoes, pedals, shorts and so on means your overall…

The frame and fork are totally new in construction and geometry for 2018 SPECIFICATION Weight 10.34kg (56cm) Frame 6061 alloy Fork Carbon Gears Shimano Claris, 50/34 11-28 Brakes Tektro dual-pivot callipers Wheels Vitus rims on Quando hubs Finishing kit Vitus alloy bar, stem, seatpost and saddle, 28mm Vittoria Zaffiro tyres As the house brand of Chain Reaction Cycles, Vitus has a well-deserved reputation for excellent value rides. It sent us the brand-new Razor before its official release to make sure we got the benefit of the latest smooth riding evolution of this popular and very cost-effective bike. It’s not just a fresh lick of paint on the 2018 Razor, the frame and fork are totally new in construction and geometry. Interestingly, it’s a traditionally shaped frame with the very slender…

ELECTRA RINGER £8.99 The Electra is available in numerous designs including plain colours, a flying saucer and an ice cream cone. We went for the RAF roundel/mod design to bring out our inner Bradley Wiggins. It’s an old-school double-ringer, but the large 5cm diameter metal dome makes it louder than the smaller ones of our childhood bikes. BASIL PORTLAND ALUMINIUM £13.99 Also available in brass or black versions, the 5.5cm diameter Basil creates a sonorous, suitably loud strike from its lengthy sprung lever, and a slightly harsh note that with a decent sustain, though you’ll still need a couple of strikes to wake dog walkers from their canine-accompanied concentration-free capers. KNOG OI CLASSIC £16 Australia’s Knog has taken a novel approach in creating a bell that is both effective –…

UPGRADE WE SAY Good quality build and easy to adjust but the 555 isn’t that light LIMAR’S NEW 555 OFFERS PRETTY much everything you would expect from a mid-price helmet, with 50 quid being the amount many of us pay for head protection on day-to-day rides. Our lid weighed in at 303g for a large (57- 62cm), which is a little heavier than the 285g claimed. Though as we’ve said before – and probably will again – there are much better places to save a few grams than in a product designed to potentially protect your brain and save your life, and the difference between a 200g helmet and one weighing nearer 300g is not one you notice provided the helmet is comfortable. The smaller medium (52-57cm) size weighs a…

Hay–on–Wye, Wales AS A CHILD, I was very active. My love of sport varied from swimming, dancing, horse riding, skiing, netball, rowing and riding my bike with my brother, Richard. Something changed during my 20s where I lost interest in sport and developed a very unhealthy relationship with the sofa. 2016 was the year of change. I lost my father to heart ischemia, one uncle to motor neurone disease and my other uncle to cancer. I couldn’t believe that this could happen to them and the loss I felt was, and still is, overwhelming. I decided it was time to become fit and active again. I joined a walk to run group, boot camp, spinning class and found a personal trainer. I have a long journey ahead, but I will…

The man weighing the sheep looked over at me, pointed to the sun and held up his hand with splayed fingers: five. At 5pm I’d be rescued, he seemed to suggest. Thank god. There was only so long I could go on turning down pipes of opium and mugs of warm doogh (curdled goats’ milk) as it fermented under the midday sun. In truth, there was only so long I could go on, full stop. It was mid-June in central Iran, and it had been a tough day from the start. Having set off at 5am to avoid the worst of the heat, I’d spent the morning cycling high into the mountains en route to the ancient Zoroastrian village of Abyaneh. The slog was tiring but invigorating, crowned by piercingly…

HAVE A PURPOSE Winter training is the time to lay the foundations for the season to come. My main focus has been increasing my ‘engine size’ with base miles and gym work. From this you build in specifics; turbo efforts for speed, hill reps and track league all help to make for a better season. SWEET MOVES Riding in the cold requires more glycogen, to energize muscles and maintain body temperature as well as fuelling the ride. On a three-hour ride I’ll take two squares of flapjack and two bottles - one water and one carbohydratebased energy drink. Also an emergency gel. I often forget to eat and drink so I have got my Garmin set to beep every 400kcal. PICK A DAY Use weekdays to build speed and strength.…

Lilian Tse shares her tips for anyone thinking of taking on the challenge 1 BE AWARE OF THE LAWS America is one of those countries that has different state laws. And you’re bound to go through at least six to get you from coast to coast. Know which roads are legal to ride on! 2 ONE DIRECTION Make sure there’s always a town to stop at or pick up supplies at the end of your day. You could spend a day cycling from one town to another with nothing in between. Texas is massive for example. 3 SPARE CHANGE You’re covering a massive distance daily so be prepared for any mechanical situation that can be prevented, as it could just save your life. 4 ZONE OUT Make sure you’re aware…

