Table of contents for December 2020 in Cyclist

Once you have a climber’s bike, an aero bike, an endurance bike, a gravel bike, a touring bike and a unicycle, where do you go next? I suspect this is a question the bike industry has been asking of late, and the answer seems to be: start all over again. The latest message is that the bikes we have are not really the bikes we need. Oh no. That aero bike should really be lighter, don’t you think? And that climber’s bike should really be more aero. And all of them should be comfier, and why not throw in wide tyre clearance for good measure? Then they can do double duty as off-road gravel grinders. You don’t want n+1. You want n-n+1, where you get rid of all your obsolescent…

£1,149.99, chickencyclekit.co.uk Campagnolo has taken its iconic Shamal wheel and given it the carbon treatment – and there are a host of other changes too. The rims are mixed depth (35mm front, 40mm rear) to help with control in blustery conditions, they have a sealed rim channel (no spoke holes) to make them tubeless-compatible and they use a wide 21mm internal rim dimension that Campagnolo says pairs well with anything from 25mm road tyres to 65mm gravel knobblies. It’s no coincidence that these Shamals have been released just as Campagnolo has unveiled its Ekar gravel groupset. The wheels are the first to use Campagnolo’s new N3W freehub standard. It is 4.4mm shorter than usual and is designed to accommodate the 9-tooth and 10-tooth sprockets on the new Ekar 13-speed cassette.…

£149.99, scott-sports.com For a company that started life in skiing (its first product was an aluminium ski pole in 1958), it’s no surprise Scott does a fine line in helmets. Joining those burgeoning ranks is the all-new Centric Plus CE, featuring the latest MIPS Brain Protection System and ‘optimised air flow’ both inside and out. That means the Centric borrows from the computer modelling and wind-tunnel testing of Scott’s Cadence all-aero helmet, but somehow squeezes in 18 vents – including four vast exhaust vents – to promote airflow. As such you’ll see many Mitchelton–Scott pro riders plump for the Centric on hotter, more mountainous days. At a claimed 220g the Centric is respectably light, albeit some way off the sub-200g club. But that does include a comprehensive fit system, right…

£24.99, schwalbe.com How heavy is your inner tube? This Schwalbe Aerothan tube is made from a special thermoplastic and is claimed to weigh just 41g, complete with 40mm presta valve and removable valve core. That positions the Aerothan as the second-lightest (claimed) tube on the market, behind the similar-material 38g Tubolito and ahead of the 55g Continental Supersonic (both weights claimed), which is the lightest butyl tube going. At £25 it’s an expensive way to save grams, but Schwalbe says the Aerothan is twice as puncture and pinch resistant as butyl and can be repaired with its specific glueless patches.…

1 ALTURA MERINO LINER GLOVES £22.99, altura.co.uk Ah, Merino Liners, that golden age of cruise ships. But as time and accidents have demonstrated, wool is a terribly unsuitable material to build boats from. However it has proved perfect for Altura’s glove liners thanks to its highly insulating, highly breathable and antimicrobial properties. Not tested on icebergs. Except the lettuce variety. 2 MUC-OFF RIM STIX £4.99, muc-off.com Those cheeky scamps from Muc-Off could shoehorn an innuendo into even the most innocent of bicycle repair products. And the tool they would use to do it would be one of these Rim Stix tyre levers, which are super-tough, non-slip and have a spoke hook at one end and a valve core remover in the handle. You’ll be pounding away again in no time…

With 30km to go in the World Championships Road Race, after 225km of racing around the Imola circuit in Italy, a figure in pale yellow and blue shot out of the leading group. It was Tadej Pogačar, whose reign as Tour de France champion was only in its sixth day. ‘If he does this, he could dominate everything for the next 10 years,’ read one breathless comment on social media, perfectly capturing the thrilling, intoxicating possibility of the unknown. It was understandable. Pogačar had done the seemingly impossible seven days earlier, turning a near one-minute deficit to Primo� Roglič into a near oneminute advantage over the course of a 36.2km time-trial. Pogačar was 21 then, turning 22 the day after the Tour finished. He was the youngest winner since 1904,…

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Giorgia Bronzini is struggling to find the right words. Just moments earlier the 37-year-old had been talking full-gas (to borrow a phrase she uses frequently) while telling Cyclist the story of a 2015 race in Belgium that involved wind, rain, shattered sunglasses, broken bikes, stubborn domestiques and a teammate who podiumed but still thought she had done wrong and cried afterwards in the team bus. ‘That was an epic day,’ Bronzini summarised dryly after relaying the whole tale in detail. But now she is quiet and reflective. The question that has Bronzini momentarily stumped is little more than a throwaway line, dropped in towards the end of the interview: ‘Can you describe yourself in just three words?’ ‘Three words?’ Bronzini murmurs to herself. ‘Hmm…’ Rainbow of surprises Trek-Segafredo’s sports director…

