Cycle magazine February/March 2021 LITE

cycle THE MAGAZINE OF CYCLING UK

On test

ON-ONE BOOTZIPPER MICROSHIFT ADVENT X RAVEMEN PR1600 SADDLEBAGS & MORE

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021

TWO GRAND TOURERS

GENESIS TOUR DE FER 30 BOMBTRACK ARISE TOUR Page 54

KEEP PEDDLING The pandemic’s effect on the cycle industry

TICKET TO RIDE An Italian tour by Interrail and Brompton

BEAT THE BIKELASH

Help us stop cycle lane destruction

P lu s 114-MILE LAKE DISTRICT RIDE GUIDE LEJOGLE RECORD BREAKER AN INTERWAR TOUR: ABROAD IN 1937 AND MUCH MORE

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CONTENTS Features

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30 Ticket to ride An Italian tour by Interrail and Brompton

Welcome

34 Keep peddling How the pandemic is affecting the cycle industry

42 Beat the bikelash Help stop cycle lane destruction

46 An interwar tour Exploring Bavaria, the Austrian Tyrol, and the Dolomites in 1937

Products 18 Shop Window Previews of new products

20 Gear up Components, accessories, and books

54 Two grand tourers Genesis Tour de Fer 30 and Bombtrack Arise Tour compared

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60 On-One Bootzipper A do-it-all rigid 29er for £900

62 Saddlebags Four high-capacity bags on test

Regulars 04 Freewheeling Bits and pieces from the bike world

07 This is Cycling UK

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16 You are Cycling UK LEJOGLE record setter Marcia Roberts

28 Letters Your feedback on Cycle and cycling

On the cover

Coronavirus

DAN JOYCE Cycle Editor

For updated advice regarding the Covid-19 outbreak, visit: cyclinguk.org/ coronavirus

Upcoming elections, Café of the Year awards, road safety videos, CTC Coventry’s centenary, and more

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East Dale, near Fordon, shot when North Yorkshire was in Tier 2. By Will Palmer Photography

40 Weekender A 114-mile Lake District epic

50 Cyclopedia Questions answered, topics explained

65 Travellers’ Tales Cycling UK members’ ride reports

CYCLING UK: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX E: cycling@cyclinguk.org W: cyclinguk.org T: 01483 238300. Cycle promotes the work of Cycling UK. Cycle’s circulation is approx. 51,000. Cycling UK is one of the UK’s largest cycling membership organisations, with approx. 70,500 members and affiliates Patron: Her Majesty the Queen President: Jon Snow Chief Executive: Sarah Mitchell. Cyclists’ Touring Club, a Company Limited by Guarantee, registered in England No 25185, registered as a charity in England and Wales Charity No 1147607 and in Scotland No SC042541. Registered office: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX. CYCLE MAGAZINE: Editor: Dan Joyce E: cycle@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk Head of Design: Simon Goddard Advertising: Harvey Falshaw T: 020 3198 3092 E: harvey.falshaw@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk Publisher: James Houston. Cycle is published six times per year on behalf of Cycling UK by James Pembroke Media, 90 Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BG. T: 01225 337777. Cycle is copyright Cycling UK, James Pembroke Media, and individual contributors. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from Cycling UK and James Pembroke Media is forbidden. Views expressed in the magazine are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the policies of Cycling UK. Advertising bookings are subject to availability, the terms and conditions of James Pembroke Media, and final approval by Cycling UK. Printed by: William Gibbons & Sons Ltd, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XB T: 01902 730011 F: 01902 865835 Founded in 1878

Top to bottom: Will Palmer Photography, Carlton Reid, Getty Images, Alamy

The irony of featuring touring bikes on the cover when we can’t cycle except to work or for exercise isn’t lost on me. It’s not an accident of timing like last year’s April/May issue, which came out with the headline ‘Better together’ just as the first lockdown hit. It is, rather, an aspiration to look beyond the long shadow cast by Covid-19. Lockdowns and their limitations won’t last forever.

As it is, we cyclists got off relatively lightly. There hasn’t been a day when we couldn’t ride our bikes.

Lots of could-be, should-be cyclists have rediscovered the joy of cycling.

And while other industries have been hammered by the pandemic, bike sales have boomed.

