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.
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.
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 337 777
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.
From the editor
Earlier this year, I rode my first mountain bike enduro: Yorkshire’s Boltby Bash. It was great fun, feeling more like day out riding new trails than a competitive event. I was nevertheless pleased to win my category.
Admittedly, that category existed only in my head. There was no prize for the fastest rider on a fully rigid bike. In fact, there was no one else there on a rigid bike. The actual podiums were populated exclusively by far more skilled riders on full-suspension bikes. I was never going to challenge them, but then nor were the vast majority of entrants.
The solution, in this as in many cycling endeavours, is to set your own victory conditions. Mine were: complete the event on my Jones Plus LWB; enjoy it. Tick, tick.
Most mountain bike racers ride full-suspension bikes because in race situations they’re faster. But most of us don’t race (or not to win). There are far more important things than having the fastest, lightest or objectively optimal bike. Starting with: a bike that suits your riding; a bike that you enjoy riding.
Hardtail mountain bikes, like the two in this issue, remain popular in the UK because they suit UK conditions, where descents are fairly short, trails are often tight and weather conditions can be challenging. They’re cheaper. They can be more engaging, turning red-graded trails into black. You get more bang for your buck.
44 Shop window
Quick releases
04 Freewheeling
Bits and pieces from the bike world
07 Quick releases
Accounting for active travel; bike care from Evans Cycles; AGM voting; Cycling UK’s summer raffle; new Royal Chilterns Way route; and more
Tour & explore
18 Rail & bus Lincs
Touring Lincolnshire by folding bikes and public transport
24 Weekender
Etape Loch Ness –a 100km road ride in Scotland’s Great Glen 26 Riding into history
Previews of new products
46 Books
Cycling inspiration when you’re stuck inside
48 Trail hardtails
Merida Big Trail 500 and Voodoo Loco on test
55 Pashley
Roadfinder X
Made-in-the-UK steel
gravel bike with classic looks reviewed
58 Front pannier racks
Four racks for providing extra pannier capacity on tour
The moral of the story? Whatever kind of cyclist you are, you don’t need to have the optimal bike. You just need a bike. If it does what you want and you enjoy riding it, you’re winning.
DAN JOYCE Editor
Bikepacking 350km and through 10,000 years on King Alfred’s Way
Feature
30 Mind the gap
Four female cyclists consider how to bridge UK cycling’s gender divide
Reviews
39 Gear
Components and accessories tested
Real Yellow Jersey winner Hamida Jogee
68 Q&A
Your technical, health and legal questions answered
1× automatic shifting system called Q’AUTO that is powered by a dynamo in the rear hub. To begin with, you change gear with a (battery-powered) Di2 shifter but “adaptive learning software” then shifts gear for you according to the patterns bike.shimano.com
On pages 55−56 you’ll find Guy Kesteven’s review of a Pashley Roadfinder X, one of the company’s new gravel bikes. Like Pashley’s other bikes, it’s made here in the UK, and Guy visited Stratford-upon-Avon to see it being assembled. As well as a subsequent ride video, he filmed his factory tour. You can watch part one here: bit.ly/guykestv-pashley-visit
shifts gear for you according to the patterns you’ve established.
Your local cycling group wants you! Visit cyclinguk.org/ group-listing and join them for a ride this weekend
Freewheeling
A short tour around the wonderful world of cycling
Dr Sarah Ruggins
Double End-to-End record holder (2,700km in 5 days, 11 hours, 14 minutes – see the website lejogle.org for more details)
Why do you cycle? As a means to celebrate my life and find my limits, both physically and mentally. How far do you ride each week? I train in hours, not mileage. This varies depending on my event schedule, but typically 15−30 hours per week on the bike and 3−6 hours strength training in the gym. Which of your bikes is your favourite?
I love my Liv road bike, which I use for competitions. It’s the EnviLiv Advanced Pro 0 AXS. I do much of my day-today and casual riding on my trusty Cannondale Topstone Carbon 3 gravel bike, which I’ve put about 50,000km on in just over two years. It’s still going strong! What do you always take with you when cycling? A good playlist and my Wahoo Elemnt ACE bike computer. Who mends your punctures? Anyone but me unless I’m truly in a bind! It’s raining: bike, public transport or car? Bike. As my coach says (and as I’ve learned the hard way), there’s no bad weather, only bad kit choices. Lycra or normal clothes? If I’m training,
bike
Fastest circumnavigation of Britain by bike
This summer, not long after Dr Sarah Ruggins broke the men’s and women’s LEJOGLE record (see below), former pro Molly Weaver smashed the overall record for the fastest circumnavigation of Britain by bike. She completed her 7,730km ride in 21 days, 10 hours and 48 minutes, taking 17 hours off the previous best, which was set by Cycle contributor Nick Sanders way back in 1984. Her three-week journey, in which she averaged more than 350km every day, raised over £10,000 for the RNLI. You can read more about her ride at ontheedge.cc
Freewheeling
Lycra. If I’m riding casually, an old T-shirt and a pair of Vans. If you had £100 to spend on cycling, what would you get? Probably a new pair of Gore gloves. My early morning rides are cold so I’m always in them and go through them quite quickly. What’s your favourite cycle journey? I loved racing the 4,500km journey from France to Istanbul in last year’s Transcontinental Race. What single thing would most improve matters for UK cyclists? Wider bike lanes that are not filled with debris!
Nadia Kerr , a Cycling UK trustee and cycling accident solicitor, is taking on one of the UK’s toughest endurance rides – London Edinburgh London (LEL) – to raise funds for Cycling UK. The 1,500km challenge must be completed in under five and a half days, with riders balancing sleep, food and more than 900 miles of pedalling while the clock keeps ticking.
Your ride
A long-distance enthusiast, Nadia first experienced LEL as a volunteer at the Moffat checkpoint in 2022, supporting exhausted riders through tears, triumphs and everything in between. This year, it’s her turn to take on the course. Nadia explains: “It’s not a race, but it’s certainly a serious test of endurance, determination and, above all, passion for a cause that really matters to me.”
Eco-friendlier tyres
Nadia is aiming to raise £1 for every kilometre she rides, supporting Cycling UK’s ‘My ride. Our right’ campaign to make cycling safer and more accessible for women and girls. Follow Nadia’s journey and support her challenge here: justgiving.com/page/nadia-kerr-6
Tyres are an environmental issue, with used ones filling landfill sites, causing pollution and fuelling fires. Tyres for motor vehicles are the biggest problem but bicycle tyres aren’t blameless. Not all bike tyres are equal, however.
Continental, which also makes dandelionrubber Taraxagum tyres (pictured), has now received “the highest possible platinum sustainability rating from EcoVadis” (BikeBiz, 2/7/25). continental.com
Quick releases Cycling news and views from around the UK
Accounting for active travel
More and long-term funding for cycling has been one of Cycling UK’s key asks for many years. Yet it’s increasingly difficult to work out how much money has been specifically allocated by governments for active travel, might be spent from other discretionary funding streams, or has actually been spent.
In June the UK government published the first multi-year spending review since 2021. Most funding-related decisions affecting cycling are devolved, so from a cycling perspective the spending review was only directly relevant in England.
While local authorities want more money from central government, it’s the stop-start nature of government investment in cycling that causes huge uncertainty. So, parking the question
“It was good to see a four-year £616m settlement for Active Travel England”
of how much, it was good to see a four-year £616 million settlement for Active Travel England.
In March 2023 the last government cut the dedicated active travel budget for the next two years by 75%. It’s very hard for local authorities to develop and deliver active travel schemes when funding is turned off like that.
Last year the current government reversed those cuts, but only partially. That £616 million settlement equates to £154 million a year – less than the £274 million active travel funding provided in 2022-23 (before the March 2023 cuts).
But here’s where it gets complex. On top of the £616 million dedicated funding for active travel, £9 billion was allocated for the same four-year period through Transport for City Regions settlements for a wider range of sustainable transport measures. There’s also a Local Transport Grant of £2.3 billion from 2027-30, which the government says will quadruple in real terms by 2029-30 relative to 2024-25. Money from both of those will almost certainly be spent on active travel, but how much?
So, it’s great that we have now have multi-year funding, but the dedicated funding for active travel is still well below the total funding needed. How much that dedicated funding will be supplemented by other funding streams? We’re still trying to find out!
Light up the night
No one should feel forced to choose between busy roads and dark, isolated paths. That’s why Cycling UK is calling on supporters across the UK to organise mass rides to light up the darkness and demand safer cycle routes on 22 October 2025.
Look out for more information over the summer. We’ll be running regular webinars and providing guides, social media templates and a map of planned rides across all four nations to help you organise and promote your own.
Want to get involved? Email campaigns@cyclinguk.org
➜
Transport minister supports Cycling UK
After Local Transport Minister Simon Lightwood visited Big Bike Revival partner Northside Bikes in Leicester, he was spotted wearing a Cycling UK badge in Parliament. Find out about The Big Bike Revival at: cyclinguk.org/bigbikerevival.
Quick releases COMMUNITY
Cyclefriendly employers
The University of Sunderland has recently been awarded Gold status as a Cycle Friendly Employer, joining a growing list of accredited workplaces including Teesside University, Northumbria University, Newcastle City Council, and the RVI in Newcastle. Newcastle also hosts one of the UK’s first Cycle Friendly Buildings: One Trinity Gardens. Think your workplace could be a Cycle Friendly Employer?
Ask your HR or facilities team to get in touch today. cyclinguk.org/cyclefriendly-employer
Bike bus just the ticket
Cycling UK’s Scotland Advocacy Lead, Scott Runciman, recently joined the Flora Stevenson Bike Bus to celebrate its first birthday – a joyful ride that also highlighted the urgent need for safer routes to school. More than 30 riders, campaigners and families took part. Bike buses are a fun, practical solution, but they also spotlight what’s missing: safe everyday routes for children. Follow our ‘My ride. Our right’ campaign (p30) to see how you can get involved and help create lasting change. cyclinguk.org/flora-stevenson-bike-bus
02
Empowered to ride
Cycling UK, funded by CoMo UK, will be running free training sessions for on-street hire e-bikes and e-scooters in Salford. The sessions are open to residents in Greater Manchester with a disability or long-term health condition, and will give an introduction to using the apps, planning journeys and building confidence on the e-bikes and e-scooters. Delivered in partnership with Lime e-scooters and Starling Bank e-bikes, free access will be provided during the sessions. cyclinguk.org/e-bikescooter-training
Are you Eryri ready?
Dreaming of taking on a big ride next year? Entries for Cycling UK’s 2026 challenge events are now open, with rides including London to Paris and London to Geneva. Looking for something closer to home?
Take on Snowdon Sea to Summit – an unforgettable journey by kayak, bike and on foot from coast to peak through some of Wales’s most stunning landscapes. (See cyclinguk.org/cycle/ biking-snowdon for advice if you ever want to cycle on Snowdon.) cyclinguk.org/ fundraising/Snowdon
Thank Evans for bike care!
Have you been making the most of the sun by spending more time in the saddle? Maybe it was a leisurely cycling holiday with the kids, lots of long club rides or you tackled one of our longdistance routes. Now it’s time to give your bike a bit of TLC.
Well, we’ve got some good news for you. We are thrilled to have begun partnering with Evans Cycles, the UK’s No.1 specialist cycling retailer, unlocking some great new benefits for members across the country.
Free 10−point bike health check
You can pop into any Evans Cycles store nationwide and get your bike looked over by the pros. They’ll handle the quick fixes and provide a report of anything that might need more attention – all in just 15 minutes while you wait. It’s quick.
It’s easy. It’s free. And it could save you from a roadside repair. There’s no need to book; just take your bike and your Cycling UK membership card to your closest store. cyclinguk.org/evans-bike-check
25% off bike servicing
Whether you’ve been putting in miles or you just want to be sure your bike is ready for autumn, a service will keep your wheels turning, and we’ve got you covered. From ride-ready tune-ups to full strip-downs, Evans Cycles’ expert mechanics will keep your ride smooth, safe and ready for anything with this exclusive discount. cyclinguk.org/ evans-bike-service
And we’re just getting started. More exclusive member perks will be rolling out in September. Watch this space.
Saddle up this autumn
If you’re thinking about your next getaway, we’ve got the deal for you. Our holiday partner Saddle Skedaddle have updated their offer for our members. Until 30 September 2025 you can claim: 5% off selected group trips departing this autumn, worth up to £260; and halfprice bike hire for any holiday in the UK, Spain or Italy, worth up to £300. cyclinguk. org/saddle-skedaddle
Bag an Ortlieb discount
Cycling UK has partnered with leading outdoor equipment brand Ortlieb to offer our members an exclusive 10% discount on all online purchases. Whether you’re looking for bikepacking bags for that cycling break you’re planning, or just sprucing up your commuter panniers, Ortlieb has the solution. The company also stocks backpacks, protective cases for your maps and electronics, camping accessories and more – so you’ll be sorted for your outdoor needs both on and off the bike. cyclinguk.org/10−ortlieb
Quick releases
NEWS & EVENTS
Want to know more?
For member group advice, visit cyclinguk.org/ local-groups
Your vote matters
At last year’s AGM we were very pleased to see such strong member engagement in the charity’s governance, with many of you voting on the proposed resolutions and joining us online for the event. We’d like to take this opportunity to share an update on the impact of two resolutions that were successfully carried in 2024.
Recognising the central role our member groups play in bringing cycling to life in communities across the UK, members voted in favour of increasing the maximum annual group contribution from £200 to £250. These groups are at the heart of Cycling UK, organising an average of 160 rides every week and contributing to an incredible 730,000 hours of organised rides each year. With this increased support, we’re better placed to help them grow their activity and inspire more
Cycling UK AGM
people to experience the joy of cycling. You also passed a motion that gave the Board the option to increase the number of co-opted Cycling UK trustees from three to four, providing greater flexibility to appoint a trustee with particular skills or experience. As a result, Fiona Abbott was appointed in March for an initial term of three years.
As Transformation Director at Kantar, a global market research agency, Fiona brings extensive expertise in leadership, organisational change and behavioural science. Fiona has provided valuable strategic input during a period of internal transformation, supporting the staff team on refining and embedding culture, values and ways of working to better position Cycling UK to deliver on happier, healthier and greener lives through cycling.