Following a couple of weeks of social media cold turkey during the season of actual cold turkey, I flapped open the laptop on 1 January to see what I’d missed while I’d been away from Twitter. Scrolling past the increasingly amusing doodling of the gentleman who lives in a big white house in America, I realised that it was the most important day of the year in the cycling world. How could I possibly have omitted to rush online on New Year’s Day, when the cycling community goes into a tailspin of delight and dismay at the latest array of dismal kits to be worn by skinny people who couldn’t care less what they are asked to wear so long as the price is right? I refer to the pageant…

STEALTH ADVANCED ISOTONIC GEL £17.50 (FOR 14) The brand is masterminded by Tim Lawson who started SiS in his kitchen in 1992, before selling the company on a few years back. These rice starch and fructose gels have a distinctive starchy texture that gives more of a sense of having food, but it’s still isotonic. Subtle but 'real' flavours (the citrus ones are actually slightly bitter) don't gripe even after you have sucked down several. If you're feeling low, the quick pick-up of energy is handy, but they still manage to provide fuel for extended efforts. Considering how well they work, the pricing is reasonable. secret-training.com WIGGLE NUTRITION ENERGY GEL £9.99 (FOR 20) Despite being less than a third of the price of some competitors here, Wiggle's 38g gel does…

A good diet is about more than just staying slim. Yes, body composition is important in cycling, but it’s also about fuelling yourself correctly and eating the right blend of nutrients so your body can recover and grow stronger after training. If you make too many mistakes with your diet then you’ll undermine all the hard work you’ve been putting in. Maybe you think that you’re eating well already, or you know that you’re getting it wrong, but you don’t know how to fix it. Either way, now is the time to find out with this list of diet mistakes. The more of them that you ditch, the faster and stronger you’ll be. 1 NO PRE-RIDE BREAKFAST Your body’s been without food for several hours overnight, so you can’t expect…

When you’ve been training hard, you need to eat well to help your body feel the benefit. These tasty dishes give you all the natural protein you need to refuel and repair so you’re ready to ride the next day._ We’ve partnered with_the food specialists at olive magazine to bring you the best recipes for cyclists. All the recipes are easy to follow and we’ve focused on creating everything from homemade nutrition products to tasty post-ride meals. Protein is an important part of the cyclist’s diet. The body needs it not only to repair muscles after exercise, but also to build new muscle tissue and to help replenish energy stores. Protein comes from many sources; red and white meat, fish, eggs and nuts. Beans and pulses are all excellent source,…

FIRST RIDE £1499 SPECIFICATION Weight 9.03kg (M) Frame 24/30T carbon Fork Carbon, 1 1/2 - 1 1/8in alloy steerer Gears Shimano Tiagra 50/34, 12-28 Brakes Shimano Tiagra Wheels Jalco MRX24 rims Finishing kit Genesis aluminium stem, bar and seatpost, Genesis Road saddle, 25mm CST Compressor tyres It’s for women and men Genesis released the Zeal in 2017 as a female-specific entry-level carbon bike. For 2018 it has added a men’s model. It has a very subtle look, with its matt grey and red tubes offset with a darker grey logo. It features the slimmer, flattened top-tube made popular by the likes of Specialized for comfort, with a large diameter rounded-off square down-tube for pedalling efficiency. It’s made from the same strong 24/30T carbon fibre as Genesis’s more expensive Zeal 20…

CANNONDALE QUICK CX 2 £899.99 SPECIFICATION Weight 12.17kg (M) Frame SmartForm C2 Alloy, SAVE Fork SR Suntour Gears SRAM 1x 32, 11-42 Brakes Shimano M396 hydraulic disc, 160mm rotors Wheels Maddux DC3.0 Finishing kit Cannondale C3 stem, bar, post, saddle, 38mm Panaracer Comet Hardpack tyres Cannondale’s mountain bike-inspired Quick CX 2 has more ambition than the Vitus. It’s designed to be a fast and fun bike that encompasses tarmac, potholed city streets and even a little off-road work, hence the Suntour suspension fork. But while this may make it versatile, its 40mm tyres mean that it doesn’t live up to its ‘Quick’ name on tarmac. SRAM was the originator of the single chainring 1x drivetrain and it’s here with a 32-tooth chainring. This gives a lower bottom gear than the…