Being essential retailers, bike shops have been able to stay open.

Trade has been brisk: some shops sold in a month what they’d normally sell in a year. It’s not all been good news. Prices have risen. Lead times for deliveries are long. The London Bike Show is no more. But a demand for bikes that outstrips supply is not the worst problem to have.

Some of 2020’s new bike owners will carry on cycling when lockdowns and tier systems are behind us. Some will percolate through to membership of Cycling UK; indeed, membership is already at its highest level ever. And some of them will eventually go cycle touring – perhaps on bikes similar to those on the cover this issue.

this is

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Jammed up thinking The reality of ripping out bike lanes doesn’t match the congestion promises of carfocused councils doing just that, writes Chief Executive Sarah Mitchell

Main photo: Better Streets for Kensington and Chelsea

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midst chilly winter mornings and national lockdowns at the start of 2021, it was heartening to hear about Cycling UK member group CTC Coventry celebrating their 100th birthday this year. That’s 100 years of cycling, camaraderie, and community. The club has continued through all the challenges and changes of the last century, and its thriving membership speaks to the enduring appeal of cycling, through all sorts of adversity. Here’s to their next 100 years!

Last year was a year that many of us may be pleased to leave behind, but it did bring with it some positives too, positives that we are keen to build on at Cycling UK, such as the huge increase in cycling and, in England, the Government’s ambitions for cycling in its Gear Change strategy, which will be game-changing if delivered.

We’ll be working hard in 2021 to support our entire community of cyclists, new and longstanding, and we’ll be encouraging even more people to start cycling for the first time. This year also brings with it a fresh new face at the helm of our trustee board, as Janet Atherton OBE takes over as our new Chair. I’m really looking forward to working with Janet in Cycling UK’s first all-female team at the top.

The elections in Scotland and Wales, and in many local authorities across England this May, will be an important opportunity for all of us to make sure that our elected representatives make a strong commitment to cycling infrastructure. Cycling UK’s campaign team will be sharing resources and ideas to help all our members to support this.

The importance of getting local authorities’ commitment to cycling has been thrown into sharp relief this winter by

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Coronavirus For updated cycling advice during the Covid-19 outbreak, visit: cyclinguk.org/

the actions of some councils.

Many of you will have seen coverage of Kensington and Chelsea’s decision (now under review) to rip up the bike lane on Kensington High Street in the name of relieving traffic congestion, only to see the same space filled with congestionexacerbating parked cars.

But Kensington and Chelsea wasn’t the only council to undermine their own progress on cycle infrastructure. In other parts of the country too, councillors are being pressured by a loud minority of people to dismantle the infrastructure that they invested in over the last year. Quite apart from this being an enormous waste of public money, it’s only driven by a vocal minority. As surveys show, the overwhelming majority of people do support cycle lanes.

Cycling UK has a proud history of standing up for cyclists, and we are in the process of investigating whether legal action can be brought against councils that have ripped out these schemes without due consideration.

While we might not be able to cycle together again in groups just yet, we can still get out on our bikes to enjoy some exercise and a change of scene. Plus, this is the time of year for planning our next cycling trips: at Cycling UK we’re already sketching out our exciting activities for 2021’s Bike Week and the Women’s Festival of Cycling, and we can all start to dream about where we’ll be riding when, finally, we are able to take trips again and venture further away from home. For me a trip anywhere in the UK sounds exotic right now, and I think we are all looking forward to returning to the social side of cycling once again – hopefully very soon.

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Councillors are being pressured by a loud minority of people to dismantle infrastructure that they invested in last year

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Interview

MARCIA ROBERTS

Last year, 54-year-old Marcia set the women’s record for LEJOGLE – Land’s End to John o’ Groats and back. She spoke to Dan Joyce

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ots of people have cycled more during the pandemic.

Marcia Roberts went further: she rode 1,742 miles from Land’s End to John o’ Groats and back again. She became the first woman to set a record for LEJOGLE: 11 days, 13 hours and 13 minutes.

In a sense, Covid-19 was the spur. She’d spent the previous winter training for a 1,890km bikepacking event, The Race Around the Netherlands. When that was cancelled, Marcia looked for a UK-based challenge.