DIARY DATES
Cycle to Work Day
The UK’s largest cycle commuting event, Cycle to Work Day, takes place on 7 August this year. The aim is to get as many people riding to work as possible. For six reasons to try it, visit: cyclinguk.org/ cycle-to-work-day.
London
The 1,540km London Edinburgh London audax event runs from 3-8 August. For more information, including a video, live tracking and volunteering opportunities, visit londonedinburgh london.com.
Our AGM for 2025 will be held at 11am on Friday 19 September. The meeting will be online. Your ballot papers are included with this issue of Cycle. To book your place you must register, before 9.00am on Friday 12 September 2025, at cyclinguk.org/agm-2025. Voting takes less than five minutes so please do take the time to register your vote. You don’t need to attend the meeting in order to vote: you can vote by post or online. Full details are given in your papers.
Member Groups, such as Sheffield CTC, can now receive £250 per year from Cycling UK, thanks to a motion passed at the 2024 AGM
Quick releases
1st prize
Win a Raleigh e-bike, a cycling holiday & more
Cycling UK’s summer raffle is now open, with tickets costing just £2. Visit cyclinguk.org/ summerraffle to get yours for a chance to win one of 20 great prizes.
This year’s top prize is a Raleigh Modum electric bike worth £2,650. It’s a unisex e-bike for urban riding, with a stylish frame and nimble 20in wheels. This compact e-bike can also haul cargo thanks to its integrated, MIK-compatible rear rack, Bosch Performance Line motor and 500Wh battery. For easy home storage, the handlebar can be twisted through 90 degrees.
Second prize is a Saddle Skedaddle cycling holiday voucher worth £500. It’s an ideal opportunity to do a guided, bargain-priced tour on one of Cycling UK’s long-distance routes.
Third prize is a Kalas x Cycling UK jersey bundle plus our Adventure Series guidebooks (Traws Eryri, Great North Trail, King Alfred’s Way and West Kernow Way). So you can explore the Great British countryside in top-quality kit.
But we’ve also got lots more prizes up for grabs, featuring top brands like Rab, Evans Cycles, Gtechniq, Ordnance Survey, Hiplok, Pelotan and more. Whether you’re into cycling adventures or bike care, there’s a prize to suit
2nd prize
How to play
you. And remember: the more tickets you purchase, the more chances you have to win.
3rd prize
Enter online at cyclinguk.org/ summerraffle or scan the QR code for tickets. Entries must be made by 11:59pm on 30 September 2025. If you have difficulty entering online, you can place a raffle ticket order by phone on 01483 238301. Your raffle ticket numbers will be emailed to you after purchasing. The draw will take place on or before 10 October 2025. Winners will be notified by email or telephone within a working week.
How
to donate
If you’d like to support us but don’t want to play the raffle, you can donate via the website: cyclinguk. org/donate.
Scan the QR to play
Our raffle-playing community enables real change to happen across the UK. Since 2018 you’ve raised more than £261,000, resulting in:
• More campaigning for better infrastructure for cycling.
• More project work to educate and enable cycling for all across the UK.
• More work designing and promoting new longdistance cycling routes for everyone to enjoy.
To buy your tickets, scan the above QR code or visit cyclinguk.org/summerraffle. By taking part in this online raffle and encouraging your cycling friends and family to join in, you’ll help support our vital charitable and campaigning work.
The Cycling UK summer raffle is open to all England, Scotland and Wales residents on or over 18. Please gamble responsibly. Full terms and conditions can be found at cyclinguk. org/raffle-terms.
Quick releases
ROUTES
Royal Chilterns Way
This August we’re launching our latest long-distance bikepacking route: Royal Chilterns Way. It will be our ninth multi-day route and the seventh in our newly created Adventure Series. Full details, including the GPX file, will be available on 18 August when it’s officially launched, but we can give you an exclusive preview here.
Royal Chilterns Way is the creation of ride guide and route planner Max Darkins in conjunction with Cycling UK. It’s 280km long in total, and was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Gill Foundation and our many route donors.
The route runs through the stunning scenery and picture-postcard villages of the Chiltern Hills and the surrounding area. It’s a hilly ride, with 4,700m of elevation, but every climb offers a great view and a thrilling descent. We’ve created an itinerary in our guidebook to help you break it up into sections.
As well as rolling hills and ancient woodland, there’s plenty more to see along the way. There are stately
Back to my roots
homes and historic buildings, such as the Royal Abbey in Reading, the semi-fortified Chennies Manor House and the remains of Berkhamsted Castle, which dates back to the 11th century. It’s this regal heritage that accounts for the Royal of the route’s name. There’s also lots of wildlife to spot, ranging from lizards, deer and red kites through to wallabies, which have thrived after escaping from local zoos and private collections. As well as marsupials and medieval mansions, there’s an abundance of cafés and pubs. Stopping at them to refuel makes a big difference to these local
Route designer and local Max Darkins gives his take on Royal Chilterns Way.
Growing up in the Chilterns sparked my passion for cycling and inspired a lifelong love of the area. Having had the benefit of cycling all over the UK, these chalk escarpments, beautiful beech woodlands and quirky eateries still provide some of my favourite adventures. This lesser-known part of the South-East has so much to offer and explore. On this route you will get to experience everything that the Chilterns has to offer, ranging from verdant landscapes to historic market towns, medieval earthworks and majestic rivers. And to top it off, the area is just bursting with farm shops, cafés, vineyards, breweries and country pubs. There is a wide range of accommodation to choose from – hotels, B&Bs, campsites and even churches!
Quick releases
Tour guides
businesses. In fact, the economic benefit of cycle tourism is one of the driving forces behind supporting and growing our Adventure Series. Cycle travellers take 1.23 million overnight trips each year, contributing £433 million to the UK economy.
Our Adventure Series routes contribute to Cycling UK’s vision of happier, healthier and greener lives through cycling because they can improve the health and wellbeing of anyone who rides them. Access to nature and green spaces is hugely important for people’s mental and physical health, and these routes are embedded in some of the UK’s finest countryside.
Royal Chilterns Way is readily accessible by public transport, being served by two London Underground lines and multiple overland stations. Although it runs through scenic countryside, it’s close to major towns and road networks, too. The 280km route consists of three loops that intersect, so you can ride just some of it if the full distance seems daunting.
You can find out more about Royal Chilterns Way at cyclinguk.org/routes/long-distance from 18 August onwards. A ride report will appear in the Dec/Jan issue of Cycle.
Our Adventure Series showcases the best bikepacking trails across the UK. The routes are designed to be ridden over a number of days to enable you to take in the beauty of the regions they pass through, explore places of interest and discover hidden histories that make these locations come to life. Along with a downloadable GPX of the route, a ringbound guidebook is available for each of them. These guides are the perfect companion for planning and for your travels, as they include OS mapping, navigation advice and alternative route options alongside background information relating to the sights and scenery you’ll encounter. Get your copies now at shop.cyclinguk.org
Top left & near left: Robyn Furtado. Far left: Peter Cornish
Clockwise from far left: View over Whiteleaf hamlet. The routes of Cycling UK’s Adventure Series. The guides. Pitstone Windmill. One of the many bridleway descents. Wallingford Castle ruins
Top:At Grantham station
Bottom: The River Witham and St Wulfram’s Church, Grantham, one of Lincolnshire’s famous tall spires
Great rides
Rail & bus Lincs
Using folding bikes and public transport, Susanna Thornton and her 88-year-old father explored the landscapes and historical buildings of Lincolnshire
Acycling holiday. With your dad. Are you sure that’s a good idea?” my friend said over the phone. “How old is your dad now?”
“He’s 88,” I said.
“And are you really going on folding bikes? It doesn’t sound very comfortable…” I mumbled something about how great Dad’s new folder was.
“Where are you going?” she asked. “Grantham,” I said, brightly. Which also didn’t help. Each time we say we are planning a cycling adventure, people say, “Are you sure? Why not use a car?” and so on. And Dad isn’t a lifelong cyclist. He got a bike when he retired. He uses it for local errands and 10-mile spins for pleasure. But I was pretty sure we could do up to 15 miles each day. That’s enough for a great cycling holiday. We’d
tootle around with three or four planned stops each day, with time for impromptu breaks. To get out to the areas that we wanted to see, we would use trains and buses. Hence the folding bikes.
Tickets to ride
My plan was a four-day exploration of Lincolnshire. It’s one of “the least known and least appreciated” English counties according to writer Simon Jenkins, who says this region of the North-East between the Humber and the Wash offers “a rare opportunity of seeing unsung treasures in an uncluttered landscape”.
“Sounds brilliant,” said Dad. “Let’s go.”
So then there was the question of where to stay. My friend had a point about Grantham. Even the Visit Lincolnshire website concedes that the town is “industrial”. But you can get to Grantham by direct train from both Stockport (for Dad) and London (for me). Local rail services can take you out of town in four directions, and it’s also a hub for buses.
I arrived at Grantham station on a sunny morning in late summer, and chatted with staff while waiting for Dad to arrive. When I say I’m on a cycling trip with my dad, people often react by thinking about their own father, how he is or was, their relationship, often a great mix of feelings. Dads are important.
“Oh, here he is!” cried the lovely lady from the ticket office, when Dad stepped off his train with his bike. She gave him a little hug. He was taken aback, but took it in his stride and hugged her back. It was such a nice way to arrive. “Aw, have a lovely time!” she said, as we waved and pedalled away.
Our first ride was to Belton Estate, a National Trust property north of the town. We cruised along a path by the River Witham, following National Cycle Network route 15, passing bandstands, bowling greens and tennis courts. The horse chestnuts by the river were just starting to turn. Late summer is a lovely season. My Brompton felt great and Dad was loving his new Btwin. At Harrowby Mill, we crossed over a bridge and stopped to watch the water.
Having reached Belton, we crunched along the drive through the deer park with the place to ourselves apart from a flock of sheep, which scattered as we approached. Belton House is a 17th-century mansion that was used as the stately home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the 1990s’ TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. At the Stables Café, we got free coffees for having arrived by bike, and two huge flapjacks. Then we
bowled back to town, with golden evening sunlight slanting through the weeping willows.
Awkward reverence
On day two, the goal was to explore the flat country out towards the Lincolnshire Fens. The weather was grey and windy so we put on our jackets. We wanted to begin today’s ride at Sleaford, a market town about 15 miles east of Grantham. So we caught the 9:32 train that runs along the branch line to the coast.
St Denys, Sleaford, was the first of a bunch of medieval Lincolnshire churches we planned to see. Cycling around visiting country churches is a lovely thing to do. Philip Larkin wrote a poem about it: Church Going. “I take off my cycle-clips in awkward reverence,” he wrote, about stepping inside a church.
Dad and I entered Sleaford’s parish church and tried to appreciate the window tracery, which we had read is what you’re supposed to do there. But we found the faces that the medieval masons had carved a lot more fun: pigs with big ears, a man in a floppy hat pulling a face, a woman in a wimple, smiling. People say the faces must be portraits of local people that the mason knew. We enjoyed looking at them through binoculars, our bikes propped up on tombstones.
We left Sleaford and headed east. The roads were flat and unfenced. We had big views of yellow stubble under huge, grey skies. The church at Ewerby, where we went next, has “more rude carving per metre” than
any other in the area, so we took the chance to see a few medieval men baring their bottoms, then headed to the Finchatton Arms and wolfed down soup and sandwiches.
A few miles further on, at Heckington church, the last on our list, our favourite thing was a carving of a girl feeding her squirrel. From Heckington, we hopped on a train back to Grantham, glad to be in the warmth after a day out in the wind.
Roaming off road
Our fenlands day had felt autumnal. The following morning, the forecast was for sun and summer again. Our plan was to explore an area along the Lincolnshire Edge, an escarpment that runs through the centre of the county. There were no railway stations near the places we wanted to go, so we would use buses instead.
We joined a chatty group of people waiting for the number 1 from Grantham to Lincoln. “Are you going to visit Mrs Smith’s Cottage?” people asked (several times). “What about Heckington Windmill?”
When the bus arrived it was already half full but it was no problem to stow our folded bikes in the area for wheelchairs and prams. An hour later we were in Navenby, a small village of limestone houses 10 miles south of Lincoln. We visited the medieval church, which was suffused with light, making me think of an aquarium. Then we cycled south
On the buses
Trains aren’t the only way to travel with your folding bike
Most buses take fully folded bikes. If you can’t find confirmation of this on the bus company’s website, check the FAQ (if there is one) or the conditions of carriage.
According to their rules, drivers for some bus companies could ask you to cover your bike, but no one has ever asked us to do so. Luggage/wheelchair/pram space is not huge, so taking folding bikes on board is fine for one or two but may not be realistic for groups.
The national bus price cap (currently £3) makes bus travel very affordable. If you have an older person’s bus pass, like Dad, you can travel free. Tickets are easy to buy. I could either pay by card when boarding or use the bus company app.
The main challenge is finding out where the fast, frequent buses run. Brendan Fox’s Bus Atlas UK website (busatlas.uk) is a godsend. County-by-county maps make it easy to see at a glance the principal interurban bus routes. Thick lines show those routes with frequencies of hourly or better, so it’s easy to plan trips.
Top left: Ermine Street is a Roman road that ran between London and York Top right: Temple Bruer tower
across the high heathland, golden in the sun, along a narrow lane that had once been the Roman road between London and York. The old road was empty and silent. We squinted into the sunlight, the road straight as an arrow as far we could see.
On the Ordnance Survey map, a section of this old road was white, meaning ‘other road, drive or track’. I thought it would just be unpaved, perhaps gravel. But to my alarm, we found ourselves struggling along between high banks of nettles and meadowsweet, ducking under swinging briars, with our wheels in deep tractor tracks. We had to walk. It was hot and tiring in the sun. I wondered what my friend would say…
The knights’ tale
We were heading to a place with the odd name of Temple Bruer. While researching the trip, I’d seen ‘Tower’ written in Gothic script on the map here, as well as a place called Temple Farm. I’d looked it up and found that this remote spot had been one of the richest Knights Templar preceptories in England, with a large Templar church, a manor house, farm buildings and cottages. The entire complex had melted into the soil – except for this one tower, which was still standing in a farmyard. I had rung Lincolnshire council to see if the tower was locked. No one knew. I asked Dad if he wanted to visit it.