There’s a storm coming. Any hope that the weather, and in particular the wind, would have changed overnight disappears as I step out of my motorhome into a brisk breeze that is, somewhat depressingly, coming from the direction of the only road out of Scourie. Setting off the sky is blue, but a few kilometres in and heavy clouds have gathered ominously overhead. Almost immediately the road starts to climb for a short distance before dipping back down, only to rise again, stunting my speed and setting what will be the pattern for the whole morning. Despite the adverse conditions and undulating terrain I ride with a sense of joy that takes me back to my childhood, an innocent freedom that comes from just being on my bike, wheels rolling…

€229.95 (approx £210), o-w-d.nl Like many other saddle brands, SQLabs says its designs are the result of extensive research into ergonomics. So it’s interesting to see that the 612 presents a very different shape to the snub-nose saddles with huge central cutouts that we’re used to seeing nowadays. The 612 is available in five widths and has a raised back section and lower nose, which SQLabs says reduces contact pressure while promoting power transmission. An elastomer insert is sandwiched between the carbon rails and the hull, allowing up to 7° of tilt. SQLabs says this simulates the natural movement of walking, which increases pedalling efficiency and relieves pressure on the spine.…

£50, paligap.cc Goodyear dipped its toe into the bicycle tyre market a couple of years ago but has now taken the plunge with an expansive new range that includes these Eagle F1 tubeless options. The rubber tread compound is enhanced with silica and graphene for extra grip and durability, and the tyres have a thin layer of rubber underneath the 120tpi carcass that promises to improve air retention even when using minimal sealant. The bead shape of the Eagle F1s is what Goodyear calls Dual Angle and is designed to help them seat and seal easily within a rim using just a regular track pump.…

Given his surname, Tom Sturdy seems to have been destined for a career in engineering. The Sturdy moniker might have found a fitting home stamped on farm gates or steel girders, or emblazoned on the grill of a heavy goods vehicle. In Tom’s case, it adorns his range of custom-made bicycles. ‘There’s something lovely about the mechanical simplicity of a bike but the racer and the engineer in me has always enjoyed the boundary pushing that goes with cycling,’ says Sturdy, speaking from his workshop in Frome, Somerset. ‘I like to be able to offer that mix of simplicity and cutting-edge technology.’ Sturdy is more than entitled to lay claim to those racer and engineer credentials. In between competing in triathlons for Britain at elite international level, he somehow managed…

In this topsy-turvy year practically the only race not to shift seasons was the World Championships, which maintained its September slot, although Covid did force a venue change from Switzerland to Italy. An outstanding Anna van der Breggen did the double for the women, winning both the road race and time-trial, while Wout van Aert did a double of sorts for the men – the Best Rider Since Coronavirus™ going home with two silver medals but no silver lining. To be fair, the Belgian with the Best Hair In The Peloton™ was outclassed by an imperious Filippo Ganna against the clock, while Julian Alaphilippe seemed destined to win on the F1 circuit in Imola once he motored clear on the final climb. The tearful, swashbuckling Alaphilippe became the first French…

As cyclists we’re always concerned about our legs as the driving force, but it’s your trunk that stabilises you on the bike, so forgetting about your core and back muscles can lead to injuries,’ says Hannah Attenburrow, former elite racer turned cycling coach, Pilates instructor and founder of Beyond The Studio Pilates. ‘Pilates keeps you strong and in a good position on the bike. It helps with correct posture and uses functional movement patterns to maintain flexibility.’ This 20-minute routine has been devised by Attenburrow to prevent injury, enhance flexibility, improve muscle strength and help to correct muscle imbalances. It can be done at home and doesn’t require any specialist equipment (if you don’t have a stretch band you can always use a spare inner tube). Nor does it require…

Without wishing to denigrate the achievements of Jani Brajkovič, Simon Špilak and Borut Bo�ič, Slovenia has only recently come to the fore in professional cycling. But now, with Primo� Roglič and Tadej Pogačar battling it out for supremacy at the pointy end of the biggest races in the world, the Republic of Slovenia (as it is officially known) has the eyes of the cycling world on it. Nestled between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, about half the size of Switzerland and with a population of just over two million, it’s fair to say this state of the former Yugoslavia is not large. However, diminutive though it may be, Slovenia crams in a lot of mountains and has the sort of roads that certainly inspire you to throw a leg over…

1 RidleyKanzoFastp126 The Kanzo gravel range gets a new addition – and the name tells you all you need to know about Ridley’s intentions for it, on and off-road 2 BMCTeammachinep132 The Swiss brand takes a risk by trying to factor aerodynamics into its flagship lightweight race bike. Has gambling with the formula backfired? 3 MeridaSculturap138 The Scultura is Team Bahrain- McLaren’s pro race bike. Can this new Endurance edition offer the comfort you need for long days in the saddle?…