“I thought about doing Land’s End to John o’ Groats,” she said. “But I’d never get the record because I couldn’t possibly beat Lynne Biddulph (who did it in 52 hours, 45 minutes and 11 seconds). So I thought: what about going there and back?”

Marcia contacted Guinness World Records, who confirmed that the women’s LEJOGLE record was up for grabs. Oddly, given the lack of a time to beat, they set her a target of seven days. That’s not that much longer than the men’s record and overlooked the fact that she was riding unsupported, staying in Travelodges and Premier Inns. (“Because you can get into them 24 hours a day – and they let you take a bike in.”)

Top: At the halfway point with husband Del Below: Marcia initially set herself a target of ten days

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“I had some choice words. They came back with eight and a half days,” she said. “I had to change my route to include a lot of main roads. Not just because they’re more direct but because they’re faster. You don’t stop on them so much.”

Marcia planned to ride four legs a day, each three and a half hours long. As an experienced audax cyclist, she knew she could do 50 miles in that time. Four legs would mean 200 miles a day – enough to meet Guinness’s schedule.

“That was the plan,” she said. “It worked well the first two days… Then Storm Francis hit. The actual storm just made me really wet and a bit fed up. But it was a low point because it caused so many additional problems.”

Chief among them were saddle sores. Her navigation also suffered: her Garmin wouldn’t work in torrential rain so she put it in a plastic bag, which steamed up, as did her glasses.

She couldn’t follow her Garmin’s pink route line.

“When I got to Penrith, for example, I went round in circles.

People were following my dot and going, ‘Where the hell is she? Why’s she back there again?’”

They were writing on the Facebook page Marcia set up for her LEJOGLE ride. The comments were her main source of motivation. “Whenever I sat down to have a cup of tea, I would glance at them – and it was amazing. Once you’ve got that support behind you, you can’t stop. You just can’t.”

Like any long ride, there were high points as well as lows.

“Between Loch Lomond and Glencoe, you go over the Black Mount,” she said. “I reached the top at sunset. It was incredible. My husband Del was waiting for me and there was no way I was just riding away from it. We stood there for about 20 minutes and watched the sun go down.”

While Marcia waits for Guinness to ratify her record, she is setting her sights on other long rides. In particular, she wants to the ride the 2021 Race Around the Netherlands in May. “I may have another go at the eight-and-a-half day LEJOGLE, if I can get support,” she said. “I’m also planning to do the North Coast 500 with a friend in August. For pleasure… but we’re still going to do a silly amount of miles a day.”

More about Marcia To enable other cyclists to join her in spirit, Marcia set up a virtual LEJOGLE – an idea she’ll use again for a coast-to-coast European challenge she has planned for 2021. Marcia’s blog is https://mawonavelo. com. Her LEJOGLE ride raised thousands for mental health charity Solent Mind.

Marcia’s Just Giving page is justgiving. com/fundraising/ marcia-roberts2021.

Details Where: UK, France and Italy Start/finish: Glasgow Distance: 10-35 miles/day by bike Pictures: Getty Images, Clive Parker

This page: Sunset over Naples, southern Italy Right: Santa Flavia, on the coast of Sicily

G R E AT R I D E S

TI CK E T TO R I D E

CLIVE PARKER Clive is a lifelong cyclist who sees a bike as simply a good way to get from A to B – and back, usually

Great Rides

TICKET TO RIDE Interrailing isn’t just for gap-year students. Clive Parker used a European travel pass and a Brompton for a whistle-stop tour of France and Italy

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utside a café in the village of Santa Flavia in Sicily, I was polishing off a lemon ice cream when a man whizzed by on a Brompton. I quickly chased after him as, apart from mine, I hadn’t seen another Brompton in the whole country. The Italian man sang the praises of his practical folding bike, his only regret being how hard they were to buy in Italy.

I had gone to Santa Flavia on the local train from Palermo so I could enjoy an exhilarating cycle ride along the rocky coast. Palermo is an ideal base for exploring Sicily, with beaches and mountain roads a short spin from the centre. It soon became one of my favourite Italian cities, brimming with history and bustling street cafés and restaurants. Grilled fish, pizza, Sicilian wines – I was in heaven.