“Apparently, if it is open, we might need a torch,” I’d said.
“We definitely want to go there,” Dad had replied.
We at last emerged from the
brambles and got back on our bikes, hugely relieved to see tarmac. Turning up Temple Farm Lane, we hesitated.
“We can always apologise,” said Dad. So we rolled gently on.
Suddenly, in front of a range of farm buildings, there it was: a tall, square tower, with smoothly faced walls. We leant up the bikes, climbed stone steps to the door and tried the handle. It turned! We shoved at the heavy wood, shoved again, and the door burst open. We tumbled into the tower. There were stone arches, benches and a worn, old tomb. It was dusty and echoed. There were mason’s marks and daisy-wheel symbols on the walls.
The tower was built in the 1200s. We fingered the worn arcades, under which the medieval soldier-monks and their sergeants and chaplains must have sat. Then we sat on the steps and drank tea from our flasks, listening to the sparrows in the hedges, before getting back on our bikes and zooming down to the plain.
In the afternoon, we stopped to look at a couple more medieval churches, then climbed up a huge hill back onto the Lincolnshire Edge. We pushed up the climb on foot. When we reached the top, we looked back the way we’d come. The road was dusty silver, the lowlands faraway and indistinct in the evening haze. We picked up the number 1 bus in the village. It took us back to Grantham as the sun went down.
“So how was the trip? Was your dad all right?” my friend asked, a few days later. He had loved it, I said, and so had I.
Fact file Rail & bus Lincs
Distance: Just over 30 miles of cycling in total.
Above: St Denys church, Sleaford. Travelling by bike meant that parking was no problem
Route: Dad travelled from Stockport to Grantham (East Midlands Railway, two hours), and I travelled from London (Hull Trains, one hour). We cycled a five-mile route to Belton House, a 10−mile rail-assisted route on the flat towards the fens and a 15−mile bus-assisted route along the Lincolnshire Edge.
Accommodation: We stayed at the Avenue Hotel, Grantham, returning each evening. The hotel stored Dad’s Decathlon Tilt in a secure shed, as it’s a 20−inch wheel bike and was awkward to carry upstairs. I stored my Brompton in my room.
Bikes used: Decathlon Btwin Tilt 500, Brompton C Line 3−speed.
Maps/guides: For planning and inspiration, we used the OS Landranger 130 (Grantham, Sleaford & Bourne) and the OS Maps app. To research buses, we used the Bus Atlas UK website map of Lincolnshire. To choose churches to visit, we used England’s Thousand Best Churches book by Simon Jenkins and the Great English Churches website by Lionel Webb.
I’m glad I had… Snacks and flasks for when energy levels dipped. Camping chairs, so we knew we could sit down whenever we wanted.
Binoculars to view the details of carvings.
Next time I would… Not hesitate, just go.
Bus travel: Bus Atlas UK website by Brendan Fox: busatlas.uk
Great English Churches website (Lionel Webb): greatenglishchurches.co.uk
Watch the YouTube video of our trip: bit.ly/cycle-busrail-lincs
Weekender
Etape Loch Ness
Every year Scotland’s Great Glen hosts a 100km sportive that starts and finishes in Inverness. Katherine Moore is your guide
Etape Loch Ness is one of those rare cycling events that manages to mix a huge field (6,000 riders!) on a spectacular closed-road loop with a wonderfully friendly atmosphere. Lining up for an early start at dawn, there’s a mix of regular club riders, ambitious racers and charity challenge riders, and the event caters for them all surprisingly well, with the support of a huge number of local volunteers.
The loop starts from the charming little city of Inverness, which has been dubbed the capital of the Highlands. It takes in both sides of Scotland’s most famed freshwater loch, Loch Ness.
As if riding beside the shores of Loch Ness wasn’t scenic enough, the return leg from Fort Augustus provides a hillier second half that is even more impressive. A sharp climb leads you up to Loch Tarff and onto General Wade’s Military Road, reaching up to nearly 400 metres of elevation. From up here, between the surrounding peaks and overlooking Loch nan Eun, it’s enough to take away what little breath you have left.
All that climbing is rewarded with a sublime open descent, before a narrow, twisting and undulating rollercoaster-like road through the
“As if riding beside the shores of Loch Ness wasn’t scenic enough, the return leg from Fort Augustus provides a hillier second half that is even more impressive”
trees takes you from Whitebridge back towards Loch Ness and your return to Inverness.
While the brilliant Etape Loch Ness event only takes place once a year (26 April 2026 is your next chance; register at etapelochness.com), this classic loop can be enjoyed at any time, making this a fantastic option for a day ride when visiting the Scottish Highlands.
Heading out along the northern shores of Loch Ness to start the sportive
Etape Loch Ness
KATHERINE MOORE
Cycling journalist and the author of Gravel Rides South West England
Route name: Etape Loch Ness Start/ finish: near Inverness Cathedral Maps: OS Landrangers 26 Inverness & Loch Ness and 34 Fort Augustus Ride length: 105km/65 miles
Climbing: 1,390 metres (4,560 feet) Bike type: road bike, touring bike or hybrid Ride level: regular and experienced GPX file: cyclinguk.org/ weekender-loch-ness
01
Urquhart Castle
Would it be a ride in the Highlands without a loch-side castle? From the road you can look down over the loch’s shores for an almost bird’s-eye view over the ruins of Urquhart Castle, which is worth a diversion. This large castle ruin has seen some tumultuous times, including the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century.
02
Invermoriston Falls
Easily seen from the road, this cascade may not be huge in size but it is certainly pretty enough to warrant a pause after you pass through Invermoriston. The bridge dates back to 1930, and it’s said that you can see salmon leaping here if you’re lucky, usually around the end of October.
03
Fort Augustus
The town of Fort Augustus lends itself well to a café stop halfway around the route, at the end of Loch Ness and the start of the Caledonian Canal. Fish and chips while you look out for Nessie? Or perhaps something lighter from DelightfulNess by the canal?
04
Loch Tarff and General Wade’s Military Road climb
There’s no getting away from the fact that this climb is a biggie, but there’s some light relief with a flatter middle section past Loch Tarff after the steep ramps at the start. Take your time and pace yourself; the views are worth it. The Etape Loch Ness event offers the full experience, with bagpipes to greet you at the summit!
05
Harry Gow Bakery, Inverness
Celebrate the end of the ride in style with a ‘dream ring’ from Harry Gow Bakery – a huge, cream-filled, icing-topped ring doughnut. It’s not easy to eat, but it’s a local delicacy to be savoured when visiting these parts.
06
The Castle Tavern, Inverness
For a proper post-ride refuel, the cyclist-friendly Castle Tavern comes highly recommended. With iconic views over the castle, this charming pub has plenty of character, and the food is excellent. Enjoy your meal from one of the cosy bar tables or from the beer garden out front.
King Alfred’s Way is Cycling UK’s most popular long-distance route. Member Mathew Page decided to explore it for himself this spring
Great
rides
King Alfred’s Way is five years old this year and already looks like a bikepacking must-do: Cycling UK’s guide for it has been downloaded 50,000 times. The 350km loop of southern England uses off-road trails, taking in diverse landscapes and 10,000 years of history.
There is a nominal start at the eponymous monarch’s statue in Winchester, but I decided to begin at Swindon, an £11 train ride from home. Not wishing to rush, I scheduled six days and divided up the journey using the Cycling UK guidebook to plan accommodation.
Day one: blue skies, bad bearings
As I pushed off from the kerb at Swindon, I was feeling confident. The first pedal rotation was met with a sharp click as my right foot passed the three o’clock mark. Then again. And again. The pedals were new. My decision not
to change the bottom bracket was looking like a mistake… As there was no play in the cranks, I continued –with fingers metaphorically crossed.
I joined King Alfred’s Way by a battered sign identifying the Ridgeway and the distances in either direction. I began a slow, clicking climb. Swathes of hawthorn blossom flanked the trail. Birdsong became audible, skylarks arpeggioing as they flickered into the sky, a yellowhammer offering his ‘little-bitof-bread-and-no-cheese’.
The first landmark was Wayland’s Smithy. Supposedly the workshop of the Saxon god of metal working, it’s a 5,000−year-old barrow, shaped like an inverted ship’s hull. I walked around it, before crawling inside to feel the damp stone under my knees. Back on the trail, a hare padded out into the centre of the path, looking me in the eye for a second before loping off into the hedge. It capped a fine day’s cycling, despite a bike that had begun clunking instead of clicking.
Riding into
At YHA Streatley, I phoned AW Cycles in Caversham and explained my predicament. “Call in first thing – I’m sure we’ll be able to help,” I was told.
Day two: benevolent bike shops I was on the Thames Path by 8am. The first swallows of the trip were swooping around meadows where well-groomed horses grazed. By 9.15am I’d reached AW Cycles and by 9.35am my bike had a new bottom bracket.
position and I was back on the road with a promise of a five-star Google review and my dad undisturbed. The bunkhouse at Puttenham provided a decent mattress, a hot shower and a good kitchen.
Thanking them, I slipped down a side road to rejoin the trail. Four hours later, I was pedalling up a country lane when I felt my left foot move at an erratic angle. The crank was loose. I stopped, knowing that to lose the bolt would be a disaster. It was gone. I freewheeled back a mile to look for it. No joy. I thought about phoning my father for a rescue but there was no signal. Surely Fleet would have a bike shop? I began a 10km walk.
Pedal Heaven was buzzing with a Pinarello demonstration day. The sight of a cyclist crank arm in hand was met with sympathy and a cup of coffee. The diagnosis was worn splines. A new bolt was Loctited into
Day three: sun, sand and sea Day three began in beech woods. “This is the best section of the route,” a fitter cyclist shouted as he disappeared up the hill in front of me. There are various points on the map where you might be tempted to miss a section. Don’t do it. Frensham Common is such a detour but it’s there for a reason: it is a site of Special Scientific Interest with sweeping views. Just be aware that sections of the trail are a soft sand that beaches would envy – a feature responsible for my only tumble of the trip.
Day four: monarchs and monuments
Opening the tent in the early morning, a barn owl was making one final pass of the hedge before heading home.
The South Downs Way takes the route closest to the hilltops except where it plunges into valleys, necessitating a gravelly scramble up the other side. On Twyford Down I paused to view Winchester. Traffic on the M3 roared as I dropped down from the bucolic wonders of chalk grassland into the clamour of urban life. King Alfred stands victorious above his city’s main street; I leant the bike and took pictures.
At the Devil’s Punchbowl, I took my coffee break and enjoyed the view among hundreds of day-trippers and motorcyclists, who buzzed like wasps along the byways. I reached the South Downs Way that afternoon, grateful for the National Trail way-marking. At the summit near South Harting, I looked out over the English Channel.
King’s Somborne proudly declares its association with John of Gaunt, but I was more interested in its yew trees. Dozens of ancient specimens mark boundaries, their role long forgotten. In chalk-stream country, away from the hills, fast-moving bodies of water moved across white beds of stone, green weed pulled taut like linen on freshly made beds. Dinner was locally caught wild trout.
What bike?
Gravel and mountain bikes can both work but wider tyres do help
Having seen photos of the route in wet weather, I made the decision to use my mountain bike long before a weather forecast was available. While slower, I enjoyed the sure-footedness of a bike that I am used to slinging around local singletrack. I saw a couple of riders on rigid 29ers with bikepacking gear, and they seemed to cope well. Everyone was using similar (2.3in) knobbly tyres as me. Depending on how much you need to carry, a gravel bike is probably fine. I wouldn’t recommend a tourer.
Fact file
King Alfred’s Way
Distance: 350km (217 miles).
Route: I joined King Alfred’s Way 12km south-east of Swindon.
Conditions: This spring was unusually dry, so it was a lot less muddy than sometimes reported. Surfaces vary between loose gravel, hard chalk, deep ruts and rooty woodland.
Bike used: Trek Roscoe 8 trail bike equipped with Podsacs. Maps/guides: Cycling UK Guide (cyclinguk.org/ king-alfreds-way), I downloaded the GPX file to my phone and used the OS Maps app for navigation. I downloaded the map of the route in case of a weak data signal.
I’m glad I had: Adidas Trailcross GTX boots; day after day of wet feet is grim. Fleece and woolly hat, my essential if unconventional nightwear.
Next time I would: I loved the bunkhouse at Puttenham. There are four on the route. If I did it again, I would ditch the tent and arrange my schedule around them (independenthostels.co.uk/ king-alfreds-way).
Further info: Two books assisted with my planning: Cycling King Alfred’s Way by Dave Lewis; and Cycling King Alfred’s Way: A Piece of Cake by Julia Goodfellow-Smith.
Previous page: The Ridgeway in Oxfordshire Top: Wayland’s Smithy, near Ashbury Bottom: Mathew carried camping gear but says he would go without next time
Day five: stone circles and firing ranges
Near Old Sarum I heard the two-tone proclamation of the first cuckoo of the year. There are two possible routes here: via Amesbury or a byway through Stonehenge. Although I would have to cross the A303, I decided to visit the World Heritage Site. I rode up a trail that climbs a valley to the stones. Tumuli were scattered in all directions. Half a dozen lapwings took to the sky.
“The stones were visible from half a mile away, contrasting against the greens and the white of the local landscape”
characterise much of Salisbury Plain.
Day six: wet weather and the way home
The stones were visible from half a mile away, contrasting against the greens and the white of the local landscape. The scene quivered with thousands of tourists decanted from coaches. I crossed the road carefully, looking forward to a time that a better junction can be created.
At Bustard Junction, I looked unsuccessfully for the eponymous world’s heaviest flying bird, which lives near here. I settled for my first house martin instead. A notice warning of a military road closure proved an unnecessary anxiety; the route turned off just ahead of the red barrier. I pedalled alongside warning signs and the ominous red flags that
The sodden tent was strapped to the top tube one last time, and I made an early start along the Imber Range Path. This vast military area is the reason that there is an expanse of white on the map. The village of Imber lies at its centre, emptied of its inhabitants in 1943. I turned onto the Ridgeway, following its signs back to where I started. Miles of gravel roads followed the summit as I progressed towards the final monument: Avebury stone circle. Less famous than Stonehenge, it is bigger, quieter and has none of the restrictions, allowing you to walk among its stones. Sightseers who had ventured out today were soon beaten back to their vehicles or nearby cafés by the rain.
