Cycling Plus

Every year I am left in awe by the amount of work our trusted testing team puts into Bike of the Year. This time out, senior technical editor Warren put around 2500 miles in, through the worst of the winter storms, on 20 amazing bikes. Then most of t

Chris Froome returned to racing for Team Ineos last month at the UAE Tour, just eight months after what could have been a career- or even life-ending crash on a training ride at the Critérium du Dauphiné. However, what should have been a seven-day st

As the men’s WorldTour reconvenes in earnest on European roads this month, there are several riders notable by their absence. The Americans Peter Stetina and Ian Boswell, and Holland’s Laurens Ten Dam, have all stepped off the unrelenting treadmill o

Dartmoor’s dramatic valleys, moortops, climbs and descents offer some awesome cycling. Gateway towns for a day ride are Okehampton, Tavistock, Buckfastleigh and Moretonhampstead, but Bovey Tracey – on the south eastern corner of the moors – offers th

£79.99 (holder & battery), £9.99 (cover) All-dancing phone mount Most smartphone holders for bikes are bulky and wobbly, but SKS’s new Compit is welcomingly compact and well-designed. It sits over the centre of the bar and faceplate of the stem, keep

JOHN WHITNEY: Cycling isn’t the biggest sport in the UK, but it does have its own section in Waterstones. What is it that makes it such a popular form of literature? JAMES WITTS: In both cycling and life, we can relate to digging deep, to carrying on

This mirror-polished stainless-steel cage uses a 4.2mm diameter stainless tube, bent and formed into a rib-cage design holder. It’s welded to a classic stamped stainless plate with the Arundel logo relief pressed in. This 53g cage is more of a work o

Over the many years that we’ve been putting together Bike of the Year, these machines have consistently improved. Back in 2008, the idea of disc brakes and big tyres on a road bike would have been considered madness, nevermind inner-tube-free tyres a

I’ve been giving talks to cycling clubs recently. This is great fun. I get travel expenses and a free beer. They get lots of amusing pictures, such as Cuba’s equivalent of the M1, empty except for my bike and a bloke on a donkey. Or a smiley man cycl

Cannondale’s sportiest model so far but one that doesn’t sacrifice comfort for speed Lively handling, light chassis, smooth ride Middle weight wheelset at odds with superbike chassis You like your endurance bike to handle beautifully and don’t mind i

Oxford’s beautiful, scholarly centre, between the Cotswolds and the Chilterns, can be a great base for brisk, easy day rides to thatchy villages, trim towns, pubs and cafes galore. A place to work out both mind and body! Super countryside circuit wit

In days gone by, bikes forged from round tubes dominated, their lightness deemed a far greater gain than aero tubing whose curvaceous composition came at a weighty cost. Times have changed. Advances in material technology have shed grams but retained

A super-light race machine that doesn’t compromise on comfort Lithe and nimble handling, great package for the money Front end can’t quite match the back end for comfort You want a sublime handling, racy bike with a great specification £3399.99 Great

A racy off-road machine that blends the best from Giant’s TCX ’cross bike and Defy roadster Superbly smooth ride; great spec for the price; sweet handling Noisy brake rotors You want a capable all-road machine that’s light, nimble, well-equipped and

A composed, comfortable race machine that has been designed to go fast Awesome ride; racy handling A bit weighty You want a taste of cutting-edge aero at a reduced cost £3900 Aero superbike comes down in price The major issue with making cutting-edge

A race thoroughbred that punches far above its weight for its reasonable price Sublime handling, great wheels, superb comfort Several mid-range components Your idea of the perfect road bike is racy and fast-handling with a comfortable edge £3000 Clas

Smooth-riding comfort from a bike that boasts swift handling that’s as good as the best Road smoothing, speedy handling Not the greatest-value proposition when it comes to the wheels You want extreme comfort combined with impressive handling £3499.99

Endurance bikes – aka sportive bikes – are designed and manufactured to ensure that long days in the saddle are a bit more comfortable. The idea is that your derriere is protected from overly aggressive vibrations, while making certain that your legs

Weight 7.54kg (58cm) Frame Carbon Fork Carbon Gears Shimano Ultegra Di2 (52/36, 11-30) Brakes Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8070 with Ice Tech 160mm rotors Wheels DT Swiss A RC 1400 Finishing kit Continental GP5000 25 mm, Fizik Antares saddle, Canyon carbon p

The claimed “fastest bike in the world” shows how to do aero rapidity with surprising agility Agile, light and furiously fast Narrow tyres, lower-spec disc rotors You want an aero bike that doesn’t compromise handling or ride quality for its impressi

£103 Comfort and style for any bike Brooks has been making leather bicycle saddles since the 19th century and its products are the stuff of legend. That said they’re generally pretty heavy and they don’t suit every bike, and while they eventually off