Then I tried to fix a rear wheel puncture in my hotel room. With black gunge all over my hands, I belatedly realised the towels, bedcover, and curtains were all pristine white. What to do?

The helpful girl on reception rescued me from embarrassment with a handful of old rags she magicked from nowhere. Puncture fixed, I cycled off to visit Palermo’s wonderful 12th century Palatine Chapel to chill out.

AN INTERRAIL ITINERARY I’d come here by train and would need to head back home to Glasgow before my

People in Glasgow don’t believe me when I say you can reach the south of France in a day by train

Interrail ticket expired. That journey would take a few days, but there was no hurry. An essence of Interrail travel is that the journey is part of the holiday. Having said that, rail travel can be surprisingly quick when you’re used to flying.

People in Glasgow don’t believe me when I say you can reach the south of France in a day by train. Glasgow-London-Paris-Montpellier: three trains, plus quick jumps between stations in the capital cities, which is easy with a bike.

I spent a few days in France on my way to Italy, detouring slightly to Perpignan to see friends.

I discovered you could go anywhere by bus in Department 66 (Pyrénées-Orientales) for a flat fare of €1. My folding bike was no problem. The French were amazed by it.

I took the bus to Le Boulou for a ride up into the Albères Mountains, which form the border with Spain. Cycling back to the bus stop, local ladies watched me efficiently fold up my Brompton, culminating in a cheery “Voila!” when completed.

“Qué pratique!” (How practical!) one of them said. Yes, the Brompton is a wonder of British engineering, adding flexibility and variety to a holiday by train.

From the south of France, I headed around the coast into Italy, visiting a friend in Turin. His flat was a stone’s throw from the station. It was easy to find but he hadn’t told me about the nightclubs along the street, which kept me awake

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KEEP

CARLTON REID Bike industry expert Carlton was the founder and first editor of BikeBiz trade magazine. He was the PressGazette Transport Writer of the Year in the British Journalism Awards 2018.

THE PANDEMIC RESHAPED THE CYCLE INDUSTRY IN 2020, CREATING BOOMING SALES AND STOCK SHORTAGES. CARLTON REID QUESTIONS WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

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ovid is awful, clearly, but it has been undeniably transformative for cycling.

“Getting out on bikes has made a big difference to us as a family,” one young mum told me.

I spotted Emma Hamer cycling over the car-free Millennium Bridge that links Gateshead to Newcastle.

She was pulling her smiling daughters behind her in a child trailer. The bike was a lockdown purchase, as was the trailer. With cleated shoes, husband James was the family’s cyclist – he now has three converts.

“We had never been out for family cycle rides [before the pandemic], but now we go out every weekend,” enthused Emma, a PE teacher. Critically, this conversion to cycling isn’t just recreational. “I now cycle to and from work three times a week,” she said.

TRANSPORT MATTERS There will be no cycling revolution in the UK unless there’s an uplift in transport cycling, unless cycling to work becomes a habit. That is if there’s work to go to.

Millions are still furloughed, others have lost their jobs, and working from home is likely to become the norm for many.

Every transport mode took a hit during the first lockdown. According to the Bicycle Association, the

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Feature

B EAT THE B IKE L ASH Backlash against bike lanes doesn’t reflect public opinion – and local authorities tearing them out need to be told, writes Adrian Wills

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est known for its shops, cafés, and proximity to museums and galleries in one of the most upmarket boroughs in London, Kensington High Street became a key battleground in an active travel war in December.

At stake was an experimental bike lane installed by the council to promote cycling during the pandemic, at a time when public transport capacity had been greatly reduced.

The first shots were fired by the Mail on Sunday when it published an article from Kensington resident, actor Nigel Havers. Under the headline “Disastrous, poorly-designed and EMPTY cycle lanes have resulted in gridlock every day – and streets choked with fumes”, Havers moaned how his morning walk had been ruined by the smell of pollution. He was clear in his mind about the cause of the queue of traffic lined up nose-to-tail. The fault was entirely with the cycle lane that had been installed to make travelling around the city safer during the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

In the face of a such a devastating broadside, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea quickly capitulated, raising the white flag with a promise to remove bollards without delay. In rolled the cavalry to defend the cycle lane, in the form of campaign

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ADRIAN WILLS Adrian is head of communications at Cycling UK and a self-confessed roadie

group Better Streets for Kensington and Chelsea.