THE HUB NEW GEAR 1 Inconvenient truth Research by the company responsible for the Morpher helmet revealed that while cyclists know it’s dangerous to not wear a lid, a large number admit to not wearing one, citing that it’s inconvenient to carry a helmet around once you’ve arrived at your destination. 2 Storage solutions The unique lock-in design of the Morpher means that with a click of a button, on both "anks, you can fold the helmet down into a 14x3in "at package that can easily be slipped into a backpack or shoulder bag. 3 Share alike While the Morpher isn’t aimed at full-time cyclists, the practicality for commuters and bike share users should encourage more people to ride safer. In our eyes that’s got to be a good thing.…

Having the pads working on a dry, clean rotor means far better bad weather control SPECIFICATION Weight 10.74kg (54cm) Frame Triple-butted alloy Fork Carbon legs, alloy steerer Gears Shimano Claris, FSA Tempo 50/34, Shimano HG50 11-28 Brakes Tektro Md-c400 mechanical disc Wheels Carrera Finishing kit Carrera bar, stem, saddle and seatpost, 25mm Kenda K1018 tyres Halfords house brand Carrera is always a good place to look for a great ride if your wallet is on a short leash. Now, it has opened up the latest stopping trend to a whole new audience with the Vanquish Disc. If you’re after all-weather control for day-to-day commuting rather than conquering epic climbs or rumbling down rough tracks, it’s well worth a look. Seeing as disc brakes are the big sell we’ll cover them…

Kit is good for the money, starting with the latest Shimano Claris gear shifters SPECIFICATION Weight 10.13kg (53cm) Frame Triple-butted alloy Fork Carbon legs, alloy steerer Gears Shimano Claris, FSA Tempo 50/34, Shimano HG50 11-28 Brakes Tektro dual-pivot Wheels Mavic CXP-22N Finishing kit Boardman bar, stem, saddle and post, 25mm Vittoria Zaffiro tyres Boardman is often regarded as the benchmark of bargain price performance for good reason. There’s a lot to like about the Road Sport in cosmetic and componentry terms, but ride quality was surprisingly unforgiving compared to previous X7 alloy bikes we’ve tested from the brand. Kit is good for the money, starting with the latest Shimano Claris gear shifters. The tops of the levers are also totally covered like posh shifters rather than having a beginnerfriendly gear…

MOST WANTED K-FORCE WE (SHORT FOR WIRELESS electronic) aims to take the best elements of Shimano’s Di2 and SRAM’s eTap groupsets and combine them to create a serious rival. Firstly, we should point out this isn’t a wireless groupset in the strictest sense; both the front and rear mechs are hooked up to the system’s battery. That’s where the wiring ends, though, as the shifters use an ANT+ signal to send your shifts to the groupset’s ‘brain’ in the front mech – one of the elements it borrows from SRAM eTap. What it borrows from Shimano Di2 is the big-capacity battery. Brimming it takes just two hours and a full charge is said to be good for over 4000km. We managed to go five and a half months before a…

PROSTATE CANCER “M EN WHO CYCLE MORE THAN NINE HOURS A WEEK ARE SIX TIMES MORE LIKELY TO DEVELOP PROSTATE CANCER!” Daily Mail, July 2014 “This topic comes up fairly frequently,” says Dr Iain Frame, Prostate Cancer UK’s director of research. “We’ve known for some time that vigorous exercise can often increase a man’s PSA level.” (A marker which can indicate prostate gland problems). “Much less is known about whether cycling could increase the risk of prostate cancer.” Men who cycle often are more health aware so they may be just more likely to be diagnosed argues Dr Frame. “Or there could be a genuine biological link between trauma in the area of the prostate associated with bike riding. It does warrant further investigation.” TIP: Talk to your GP about…

Our Get Britain Riding campaign was a huge success: over 10,000 cyclists pledged to get friends or family on bikes saying that they’d help a whopping 42,000 people take up riding. In total, you pledged to ride a hard-tocomprehend 23 million miles over the course of the year. We also selected four new riders, nominated by friends, family and even themselves, to become part of the Get Britain Riding team. Let’s meet our first two new recruits... “YOU PLEDGED TO RIDE A HARD-TO-COMPREHEND 23 MILLION MILES OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR”…