Upgraded from the 2019 version, this Defy offers a gloriously composed ride Stunningly composed ride and handling; comfort in spades Slightly clumsy gear cable routing, saddle is average You want an endurance bike with a sporty edge and a great spec

In 2020, gravel riding’s set to continue its rise with more bikes, events and riders than ever before. The market’s still a relatively immature one but it’s growing – and learning – fast. Inevitably, that means swift gear evolution with the survival

£8.99 – £65 With prices ranging from a pint to a meal for two, here are six bottle-holding options Birzman’s tough 41g Uncage has an unfussy yet attractive design that’s formed from a high-polymer material. Generous bolt slots ensure easy fitting and

Combining sharp looks with urgent acceleration and supple handling composure £54.99 The Maxxis Highroad HYPR K2 claims to be the brand’s best road race tyre, and features a 170 TPI casing with a K2 Kevlar composite puncture protection layer, which is

I’ve spent the last five months testing 20 of 2020’s best new bikes over 2200 miles, riding against all the British winter can throw at me with plenty of input from the crew here at Cycling Plus. Now it’s been whittled down to a final five. So, we th

£149 Powerful, pocket-sized compressor 01 The short hose has an anodised alloy, elbow-shaped head that push-fits onto a Presta valve 02 The LED screen shows battery level on switch-on, and the pressure in psi, bar or kPa 03 A lithium polymer battery

£189.99 Minimal GPS unit Everything you need, if you persevere with the user interface The tiny 88mm x 53mm x 20mm 450 is simple to set-up once you’ve downloaded Bryton’s Active app (iOS and Android) and paired it with your phone. You can link to Str

£1069.95 Budget, aero, carbon disc Halo’s RCD 35 wheelset is relatively quick, light and cheap Halo’s disc-brake version of the Carbaura wheelset is available in 35mm or 50mm depths. We tested a pair of the 35mm tall Halos, which have unidirectional

A good-quality wheelset that will add a little luxury to your ride £279.99 (R)/£214.99 (F) Wheels to take on anything The CR1400 wheelset falls outside of DT’s gravel range (which gets a G prefix in the name). Rather, these are described as a high-pe

As if the chance to save 30 per cent and having every issue of Cycling Plus delivered direct to your door wasn’t enough of an incentive, we’re also giving new subscribers a Lezyne Pocket Drive Mini Pump as a gift. At 79g and just 14cm in length you’l

If you ride regularly it’s inevitable that crashes will occur. Hopefully, like most crashes, it’ll be a case of getting up and dusting yourself down, or dealing with a little road rash. More serious crashes do happen, of course, and with most deaths

“When we’re looking at things like a sportive or multiple-day events (that are becoming quite popular with some of these long endurance rides), ensuring you plan your food intake is important,” insists Nigel Mitchell. You want to know where the feed

Whether it’s the biting winter chill or the legacy of last year’s summer miles, this is the time of year when cyclists’ bodies begin to creak and groan with all sorts of niggles and injuries. And no matter how much you love riding, pain will eventual

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on the horizon, where the world-beating British track-cycling team will be hunting more gold medals in the velodrome, this is the perfect year to enjoy your first taste of track cycling. Not only will you get the thrill o

TRAINING AND TECHNIQUE TIPS RIDE RECIPES AND NUTRITIONAL ADVICE HOW TO REPAIR AND MAINTAIN YOUR BIKE ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY www.buysubscriptions.com/RoadTips20 or call 03330 162 138 and quote ‘1001 Road Bike Tips 2020 Print 1’ Lines are open 8am-6pm w

This recipe is an ideal combo with last month’s and this month’s column pieces, focussing on weight loss. One of the hardest things when ‘dieting’ is feeling satiated from the meal you just had. Soup is one of those meal options where you can just ma

“You won’t always have time to wash your bike after every ride – but it’s important that you wipe down your chain to prolong your drivetrain’s life and add a few drops of lube afterwards to keep the chain running smoothly. Check your wheels are true.

WHAT GOT YOU INTO CYCLING? “My dad was a professional motorbike racer but told me to never ride a motorbike! Instead I cycled as a kid. Even though I rode a lot I got pretty big at uni – useful for rugby but not ideal for cycling.” WHAT INSPIRED YOU

01 The HVRT can be run as a road machine and a gravel bike. By switching up the wheels to Hunt’s carbon 650b and converting to tubeless I’ve saved over half a kilo. 02 The TwinTip fork means you can change the front-end geometry between a racy setup

The mud has just been pressure washed from the TCX for the final time at the end of what’s been one of the muddiest cyclocross seasons I can remember in over 30 years. It’s the interchangeable components that are key to ’cross, alongside the skill an

In winter 2016, Dan Bigham – a speed-hungry cyclist training at Derby Velodrome – thought it would be fun to enter the team pursuit at the National Track Championships. With a masters in motorsport engineering from Oxford Brookes, Bigham had been wor

