For this episode, it was a question from a reader that sparked the conversation: they wanted to know ‘why don’t we test bikes to see which is the fastest?’. Hannah, Mark and Chipps navigate their way through this question, plus a whole pile of tangental bits of science, conjecture and anecdote. Could we figure out which bike is fastest? Is fastest bestest? What is the point of a bike test, or any product review, and is it all just marketing anyway?

Give this episode a listen, and if you’ve got things you’d like us to discuss, drop them in the comments. We can’t promise definitive answers, but we’ll likely have some interesting perspectives to debate!

Elliot Brown Singletrack Anniversary Watch

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SMOOVE Lube

All weather, super high mileage, drivetrain protecting chain lube. SMOOVE is the BEST chain lube you will ever use. SMOOVE takes the best elements of wax-based chain lubes and combines…

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This article was brought to you in association with Ortlieb. Missed any of the earlier issues of this feature series? Catch up here. Article sections Cast your mind back into…

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Biketart

About Biketart Biketart is an online and retail bike shop based near Canterbury, Kent. We focus on mountain bikes, stocking brands including Santa Cruz, Evil, Genesis, Saracen, Marin, Orbea and…

Cairn Cycles – part of The Rider Firm that also makes Hunt Wheels and Privateer Bikes – produced one of the first e-gravel bikes we experienced, the Adventure 1.0. We’ve followed it from prototype through to production and testing, and as Cairn opens up the books for pre-orders on the second generation model we sat down with Matt Barnard and Mike Sanderson to find out what developments there have been since our test. Spoiler: they’ve done a lot to answer our post-test wish list!

The new Cairn Adventure 1.0 in 700C format

As well as the technical changes that have been made to the bike, we also stray into the state of the bicycle market and supply chain. With Mike – formerly of Calibre Bikes – now at the Rider Firm, he was ideally placed to give us some insight into the ordering and manufacture process. Why is the Cairn Adventure 1.0 staying the same price as last year when other brands are putting up their costs? Should you pre-order a bike or risk bagging one when they’re actually here? And what might be coming next from Cairn? Tune in to find out.

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The 650B model of the Cairn Adventure 1.0

Cairn Adventure 1.0 | E-adventure, E-gravel, E-commute?

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Cairn Cycles – part of The Rider Firm that also makes Hunt Wheels and Privateer Bikes – produced one of the first e-gravel bikes we experienced, the Adventure 1.0. We’ve followed it from prototype through to production and testing, and as Cairn opens up the books for pre-orders on the second generation model we sat down with Matt Barnard and Mike Sanderson to find out what developments there have been since our test. Spoiler: they’ve done a lot to answer our post-test wish list!

The new Cairn Adventure 1.0 in 700C format

As well as the technical changes that have been made to the bike, we also stray into the state of the bicycle market and supply chain. With Mike – formerly of Calibre Bikes – now at the Rider Firm, he was ideally placed to give us some insight into the ordering and manufacture process. Why is the Cairn Adventure 1.0 staying the same price as last year when other brands are putting up their costs? Should you pre-order a bike or risk bagging one when they’re actually here? And what might be coming next from Cairn? Tune in to find out.

The 650B model of the Cairn Adventure 1.0

Cairn Adventure 1.0 | E-adventure, E-gravel, E-commute?

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Issue 136

Our 20th Birthday issue will be hot off the presses and landing on doorsteps around 6/4/21. Order now, and we will post your copy out as soon as it lands…

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Scottish Stag-Do – A YT Izzo UK Adventure...

Todd Schumlick has trained some of the world’s leading bike sports athletes from Aaron Gwin to Stevie Smith, Sam Blenkinsop to Emmeline Ragot. Richie Rude is the 2 x EWS Champion, 2013 Junior DH World Champion & has worked with Todd for the last 8 years. What started out as a discussion about training for DH vs enduro actually became more about training in general but there’s so much wisdom in here that it doesn’t really matter.