BBC presenter Jeremy Vine also waded into the row on his trusty folding steed, sharing an interview on his Twitter feed with a mother and her young daughter who relied on the route to safely travel to school. But all to no avail.

A last-minute rear-guard action was mounted by a group of Extinction Rebellion protesters, who delayed contractors brought in to strip out the lane, but even that wasn’t enough. Motor traffic was given back the full width of the road. Road workers even burned off the old white lines marking out the lane.

Problem solved, as far as the council was concerned, although the battle continues to rage.

POPULAR OPINION Kensington High Street might have snatched the headlines but it has been far from an isolated case. Councils up and down the country have been tearing out cycle lanes as fast as they’d been installed in the summer. The so-called bike lane backlash – bikelash – had become infectious.

From Aberdeen to Brighton, lanes were being removed by councils responding in many cases with a knee-jerk reaction to a few disgruntled motorists and businesses without properly assessing

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Biketest

The steel tourer with all the trimmings is a long lasting bike in more ways than one. Dan Joyce tests a Genesis Tour de Fer 30 and Bombtrack Arise Tour

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DAN JOYCE Editor Dan doesn’t like overgeared bikes because North Yorkshire has lots of steep hills. The photoshoot alone took in a 20% climb (Flixton Brow – V491 to hill climb fans)

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he traditional tourer fills a different role from the gravel bike, which supplanted its position in the adventure cycling spotlight. It’ll carry much more, whether camping gear or groceries; a front derailleur usually means a greater range of gears, especially lower ones; and it comes with equipment such as pannier racks and mudguards that make travel and transport cycling more convenient and cleaner. If you don’t mind some extra heft and can live without the gravel bike’s marketing fairy dust, a tourer is just as versatile.

The price of tourers is high, since they’re not mass market bikes. On top of that, currency fluctuations (ahem, Brexit) and soaring shipping costs have seen all bike prices rise steeply over the last few years.

The days of the £700 Dawes Galaxy are gone – as is the bike itself, which recently ceased production. A four-figure sum is standard even for an entry-level model like Ridgeback’s Voyage. Factor in higher-tier components and equipment like a hub dynamo and you’re likely looking at closer to £2,000.

Frame and fork Both bikes have robust chrome-moly steel framesets. The principal benefit over aluminium or even titanium isn’t so much that steel might be repaired by a blacksmith in Azerbaijan but, when built like this, that it’s surely less likely to break in the first place. These are not svelte frames with steel’s famed springy ride: they’re heavy, strong, and stiff. Ride comfort comes not from the frame material but from the wider tyres, ergonomic contact points, and geometry.

The Genesis is unusually long for a Medium frame – the same length, in fact, as the Bombtrack in Large. I like a long

Photos: Will Palmer Photography

Two grand tourers

The UK-designed Genesis Tour de Fer 30 – the name is a spin off from the brand’s popular Croix de Fer – is the top model of four, two of which have drop bars, two flats. The flat-bar bikes are £250-£350 cheaper and come with more practical gearing, so it’s worth considering how attached you are to drops. Maybe it’s time to try the trekking bike approach?

Bombtrack is a German company I initially thought was American because its bike range is reminiscent of Surly’s or Salsa’s. Its Adventure & Touring lineup is on point, style-wise – for example, one of its Fargo-like Bombtrack Beyond models comes with a porteur rack… and no mudguards. In fully-equipped contrast there’s also this, the Arise Tour.