There was a time in the dim and distant past when I’d have pitched up at the Dukes Weekender licking my lips at the prospect of its hill climb. A searing 1.7km up the Dukes Pass, an iconic climb on the Scottish amateur racing scene in the Loch Lomond

DISTANCE 69km TOTAL ELEVATION 1294m GRADE Only technical on a small section, it’d be challenging but doable for a gravel novice The Forth Inn (forthinn.com) in Aberfoyle, the base of the Dukes Weekender, would have been our choice had we booked earli

On my way to host an evening’s panel discussion entitled The Science of Cycling at the Science Museum in London the other week, I punctured. I was running late and having to actually exert myself on the bike, which is something I am increasingly loat

The superbike is a rarefied thing, be it because of exclusivity, the technological advances within the design or the fact that it’s what you’ll see under the world’s greatest road riders in the biggest races. You’ll find them here with Peter Sagan’s

£9000 A bike with a lot to live up to… The SuperSix Evo’s first two generations became the benchmark by which all race bikes were measured. The last version took lightweight to the extreme without compromising comfort, plus handled impeccably. It did

£7499 Race bike with aero in mind The story of the latest Litening begins with one of Cube’s key innovations on its previous model: the C:68 construction. Cube developed twin-mould tech so that the bike’s carbon material is sandwiched between two sol

£5759 One of the original aero roadsters reimagined Back in 2008, the likes of David Millar raced aboard Felt’s AR for Slipstream/Chipotle. The original’s wheel-hugging down and seat tubes broke new ground. It’s been revised since, the last time in 2

£5699 Lightweight, aero-optimised race machine The Izalco Max frame combines advanced aerodynamics and low weight in its premium 9-Series with this beauty coming in at 890g. The lay-up on the Izalco frame combines 60-tonne and 40-tonne modulus fibres

£7899 Aerodynamic, lightweight Spanish flyer The new Orca OMX is a big departure from the brand’s Orca OMR. Out has gone the traditional two-triangle frame shape, slender round tubes and rim-braked options in favour of aero-optimised tube profiles, d

£10,750 Team Ineos race machine goes disc Pinarello’s F-series bikes are the most successful in the peloton, propelling Team Ineos (formerly Sky) to seven of the last eight Tour de France titles. So the new F12 has a lot to live up to. Outwardly, it’

£5649.99 Lancashire’s take on a gravel ride Ribble’s comprehensive online Bike Builder option means you can build the CGR SL frameset into your riding genre of choice. We opted for a gravel-superbike makeover that’s honed for British conditions, whic

£6299 Super-light return for the legendary Addict Scott’s history with lightweight road machines harks back to the original CR1, which was one of the first race frames to dip under 1kg. The original Addict of 2008 dropped weight further. And now we h

£9750 The sprinter’s choice comes of age Early aero machines paid the penalty for decreased drag numbers with increased gram numbers. Not so on this Venge. Specialized tells us that it’s the most aerodynamic Venge yet, but the frame weighs just 960g.

1. You don’t have to do long training sessions “There’s no need to ride 100 miles before your first 100-mile sportive,” says Simon Jobson, professor of sport and exercise physiology at the University of Winchester and co-author of Ultra-Distance Cycl

As mountain passes go, the Col de Turini could be considered something of an anti-climax. There’s a car park serving a couple of hotels but no panoramic views and little to indicate that you’re 1600 metres above sea level in the heart of the Alpes-Ma

£4999 Wilier’s resilient Roubaix rival NDR is a shortening of endurance, but its Italian heritage ensures this is no sit-up and chill riding position. A 604mm stack and 389mm reach for our XL test bike places it at the sporty end of sportive. It’s al

Spring is finally here (hopefully!), and this issue of Cycling Plus is chock-full of bikes that will enhance your riding experience throughout the cycling year, so in these pages we focus on where that riding should take place as we look at the event

Look Cycles is famed for innovation. The French manufacturer, synonymous with its Mondrian-inspired logo, started out in life in 1951 as a ski-binding manufacturer. Look would later sell its skiing arm but, in 1984, applied that spring-loaded binding

A million roadside fans including neardelirious local support concoct arguably the greatest atmosphere in professional bike racing, aside perhaps for an Alpe d’Huez Tour stage. Making his debut in 2020 will be Julian Alaphilippe, France’s latest beau

£5999.99 Adaptable aero bike Rondo’s HVRT CF0 was 2019’s Bike of The Year and uses Rondo’s innovative switchable fork dropout where a flipped insert alters ride position from racy to endurance. That versatility also stretches to switching in 650b whe

Intermittently spirited defiance from the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana notwithstanding, the Tour de France remains the biggest stage race – nay, biggest race – in the cycling world and 2020’s 107th loop of the country won’t change anyone’s mind.