Todd Schumlick Gallery

Richie Rude Gallery

Image Credit: Ed Witwicki

Image Credit: David Trumpore

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Watch the Podcast

Social stuff if you’d like to follow:

* @richie_rude1* @performx_training* @makingupthenumbersracing* @jackreading_mtb

The Making Up The Numbers podcast is sponsored by:

* Hope Technology www.hopetech.com @hopetech* Revolution Bike Park www.revolutionbikepark.co.uk @revolutionbp* Schwalbe www.schwalbe.com @schwalbetyresuk* Singletrack www.singletrackworld.com @singletrackmag

Previously on Making Up The Numbers Podcast

Season 3

*

Todd Schumlick has trained some of the world’s leading bike sports athletes from Aaron Gwin to Stevie Smith, Sam Blenkinsop to Emmeline Ragot. Richie Rude is the 2 x EWS Champion, 2013 Junior DH World Champion & has worked with Todd for the last 8 years. What started out as a discussion about training for DH vs enduro actually became more about training in general but there’s so much wisdom in here that it doesn’t really matter.

Todd Schumlick Gallery

Richie Rude Gallery

Image Credit: Ed Witwicki

Image Credit: David Trumpore

Watch the Podcast

Social stuff if you’d like to follow:

* @richie_rude1* @performx_training* @makingupthenumbersracing* @jackreading_mtb

The Making Up The Numbers podcast is sponsored by:

* Hope Technology www.hopetech.com @hopetech* Revolution Bike Park www.revolutionbikepark.co.uk @revolutionbp* Schwalbe www.schwalbe.com @schwalbetyresuk* Singletrack www.singletrackworld.com @singletrackmag

Previously on Making Up The Numbers Podcast

Season 3

* Episode 1 | Team Rumours Podcast! With Angel Suárez Alonso and Dakotah Norton.

Season 2

* Episode 13 | Emilie Siegenthaler, Becky Cook & Martha Gill*

It’s that time of year when the #teamrumours are in full effect! Join George & Jack for some wild speculation, uncorroborated insight & the odd confirmed fact. Joining them are a couple of riders who’ve recently confirmed new rides: Commencal 21’s Angel Suárez Alonso & The YT Mob’s Dakotah Norton.

Video

Watch the video of the podcast here, or listen below.

Angel Suárez Alonso Gallery

Image Credit: JB Liautard

Dakotah Norton Gallery

Image Credit: Logan Mulally

Social stuff if you’d like to follow:

* @commencal21 * @angelsuarezdh * @the_yt_mob * @daknorton* @makingupthenumbersracing* @jackreading_mtb

The Making Up The Numbers podcast is sponsored by:

* Hope Technology www.hopetech.com @hopetech* Revolution Bike Park www.revolutionbikepark.co.uk @revolutionbp* Schwalbe www.schwalbe.com @schwalbetyresuk* Singletrack www.singletrackworld.com @singletrackmag

Previously on Making Up The Numbers Podcast

Season 2

* Episode 13 | Emilie Siegenthaler, Becky Cook & Martha Gill* Episode 12 | Tracey Hannah and Matt Walker* Episode 11 | World Champsionship Review with Camille Balanche, David Trummer and Dan Slack* Episode ...

It’s that time of year when the #teamrumours are in full effect! Join George & Jack for some wild speculation, uncorroborated insight & the odd confirmed fact. Joining them are a couple of riders who’ve recently confirmed new rides: Commencal 21’s Angel Suárez Alonso & The YT Mob’s Dakotah Norton.

Video

Watch the video of the podcast here, or listen below.

Angel Suárez Alonso Gallery

Image Credit: JB Liautard

Dakotah Norton Gallery

Image Credit: Logan Mulally

Social stuff if you’d like to follow:

* @commencal21 * @angelsuarezdh * @the_yt_mob * @daknorton* @makingupthenumbersracing* @jackreading_mtb

The Making Up The Numbers podcast is sponsored by:

* Hope Technology www.hopetech.com @hopetech* Revolution Bike Park www.revolutionbikepark.co.uk @revolutionbp* Schwalbe www.schwalbe.com @schwalbetyresuk* Singletrack www.singletrackworld.com @singletrackmag

Previously on Making Up The Numbers Podcast

Season 2

* Episode 13 | Emilie Siegenthaler, Becky Cook & Martha Gill* Episode 12 | Tracey Hannah and Matt Walker* Episode 11 | World Champsionship Review with Camille Balanche, David Trummer and Dan Slack* Episode 10 | World Cup Preview with Greg Williamson, Vali Höll and Dan Slack*

So Brexit is here now for real. It’s all come down to this. We are on the other side and following a hurried through set of Christmas free trade rules. What does Brexit mean for mountain bikers?

There are businesses announcing their changes on a daily basis from British bike companies halting sales to the EU to EU brands upping their prices or refusing to deliver to the UK.

