Verenti Rhigos

First ride: Sram Apex. It’s new. It’s got a big cog. It quite possibly has the potential to revolutionise sportive-riding for a lot cyclists out there.

After last weeks fabulous weather, thunderstorms were forecast for Sunday, threatening to add some extra fire and brimstone to this year’s Dragon Ride - the venerable sportive across the mountains of South Wales, now in its 7th year. But fears of a deluge were ungrounded, and about 3500 riders enjoyed a fantastic day out in the sunshine.

Half way up the Rhigos, on a Rhigos, it was clear that the bike is aptly named. Verenti are a company without a back story, the decades of racing history that many of their competitors can draw on. This bike isn't a Galibier or a Mortirolo, with all the memories that those sinews of tarmac can evoke, but it is a proper bike for the hills nonetheless, and a homegrown one too, designed for these shores. The Rhigos is a proper climb, not the longest or the steepest but a challenge and a rewarding one; you might call it good value and that's certainly what you get with the bike.