Gould there be a more British sight than hundreds of people lining up in the rain, suited and booted, on the opposite side of The Mall to their folded commuter bikes? But these people aren’t waiting in any ordinary queue, they’re waiting to start the 11th annual Brompton World Championship Final. The Union flags lining the road to Buckingham Palace add to the overall sense of occasion and daft eccentricity this unique event embodies. (Well, not strictly unique… there are qualifying races held across the globe, but there’s only one final.) That’s not to belittle this race, like the Brompton itself it’s a masterpiece of planning and design: the location is perfect, the course is perfect, the Le Mans-style start with each competitor having to unfold their bike before they…

YOUR EXPERT Paul Hough (@the_hough) is an exercise physiologist at St Mary’s University and author of Advanced Personal Training WHAT ARE THEY? The largest joint in the body, the knee is composed of four bones, two large tendons and a number of ligaments and muscles. HOW DO THEY WORK? The quadriceps muscle group joins into the quadriceps tendon, which connects to the patella (the knee cap). The tibia (shin) connects to the patella via the patella tendon. The ligaments that surround the knee are crucial to stabilising the joint when in different positions. For example, the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) prevents the tibia moving forward. WHAT GOES WRONG? A poor bike setup, particularly saddle fore/aft and height, can increase the sheer forces across the joint during pedalling, leading to pain.…

YOUR EXPERT Sebastian Nittke is team mechanic with the Canyon//SRAM UCI Women’s WorldTour pro team 1 FULL LEVERAGE To remove a tyre with levers, insert one between the inside of the rim and deflated tyre, lever the tyre over the rim. Do the same with a second and pull the tyre and tube off. 2 CHECK YOUR RUBBER It’s important after a puncture to check there is nothing left in the tyre that could puncture the new inner tube, so run your finger carefully around the inside to check. 3 RIM RECON Likewise, check the rim of the wheel for anything that might have punctured through the rim tape. Sometimes a spoke can poke through and cause an unexpected puncture from underneath. 4 HALF WHEEL Pop one side of the…

If this is to be the year that you take your cycling to the next level, then paying attention to what you eat is going to be almost as important as the training hours you put in. We’ve got all the advice you need on that score right here, whether it’s on-the-bike fuel in the shape of gels, bars and energy drinks, real foods that will make you a better rider or easy, healthy meals from our friends at olive magazine to help your body recover. We also get the lowdown on hydration and the common feeding mistakes you need to avoid. And if the reason you ride a bike is so that you can eat what you like, well, those recovery recipes from olive aren’t just good for you,…

TORQ RASPBERRY & APPLE £23.20 [FOR 15] Each of Torq's 45g bars contains 30g of carbs, released slowly from oats and rice, and faster via maltodextrin and fructose syrup. You receive some protein (1.9g) and vitamins at low levels. Torq adds a sprinkling of ribose, too — a natural sugar that's used to manufacture ATP (an energy provider in the cells). The taste is pretty good. It's sweet but not stomach upsettingly so and has a nice, chewy texture. That said, it's one of those bars that's more appealing early into a long ride as it can become cloying when you're thirsty. torqfitness.co.uk HIGH5 CARAMEL BAR £29.75 [FOR 25] High5's caramel bar has been part of its range for over a decade, with the caramel inner, chewy texture and chocolate…

THE TABLETS AND POWDERS THAT WILL KEEP YOU HYDRATED AND ENERGISED ON EVERY RIDE Drinks you have while you're riding — as opposed to post-ride recovery drinks — are broadly split into two types: energy drinks and hydration drinks designed to replace fluids and minerals without a major energy boost. Studying ingredients and concentrations is always sensible, but ideally try taster sachets or a sample scoop before committing to a big tub, and test them as you intend to use them — what tastes fine in the kitchen might unsettle your stomach at your VO2 max. WIGGLE HYDRATION TABS £2.99 (FOR 20) Wiggle's own-brand nutrition range is built around mixes of basic ingredients at affordable prices. At £2.99 per tube it's already good value, and that's for 20 tabs, so…

THE CASE FOR DRINK Water makes up 50 to 70 per cent of an adult's total body weight. It is essential for growth and maintenance, helping our bodies to get rid of waste, regulate our temperature, and enable biological reactions to occur. We lose water through urine and sweat and it must be replaced through food and drink. Lack of water - or dehydration - can cause headaches, tiredness and loss of concentration. As sports nutritionist Matt Lovell (performandfunction. co.uk) explains: "Nothing in the body works well in a dehydrated environment. Dehydration increases stress levels, and lowers concentration and performance, both mentally and physically." One of water's key roles is to maintain our body temperature at 37 degrees centigrade by helping to form sweat. "[Sweat] cools through evaporation, allowing the…