The climb out of Avebury is rutted and steep. I was glad when the sky cleared and I could lose a layer. A benevolent south-westerly wind had been following me all morning and pushed me up the last few climbs. When Swindon at last came into view, I checked the train times home.
Cycling in the UK has a huge gender gap, with women riding half as much as men. Four cycling advocates examine why – and suggest how we can redress this
Mind the gap
Sophie Gordon Cycling UK Campaigns Manager
THERE’S A LONG way to go before cycling is seen as a ‘normal’ mode of transport in the UK – especially by women, who cycle half as often as men. If you look at countries where more people cycle, it’s around a 50:50 split. So what are we doing wrong?
I’ve heard a lot of different perspectives on that over the past few months, and the biggest factor that keeps coming up is the perception that it’s unsafe. We know that, overall, cycling is a safe, convenient, healthy way to get around. Yet it doesn’t always feel like that.
Cycling UK’s recent YouGov research found that 58% of women believe their cycle journeys are limited by safety concerns and a lack of suitable infrastructure. The thought of
sharing roads with large vehicles and of having to negotiate busy junctions and roundabouts can feel off-putting for many people, but it’s especially significant for women.
As one woman I spoke to said: “For me it’s a combination of lack of confidence and poor infrastructure. The safe cycle routes near me are not joined up, and are crucially missing at the most congested areas of road.”
Another noted that, for many women, there is also the concern about harassment or abusive behaviour, particularly after dark. She said: “At different times in my life, I’ve had to really think about the route I’ve taken to cycle, especially during the winter months when it’s dark. It’s so important that, when routes are designed, they take into account the issues women face when it comes to safety.”
When London Cycling Campaign audited routes in the capital, it found a quarter of them ‘socially unsafe’ after
“At different times in my life, I’ve had to really think about the route I’ve taken to cycle, especially during the winter months when it’s dark”
dark. (Cycling UK staff joined one of LCC’s protest rides – see cyclinguk. org/Freedom-to-Ride-After-Dark.)
Women often aren’t just thinking of their own safety. As one parent said: “More women are in charge of transporting kids as well as themselves. And fragmented, narrow and non-protected bike lanes are not safe enough to ride with children.”
investment in cycle routes from governments across the UK.
• We’re pushing for better promotion of the updated Highway Code, to foster more respect on the roads.
• We’re asking councils to listen to women’s voices when planning and designing routes, to make sure the infrastructure works for them.
• We’re highlighting low-cost changes that can make big differences to perceptions of safety, like improving lighting, reducing speed limits and making sure bike parking is in public view.
We need to ensure councils and politicians understand that by making places more appealing for women to cycle, they will make them better for everyone. I remember one comment that summed this up nicely: “I cycled through Newcastle last summer and they are getting it right. It was a delight, with lots of women cyclists!”
My ride. Our right
Thanks to you, more and more politicians are supporting our ‘My ride. Our right’ campaign. If you haven’t already, please use our online tool to write to your parliamentary representatives and ask what they will do to give more women the freedom to cycle.
We have lots more exciting plans for this campaign. To hear the latest developments, you can subscribe to campaign updates on the Cycling UK website. Read more about the campaign and stories of women’s cycling experiences: cyclinguk.org/my-ride-our-right
Above: LCC Freedom to Ride After Dark ride. Top right: The need for suitable cycling infrastructure is something a majority of women cited in Cycling UK’s YouGov survey
Right: courtesy of London Cycling Campaign.
Above: Andy Catlin
Lee Craigie Adventure Syndicate founder
THE ADVENTURE SYNDICATE was formed in 2015 with the aim of encouraging more women and girls to ride bikes. A small collective of proficient female bike riders had had enough of being told by social media channels and the marketing departments of the cycling industry that riding bikes was a serious and complicated business – one where sleek, lithe men in Lycra with chiseled jawlines gritted their perfect teeth against extreme gradients in grim, high-alpine weather.
Trip advisors
There were lots of positive comments from the Cairngorms ride. Here are two of them.
“Feeling so lifted to have connected with so many wonderful women who seem to get me and have been so relatable. I can now go home and push myself harder to ride further from home and see new places with new confidence.”
– Lois
“Isn’t it brilliant to get together with like-minded, strong, extremely capable and inspiring women? I managed so much more than I thought possible this weekend and I’m so glad I took on the challenge.”
– Becky
This narrative suggested that in order to belong to this exclusive cycling community, you had to be willing to suffer and usually to suffer solo. But the founding members of the Adventure Syndicate (who were no strangers to suffering themselves) were concerned that, while this might appeal to a few aspiring bike racers, it did nothing to promote the joy and the community to be found in cycling.
The bike industry’s answer to our concerns was to make men’s apparel smaller and add pastel colours to make women buy it. Shorter, slower rides with cake incentives were thrust at women in the hope they might like to join their boyfriends on a rest day. No sweating, no bulging thigh muscles.
The problem was that there were very few non-male voices in cycling at the time. Female cycling was being distilled down and represented as a caricature. We needed real women –a range of them in different shapes, sizes and colours – to express the reasons they loved to ride bikes so that other people, whatever their gender, could see that the cycling space was a diverse and welcoming one where you only had to discuss gear ratios if you really wanted to.
For over a decade we have been
running events, talks and workshops that aim to tell bike-related stories full of humour and fallibility that anyone can relate to; adventurous stories that inspire connections with oneself, others and our natural world.
Our latest event involved a three-day circumnavigation of the Cairngorms. These were challenging, long days of remote mountain bike riding that participants had to navigate themselves, ending at comfortable hostel accommodation where food was shared and friendships consolidated. In this way selfreliance was encouraged but so was camaraderie. Fourteen women ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s turned up to this event because we dispelled any myths about needing to be superheroes with all the right kit to take part. Every one of them proved themselves more heroic than the guys in those cycling ads.
The other interesting outcome of our storytelling is the growing number of men who appreciate the alternative narrative we offer. We get messages from lots of men wanting to be part of the fun, and so now many of the events we run (although always female led) are open to any gender. theadventuresyndicate.com
Left and below left: Setting off on the three-day Hostel Hop event around the Cairngorms Below: Crossing a river in Glen Tromie on the first day of the trip
Photos:
Rosie Wilson Founder of a women’s and gender minorities’ club
I SET UP Lunar Cycles because, riding with other clubs, I was often frustrated at being the only woman on a ride. The vast majority of cycling club members are men. I would also sometimes have my bike and equipment not-so-subtly assessed, and be on the receiving end of mansplaining. (I’ve been given unsolicited advice even on the height of my saddle.)
I realised there was a gap for women who do a lot of cycling (commuting, touring, road riding), who are passionate about the pastime and want to cycle with others but do not feel that a regular club is for them. While there are some initiatives for women in cycling, they tend to be aimed only at beginners. Lunar Cycles fills the gap by providing a space for, and increasing the visibility of women and minority genders in cycling –as well as trans and non-binary folk.
Club member and ride leader Sophi-Louise said: “Joining Lunar Cycles has been such a refreshing experience after trying so many other clubs where I never quite felt like I fitted in. It’s helped me rediscover my love for cycling after a long break by rebuilding my confidence. I often found male-dominated groups overwhelming and full of unsolicited
advice. But Lunar Cycles has been completely different - friendly, welcoming and open. You can ask questions without feeling silly, and the club’s ethos creates a calm, supportive atmosphere.”
A study conducted by Cycling UK found that, compared to seven years ago, while men feel safer on the road, this has not changed for women. This is unfortunately not surprising. Like most city infrastructure, cycling infrastructure does not consider the ways women move around cities, and the differing threats to our safety. Beautiful, separate cycle tracks like the Bristol-Bath railway path do exist but only in places. After dark I am faced with decisions like whether to brave an underpass where I’ve been followed, whether to use a bike path on which I’ve received sexual
“Sometimes I’d have my bike and equipment not-so-subtly assessed, and be on the receiving end of mansplaining”
harassment, or instead cycle across a major roundabout to avoid this, thus facing a different threat to my safety. (I was hit by a car last summer as the driver saw me as ‘in his way’.) It’s a catch-22 situation that most men do not have to consider.
Additionally, groups of women and gender-minority cyclists face more aggression or unwarranted comments (often sexualised) than groups of mainly men. One driver, who had to pull into a lay-by so we could pass, blurted that we were “naughty”. Can you imagine a male driver calling a group of male cyclists ‘naughty’?
It’s clear that some road users still don’t accept that it’s our right to be on the road. We want to change that. Lunar Cycles rides always provide a sense of freedom. We discover beautiful routes, the chats are great, and cake is always a main feature. Lunar Cycles is more than a cycle club: it has become a community, and we continue to fight for our right to safe and enjoyable cycling.
cyclinguk.org/group/lunar-cycles
Clockwise from top: A club ride out to Portishead harbour. Enjoying a country-lane descent. Admiring the views after conquering Dundry Hill
Photos: Lunar Cycles
Ride guides
I asked some of our guests for their advice for other women cyclists. They said:
“Never let your gender define what you think you are capable of. I hear women saying all the time ‘I’m not strong enough, I can’t get up that hill.’ Guess what? We are always strong enough! Believe! The best endurance athletes in the world are women.”
– Lucy Ritchie
“Go commando. Don’t wear pants under your Lycra shorts. Your shorts should fit well - slightly tight – and have a decent pad. It’s not the most expensive that necessarily fit the best. They must not be baggy.”
– Mo Howard
“Don’t let anyone tell you, whether you are young or a senior citizen, that you can’t do something. Get on a bike, ride and have fun.”
OVER THE LAST two years, 50% of our guests at Serre des Ormes have been women. Unfortunately, this figure is not the general trend across the UK. In terms of advice for female cyclists, which they might not be given by a bike hire centre or shop, these are the things that I think make the most difference.
• Getting a good saddle and adjusting the height and angle to suit you is essential. We have a range of saddles for guests to try when they are here. The saddle is one of the main points of contact on a bike, and a single day on a hard, male-specific saddle can be agony. Many bike shops don’t measure for saddle fit when women buy bikes, or even talk about it at all. I am amazed by how many women who have been cycling for a long time nevertheless assume saddle discomfort is unavoidable.
• Women’s hands are generally smaller. Adjust the distance of brake levers from the handlebar so you can reach them easily while still gripping the bar. Most levers can be adjusted inwards, either with shims or by an adjustment screw,
depending on the type. Sore hands seem to be a common problem, too. Using the drops on a road bike gives much more control on the descents and makes braking easier.
• Believe in yourself and don’t worry about holding other people up. We have noticed that, among men and women of the same ability, women are often less confident and more worried about holding up others. Yet they tend to be better at pacing themselves over the whole ride. serredesormes.co.uk
– Elise Sheppard
“A cycle ride should always include coffee and cake. It’s a great way to catch up with friends, and enjoy a good natter along the way.”
– Jill Brown
“Cycling means freedom to me. Every ride is an adventure, a chance to enjoy the outdoors and the sense of accomplishment that comes with reaching new destinations.”
– Laura Woods
Kate Maddison Cycling holiday operator
Clockwise from top left: Kate (right) with Mo Howard on the climb to Col d l’Homme Mort. The stunning village of Brantes. On top of the tower in the hilltop village of Upaix. The Internationelles, who dropped by for cake in 2019 when they rode the whole Tour de France route
Photos: Serre des Ormes
In the frame
Bikes, components, kit and media reviewed by journalists and staff
Gear
+ SUPER SPEEDY
+ EXCELLENT GRIP
+ SOUNDS GREAT
Other options
The tubeless road tyre movement may appear to be carrying all before it, but high-performance tube-type clincher tyres remain an attractive option for road cyclists wanting speed and comfort without the faff associated with sealant and tightfitting tyre beads. With TPU tubes, rolling performance is comparable. It was obvious from my first test ride that the SuperSport R clincher
Verdict
A very fast, very comfortable and encouragingly robust super-light tube-type clincher from a manufacturer that’s relatively new to the road cycling market. It comes in 25mm and 28mm widths, with the Tubeless Complete version in 30mm as well.
offers exceptionally low rolling resistance. Indeed, it is the bestrolling tyre yet tried on my coastdown test road.
Some of this fast rolling and the associated sweet ride quality may be down to the tyre’s width, but much can be attributed to its lightweight construction. Thanks to the 150tpi short-ply casing and lack of a puncture protection belt, the 28mm sample on test weighs a mere 205g per tyre, while the tubeless version in the same width is 50g heavier. Fitted with a sub-20g TPU tube, the clincher is lighter even without taking tubeless sealant into consideration.
Despite lacking the Shield R breaker belt found in GoodYear’s slightly tougher Eagle F1, the
CONTINENTAL
GP5000 £72.95
Top-flight-performance tubed clincher with numerous size and sidewall finish options. continental.com
SCHWALBE PRO ONE £67
Highly regarded tube-type road clincher available in a wide range of sizes. schwalbe.com
SuperSport R completed a wet ride over the Elan Valley mountain road without issue. The slick centre band with roughened sides and graphene-enhanced UHP Dynamic tread compound gave confidenceinspiring grip on some tricky descents. The only flat tyre suffered during the test period was on a dry day and possibly the result of a TPU tube fail, as there was no sign of a puncture to the tyre itself.
Richard Hallett
In the frame
£99.99, beeline.co
Beeline’s Velo 2 isn’t an independent GPS device like a Garmin or Wahoo. It’s a head unit for your phone, which provides the information via Bluetooth from the Beeline app.
Keeping the screen lit is what drains a phone’s battery fastest. With the phone screen off in your pocket and the Velo 2 on your bike’s bar or stem, you can enjoy turn-by-turn navigation for much longer rides. The Velo 2’s own rechargeable battery lasts for around 11 hours.
side roads as outlines. The unit beeps once when approaching a turn and twice when you reach it. If you’re on a different screen it temporarily switches back to the map. Handy! While you can have satnav-style audio cues, these come from your phone not the Velo 2. I couldn’t hear them with my phone in my pocket.
