The bell in the lift pings as the doors open onto the empty hotel reception. The only sound whilst I cross the hall is the tick of my bike’s freewheel and the clip of my cycling shoes on the tile floor. I look at the clock on my bike computer, 01:00. Again I ask myself … Read more
At £99.99 the Tec-Tical Pro Race is the flagship model from German company Abus. Construction quality is good but it lacks any real standout features with plenty of competition from more performance orientated brands.The Tec-Tical Pro Race weighs 245grams; light but not market-leading for £100. That weight is achieved thanks to the multi-shell in-mould process … Read more
Just days before the 99th edition of the Tour de France gets under way in Liege, two UCI WorldTour teams have announced new co-sponsors – and that means a change of name for the outfits that will now be known as Garmin-Sharp and the slightly less snappy Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank.In each case, it isn’t the … Read more
With his dual roles as Team Principal of Team Sky and Performance Director of British Cycling, few people have as much invested in the next couple of months’ racing as Dave Brailsford, who reveals his thoughts ahead of the Tour de France and Olympics. Meanwhile, ahead of Saturday’s Grand Départ in Liège, Team Sky has … Read more
This summer base layer provides excellent ventilation and moisture transfer to keep you comfortable on even the hottest rides.Craft make some great base layers. Their winter base layers are far and away my favourites for the off-season and this lightweight option is another top performer.When I say ‘lightweight’, at 56g this is almost floaty light. … Read more
Tom Boonen and Edvald Boasson Hagen are among the riders who will be sporting new national champion’s jerseys for the forthcoming year after a hectic weekend’s racing in Europe and beyond, those riders regaining their titles in, respectively, Belgium and Norway.Among other performances worthy of note are Liverpool-born Matt Brammeier, pretty much the first to … Read more
Figures released by Sport England as part of its latest Active People Survey show that the equivalent of 81,000 more people in England cycled regularly in the 12 months to April 2012, compared to the previous survey released six months ago. Sport Englands figures come hot on the heels of a Sustrans survey released last … Read more
World individual pursuit champion Jack Bobridge has been fined €700 by a Spanish court and banned from driving for eight months after a drink-driving incident in Lloret del Mar, Catalonia last week. Bobridge and fellow Australian team pursuit squad member Michael Hepburn, a passenger in the car, have been fined for their part in the … Read more
Fibrax Powershift Sport Stainless Steel Gear Cables are affordable everyday replacements with looks and performance that are impressive for the price. Ours proved initially susceptible to cable stretch and fraying so leave them overnight before correcting, cropping and crimping come the morning.The compressionless,Teflon lined polyester housing for these cables comes in a choice of five … Read more
Whyte have been pushing their relaxed geometry across their whole range of bikes for a while now; it works well on trail bikes and it works on their flat bar urban bikes such as the Montpellier too. However, I’m not so sure about the crossers. The slightly languid handling is exacerbated here in the Whyte … Read more