STEEL TO U R ERS

BIKE TEST

First look

A sturdy and stable steel tourer with decent equipment and one obvious shortcoming: a 30/32 bottom gear

I like a long frame for a tourer. It gives more toe room so you don’t kick the front mudguard to bits

Tech Spec

GENESIS TOUR DE FER 30

frame for a tourer. It gives In terms of frame details, more toe room so you don’t the Bombtrack is a little kick the front mudguard different from the more to bits or catch it at the traditional Genesis. Its worst moment weaving dropouts are 12mm thruup a 20% climb. And the axles, which offer more longer wheelbase is good secure wheel retention and for stability. With a 100mm some extra stiffness at the stem, however, I could only hub – no bad thing for a comfortably ride it on the heavily laden bike. The rear bar tops. So I switched in a dropouts aren’t named but 60mm stem (pictured) for look like Paragon Machine the test. If I’d had one, 70mm Works sliding ones. They’d would’ve been better. enable you to tension the The Medium Bombtrack chain and continue riding if Top: Shimano Tiagra won’t fitted medium-height me you broke the rear derailleur. work with a large cassette – not unless you were to fit a as supplied, since it has Both bikes have a full derailleur hanger extender a shorter top tube and a complement of frame such as Wolf Tooth’s RoadLink Bottom: With only an 11-32 slightly shorter stem. The fittings. As well as rack and cassette, the 50-39-30 front centres distance (centre mudguard mounts, each will chainset yields huge gears of bottom bracket to centre carry three spare spokes of front hub) is shorter too. and at least three bottles.

With a mudguard over a big tyre, there’s The Bombtrack could take a fourth if you not much room for your toes – especially if fitted a cage to the top tube mounts meant you favour flat pedals. I frequently kicked for a small ‘fuel tank’ frame bag. the front mudguard during the test. The Components Medium is surely the overlappiest size Touring bikes need strong wheels. The since it’s the shortest frame to squeeze in Genesis has them. Its 36-hole Sun Rhyno big-tyred 700Cs (as well as mudguards); Lite rims are heavy duty hoops intended the Small and Extra Small have 650B for mountain biking. They’d actually be wheels. If I were buying, I’d be tempted to better suited to wider, lower pressure tyres fit a correspondingly shorter stem to the than the 37mm Marathons fitted – if only longer-framed Large.

KMC X10 chain, Shimano CS-HG500 10-speed 11-32 cassette. Shimano Tiagra 4700 shifters and derailleurs.

30 ratios, 26-126in.

Braking: Shimano Tiagra levers, TRP Spyre-C mechanical discs, 160mm rotors with 6-bolt-toCenterlock adaptors.

Steering & seating: 420×31.8mm Genesis flared drop bar, 100mm×6º Genesis stem, threadless headset. Genesis saddle, 27.2×350mm Genesis seatpost.

Equipment: M Part Summit rear rack, Tubus Tara front rack, Sunnywheel mudguards, B&M IQ-8 front lamp, B&M Secula rear lamp, 3 bottle cages (inc one Monkii cage) genesisbikes.co.uk

Price: £1,999.99 Sizes: XS, S, M (tested), L, XL Weight: 15.26kg/ 33.57lb (no pedals) Frame & fork: Reynolds 725 chrome-moly steel frame with fittings for rear rack, mudguard, 3 bottles, 3 spokes. Chromemoly steel fork with fittings for low-rider rack and mudguard.

Wheels: 37-622 Schwalbe Marathon tyres, 622×27 Sun Ringle Rhyno Lite rims, 36×3 steel spokes, Shimano DH-UR700-3D dynamo front hub, Shimano Deore FHM6000 rear hub.

Transmission: 175mm Shimano Tiagra chainset with 50-39-30 chainrings, Shimano BB-RS300 bottom bracket, Dimensions in millimetres and degrees

680 578 790

73.5˚

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60

135

452

630 71.5˚

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510

706

175 280

622

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Details

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

1 Grouptest

Saddlebags

A large enough saddlebag enables almost any bike to carry a reasonably sized load. Richard Hallett tests four

W RICHARD HALLETT Technical Editor Weatherproofing is important for luggage that Richard uses.

He lives in West Wales…

hile the classic saddlebag may be the epitome of British cycle touring tradition, it is also finding favour with bikepackers keen to take advantage of its convenience, ease of attachment, and substantial capacity. Usually attached behind the saddle as the name says, it is feasible with all but the largest models to fasten them instead to the handlebar.

As when choosing any style of cycle luggage, it is worth bearing in mind the effect of weight on the cycle’s handling. This is especially important given that: the capacity of some saddlebags can be greatly increased by simply opening an extendable flap; they sit high on the cycle; and that a heavily-loaded saddlebag attached to the saddle or its post applies a considerable bending force to the post and to the frame’s seatpost cluster, which may be an issue on a lightweight machine. This aside, strapping a saddlebag to any cycle is all that’s really needed to turn it into a tourer.