Your reviews If you’ve used a product that Cycle has tested, you can post your own review of it (or of any other product) at: cyclinguk.org/ forum-reviews
Other options
GARMIN EDGE 130 PLUS £170
The smallest and least expensive Garmin is a better choice for fitnessfocused cyclists. It also does breadcrumb-style mapping with turn alerts. garmin.com/en-GB
For navigation, you can choose between a breadcrumb trail, which is best off road, or a simplified schematic map based on OpenStreetMap data. This shows your route as a solid line and
The Velo 2 is just 51mm across and 29g. Rocker switches at the edge toggle between different screens and work with gloves on. The mostly white-onblack display is easy to read at a glance due to the resolution (266ppi), a backlight and the brevity of the information.
Aside from navigation, destination ETA and a climb view for upcoming gradients, the Velo 2’s ride data is limited to speed, average speed, time, distance and so on. It won’t do heart rate, power or cadence. It attaches via a Garmin-like quarterturn mount; an adapter (£9.99) is available to convert actual Garmin or Wahoo mounts.
Uses your phone for navigation without hammering its battery plot
SKS COMPIT+
£80
A phone mount that functions as a 10,000mAh power bank with inductive charging. It should more than double the runtime of your phone. sks-germany.com
link it directly to
The Beeline app will plot an A-to-B route for you (quiet, balanced or fast) or you can import a GPX file. You can also link it directly to a Komoot and/or Strava account and use any routes there.
Dan Joyce
Verdict
While the Velo 2 works fine for urban cycling, a bar-mounted phone alone will do that. It’s best as a navigation device for touring, recreational road riding and audax. Compared to a GPS computer it’s cheaper and simpler, while the runtime is comparable.
Synthetic rather than cotton duck, but this saddlebag still shrugs off the rain
Other options
ORTLIEB
£168.50
SEAT-PACK QR
Super-stable bikepacking-style 13−litre waterproof seat pack, with built-in mount. Only 626g. (Members get 10% off, cyclinguk.org/ortlieb.) uk.ortlieb.com
Cambrian Lightweight Saddlebag QR
£96.95, carradice.co.uk
+ BEATS A SINGLE PANNIER – EXPENSIVE, INCLUDING BAGMAN – SMALLER VOLUME THAN STATED
I’ve always enjoyed a long ride into work, and when Carradice’s new saddlebag came my way, I hoped it might be an improvement over a onesided pannier or a sweaty rucksack. It proved to be just the right size for a small laptop, a change of clothes, tools and lunch.
CYCLING DOUBLE PANNIER RACK BACKPACK
£69.99
Quite a different proposition: a backpack that zips out into double panniers, including padding for a laptop. Very warmly reviewed. decathlon.co.uk
It’s a lined, roll-top bag made from 100% waterproof Cordura fabric. It closes with a flap over the roll-top, and while it has no outer pockets, it has a bungee for attaching a jacket to the top. A jaunty orange lining offsets the plain black exterior.
At 530g, the Cambrian itself is barely heavier than a minimalist rucksack, and while £97 isn’t cheap, it’s about par for the course (and Cycling UK members can claim a 15% discount, cyclinguk.org/carradice). But it will only attach to your bike with a Bagman saddle rack which, while elegant, adds another 404g and £79.95. (That’s for the QR version tested here, which anyone removing the bag frequently would want.) That total of £177 and 934g is only slightly lighter and fractionally cheaper than a lightweight pannier and a minimalist pannier rack from premium brands
like Tubus and Ortlieb.
The good news is that the Cambrian is lovely on the road. There was no unwanted movement with my 4kg load, just a little shock-absorbing bounce, and no noise if I’d packed my kit sensibly. It’s easy to get things in and out of while it’s attached to the rack, and it can be cinched down if you’re not carrying much, which is an advantage over a half-empty pannier.
Although nominally 16 litres, I found that the Cambrian had only around 11 litres of usable internal space with the roll-top rolled once and clipped closed. Other criticisms? An inner pocket might be nice. Aligning the bag with the quick-release rack was frustrating sometimes, and the quickrelease levers didn’t feel entirely smooth – although they caused no trouble during my test.
Verdict
I found the Cambrian smaller and fiddlier to attach than I expected. But overall it’s a pleasing companion for commutes and summer overnighters, and an elegant attachment for even the most streamlined of road bikes.
CARRADICE
01
Campagnolo Super Record 13
£3,900
width as Campag 12−speed one but with closer spacing.
Campag has Spinal Tapped its top-end wireless groupset, Super Record, turning it up to 2×13. The cassette is the same width as Campag 12−speed one but with closer spacing. campagnolo.com
04
Swytch Max+
£999
Swytch’s new Max+ and Max++ e-bike conversion kits have bigger batteries (up to 370Wh) and add a rear-hubmotor option. The batteries have a USB port for charging phones. swytchbike.com
02
Giant ARX 26
£449
Giant has joined Frog and formerly Islabikes in offering lightweight children’s hybrids. The new all-aluminium ARX bikes (16, 20, 24 and 26in wheel sizes) have proportional cranks. giant-bicycles.com
Save money
As a member, you can save up to 50% on a wide range of cycling products and services. Visit cyclinguk.org/ member-benefits
06
Garmin Edge MTB
£339.99
05
Schwalbe G One Speed
£68.99
No bone-jarring narrowness here: Schwalbe’s G One Speed gravel tyre comes in sizes up to 60−622 (29×2.35). It’s tubeless ready and designed for 30−50psi. schwalbetires.com
03
Burley Hopper
£529
Winner of a Eurobike 2025 award, the Hopper is a cargo trailer that turns into a hard cart or pushchair, tool free, due to folding castor wheels and a dual-purpose tow-bar. burley.com
A GPS computer just for mountain bikers, this also tracks MTB metrics like jumping, shows the difficulty of upcoming trails and includes incident detection and Trailforks data. garmin.com
07
Apidura Expedition Stem Pack
£53
Stem packs are usually used for on-the-go snacks. Apidura’s can do that but as it’s waterproof it can also carry electronics such as phones, cameras and power banks. apidura.com
Gravel Rides Cairngorms & Perthshire
Details
By: Markus Stitz
Publisher: Vertebrate Publishing
Price: £15.95
ISBN: 9781839812613
Having spent a fair bit of time enjoying the spectacular Cairngorm mountains and beautiful Perthshire countryside on foot, I was excited to see what this guide had to offer for exploring by pedal power. Written by route design guru and Bikepacking Scotland founder Markus Stitz, it has something for everyone. The 15 routes are divided into ‘easy’, ‘straightforward’ and ‘challenging’ categories.
As a parent with two young children, I was delighted to see that the shortest route – a loop through Kindrogan Forest near Pitlochry – is less than 15km. In total, more than half of the routes are under 35km, giving
plenty of options for those looking for smaller-scale adventures. There’s also enough here for more experienced off-road riders; all four of the challenging routes are over 50km, include more than 700m of ascent and take you into remote territory. The Dunkeld Moorlands & Big Tree Country route immediately caught my eye, thanks in no small part to the stunning photography that brings each route to life. Taking in remote heather-clad moorland, historic native woodlands and stunning loch-side views, it’s typical of the varied experiences these carefully curated routes offer. Each route description includes an Ordnance Survey map, turn-by-turn route description, points of interest and nuggets of historical information, and recommendations for local eateries and places to stay. There’s also a GPX file for every route. With a 20−page introduction that includes responsible access, bike and equipment choice, safety and local beasties (beware the midge!), this guide has everything you need to explore the stunning heart of Scotland on a gravel or mountain bike. Time to plan a trip!
Sam Waller
You can read excerpts from some of the books that Cycle has reviewed at: cyclinguk.org/cyclebook-excerpts
Print queue Cycle doesn’t feature all books received. Reviewers pick the ones they think you need to know about from the editor’s shortlist. Send books to: Cycle, Cycling UK, Parklands, Railton Rd, Guildford, GU2 9JX
Snails Around France
Details
By: John and Kate Bosley
Publisher: Austin Macauley
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 9781035860128
This is the story of retired couple John and Kate Bosley’s slow tandem ride around France. But it’s also a love letter to France, an inspiring story of Kate’s courage in taking on this challenge despite her visual impairment, and a witty, romantic tale of adventure and curiosity in retirement. It’s got me talking to my partner about riding a tandem around France!
Duncan Dollimore
Riding My Bike
Details
By: Mike Raine
Publisher: Paragon Publishing
Price: £14.99
ISBN: 9781787920668
As a new bikepacker, I picked this up looking for inspiration. Most of the book is written in diary fashion with a smattering of monochrome photos; I’d love a hand-drawn map as well. The rides are around Mike’s native Wales, plus Scotland, mostly in the rain. Mike is a flora and fauna expert (I must learn more of this), although the book has fewer tips than I expected.
Ian Small
The Escape: The Tour, the cyclist and me
Details
By: Pippa York & David Walsh
Publisher: HarperCollins
Price: £22
ISBN: 9780008510602
During three recent Tours de France spent travelling together as journalists, David Walsh interviews Pippa York, formerly pro cyclist Robert Millar. York reveals how they coped from an early age with the dysphoria of being male, how cycling forced them to hide their true feelings, and the tumultuous journey of transitioning. York and Walsh also talk racing, but it is the resilience of Pippa York that stands out.
Dominic Kelly
In the frame Bike test
Trail hardtails
What’s the most mountain biking fun you can have for £1,500 or less? Dan Joyce tests a Merida Big Trail 500 and a Voodoo Loco to try to find out
Trail hardtails are a very British kind of mountain bike. It’s no coincidence that the Big Trail 500, from Taiwanese brand Merida, is described as “a UK-inspired singletrack-crushing hardtail” and that the designed-inthe-UK Voodoo Loco is billed as “a true British, steel, hardcore hardtail”.
Frame and fork
Progressive geometry has progressed a long way now. The Merida Big Trail 500 and Voodoo Loco have unsagged head angles of 64º and 63.5º respectively. With lowoffset forks, the trail figures are huge, providing imperturbable steering. Wide bars and short stems give you the leverage to wrestle the bikes around corners and to counteract the increased wheel flop, where the front wheel might otherwise ‘flop’ more into tight turns and oversteer, or veer off course on slow climbs.
Steep seat angles – Merida 76.5º, Voodoo 75º – tip you forward and weight the front wheel, helping to prevent snowploughing on downhill corners and accidental weaving uphill. Those seat angles also mean a more upright riding position than you’d expect from the nominally long reach figures, which only show bottom bracket to head
tube distances. Short chainstays, meanwhile, make it easier to keep the front wheel up over drop-offs and to take tighter lines through corners.
The net result is a forward-biased riding position that weights the fork (and your hands) but, with a long front centres distance, minimises the likelihood of diving over the handlebar. I’ve written ‘position’ rather than ‘positions’ as the two bikes are very similar, despite the Voodoo’s mixed (‘mullet’) wheel sizes. The Voodoo is slightly shorter in the chainstays and slightly longer in the top tube, while the Merida is a little taller and steeper.
The Merida’s frame is aluminium, with a nice selection of fittings: two bottles (if you use side cages and small bidons) on the down tube, bolts for an under-top-tube bag, and mounts for a Merida Long Fender rear mudguard. It also has ISCG05 mounts for a chain guide.
The Voodoo has a chrome-moly steel frame finished in a lovely pearlescent racing green. There are gussets rather than flared tubing for
Middle:Shimano CUES is fine but it lacks the overall range and shift quality of Deore
Bottom: Rowdier riders will appreciate the chain guide
reinforcement where the top and down tubes meet the head tube. Mounts are limited to one bottle cage and some odd additions to the left-hand chainstay: mudguard and rack eyes on that side only, plus what looks like a kickstand mount.
Both bikes have 140mm forks that incorporate technology from higher-tier models, while being simpler and heavier. The RockShox Psylo of the Merida has 35mm stanchions, and in this Silver RC model they’re steel. It’s accordingly heavy – about 2.8kg. The damper and air spring, RockShox says, “take cues from our premium series forks” (Lyrik, Pike). Adjustments are limited to: compression damping (firm or open); rebound damping (so it doesn’t pogo back over bumps); and air pressure, so you can set the fork sag for your weight. Heavier, harder-riding folk can also add fork tokens if they’re bottoming out the suspension.
“STEEP SEAT ANGLES –MERIDA 76.5º, VOODOO 75º – TIP YOU FORWARD
WHEEL”
damper ramps up and down gradually rather than switching only between open and firm.
Components
Both bikes have inexpensive but effective dropper seatposts: 200mm for the Merida, 170mm for the Voodoo. Long-drop posts give you more freedom to move around the bike. But when fully extended the Merida’s 200mm post put the saddle too high for me. I’d like to see trail bikes sold with a dropper post length to suit the frame size. Whyte does this (see p52).
In the frame
The Voodoo’s Marzocchi Bomber Z2 is more than half a kilo lighter than the Psylo as it uses aluminium stanchions. Its air spring is similar to those in Fox 34 forks and its seals have negligible stiction. The adjustments are like the Psylo’s: air pressure, compression damping, rebound damping, and tokens if you want them. The Rail compression
Although both bikes come with innertubes, their wheels and tyres are tubeless ready. The tyres are well chosen: both have a Maxxis Dissector on the rear and a Minion on the front, DHF for the Merida, DHR for the Voodoo. Aggressive riders might want tyres with a stiffer or dual-ply casing, but I prefer the more pliable 120tpi EXO casing these have.
Tyre widths are fine for trail bikes: 2.4in or 2.5in. If you want to fit wider rubber, both have room for a
Tech spec
Merida Big Trail 500
Price: £1,500.
Sizes: XShort, Short, Mid (tested), Long, XLong.
Weight: 15.5kg (M, no pedals).
Frame & fork: Doublebutted aluminium frame with 73mm BSA BB, 148×12mm thru-axle, UDH gear hanger, ISCG05 mounts and fittings for 3 bottles/bags and Merida rear mudguard. RockShox Psylo Silver RC fork, 140mm travel, 110×15mm thru-axle.
Braking: Shimano M4100 levers and MT410 callipers (4−piston front), 203/180mm f/r Shimano RT30 rotors. Steering & seating: Merida Comp EC grips, 780mmm Merida Comp TR riser bar, 40mm × 3º stem, Acros ICR Merida External headset. Merida Comp SL saddle, 34.9mm Limotec dropper post with 200mm drop and no layback.