Bike building is a lot like baking. As much art as it is science, experience is everything and the slightest deviation from a trusted recipe can have quite catastrophic results. A soggy bottom is just as undesirable on a race bike as it is on a roulade. BMC therefore took a huge risk with its latest Teammachine by attempting to factor aerodynamics into an already highly refined formula. It’s an ingredient that is notoriously disruptive in any design, let alone in one as established as BMC’s flagship race bike. It is the front of the bike that has received the most treatment in the drag-reduction department. The new Teammachine takes cues from BMC’s Timemachine Road aero race bike, with a head tube and down tube that have been stretched front-to-back…

£275, rapha.cc Rapha claims it was the first to make road shoes from woven (not knitted) material, and now it is applying the same process to bibshorts. Rapha’s latest Powerweave bibs use the woven material to offer compressional support, breathability and light weight, something that’s possible thanks to its combination of multiple yarns, whereas knitted fabric uses a single looped yarn. According to Rapha this makes the fabric more tunable so the bibshorts can be made with 50% fewer panels than normal, and those panels can be made more compressive in certain areas and more breathable in others. Mitch Docker, a pro rider on the Rapha-sponsored EF Pro Cycling WorldTour team, describes them as ‘tight, but right’. The Powerweave bibs also come with a new chamois, designed to work better…

he chain is by orders of magnitude a bike’s hardest-working component,’ says Adam Kerin of lube retailer Zero Friction Cycling. ‘It averages around 30,000 link articulations per minute and is also completely exposed to contamination. Because of that, the wear-rate difference and cost-to-run difference between top lube choices and poor lube choices – many of which can be the most powerfully marketed – is huge.’ For those in the know, lubes are big business and inspire cult-like devotion. Good formulas are hard-earned and closely guarded. Kerin is so passionate about the subject that he conducts extensive testing on lubricants, and Zero Friction Cycling only stocks the best-performing products. Yet lubes are often overlooked by the everyday rider because of the sheer variety of options available and the perceived thanklessness of…

The opening day of the 1981 Tour de France didn’t go the way Freddy Maertens would have wanted. For just the third time in its history the race had headed to southern France for its Grand Départ, with Nice having the honour of hosting the big send-off for the first time. To the bemusement of many observers, Maertens was among the riders assembling on the Mediterranean coast. Maertens had suffered a terrible previous two seasons, finishing few races and winning nothing of importance. He was a shadow of his former self – a rider who had won 54 races and the rainbow jersey in 1976; who had led the Vuelta from start to finish in 1977, taking 13 stage wins along the way; who had won the green jersey at…

Mother Nature must be a cycling fan. I’m convinced of this because today’s course is too flawless to be coincidence. It’s a perfect loop of 113km that by the time I end up back where I started will have taken me up and over three high Alpine passes, each breaking the mythical 2,000m barrier. There’s not a single kilometre of flat road on the whole ride. All of the climbs are a challenge, but with average gradients between 6% and 7% none are too intimidating either. Perfect multi-peak cycling loops like this are hard to find, but of course they do exist elsewhere. Prime examples include the loop encompassing the imperious Furka, Grimsel and Sustenpass in Switzerland, which takes in three glaciers, four lakes and 58 hairpins, as well as…

Back in the early 1900s the idea of a bike weighing less than 15kg was a pipe dream. But by the 1960s a skinny steel racer could comfortably hit 10kg, and with a little help from ‘drillium’ – the fad that saw mechanics and riders drill holes in brake levers and chainrings to shave grams – even lighter. Eddy Merckx’s Hour record bike of 1972, built (and drilled) by Ernesto Colnago, weighed just 5.75kg, and even De Rosa’s heart logo was a result of weight saving, with Ugo De Rosa drilling three holes into a bottom bracket shell then cutting a triangle between them to lose excess material. Aluminium followed steel, with Italian manufacturer Alan creating the original mass-production aluminium frame, which weighed as little as 1.6kg, in 1972. A…

It’s easy to while away the hours reading about other people’s cycling adventures, looking at the pictures of far-flung places and dreaming that one day you might do the same. Who hasn’t imagined strapping on some bikepacking bags and heading off into the wild, just you and your bike exploring the world? Too often, however, real life gets in the way to rob you of the time and opportunity for globetrotting, so perhaps that steel-framed workhorse with dozens of mount points for bottles and bags isn’t really the bike for you. Perhaps what you actually need is something that can hold its own on the tarmac but will happily clip off down your local Beechingclosed railway line when the urge takes you. Perhaps you need something that will tear up…

Here’s a little cycling trivia to tell your friends down the pub (if your Tier permits, of course): Merida is the second-largest bicycle manufacturer in the world, behind only Giant. From its factories in Asia it designs and manufactures more than two million bikes a year, mostly for its own brand but also for a good deal of others – Merida owns a 49% share of Specialized, for example, so no prizes for guessing which factories those bikes come from. And its net worth makes it one of the largest companies in Taiwan (where it is headquartered). Here’s another little nugget: the name is derived from the Chinese syllables ‘Me’ meaning beautiful, ‘Ri’ meaning comfortable, and ‘Da’ meaning fluid and mobile. Roughly translated, Me-Ri-Da stands for bicycles built to perform…