We gaze into the crystal ball and pick out eight on the trends that we expect to dictate the shape of mountain bike technology and product design in 2017, from wider tyres to wide range cassettes and the rise of the e-bike. Gearing changes and the growth of 1x single ring drivetrainsSRAM is pushing for the … Read more
Aftermarket brake pads tend to cost a fraction of what standard spec pads cost, but when it comes to performance they can be hit or miss. Happily, the offerings from Disco Brakes are reassuringly free of the wrong kind of funkiness, offering up solid stopping power without the big price tag.I’ve been testing both their … Read more
The Praxis Works Alba M30 48/32 is a cleverly-designed chainset that drops your gear range a little with no discernible difference in weight, stiffness or shifting quality compared to the benchmark Shimano chainset you probably already have.For a bit more than a decade, compact chainsets with 50- and 34-tooth chainrings have been standard issue for … Read more
The Altura Vortex Waterproof Framepack is exceptionally light, simple to mount, easy to access, and, as the name suggests, fully waterproof. It’s a good price too, although it does have some limitations. It’s designed to sit within your bike’s main frame and increase storage space for touring and bikepacking expeditions, but whether you can still … Read more
Say bumbag and you’re most likely to think of poorly dressed tourists and regrettable fashion choices from the 1980s, but the basic design is beign reinvented as the ‘hip-pack’ for outdoorsy types that like to travel fast, light and unencumbered by traditional bags.The Hipster is really a multisport item, but it lends itself extremely well to … Read more
The Specialized Turbo Levo Hardtail Comp 6Fattie is a really interesting trail hardtail. With a super-quiet, smooth transmission and an integrated battery it looks and feels a lot like a non-powered hardtail, and it will appeal to people who want a bit of assistance in their riding without buying into the e-bike look. The app-based … Read more
It’s not often that a bike comes in that’s got all the new things. But we’ve got our hands on the new Merida e.Big Trail 900e (catchy name), which has. It’s got a Shimano STEPS MTB motor. It’s got Shimano’s electronic XT Di2 gears. It’s got plus-sized tyres. It’s got the lot! And it puts … Read more
It’s not often that a bike comes in that’s got all the new things. But we’ve got our hands on the new Merida e.Big Trail 900e (catchy name), which has. It’s got a Shimano STEPS MTB motor. It’s got Shimano’s electronic XT Di2 gears. It’s got plus-sized tyres. It’s got the lot! And it puts … Read more
Here’s a video that will make you wince – a group of mountain bikers in Spain who were attacked by a swarm of bees. Just looking at the footage is painful, and we reckon the fact that two of the riders dumped their bikes altogether shows how intense it was.The incident happened in March during the … Read more
Among the challenges you don’t want on a downhill mountain bike run is a brown bear charging at you – but that’s what happened to this rider.We’ve seen similar videos before, with the bear’s charge typically triggered by a sow looking to protect its young, and previous films always from the US or Canada.This footage, … Read more