Equipment: Chain guide.
merida-bikes.com
2.6in tyre in the frame and a 3in one in the fork, at least in drier weather. The rims are wide enough for 2.6in tyres.
All the wheels arrived true and stayed that way. However, the Voodoo’s 27.5in rear wheel was slightly out of dish, with the rim offset to the left. It didn’t upset the bike’s handling and isn’t hard to fix, but would be a bike shop job for some.
The Voodoo has a higher-tier drivetrain than the Merida: 1×12 Shimano Deore versus 1×10 Shimano CUES. While I’m happy enough with 10−speed, the Deore cassette is wider range and the Deore shifting was noticeably better on climbs. Brakes are similar hydraulic units from Shimano, with both bikes getting a four-piston front brake. The Merida has a larger (203mm versus 180mm) front rotor, which makes sense for a trail bike. Yet single-finger braking was also fine on the Voodoo.
Both bikes’ grips are unyielding and uncomfortable. I’d swap them for ESI Chunky ones or a flared pair from Ergon. I’d love to swap the Merida’s headset, too, as it has the absurd over-complication of internal cable and hose routing. But I can’t think how to do that without drilling or gaffertaping the frame – both bad ideas.
In the frame
test Tech spec
Voodoo Loco
Price: £1,250.
Sizes: M (tested), L
Weight: 15.2kg (M, no pedals).
Frame & fork: Chrome-moly steel frame with 73mm BSA BB, 148×12mm thru-axle, UDH gear hanger, external cables (ex. seat tube) and fittings for one bottle. Marzocchi Bomber Z2 fork with 140mm travel and 110×15mm thru-axle.
Wheels: 61−622 (29×2.4in)
Maxxis Minion DHR II EXO TR front tyre, 61−584 (27.5×2.4in) Maxxis Disector EXO TR rear, 622×30/584×30 front/rear Voodoo tubelessready rims, 32×3 spokes, Shimano TC500 thru-axle Centerlock hubs.
Right: The Rail compression damper is progressive rather than ‘on’ or ‘off’
Below right: The Marzocchi Bomber Z2 fork is labelled as suitable for 29/27.5+ tyres but 29+ will also fit
Ride
Both are very capable and enjoyable trail bikes. Aside from the bigger off-piste jumps I wouldn’t attempt on any bike, there was nothing on my local trails or in Dalby Forest that gave me pause. Progressive geometry puts you in a descent-ready ‘attack position’ and improves the odds of you staying upright.
While I had great fun on short rides, those of three hours or
Transmission: Alloy pedals, 170mm Shimano MT511−1 chainset with 32t chainring, Shimano MT501 BB, KMC X12 chain, Shimano Deore M6100 10−51t 12−speed cassette. Shimano Deore M6100 shifter and M6100 SGS Shadow+ rear derailleur. 12 ratios, 17−89in. Braking: Shimano MT401 levers and MT420 callipers (4−piston fr), 180mm rotors. Steering & seating: Voodoo lock-on grips, 780mm Voodoo alloy riser bar, 45mm × 3º Voodoo alloy stem, FSA Orbit ITA B headset. WTB Volt Medium saddle, 31.6mm TransX dropper with 170mm drop and no layback. Equipment: none.
halfords.com
In the frame Bike test
Other options
WHYTE SECTA RS
£1,499
Aluminium 29er with 63.5º HA, 76º SA, 130mm RockShox Psylo Gold RC fork, 1×12 Deore, four-piston M420 brakes and a size-specific dropper (S: 150mm, M: 170mm, L-XL: 200mm). whytebikes.com
SARACEN MANTRA
ELITE LSL
£1,499
Reduced from £1,899 at time of writing. Aluminium frame with 64º HA, 75º SA, 140mm Marzocchi Bomber Z2 fork, 29in/27.5in ‘mullet’ wheelset, 150mm dropper (S: 125mm). saracen.co.uk
more left me with aches in my hands, shoulders and lower back. This might be steep seat angles, short chainstays, single-grip-position bars and tyres that are firmer than I’m used to. But it could just be riding hardtails on choppy trails for hours at my age.
I’d address comfort by converting to tubeless and dropping pressures. Wider tyres would also help. I tried a 29×3 front wheel on both bikes. It worked well, but then the floated feel of 3in tyres at around 10psi is what I’m used to. While you may not want to go that wide, I’d recommend at least a 2.6in front tyre for either bike.
For longer rides, especially all-day ones, an alternative hand position would help. You could fit SQlab Innerbarends to the existing bars or swap them for a wide, flat bar with a loop, like the Alpkit Sonder Confucius. Riding differences between the test bikes were relatively small. The Merida climbed better, despite its higher bottom gear. I think this is less to do with seat angle differences and more to do with its large diameter rear wheel, which found traction in
situations where the Voodoo’s 27.5in wheel slipped and stalled.
the seat tube has internal cable routing
The Voodoo impressed me more on twisty singletrack and technical descents. Yes, it has that smaller rear wheel, shorter (by 5mm!) chainstays and a slightly roomier effective top tube. But I think it mostly comes down to the fork. The Marzocchi Bomber Z2 is a functionally better trail fork than the RockShox Psylo Silver RC. While both track well and absorb bigger hits effectively, the Marzocchi is plusher over bumps large and small, and the Rail damper allows more on-the-fly fine-tuning.
Verdict
The Merida Big Trail 500 and Voodoo Loco are both well-designed, wellspecified, contemporary trail hardtails that are also good value for money. The Voodoo is particularly keenly priced at £1,250 – or £1,175 with the 7% discount you get as a Cycling UK member (cyclinguk.org/halfords).
The Merida has better thought-out details such as frame fittings, and its 29er wheels all round do climb and roll better than mixed sizes. But the Voodoo has the better fork. Its steel frame is more practical (largely external cables), probably more durable and certainly prettier. And Shimano Deore trumps CUES. While you won’t go wrong with either bike in terms of riding fun, the Voodoo Loco is outstanding considering its cost. I wouldn’t be surprised if it sells out.
Left: Mounts for a chain guide are a surprising omission. Only
Left: Rob Powell. Others by Dan Joyce
Pashley Roadfinder X
Pashley Cycles has released a range of contemporary road and gravel bikes made from Reynolds steel. Guy Kesteven tests a Roadfinder X
Pashley is best known for classic roadsters, Post Office bikes, London hire bikes, tricycles and other utility machines. The 99−year-old UK company has a history of innovation, however, and that’s clear in its new ‘contemporary’ range. I visited the factory in Stratford-upon-Avon to see the creation process and pick up a new Roadfinder X for review.
It’s a proper pipe-to-completebike process under one roof in the Shakespearean suburbs. Depending on the final bike, most tubes either come in as four-metre lengths or prebutted sections direct from Reynolds just a few miles up the road. The tubes are then mitred, drilled and prepped by hand as orders are placed. They’re then meticulously welded, brazed and silver soldered - again depending on model or part of the bike - by hand.
It’s not all trad methods, however, as Pashley is introducing 3D-printed stainless steel pieces such as the ‘trouser’ seatstay lug, UDH dropouts and super-neat cable ports.
The Rangefinder also uses a T47 bottom bracket shell with a custom
In the frame Bike test
Tech spec
Pashley Roadfinder X
Price: £4,295 (standard SRAM Rival AXS build).
Sizes: XS, S, M (tested), L, XL.
Weight: 10.2kg (no pedals).
Frame & fork: Reynolds 853 steel main tubes with 3D-printed lugs, T47 BB shell, UDH dropouts and fittings for rear rack, mudguard, three bottles and one top-tube bag.
Columbus Futura Cross+ carbon fork with two triple-bolt cargo mounts and mudguard fittings.
Top: Good off road but more at the endurance road bike end of the gravel spectrum in terms of geometry
3D-printed sleeve to protect internal cables and hoses from the crank axle.
Frame and components
As each frame is made to order, you can pick which ports and fixtures you need so that the finished frame is as cargo ready or as clean as you want. Frames are then shot blasted in house before being e-coated locally. (Electrophoretic painting is a 15−micron thick corrosion coating inside and out. It’s dipped with a current running through to pull it onto the frame, then oven baked to harden the coating.) It’s then returned to Pashley for painting and assembly.
While Pashley offers three standard colours (rich burgundy, oak green, azure blue) and three standard builds (Shimano GRX £2,795, Campagnolo Ekar £4,595 and SRAM Rival AXS £4,295), those are up for negotiation, too. The build I picked was also their first using the UDH dropout to mount the new SRAM Rival AXS XPLR 13−speed groupset directly to the frame. I also substituted the stock Parcours Alta carbon wheels
Wheels: 45−622 Goodyear Inter tyres on Zipp 303 XPLR rims with Sapim CX-Ray spokes and Zipp hubs.
Transmission: SRAM Rival AXS XPLR E1 13−speed with 40t chainring and 10−46t cassette. 13 ratios, 24−112in. Braking: SRAM Rival AXS E1 disc brakes, 160mm rotors. Steering & seating: Zipp XPLR 70 bar, Zipp Service Course 90mm stem. Zipp Service Course 27.2mm seatpost, Brooks Cambium C15 saddle. pashley.co.uk
In the frame Bike test
Other options
FEATHER WKNDR
£2,800+
Stunning, off-the-peg steel all-road bike with custom feature and paint options from awardwinning Yorkshire frame-building legend Ricky Feather. wkndr.cc
a more ‘rustic’ finish, the sanded junctions and paintwork are flawless. The silver-soldered seatstay lug and cluster is totally seamless, and production models will have similarly glass-smooth joints between dropouts and stays.
The ride
Above: Mastiles Lane in the Yorkshire Dales
COTIC ESCAPADE 853
£1,799+
This version of Cotic’s Escapade all-rounder is also made in the Midlands from Reynolds 853 like the Roadfinder X (but not by Pashley). cotic.co.uk
and Panaracer Gravel King 45 tyres for Zipp’s super-broad 303 XPLR wheels and Goodyear Inter 45mm rubber. I used other wheels as well during testing to verify the ride feel of the frame separately.
Whatever spec you choose, the resulting retro-modern frame is a genuinely beautiful piece. While handmade can sometimes mean
‘Glass smooth’ is an accurate description of the Roadfinder X ride, too. As is often the case, Reynolds airhardening 853 steel delivers a more muscular, precise but still inherently sprung feel compared to more docile or dull bikes in cheaper steel tube sets. On the Pashley that’s enhanced by the larger weld areas and stiffness of the T47 BB shell and oversized 44mm head tube.
That translates into an encouragingly solid stance underfoot, so while a near 3kg steel frame will always be slower to accelerate than a lighter carbon or alloy frame, it’s got a powerful surge when you press the pedals. The extra momentum is really clear in the way it continues to roll a gear easily when you back off the pressure. So whether I was on the tops pushing tempo on a rough rocky bridleway in the Dales or ducking low into a headwind on the road, the sustainable speed of the Roadfinder X was consistently impressive.
Even with the super wide and deep Zipp wheels, the bike was never too jarring at slower speeds on rough offroad sections either, with its inherent comfort appreciated more the further I rode. It also gives the Roadfinder X exceptional traction in turns and climbs, flattering both the Zipp tyres
Above right: T47 bottom bracket. This is stiffer, as it’s larger in diameter, but it’s also threaded
and my riding skill. The resilient spring also let me push confidently a lot further towards mountain bike terrain than you’d expect, surviving speed runs down Mastiles Lane and the rocky chaos of the tracks around Pen-yGent. With only 45mm tyre clearance, that’s not Pashley’s intended use case for the frame. When I used 30mm tyres and Zipp 303 wheels, it proved a very smooth and rapid road bike. Mixed road/off-road use matches the geometry of the Pashley well, as, apart from a slightly longer than average top tube, it’s nearer to an endurance road bike than a quasiMTB. There is theoretically potential to stabilise the steering further by rotating the eccentric axle chips in the Columbus Futura Cross+ carbon fork. Unfortunately I couldn’t undo the microscopic Torx bolts holding them in place to try the alternative position. On the bright side, the traction of the bike made it feel a lot more assured and stable than the frame geometry would suggest anyway.
Verdict
The amount of choice in the road/off-road category is vast. Pashley uses a blend of UK handmade history and cutting-edge tech to create a sublimely riding bike that’s impressively capable in the rough yet swift on the road, too. Some might want more tyre clearance and/or more progressive geometry (watch this space), and the immovable fork-tip chip was irritating. But I loved the seamless, retro-modern aesthetic as much as the ride. Considering the craftsmanship involved, the UK manufacture and the custom options, the pricing is absolutely justified.
Photos: Guy Kesteven
Front pannier racks
When two rear panniers aren’t enough, a front rack offers extra capacity and helps balance the load. Sam Jones reviews four
For commuters, tourers and anyone looking to carry a load by bike, whether it’s groceries or something for the allotment, the rear rack is a well-established essential. Less common is the front rack, but it’s indispensable if you’re looking to maximise your bike’s carrying capacity.
So long as your bike’s fork is compatible, a front rack gives you more space for extra stuff. It’s particularly useful for long-distance cycle campers, tandemists (who have double the luggage requirements), and for cyclists whose rear rack space is compromised – such as a parent with child seat on the back that prevents the use of rear panniers.
While you can ride with one pannier on your rear rack without
issue, a front rack’s load needs to be balanced. Scales aren’t essential; judging by holding a pannier in each hand is fine. A balanced front rack won’t compromise your steering (although it will still make the steering feel heavier, as there’s more inertia). Packing discipline is essential for more enjoyable riding. As a rule, you’ll want your lightweight, bulky items in your front panniers and your heavy supplies in the bigger rear bags because the rear rack will generally take a heavier load.
“It’s particularly useful for long-distance cycle campers”
Extra pannier room for families, campers, tandemists and more
What to look for
Fork fittings
Make sure your bike’s fork has the necessary fittings for your chosen rack. Many front racks fit to two pairs of threaded eyelets – at the dropouts and halfway up the fork legs. Some fit to different eyelets, to the front axle and/or use clamps instead of bolts. Take care with carbon forks as most are not designed to carry a rack.
Pannier positioning
Tarmac: low-rider racks that place your pannier’s mass around the front wheel axle are better for stability and steering. Off road: look for a higher pannier position to prevent bag collisions with uneven or overgrown terrain.