These are the sunny uplands and we are determined to get to the bottom of the new normal. So, Charlie, Hannah and Mark sat down to record this episode to try and explain what has just happened and how it affects us, as mountain bike riders and buyers, on a day to day basis.

Can we still buy bikes for the EU? What about small parts? Can I take my bike on holiday and get it or me fixed if I break something? What is a tariff? Who pays VAT now? Can I still buy cheap wine in Calais?

These questions and more we try and unscramble.

But wait! Did we find some benefits of Brexit? You bet we did. Listen and find out what it was all really for…

*

Review: The Pole Taival Frameset is long but not unwieldy

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Fresh Goods Friday 548 – The everything is secret edition

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Singletrack Magazine Issue 137: Join us now or miss out!

We don’t generally eat the fish we catch in our waters and we can’t sell them easily to the EU because of the barriers faced by exporters, but it’s fine – they are now happy fish and that’s what really matters.

Still waiting for the benefits. Drop us a comment or email if you have any positive Brexit stories to share.

So Brexit is here now for real. It’s all come down to this. We are on the other side and following a hurried through set of Christmas free trade rules. What does Brexit mean for mountain bikers?

There are businesses announcing their changes on a daily basis from British bike companies halting sales to the EU to EU brands upping their prices or refusing to deliver to the UK.

These are the sunny uplands and we are determined to get to the bottom of the new normal. So, Charlie, Hannah and Mark sat down to record this episode to try and explain what has just happened and how it affects us, as mountain bike riders and buyers, on a day to day basis.

Can we still buy bikes for the EU? What about small parts? Can I take my bike on holiday and get it or me fixed if I break something? What is a tariff? Who pays VAT now? Can I still buy cheap wine in Calais?

These questions and more we try and unscramble.

But wait! Did we find some benefits of Brexit? You bet we did. Listen and find out what it was all really for…

Help us make our podcasts even better

Take our podcast survey

We don’t generally eat the fish we catch in our waters and we can’t sell them easily to the EU because of the barriers faced by exporters, but it’s fine – they are now happy fish and that’s what really matters.

Still waiting for the benefits. Drop us a comment or email if you have any positive Brexit stories to share.

Whether you believe that mountain biking started on the slopes of Mount Tam, or the forests of the Pacific Northwest, or some muddy fields in the UK, the term ‘Mountain Bike’ was first recorded when Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly registered the name of their company as ‘Mountain Bikes’. Along with business partner Tom Ritchey, these three little pigs of the mountain bike world chose their paths. Tom Ritchey built his house of hand built and brazed steel, eventually growing into the Ritchey company still popular today. Gary Fisher built his house from mass production, aiming to bring mountain bikes to the many – and as part of Trek he can claim to have achieved that. The third little piggy, Charlie Kelly, after starting the first mountain bike company with Gary Fisher, and then organising the first races (the legendary Repack), he chose the path of print media, starting ‘Fat Tire Flyer’, the first ever mountain bike magazine.

It’s this that earns Charlie Kelly the award of Singletrack Legend for 2020. In a year when two further printed mountain bike magazines were lost, and as we eye up our 20th anniversary year, it seems appropriate to celebrate the creator of the first ever written celebration of mountain bike culture. Charlie describes his time working on Fat Tire Flyer as the most creative endeavour he ever did. As his own boss, he was free to cover the things that he was interested in, and did little to court advertisers. His antipathy towards reviewing bikes or attracting advertisers can be seen in his ‘Universal Bike Review’. It’s perhaps little surprise then that of the three little pigs of mountain biking, Charlie has not made his fortune in the bike industry. Indeed, he didn’t even make a living in it, eventually turning his hand to professional piano moving – which is perhaps not so different to bike racing ‘You get to travel across the country in a truck with your friends, and then you do something that takes just a few minutes and people think is amazing’.

Pianos might have been his profession, but Charlie never left bikes behind, riding much as the rest of us do – with friends, in the hills, from home. Of course, his old time friends, including Joe Breeze, are often happy to send him a bike or a frame to play out on, so it’s perhaps no surprise that there’s no room in Charlie’s garage for the huge collection of MTB memorabilia that he collected over the years. That archive of magazines, adverts, catalogues, fliers and much more resides in a storage unit, and after retiring from the piano business Charlie set about turning some of that historical record into a book – Fat Tire Flyer: ‘Repack and the birth of mountain biking’.

Fat Tire Flyer: Repack and the Birth of Mountain Biking by Charlie Kelly

£24.99