Capacity

As ever, be aware that luggage tends to increase to fill the space available, and that a heavy saddlebag puts a significant bending load on the seatpost.

neck help to keep out rain.

4

Pockets & loops

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Attachment

Twin straps require saddle loops or a fixture attached to the saddle. Alternatives add weight but also load capacity.

Internal partitions keep small items from rattling around but may limit capacity.

External storage helps keep small items separate and easily accessible.

External loops allow additional large items to be strapped to the outside.

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Weatherproofing

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Water-resistant fabric and a top flap or drawstring-cinched

Weight

Don’t forget to include the weight of any attachment system used.

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3

1 4 5

Cycle’s test promise At Cycle, we are proudly independent. There’s no pressure to please advertisers as we’re funded by your membership. Our product reviews aren’t press releases; they’re written by experienced cyclists after thorough testing.

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TRAVELLERS’ TALES

Joseph en route to Niederkrossen, central Germany

Germany

Radweg rookies Social distancing in Scotland via solo wild-camping

Scotland

Cairngorm wild-camping Last September, John Phillip managed to pack an adventure into four panniers and five days

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long with limited leave from work, the pandemic complicated plans I had for a cycling trip in 2020. My solution was a five-day wild-camping cycle trip in Scotland when the lockdown lifted. I could pack an adventure into a short, Covid-secure break.

I started at Inverness, having arrived by train from York, and cycled out of the city in the afternoon. Riding past the Culloden battlefield towards Nairn, I was soon among gorgeous woodland.

My first night’s camp was at Loch Lochindorb, where I was greeted by fabulous views and hungry midges.

Repellent was the one thing I had forgotten…

To make the most of the early autumn light, I rose early. A lovely descent to Carrbridge for provisions was followed by a spin along a minor road to Grantown-on-Spey. I followed a quiet main road into the Cairngorms proper, spending my second night at the old Lecht mine workings. At an elevation of 700m, I was mostly out of

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the reach of the insects.

From the Lecht ski area next morning, I had a magical view of a temperature inversion. Past Cock Bridge and Corgarff Castle, I followed the lonely military road through grouse moorland towards Balmoral Castle. In the woodland between Ballater and Aboyne I spotted red squirrels. Leaving Deeside, I had a steep climb up towards Cairn O’ Mount.

I pitched camp above the river in Glen Dye on a glorious evening.

I was woken by grouse calling – thankfully without answering guns.

Another steep climb rewarded me with views across the Howe of the Mearns and all the way to the sea. I descended from the Cairngorms and had a cuppa at a hotel in Glen Cova. As the daytrippers headed home, I began my search for a camping spot.

My last day took me to Dundee for the train home. I spent around £90 on train fares (advance tickets) plus £50 on camping food and café stops. Wild camping means you get a lot of bang for your buck.

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FE B R UARY / MARCH 2021

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Three days on German cycleways sold David Futter on touring DESPITE BEING A lifelong cyclist, my touring was limited to day trips. My son, Joseph, decided this should change. Last August he planned us a quick jaunt from our home in Rudolstadt in central Germany to Magdeburg. We were able to follow well-maintained and signposted ‘radwege’ throughout – first along the River Saale to the Elbe, then downstream to Magdeburg.

The first section was familiar. We rode it in the clear light of a fine summer morning.

Soon we were into new territory, passing castles, vineyards and villages nestling in the steep-sided valley. As the day wore on, the valley became flatter, the shade harder to find, and the temperature hotter, reaching the mid-thirties by late afternoon. We reached our first destination – Weißenfels – fried from the sun.

Overnight the weather broke, but the torrential rain was over by the time we set out. The day stayed dry and overcast – a relief after roasting the previous afternoon.

The terrain was quite different now: a wide valley with the Saale meandering through it. Halle was our lunch stop, with the statue of Handel watching us. From there we went through farmland and villages to our next destination, Calbe.

The final day was a short trip to the end of the Saale, and onwards to Magdeburg.

I came back on the train, whilst Joseph extended his trip to Wittenberg.

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