Adjustability
All racks have some degree of adjustability but you need to check that the rack suits your bike’s wheel diameter, tyre width, mudguard placement and brake calliper – as well as ensuring that it will reach the fork’s eyelets. A horizontal position is best but a slight backward tilt on a front rack is fine.
Material
Light and strong steel and aluminium are the common materials. Expensive titanium racks also exist.
Loading
Some racks are designed for just panniers, others might have a deck to allow additional loads and styles of packing – for example, a basket. Don’t exceed the rack’s total weight allowance.
Photos: Sam Jones
Surly | Nice Rack 2.0, Front
£149.99, surly.com
Nice and easy to install, this chrome-moly steel rack weighs in at 1,413g with mounts. Aside from the easy-to-follow instructions, which came in a handy tool pouch, what impressed me most were this toploader’s fitting flexibility and ease of adjustment.
Panniers can ride high or low depending on terrain. If fitted low down, a basket or other luggage can be fitted without affecting pannier removal – a nice touch when on tour. If panniers are fitted higher up, any top load will interfere with their mounting and removal, which is a faff. With a weight allowance of 32kg, your main concern will be about making sure you get the weight balance right.
There was plenty of room to spare around my 27.5×2.8in (70-584) tyres, where it looked right at home. On my tourer with 26×2.0 (54-559) tyres and mudguards it looked big but there were no issues.
There are handy ‘nubbins’ at the bottom of the rack, which I found useful for attaching bungees when strapping things to the top. For dynamo-light users, there is a front lamp mount. I think it places the light in a precarious position in event of a crash; I’d like to have seen light mounts on the sides of the rack as well to give options. The rack is available in silver or black.
Round-the-world rack that allows you to take the road less travelled
M Part | Explorer Low Rider front rack
£39.99, freewheel.co.uk
A classic design reminiscent of the tourer’s longstanding favourite: the Tubus Tara. Unlike the steel Tara, the Explorer is aluminium, which mean’s it’s about half the price. That price, coupled with a well-proven design, makes the rack a great entry point for those on a budget.
The low cost also means you will need to make a visit to your local hardware store before installing the rack, as you’ll need to supply your own Loctite, nuts, spacers, washers and bolts. The instructions provided recommend using MC6S A2 – information frustratingly missing with online retailers.
With its good adjustability, I had no trouble installing it around 26×2.0 wheels. It will also fit 700C (ISO 622) wheels. I couldn’t find specs on this, but it fitted my partner’s Dawes Galaxy with 38mm tyres and mudguards. If struggling to fit the rack around mudguards, the rack’s many eyelets might enable you to attach your guards to the rack, but you’d want to make sure it doesn’t interfere with your wheel removal.
Total load is 15kg (7.5kg each side). The rails for panniers, however, are an odd diameter. My panniers rattled when I used one set of hook spacers but didn’t fit with the next size up.
A well-priced, classic design with some flaws that’s suitable for budget tourers
In the frame
Old Man Mountain | Divide Rack
£165, oldmanmountain.com
The most versatile (and expensive) rack on test, the Divide has rough-stuff riders firmly in mind. Designed for both front and rear fitting, this black, aluminium 960g rack is rated to take a mighty 25kg. This increases to 31.75kg if you mount the rack to the front axle (QR or thru-axle) using the appropriate Fit Kit.
The Fit Kits are a sign of Old Man Mountain’s commitment to riders of all disciplines. They’re suitable for various thru-axle lengths as well as quick-release skewers. It should be possible to fit the rack to virtually any bike, including full suspension ones – so long as the tyres aren’t bigger than 29×3in (75-622). In fact, fitted to my Surly ECR with 29×3.0 tyres, there was still plenty of space to play with.
The OMM website has a handy tool that can show whether the Divide will fit most mainstream bikes. Intuitive instructions make installation a breeze.
Given the off-road focus, panniers have a higher centre of gravity, but this only significantly affected handling on technical terrain where panniers would be a hindrance anyway. The height also interferes with what you mount on the deck, which means, say, zip-tying a basket and using panniers is a no-no.
A versatile back-country adventure rack for just about any bike
Verdict
For my touring needs, where child carrying and a preference for rough-stuff converge, I’m torn between the Surly and Old Man Mountain racks. Both have an impressive weight capacity, work well with large tyres and have top decks allowing for the use of
Tubus | Duo
£100, tubus.com
Designed with touring bikes in mind, as they are likely to have the inner and outer fork eyelets required to fit it, the Duo is another tried-and-tested steel rack that has served tourers for decades in some of the world’s further flung locations.
The rack weighs 616g and was supplied with all the bolts and simple instructions you need for mounting. Given it comes in two separate pieces, which fit separately to each fork leg, you’ll have no issue with tyre size – a bonus for fat-bike riders.
I found fitting this rack fiddly, particularly on the inside of the fork where I nearly stripped a thread. While with the other racks you can mount them with the wheel still in place, this isn’t possible with the Duo, which makes adjustments more of a faff.
That being said, you shouldn’t need much more than a leisurely half hour to fit the rack. Perhaps due to my bike’s fork fittings, I found the rack sides veered out at a slight angle from the wheel. While aesthetically displeasing, this didn’t affect handling. In fact, the low centre of gravity made luggage carriage (a max of 15kg in total) as easy as it can be with a front rack. It’s available in silver and black.
A classic rack for all wheel and tyre sizes – if you have the right fork fittings
a basket or other luggage. Overall, the Nice Rack wins out for its facility to fit a dynamo light and the ease of removing panniers without disturbing a basket on the top.
The Tubus and M Part offerings are more traditional road touring racks. If I were to
tour the world for years on end tomorrow, I’d choose The Tubus Duo for its reputation and quality. But despite all of my quibbles with the Explorer rack, I can’t fault the price. This is one of the cheapest front racks out there – and from a trusted brand.
BCQ BY MTB
In the Dec/Jan issue, I read with interest about Steve and Janet Bailey completing the British Cycle Quest (BCQ) and receiving their medal from Stephen Dee. Hats off to them. Their story created an itch in the back of my mind that I had to scratch. Seeing road bikes in the photo, I presumed they travelled by road to reach all of the checkpoints. But I ride a mountain bike. I still use roads but thought I could make it even more interesting by riding off road instead.
So I’ve been planning off-road routes to BCQ checkpoints in my local area. Sussex is a great place for mountain biking. There are many tracks, cycle paths, bridleways and National Trails, such as the South Downs Way. I have a long way to go to visit all 402 checkpoints but I’ve had fun planning and riding to ones nearby.
The Isle of Wight was mentioned by Steve. There are six checkpoints on the island. Could they all be reached off road and all in one day?
After poring over island maps, I created a route that looked workable. I caught the ferry across the Solent from Portsmouth on a perfect Friday morning.
I had a great day’s riding. Thank you for creating and managing the BCQ and thank you, Steve and Janet, for your inspiration. Fred Hill
WIN THREE HIPLOK JAW+ RACKS
WORTH £113.97
THE LETTER OF THE MONTH wins three Jaw+ bike racks, worth £37.99 each, courtesy of Hiplok. These wall-mounted racks are adjustable to fit tyres from 20−75mm wide, and can be used in or outdoors. Each is supplied with fittings plus a lightweight Z Lok Combo, which can double as your café lock. For more about Hiplok storage and security, visit hiplok.com
New-look Cycle
The new-look mag is OK as far as content goes but I’ve only read half of it and normally read it all. The problems are orange text on white, grey text on a green tint, grey text on a darker grey background and fonts that don’t help alleviate the lack of contrast. In terms of photos, a quick count reveals eight or nine normal, everyday, un-helmeted riders, mostly in the adverts, down from about twice that in the previous issue. The organisation for the everyday cyclist?
The unreadable soon becomes the unread. The end of my 47−year membership will surely follow.
Alan Rogers
A quick note to congratulate you on the redesign. Excellent work. A great improvement for me. Clean lines in the layout aid to an easier read.
Mike Cowling
Vehicle Excise Duty
I loved the new cover design and particularly the image. It’s why I cycle. A real upgrade on its previous incarnation, which never quite exceeded the old CTC magazine (I am old school). The font sizes are an improvement, too. Well done to all involved. I have ordered a new jersey – the rebrand is that good. Charles Tapson
Page 39 of the June/July issue refers to ‘road tax’, stating that as bicycles are zero-emission vehicles they
would have nothing to pay. This may be true prior to 1 April 2025 but since then there have been changes to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) levels. I am an owner of an EV which is zero emission but now I am liable for VED at £195 per year. Strangely enough, my son owns an older vehicle and only pays £20 per year as it was registered before April 2017, despite it burning petrol with obvious emissions. In the future, who knows the government’s plans for bicycles?
David Keirs
Cycling for all
It’s been fantastic to see representation of disabled people in Cycle magazine increasing over the past few years. But it was disappointing to get to the Cyclopedia section and read Dr Kate Brodie’s advice that “in general, if you are advised not to drive a car then riding your bike is probably unwise as well”. At Wheels for Wellbeing, we know that many disabled people who are medically disqualified from driving are able to ride safely using a cycle type that suits them. For many of
LETTER OF THE MONTH
Over to you
these people, cycling is their main –and often only – means of transport precisely because they are unable to drive.
Let’s move on from outdated assumptions that if people aren’t safe to drive, they aren’t safe to cycle, and instead recognise the high proportion of disabled people who would be able to cycle local journeys if systems were in place to facilitate inclusive utility riding.
Kate Ball
Driven to stop riding
I am a 69-year-old female cyclist living in Cornwall. I’ve done JOGLE, the C2C and Lôn Las Cymru. I write today to express my sadness that I feel I have been driven off the roads by the aggression and intimidatory behaviour of motorists. Nearly every time my husband and I cycle on the roads we are hounded by motorists and frequently have abuse shouted at us through car windows.
I would like to thank Cycling UK for all the work you do to encourage more people into cycling. However, unless the attitude of other road users changes, I feel unable to take part any more. I would be interested to know if other cyclists share my viewpoint.
Kathy Mcfarlane
Going the distance
Next year marks the 21st anniversary of one of two popular Nottinghamshire CTC audax events that were established by member Mark Chambers. Mark set high standards. Filling his shoes after he stepped back from organising the
events was not easy as we had few active audax riders.
We have worked hard to publicise our audax events via posters, social media, clubs and other CTC groups. Last year’s two events raised over £2,300 for the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance, and this year’s spring event almost another £1,400. It’s not just the air ambulance that benefits. Supporting our local community raises the club’s profile and helps attract new members to Cycling UK and the club.
Our oldest rider in this spring’s event was 89-year-old Martin Harvey of Birmingham CTC (pictured), who rode 100km at an average speed of 14mph.
Rosy Gray
Bikes on buses
You often ask for ideas to increase cycling. I have just returned from Alberta in Canada. The local buses there have a bike carrier on the front for use by passengers. They are very well used.
Trevor Davies
Cycling UK forum
Get immediate feedback from other members at forum.cyclinguk.org
Here’s an abridged extract from a recent thread: cyclinguk.org/forumnarrow-bars
MAKING HANDLEBARS NARROWER
Get in touch Letters are edited for space and clarity. The editor reads and automatically acknowledges all letters but publishes only a selection. Please include your membership number. Write to: Cycle Letters, Cycling UK, Parklands, Railton Rd, Guildford, GU2 9JX or email editor@cyclinguk.org.
whickcycle: I have a Cube Kathmandu which has handlebars that are 72cm wide. They are somewhat cumbersome... It has been suggested that, by cutting an inch from each end of the bars, they would be less of a nuisance. Any thoughts?
Jdsk: In order to check the effect, tape the amount that you intend to remove and ride in all relevant conditions without using that bit.
pjclinch: Wide bars have become more of a thing on mountain bikes. That trend
has fed back into more mainstream bikes but I think for reasons of trendiness rather than practicality.
TheBomber: If you have lock-on grips, then slide everything inboard to their likely new position and, as Jonathan recommends, ride it to check.
Nearholmer: Go in stages. Take, say, an inch off each side at a time. I have made the mistake of taking off too much in one go, then regretting that I couldn’t “saw a bit back on again”.
fatmac: I used to cut all my straight type bars to the width of my shoulders…
Airsporter1st: If you do decide to go that way, a pipe/tubing cutter makes a much neater job than a hacksaw.
VinceLedge: I took about 30mm off our Trek Marlin MTBs. The bars were far too wide for our use. No problems.
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
Interview
Hamida Jogee
Hamida rode a bike for the first time as an adult in her late 50s. Group rides are now the highlight of her week. Tiia Jaakola spoke to her
HAMIDA was already a member of the volunteering team at SAS Rights, a grassroots, women-led community group that addresses social injustice and empowers marginalised communities in Blackburn.
She hadn’t been on a bike as an adult, although she had learned to ride as a toddler. As someone who also doesn’t drive and tends to walk everywhere, when an opportunity came along to participate in a public protest ride, she jumped at the chance. She said: “I wanted to take part because I did cycle as a child, and it felt like my moment to start again, but in the Muslim community it’s not something we often do.”
The ride was organised as a soft form of activism to break down taboos and the stigma associated with Muslim women riding bikes. Hamida agreed to it instantly, as the opportunity to get back on a bike made her very excited. It offered a great way to get out and about more and meet new people.
The Big Bike Revival
When word got around about the upcoming group ride, interest kept growing and growing. However, many women who wanted to take part, including Hamida, weren’t sure where to get bikes and helmets from, given the costs involved. Thankfully, all the equipment and the use of park facilities needed were secured through the help of Darwen Re:fresh, a local health and wellbeing initiative. From that first ride, Hamida and the rest of SAS Rights built a relationship with Cycling UK staff. Since the initial Big Bike Revival grant, they have become an official Community Cycle
The Real Yellow Jersey
Hamida is one of Cycling UK’s Real Yellow Jersey winners for 2025. Ten hand-knitted yellow jerseys are awarded to everyday heroes who’ve transformed their lives through cycling and our Big Bike Revival programme. Because cycling isn’t just about sport – it’s a powerful, everyday activity that supports health, independence and social connections, and that helps fix some of society’s biggest challenges. cyclinguk.org/ real-yellow-jersey
Club run by women. They organise bike rides every week to boost mental and physical health, while instilling confidence and a sense of community.
