Foldable Bikes Party

Wednesday, 1 June 2016

Provisional start list for the Criterium du Dauphine 2016

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You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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2016 Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg start list

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You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Pro GRT: Kintner, Ropelato emerge GRT leaders after May

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Jill Kintner(Bellingham, Wash./ Red Bull-Norco Bicycles) andMitch Ropelato(Ogden, Utah/SRAM-TLD-Santa Cruz)established themselves as earlyPro Mountain Bike Gravity Tour (Pro GRT)leaders following strong showings at the May 14-15NW Cupin Port Angeles, Wash., and the May 27-29Mountain Creek Spring Classicin Vernon, N.J.

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The future of bicycle frames could once again be in the hands of framebuilders

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Here we have what is undoubtedly one of the most advanced bicycle frames ever created – and yet you’ve probably never seen or even heard about it.

Produced as a joint collaboration between UK firm Mirada Pro, tubing specialist Reynolds and framebuilder Ted James Cycles, the frame is currently a one off that demonstrates a new direction for the people behind Mirada Pro.

Robot Bike Co R160: the future of bike design?

Taken from design to manufacture in just eight weeks, the frame uses multiple 3D-printed titanium lugs that are welded to custom titanium tubing from Reynolds.

The frame has yet to be ridden and is currently awaiting EN testing

Look closer and you’ll see 3D printed titanium lugs make up the head tube, bottom bracket, dropouts and top tube/seat tube intersection. These lugs have been welded to custom drawn titanium tubes from Reynolds in a 53cm frame that emulates the geometry of a traditional alloy road bike. The result is a sub-1kg (999g) frame that Mirada Pro claims offers improved torsional stiffness over a comparable alloy item.

A different design approach

Why Ti?

Who's behind Mirada Pro?

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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Smith Squad MTB goggles review

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There’s no getting away from their high price, but Smith’s Squad MTB goggles have a plethora of well-considered features that make them worth digging a little deeper for.

It’s also worth noting that when you buy a set of Squads you get a clear lens along with the fancy mirrored lens – a bonus, as and when the sun reappears from behind the clouds.

In the hills, the first thing we noticed was just how reluctant the Squads were to fog up. Smith has taken note of just how sweaty mountain biking can be and done away with any surplus foam around the frame, meaning venting is seriously impressive, even if you leave the goggles in place on short climbs.

To further help battle that pesky fog, Smith has put slotted vents in the lens itself – something we’re not used to seeing on goggles. Even in the most horrific of conditions, mud and slop failed to penetrate the Squads, keeping our eyes dirt free.

While on the subject of the lens, it’s hard to ignore the wide and deep field of vision, which makes life easier when scanning for hazards further down the trail. It also gets lugs for tear/roll-offs and is quick and easy to change. On top of all that, comfort is seriously impressive and the goggles have fitted into all of the full-face lids we’ve tried them with too.

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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Raleigh Roker Pro review

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Raleigh has six gravel bikes in its 2016 range, which is topped by the Roker Pro and Roker Race models. As you’d hope from a bike this expensive, the Pro is instantly likeable. It’s not the lightest, and only gets SRAM’s Apex-level alloy crankset rather than Rival or Force, but it has an immediately fresh and clean feel.

Slack geometry but sharp reactions

The head angle is quite slack, which should slow the steering down. But the solidity of the 142x12mm front thru-axle helps to keep the handling sharp, and it still feels quick and responsive through the bar.

Its chunky chainstays and 142x12mm rear thru-axle transfer your power well, but the curved top-tube and flat wishbone seatstays mean that drive doesn’t mean discomfort, even over rough forest roads. It wasn’t knocked off its stride by rutted and rubble-‘repaired’ farm tracks, either.

The Raleigh’s bottom bracket shell is chunky and super-smooth

A lot of the credit for the Roker’s impressive ride quality has to go to the American Classic tubeless-ready wheelset and Schwalbe G-One tyres, which BikeRadar's Josh Evans singled out for praise when he took a Roker Race out on a 200km gravel race. The latter are listed as 35mm but thanks to the wider rim blow up to 39mm.

Simple one-by pleasures

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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Tuesday, 31 May 2016

The e-MTBs are coming – take your moral standpoint now

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There are a lot of ‘next big things’ at the moment, with plus-sized wheels, longer front triangles and 12-speed cassettes being some of the biggest in every way.

As you may be aware from reading other columns I've written, some see this as a good thing: it’s progress. Others view it as a bad thing: it’s a conspiracy to force new stuff on us and spoil what we’ve already got.

Yet if anything, e-bikes are even more contentious – more so, even, than wheel sizes. My time editing magazines taught me just what a hot-button topic they are.

E-bikes have mostly been aimed at city commuters, who just want to get to work without pumping sweatstains into their suits

In fact, the only thing that ever prompted an angrier response than e-bike reviews was the time I accidentally insulted hipsters on fixies. And when I say ‘insulted’, I asked if a hipster doing a trick was cool or not. Threats of legal action followed.

The bike industry, which as we all know operates from an evil moon crater and has regular meetings next to an evil suggestion box, is very keen for e-bikes to take off. And actually, they’re already doing very well. Even by 2013, e-bike sales were above 600,000 units a year in Germany and Holland, which meant that over 50% of total adult bikes sales were battery-operated. That’s a pretty big market.

The hard sell

Inclusivity for the unfit, impaired or severely unaerodynamic is hard to argue against – and certainly e-bikes make getting up into the hills easier

A moral minefield

E-bikes are not motorcycles – they have no throttle, provide no power unless you do, and are limited to 15.5mph

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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