“I’m so glad we came across The Big Bike Revival programme, the events and activities as a group,” Hamida said. “We are doing so well and I’m so proud to be involved.”
Social cycling
The social benefits have been huge, as the group has served as a way to meet a diverse range of people. Many who have joined are not from the Muslim community, so the initiative has improved community cohesion.
Hamida has thrown herself in the deep end and has fearlessly tried new things. She’s also excited about the potential employment and volunteering opportunities that might come through the club, as she’s interested in training to become a group ride leader.
Beyond this, the new confidence she has gained through cycling has had even more positive effects and opened new doors. Hamida has improved both her public speaking and local leadership skills, and the cycling club has become like a new family to her.
The joy of bike riding Hamida loves it and said that the rides are the highlight of her week.
“It’s made a big difference to me. I’ve gained confidence and made a lot of special friends along the line, learning new things all the time. It’s improved my health, physically and mentally.
“Making new friends has helped me be more social, and I’ve learned how to cycle more safely, both off and on the road. All this I’ve learned from riding in a group, because we support and look out for each other.
“Simply put, cycling makes me happy. Getting on a bike makes me feel exhilarated.”
In the Tour de France, the yellow jersey is worn by the race leader. Our Real Yellow Jerseys celebrate a different kind of cycling hero
Q&A
Your technical, health and legal queries answered by Cycle’s experts
Q‘Causing death by dangerous cycling’ is apparently being added to the statute books in England and Wales, and a cyclist could be jailed for life for this. It seems like using a populist sledgehammer to crack a nut – more people are killed by lightning each year than by cyclists. On a practical level, however, I’d like to know what the test is for deciding what dangerous cycling is. I’d also like to know what defence a cyclist so charged could offer. I’m not defending cycling that clearly is dangerous but there have been instances where pedestrians have obliviously stepped out in front of cyclists. Name and address supplied
The headline ‘cyclists who kill pedestrians by riding dangerously could be sentenced to life’ has prompted celebration and horror in equal measure. The change is not yet approved by Parliament. You are not alone in thinking that this is a disproportionate response to the problem. Cycling UK has looked at all the relevant offences and the confusing state of the law on the website: cyclinguk.org/road-traffic-offences
The question about what amounts to dangerous riding is complex. It is the objective standard of cycling far below the standard of a notional competent and careful cyclist. The exact requirements of the offence are not yet finalised.
As regards defences, there is the obvious one: ‘the collision was not my fault’. Evidence such as CCTV/camera recordings and witness statements will help with this. If there was a mechanical issue with the bike which caused the incident, it will be necessary to show you did not know and could not have known about the problem.
Nadia Kerr
QThe industry seems to have decided that we must all go tubeless. That means a very tight fit between tyre and rim, which is a problem for those of us using tubes. What might be an improvement?
Mark Shelton
An innertube is an unwanted interloper in a tubeless tyre and rim system. It makes the tough job of tyre removal or installation even tougher, as it can prevent the tyre bead dropping into the rim trough. Better is to use a tube-type tyre if using an innertube, to invest in a pair of wheels with non-tubeless rims, or both.
Richard Hallett
QIn 2022 I bought a Cube Kathmandu e-bike. After just 1,800 miles on roads and firm cycle tracks, the gears started to slip. The dealer replaced the chainring, chain and cassette, which solved the problem. Is this low drivetrain mileage typical?
Steve Richards
Your bike is powered by a Bosch motor putting out a hefty 85Nm of torque. Located at the bottom bracket, it sends power to the back wheel through the transmission and puts a heavy load on them, especially in the high-power setting. Manufacturers are now offering transmission components built to withstand the demands of e-bikes with bottom bracket motors; fitting them may improve matters. E-cycles using motors in the front or rear hub should get the same transmission life as regular pedal cycles as no extra load is put through the chain and sprockets.
Richard Hallett
Left and top right: Getty Images
QAre there any recovery benefits from raising the legs above the head to assist in blood flow? I am old enough to remember Rudi Altig (World Road Champion in 1966), who was a great advocate of this method of recovery. After a race he used to rest on his shoulders and forearms, feet in the air. Is there any merit to this procedure?
Barrie Bentley
There is indeed benefit from resting with one’s legs elevated after exercise. Rudi Altig’s position is a yoga pose called Viparita Karani. Devotees believe that it reduces stress and anxiety, as well as helping the circulation and relieving fatigued muscles. In physiological terms it helps drain fluid from the legs back to the heart, which in turn slows the pulse and lowers blood pressure.
Practising this yoga position was a trick Rudi Altig perfected at track racing events – as was walking on his hands. It clearly did him no harm! There are many benefits to cyclists of practising yoga.
To get into position it is easiest to sit sideways close to a wall on a comfortable surface. Lie back and lift both legs while rotating to face the wall. Your bottom should be as close to the wall as possible. (If this is easy, you could walk up the wall into a shoulder stand.) You should be relaxed and comfortable, with no strain, and able to hold the position for many minutes.
Dr Kate Brodie
QI ride a Willier Lavaredo with Campagnolo Centaur 10−speed shifters, a Campag Xenon 50−34 chainset and a Miche 11−25 cassette. Hills are killing me. What is the lowest-geared cassette this setup can take? I would like to keep as much of the existing kit as possible but will replace the rear mech as well if I have to.
ipaul321, on the Cycling UK Forum
Get in touch Email your technical, health or legal questions to editor@cyclinguk.org or write to Cycle Q&A, Cycling UK, Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX. Please include your membership number. Cycle cannot answer unpublished queries. Note: Cycling UK has an advice line for members personal injury claims, t: 0330 107 1789. Centaur a chainset cassette. What cassette I much the will the
Fit a Wolf Tooth RoadLink between the frame and rear mech. Although optimised for Shimano, they work well with both Campagnolo and SRAM derailleurs and enable you to use a rear sprocket with up to 34 teeth, even with a shortcage road rear mech. The only significant drawback is that chain wrap capacity is unaltered, so you may find you can’t use the inner chainring with some of the smaller rear sprockets or the chain will hang loose.
Richard Hallett
Dr Kate Brodie Retired GP HEALTH
Richard Hallett Cycle’s technical editor TECHNICAL
Which bike should I buy? Ask us at cyclinguk.org/bikefinder
Budget e-folding bike
←For: Nick Jackson, aged 65, from Malvern.
Bike needs: Electric folding bike to take on the train.
Must have: Low weight, disc brakes, rack, off-road capability.
Budget: £2,000
REBECCA BLAND
When it comes to electric folding bikes, you’ll generally find they’re either lightweight and compact and not that powerful, or they’re well equipped but harder to lug around trains stations and the like. With a budget of £2,000, it’s not impossible to find something that’s low in weight, uses disc brakes, has a rack and is capable off road, but you likely won’t find anything as high-spec as a Brompton e-bike.
One option would be something like the MiRider 16 (£1,595, mirider.co.uk), which comes with 16in wheels, a singlespeed drivetrain and mechanical disc brakes. It’s also just over 17kg, so it’s towards the lighter end of the scale for being carried. MiRider e-bikes are quite popular with motorhome owners, and this one can handle light off road (think towpaths and compacted bridleways). It’s also within budget, but it doesn’t come with a rack – although MiRider does offer accessories that may alleviate this.
Another British brand, Estarli offers a few folding e-bikes, and one is specifically aimed at off-road riding: the E20.8 (£1,895, estarli.co.uk). It comes with an 8−speed Shimano drivetrain, a rear rack and a choice of chunky off-road or gravel/hybrid tyres. It also has hydraulic disc brakes, which is a rarity at this price point. The only box it doesn’t tick is weight – it’s around 20kg depending on accessories. But it does fold down nicely and can be wheeled easily when folded.
Estarli E20.8
£1,895
£700
DAN JOYCE
Whichever e-bike you decide on, I think 20−inch wheels and wide tyres are essential. They will provide better comfort and control on bridleways and unsurfaced cycle tracks compared to smaller wheels and narrower tyres, yet the folded bike will still be compact enough to fit in train luggage racks easily.
I’d like to recommend the Brompton Electric G Line (brompton.com), which with 20×2in tubeless-ready gravel tyres and a sturdy frame is a sort of ATB of the folding bike world. Unfortunately, it’s almost double your budget at £3,499.
Like Rebecca, I think MiRider is a good option but I favour the MiRider 20 Singlespeed (mirider.co.uk, £1,795) for its larger wheels. It doesn’t come with a luggage rack but you can add one for £50. The only issue is its weight: it’s 20kg.
So instead I’ll recommend a Tern Link B8 (ternbicycles.com, £700) fitted with Nano Electric Bikes kit (nanoelectricbikes.co.uk, from £900). Tern Links are good-value folders and this one has disc brakes, a rack and 20×1.75in tyres. It weighs 13.6kg by itself and the Nano kit will bump that to around 17−18kg, depending on the spec you choose. (I’d recommend the larger 10Ah battery, which adds £160.)
If you’re prepared to forgo the disc brakes, a Tern Link D8 (£970) would save you 1.5kg over the Tern Link B8.
You can fit the Nano kit yourself or get Nano to fit it for you, which costs from £100.
Nano Electric Bikes kit
£900+
Go west… Wales
Where: Wales
Who: George
Wormald
When: April 2025
We started out with daffodils in bloom and the trees looking bare. A week later, the hedgerows were a blaze of yellows – celandine, primroses, cowslips, dandelions and gorse – and the trees were in leaf.
The first week of April was sunny but the mornings were chilly. The wet weather gear stayed in the panniers, a first in 15 years. It was our annual week’s cycle touring. Dave sorts the route using Sustrans and CycleStreets, his brother Steve is the mechanic, and I sort the accommodation.
of west Wales we’d traversed 14 years ago. Then we managed 60 miles a day and had no coffee stops before 11am. Now we are all 70−plus so it’s 50 miles a day and any excuse for a cappuccino. We started in Gloucester and ended in Llanelli, both accessible by train. On our 280−mile trip, we stayed in Abergavenny, Sennybridge, Carmarthen and Fishguard, returning via St Davids and Milford Haven.
The route was delightfully varied, featuring twisty minor roads through moorland, farmland and coasts, canal towpaths and former mining railways – along with lots of climbing. Sustrans NCN 4 and 47 pick out scenic routes and places of interest.
Apart from the sun, blue skies and playful lambs, the best bits were: contouring below the Bannau Brycheiniog with commanding views of the tops; the Preseli Hills; and the coastal views of Pembrokeshire’s blue sea, beaches, cliffs and rocks. Another memorable trip. Want
This year we revisited parts
The Southern Highway, my way
Where: Chile & Argentina
Who: Stephen Whyatt
When: 2019 & 2018
The Carretera Austral through southern Chile runs 1,247km south from Puerto Montt to the isolated town Villa O’Higgins. Along the way are mountains, forests, fjords, lakes, rivers and glaciers. I started on this road in 2009 and finished in 2018. My 2009 tour ended in Puerto Chacabuco after 870km. The route was mostly on good gravel tracks but included lake crossings by boats, and riding/pushing along the Lake Puelo trail.
Nine years later, I completed the Southern Highway by cycling from Coyhaique to Villa O’Higgins (600km), and then carrying on to Argentina. It was a hilly route with blue lakes, rivers and rolling countryside.
Approaching Cochrane there were spectacular views of the snow-covered peaks of the Northern Ice Field.
Cochrane is the last town before O’Higgins, 230km further south. From O’Higgins I took the ferry across the eponymous lake to the Southern Ice Field. I continued south into Argentina on a gravel road, then forest trails. From Los Glaciares National Park, I made my way by bike and bus to Punta Arenas, eventually flying back to Coyhaique.
George, Steve and Dave near Saundersfoot
Following the swallows
Where: Spain
Who: Becci May
When: May 2025
Terrier on tour
Where: South-west England
Who: Mark Siddall & family
When: February 2025
As a family we love bike touring but we also love our Border Terrier, Biddy. So we take her with us. Recently, we enjoyed a five-day tour from home in Quedgeley, cycling up the canal to Stroud and then on to Cirencester.
From Cirencester we rode to Chippenham, Badminton and on to Wotton-under-Edge, where we found a local pet shop full of treats for our cycletouring terrier. It was then all downhill to the Severn Estuary plain and home turf.
Share your story
We’d love to hear your Travellers’ tales! Email: editor@ cyclinguk.org
In May I flew to Valencia with my Kinesis gravel bike. I had done a lot of cycle touring before Covid on my Thorn tourer but had sold that, deciding to travel lighter.
The skies in Spain were full of swallows. On seeing the mural in the photo, it occurred to me that they were on a journey back to the UK, just like me. I was riding across Spain to Bilbao. I had plotted a 485-mile route with around 20% of it on vías verdes, the Spanish network of disused railway routes.
I climbed to over 1,000m, mostly on the gravel track of a
vía verde, through Aragon with its churches, castles and quiet, hilltop villages. Then I rode through flat farmland, past verges full of wildflowers and fields full of poppies, where I heard and saw bee-eaters, golden orioles and birds of prey. I continued across the high plateau into Castilla y Leon, where I saw storks, nightingales and larks. The swallows seemed to appear when I felt tired and in need of some encouragement.
I rode into the Basque Country beside vertical cliffs, with eagles and vultures circling overhead. Emerging from a couple of tunnels, I was hit by tremendous views and the sound of cowbells and different birds. It felt alpine in terms of the landscapes and the chalet-style houses. I followed river valleys to La Arena, the beach west of Bilbao. It was so lovely to end this journey at the Atlantic.
The next day I boarded a Portsmouth-bound ferry, where I’m writing this. Back home I’ll see swallows again, maybe the same ones!
Biddy rides in a purposemade dog basket on the rear pannier rack of one of our two Circe Helios tandems. Because we rode during February half term, she wore a body fleece to keep her warm. It takes a little more effort to find dogfriendly accommodation and there is usually a small premium (typically £10) to pay, but it is cheaper than kennels.
Biddy stands up in her basket to take in all the sights and sounds, so she gets plenty of exercise. As a reward, we stopped one last time on the final leg at her favourite playing field, where she sprinted after her frisbee, catching it mid air. It really is a dog’s life.
